NOTES, CAPTURES, ETC. 205 



closely watching the economy of this rare clearwing, I am 

 perfectly convinced that it lives three years in the larval state. 

 Although I have not reared this species from the egg, still I have 

 kept a strict attention to certain larviB feeding. Three weeks were 

 spent at Deal, and although during the six years I have known them 

 I never saw the sandhills look more promising, or ever saw 

 vegetation more luxuriant, still LepidojDtera were but poorly 

 represented ; the usual local species were, generally speaking, far 

 less numerous than in previous seasons. Of some species that 

 usually are abundant there, such as Aspilates citraria, Stenopteryx 

 hybridalis, and Scojuda ferrugalis, which in some years are in 

 thousands, I did not observe a solitary specimen of either species. 

 Acidalia ochrata followed the rule of scarcity, not more than ten 

 per cent, in number of last year's brood. Nyctegretes achatinella, 

 too, required much more working for to get a fair series. Acidalia 

 emutaria only very few ; and of Melia anella, generally a fairly 

 common species here, I only saw two specimens. Lithosia 

 pygmceola was fairly common in third week in July ; on one 

 or two favourable nights anyone could have taken hundreds 

 of it. One night I secured ten Nola centonalis ; curiously 

 three pairs in copula; this, in my experience, was a most 

 exceptional night's work : I secured fertile eggs, and have now 

 larvae feeding. Although I worked specially for Scoparia lineola, 

 only four rewarded my search. By the aides of some rushy 

 marsh ditches Nonagria despecta swarmed ; one could get six or 

 eight at one sweep of the net, and it was by far the most abundant 

 species I met with ; of course it was confined to these ditches. 

 Some of the connnoner Nocture were fairly abundant, but nothing 

 of any note fell to my net. The results from my breeding-cages 

 have. been more satisfactory. In March I hxeiiPetasia uubeculosa 

 and Endromis versicolor, both from Scotch eggs ; of the latter 

 species, which were of a particularly fine dark type, I secured 

 fertile eggs, and succeeded again in obtaining pupae ; about one- 

 half of the first brood are still lying as pupse. During June I bred 

 a very fine series of Dianthoecia alhimacida from the larvse I 

 obtained last year near Dover ; this season I again worked for it, 

 but curiously the plant from some cause was almost a failure. 

 Where last year I could have filled a sack with flowers and seed- 

 heads, this year I could only fill a pill-box, and not nearly 

 sufficient to feed the four larviu I did find. From twenty-six 



