218 



THE KNTOMOLOGIST. 



thirty or thirty-two drawers suflQcient for his purpose ; but if he desires 

 to include the Micro-Lepidoptera, he will require at least forty drawers. 

 Should he, however, happen to aspire to higher efforts, and will not be 

 content with anything less than a collection which shall more or less 

 fully represent the species in all their various forms as found throughout 

 the British Islands, he will find that one hundred and fifty draAvers 

 will not be one too many for its proper accommodation. The present 

 writer's arranged collection of British Lepidoptera comprises 25,000 

 specimens (14,300 Macros, 10,700 Micros), and is contained in one 

 hundred and fourteen drawers as follows : — 



Drawers Specimens 



Ehopalocera 15 2072 



Sphinges and] 

 Bombyces ) 



Noctuffi 29 5082 



Geometrfe 26 5571 



11 



1575 



Drawers 



Pyralides 3 . 



Pterophori 2 . 



Crambi 4 . 



Tortrices 12 . 



Tineffi 12 2895 



Specimens 



... 1045 

 ... 566 

 ... 984 

 ... 5210 



It will be seen that only fifteen drawers are assigned to the butterflies, 

 but the series of several species in this department are too short, and 

 at least five more drawers are required. Several additional drawers 

 should also be given to the Sphinges, Bombyces, and Nocture. As 

 previously stated, a really good representative collection of the Lepi- 

 doptera of the British Islands cannot be contained in less than one 

 hundred and fifty drawers, and the most convenient arrangement 

 would be to have this number made up into three cabinets of forty 

 drawers each, and one of thirty drawers. One large cabinet might 

 then be devoted to the Ehopalocera, Sphinges and Bombyces ; another 

 to the Nocture ; and the third to the GeomeLrre, Pyralides, Crambi, and 

 Pterophori. The drawers of the fourth cabinet may be reserved for 

 Tortrices and Tinere. In the matter of dimensions of the drawers, the 

 most convenient size is 17 or 18 in. x 16 in., and the depth need not 

 be more than l^f in. for the Macros, which will give a space of about 

 1|- in. from cork to glass ; for the Micros, lif in., or about 1 in. from 

 cork to glass, is sufldcient. Probably the best wood of which cabinets 

 can be made is well-seasoned mahogany, and they can be obtained in 

 this material at from 10.s. to 25s. per drawer. For all practical pur- 

 poses, those at the lower price are quite good enough. — Eichard South. 



Scarcity of Butterflies. — I do not know if it is the same every- 

 where this season, but at this place, and at Chatham and Sheerness, 

 during the past four weeks, the scarcity of butterflies has been 

 remarkable. On many occasions I have been out on warm, bright 

 days and have not seen a dozen of our common Pieridre ; and I have not 

 seen a single L. eijeria, only two or three inegiEra, and but a couple of 

 C. 2^n>iiphilHs, the latter species being usually abundant in our marshy 

 meadows. The weather at the beginning of this week was delightfully 

 bright and warm, on the 18th it became bitterly cold, and to-day we 

 have had several sharp showers of hail and sleet. — Gervase F. 

 Mathew; Dovercourt, May 20th, 1894. 



A SUPPOSED New Species of Euchloe. — In the Entomologist's 

 Eecord for April, reference is made to a probable new species of 

 Euchloe. The butterfly is described as much smaller than Euchloe 



