262 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



wild thyme, brambles, and other tiowers. These spots may easily be 

 missed hy anyone not familiar with the ground, but when worked steadily 

 and persistently may be made to yield many good things. For the larva- 

 hunter there is no lack of sport. Nearly every year, towards the end of 

 May, whole districts, sometimes the entire Forest, instead of being clothed 

 with bright green leaves, have a scorched brown appearance, nearly every 

 leaf being devoured, some trees being even killed outright by the depre- 

 dations of the innumerable larvae. Few, however, of these myriads 

 survive. Flocks of young starlings, rooks and jackdaws adjourn to the 

 Forest from all the country round, and fatten on their tender bodies, 

 searching both ground and trees, so that after these birds are gone scarcely a 

 larva is to be found. Cuckoos also abound, and "horse-ants," as they are 

 locally called, come in for their share, climbing the trees to look for their 

 victims. Sometimes, however, the aggressor gets the worst of it, the larva, 

 if caught by the tail-end, being enabled to turn and eject its protective 

 fluid over the ant's head, causing it instantly to let go, and ultimately to 

 die. The following are from a list of over 300 species taken in the Forest. 

 This list, I have no doubt, is capable of being largely added to : — Argynnis 

 paphia, in one small enclosure only, where the dog-violet grows. A. 

 adippe, rare. A. selene, frequent. Vatiessa c-album, common. V. poly- 

 chloros, frequent. V. cardui, frequent. Apatura iris, rare. Thecla w- 

 album, very local, but abundant where it occurs. Collas edusa, one 

 specimen only. Smerinthus tilicB, frequent. Chcerocampa porcellas, rare. 

 Psilura monaclia, rare. Pericallia syringaria, rare. Nyssia hispidaria, 

 frequent. Awphidasys strataria, common. Eiiimelesia afjinata and E. 

 alcheinillata, both common. Lobophora halterata, frequent. Bupalus 

 piiiiaria, frequent. Melanthia hastata, rare. Stauropus fagi, rare. 

 Notodonta trepldata, frequent. Asphalia ridens, frequent. Acronycta 

 leporlna, rare. Triphcena Jimbria, rare. Tceniocampa munda, very 

 common, in pupa-digging more than fifty per cent, were the pupae of this 

 moth. Aplecta prasina, frequent. Amphlpyra pyramidea, common. 

 Phytometra vlridaria, frequent. Hemerophila abruptaria, rare. — N. T. 

 Searangke ; Mitcheldean, near Gloucester, August 23, 1889. 



Sugar Unproductive. — T can corroborate Mr. Hodges' note (Entora. 

 212) about the unproductiveness of sugar in June last. Both my brother 

 and I " sugared " nightly for the first three weeks in that month, with 

 most deplorable results ; together we certainly did not take more than a 

 dozen specimens. I do not agree with Mr. Hodges' hypothesis " owing to 

 the cold." I think the better e.^planation is that it is owing to the super- 

 abundance of honeydew on the foliage, and I have come to the conclusion 

 that very little good can be done until there has been sufficient rain to 

 wash it off, as was the case last June. — 0. E. Stott ; Lostock, Bolton-le- 

 Moors, August 19, 1889. 



Parasites on Lepidoptera. — My experience shows these parasites 

 (Entom. 237) to have been common during the season. On the evening of 

 July 23rd, for e.xample, I took a Caradiiiia quadripunctata [cubicularis) off 

 a Chester gas-lamp. At first I took the moth to be a variety, as the upper 

 wings, — upper wings only, — -were mottled with red. This I discovered to 

 be due to red parasites, similar in appearance to the ordinary cheese-mite. 

 The insect, with parasites, is now in the Entomological Collection for the 

 District, Grosvenor Museum, Chester. — J. Arkle ; 2, George Street, 

 Chester. 



