322 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



AcHERONTiA ATROPOS IN LANCASHIRE. — In your excellent magazine, 

 ante, p. 298, I saw a request from a Lancashire man for recent records of 

 the occurrence of A. atropos in the county. Here are four records that 

 have come under ray direct notice : — Sept. 21st, 18U5, one imago (captured), 

 F. C. Thompson, Prescot. Sept. 28th, 1895, one imago (captured), R. 

 Freeman, Prebcot. Oct. 4th, 1895, one imago (seen), F. C. T. and Pi. F., 

 Prescot. Sept. 3rd, 1896, one larva, H. B. Jones, Crosby. — (P>,ev.) 

 R. Freeman ; Prescot, Lanes., Nov. 10th, 1897. 



Vanessa atalanta. — On Nov. 10th, while mv brother and I were 

 wandering through Mount Edgecumbe Park, Plymouth, we saw four 

 perfect specimens of V. atalanta hovering round and settling upon the 

 trunk of a small oak-tree. There was nothing very unusual in this, but 

 one is always glad of a reminder of the summer when the cold of winter is 

 setting in. — (Rev.) B. Harvie-Jellie ; St. Helens, Lanes. 



Chcekocampa porcellus. — As I have not heard of C. porcellus having 

 been taken in Suffolk this year, I should like to record the capture of a 

 specimen, after dark, in the neighbourhood of Ipswich. — E. Platten ; 

 2, Prospect Cottage, Bramford Road, Ipswich, Sept. 23rd, 1897. 



Micro-Lepidopteua in 1897. — Micros have been rather abundant in 

 point of numbers, although not so in quantity of species. The following 

 are the chief insects encountered : — Halias chlorana, plentiful, both as 

 larvae and imagines, but local ; Hypena proboscidalis, Botys verticaUs, 

 urticalis, and hiteaUs ; Phyctmiia {= Ebulea) sambucalis, rather scarce; 

 Tortrix sorhiana, T. pyraatiana, not very common ; T. viridana, swarms 

 (larvae exceedingly destructive); Phihalocem qiiercella, Dusyctra sulphurella, 

 extremely common about currant bushes; Spilonota roboraria, a pest; hicur- 

 varia capitella, Alucita polydactyla, Pteropliorus pentadactylus. — A. D. 

 Imms; " Linthurst," Oxford Road, Moseley, Worcestershire, October, 1897. 



Odonestis potatoria : Aberration of the Female. — My friend 

 Mr. Dolman has again bred a very remarkable series of 0. potatoria, only 

 two females being typical. The larvae were collected in West Sussex. — 

 Alfred T. Mitchell; 5, Clapton Terrace, Gunnersbury, N. 



Notes on the Season of 1897. — The season for Lepidoptera, now 

 fast drawing to a close, has, in the localities I have visited, been somewhat 

 varialde and contradictory as regards the numbers of individuals, some 

 common species having been exceptionally abundant, whilst others only 

 turned up sparingly. On March 13th I noticed a male Gonopteryx 

 rhamni on the Cotswolds. I only tried the sallows on two or three 

 occasions in the Clevedon district of Somerset, when certain species of 

 T(B)iiocainpa were fairly abundant. Tephrosia crepuscularia was seen on 

 March vJOth, and Lycmia argiolus on the 25th. On travelling down into 

 South Wales the last week in April, Piei'is raptE appeared commonly in 

 several places by the side of the railway. In Carmarthenshire, where I 

 remained until early in July, this butterfly and P. napi were quite scarce. 

 Some days in May being as cold as February may have affected them ; on 

 one occasion I noticed a specimen of P. rap(B quite benumbed. Lycana 

 argiolus, Argynnis euphrosy7ie, Euchlo'e cardaiuines, and Pararge egeria 

 were, however, comparatively abundant. L. icarus emeroed later than 

 usual, doubtless affected by the cold temperature, but was not at any time 

 so common as in some previous seasons. In June Agrotis exclamatioms 



