CAPTUKES AND FIELD REPORTS. 211 



is satisfied that the insect is an aberration of Z. trifolii, I very much 

 doubt whether I should be able to prove it otherwise. I may add 

 that, so far as I am aware, there is no previous record of a similar 

 aberration of this species. — E. S.] 



CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 



Macroglossa stellatarum in the Edinburgh District. — Mr. Wm. 

 Evans, of Edinburgh, communicates the following note to the • Annals of 

 Scottish Natural History '(No. 31, p. 184, July, 1899): — " The humming- 

 bird hawk-moth (Macroglossa stellatarum) has been more abundant in this 

 neighbourhood this summer than I have ever seen it before. The first I 

 heard of was taken in Peeblesshire on June 1st, and on the 3rd my friend 

 Mr. P. H. Grimshaw captured one at wild garlic {Allium ursinum), in 

 Roslin Glen. On the 10th I observed quite a number — certainly not less 

 than fifteen to twenty — on the Fife coast between Burntislaud and King- 

 horn. Two which I netted were hovering over flowering patches of Lotus 

 corniculatus on a sunny bank, but most of them were flying about the cliffs 

 and rocky places where they could not readily be reached. Several times 

 three, and once four, were in view at the same moment. After 4 p.m. 

 they gradually disappeared, the last being seen shortly after six o'clock. 

 The only flowers besides the Lotus that I saw them visit here were Astra- 

 galus hypoglottis and Salvia verbenaca. The next example I saw was on 

 the Isle of May, on the 15th. On the 16th I again met with the insect, 

 this time between Longniddry and Aberlady. They were flying about the 

 high roadside wall at intervals for a distance of two miles ; and at one 

 place I caught six without moving more than a hundred yards. Alto- 

 gether, I must have seen quite thirty on this occasion. The same day one 

 was seen at Craiglockhart. In the forenoon of the 19th I noticed three, if 

 not four, on Blackford Hill, and in the afternoon I found numbers 

 careering about the rocks on Arthur's Seat. A similar outburst of this 

 species occurred here thirty years ago (1868-1870)." 



Another correspondent to the same journal states that " individuals of 

 this species were attracted in large numbers to a rhododendron when in 

 full bloom," in the Upper Clyde. 



Unusual Abundance of Macroglossa stellatarum. — M. stellatarum 

 seems this year to be extremely abundant. 1 have not previously seen it 

 at Brighton, though it is common at Lewes. It seems to favour one wall 

 very much, and is rarely seen elsewhere. I found one at Fulking, and one 

 on the County Cricket Ground. — Alan Cardinall ; 18, Cromwell Road, 

 Brighton. 



Abundance of Melanippe fluctuata. — This species, during the four 

 years that I have been living in Upper Tooting, has always been fairly 

 common in gardens, &c. This year it has been in great abundance, 

 especially throughout the month of June. A large amount of variation 

 was also exhibited, both as regards size and tint, as well as in the intensity 

 of the markings.— Richard South ; 100, Ritherdon Road, Upper Tooting, 

 S.W. 



