NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 119 



female, in good condition ; this had laid about fifty eggs by the 23rd. 

 I noticed one example of P. piniperda flying round and alighting on 

 the blossoms of the sallow about 3 p.m. in the broad sunlight; the sun 

 just then was very hot, and shining full on the tree. Night warm, 

 day very fine ; wind south-west. 



The commonest insect at sallows last season with me, at York, 

 was T. munda, and I was struck by the extreme variation that occurred 

 amongst the specimens taken. I have selected a beautiful series, from 

 the year's captures, of sixteen males and twenty-four females for my 

 own collection. T. munda will lay freely in a chip pill- box ; the 

 average number of eggs laid by one female about two hundred. The 

 larvae feed up readily on birch, sallow, elm, or oak ; but the pupfe 

 seem to have a strong objection to reveal their contents the following 

 spring, at least such is my experience and that of several of my friends. 

 Whilst on the subject of sallow moths, I might mention that I have 

 noticed for many years how difficult it is to get specimens of T. 

 riibricosa, T. gracilis, and T. popuJeti, to lay in captivity. Most of the 

 sallows I am in the habit of working are large trees, generally situate 

 on the outskirts of small plantations. An umbrella, even if of the 

 dimensions of that used by King Coffee, would be far too small. I 

 use two very long and very broad sheets, and then not unfrequently 

 have to add to these two, three, or more copies of one of the London 

 dailies to increase the spread. When all is ready below, I despatch 

 my " Man Friday" up aloft, and then at a given signal he tickles the 

 branches, and down come the moths. Occasionally the shaker is 

 himself dislodged from the tree and drops on the sheet, but this only 

 increases the fun, as it certainly does the danger. — William Hewett ; 

 Howard Street, York, November, 1896. 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



High-flat Setting of Lepidoptera. — Although enough has, I 

 think, been said on this subject, I beg to be allowed to say a few more 

 words, in answer to Mr. Sabine's remarks {a7ite, p. 76). If he, as he 

 says, thinks that it is well enough understood and unnecessary to 

 mention, that low-setting is no guarantee against fraud, why then is 

 this mode of setting still carried on ? Further, if mites should not be 

 known in a well-kept collection, they are, in spite of it, not an 

 impossibility, even if introduced accidentally with specimens received 

 in exchange ; and as to Mr. Sabine's other remark that in no good 

 collection do the insects touch the bottom of the drawer, I can assure 

 him that I have seen very good collections indeed in which every 

 specimen, without exception, did touch the bottom, and indeed this 

 could scarcely have been otherwise, considering the small pins used. 

 I am, however, glad to see that I receive some support from several 

 other British entomologists in regard to the high-setting ; and on the 

 other hand, I should like to hear yet of the advantage of the English 

 system, and why this should be still adhered to in opposition to the 

 entire rest of the world, who surely must have found their system to 



