NOTES FROM ffiE NORTH-tVEST COtJNTlES. 39y 



evidently looked upon my evolutions with doubt, I took a repre- 

 sentative number of insects. They were, however, only Acidalia 

 dimidiata (scutulata), Xylophasia monoglypha\{polyodon) , Triphcena 

 pronuba, and, of course, Plusia gamma. 



After my return to Chester, and a rest of a day or two, I 

 started again, on August 5th, for Welsh ground. I had accepted 

 a kind invitation from Mr. W. J. Kerr, of Tan-y-Bwlch, Merio- 

 neth, to become his guest for a few days. Tan-y-Bwlch (which, 

 in order to satisfy the legitimate curiosity of English readers, 

 I will say is pronounced like Tan-e-Bulk) is situated midway, 

 with a distance of something like ten miles on either side, as the 

 crow flies, between Snowdon on the north and the classical 

 Harlech on the south, and about the same number of miles from 

 the sea. The locality is a well-wooded and lovely vale, shut in 

 by lofty slate or limestone mountains. I arrived via Llangollen 

 and Bala, on the 5th, in a severe thunderstorm. "After a storm 

 Cometh a calm," which, at least, must always be relatively true, 

 so, although the evening was still wet, my host — who had pre- 

 viously sent a man to sugar some well-known trees — and I turned 

 out after insects. Our rendezvous was a sloping bank, just 

 inside an oak wood, and covered with heath and other plants in 

 full bloom. The weather did not prevent us taking Cidaria 

 primata {ribesaria), Noctua xanthographa (the red form), and the 

 ubiquitous P. gamma, at the heath blossoms. At sugar, however, 

 we were only favoured with visits from X. monoghjpha. 



The next day showed the weather had not materially improved. 

 In spite of almost continuous rain I hunted round the sheltered 

 faces of the rocks near. The only insect I met with was the 

 solitary wasp, Odynerus spinipes, — commonly enough, — but in 

 every case hidden away in its mud cells from the tempestuous 

 weather. Empty cocoons of Boinhyx quercus, and of a gregarious 

 member of the ZygaenidaB, completed what, under favourable 

 weather, would have been a long list from rock-hunting. Sugar, 

 in the evening, was again a failure, except for the usual visits of 

 X. monoglypha. 



On the 7th rain fell in the first half of the day. The sun 

 broke out in the afternoon, when I was taken to the borders of 

 one of the numerous oak woods to see Thecla quercus, Argynnis 

 adippe, and A. jjaphia on the wing. On a bank open to the sun, 

 but sheltered by oaks, and covered with fern, flowers and bramble, 

 the two last-named insects were to be seen in plenty feeding on 

 the flowers of knapweed {Centaur ea nigra), and sailing up to rest 

 again on the oaks above. I netted a few, but they were all more 

 or less damaged by the stormy weather. T. quercus was in 

 tantalizing scores, but not one could we coax within reach. A 

 splendid specimen rose one day from the muddy road, but I 

 missed it. Our captures this day included Eugonia erosaria, — 



