NOTES, CAPTURES, ETC. 297 



these only ? Dr. Boisduval, in his elaborate description of six 

 distinct and well-marked varieties of the larvae of this species, 

 states that they feed upon various species of Convolvulus, but 

 particularly upon C. arvens'is ; and to obtain this caterpillar it 

 should be looked for, in July, in fields where C. arvensis 

 grows among crops of potatoes or beans. From its size, and 

 excrements lying round the plants, he says it is easily detected. 

 In this country, up to the present time, no one, so far as I know, 

 has seriously attempted to verifj' this statement. The larvge must 

 have been, tbis season at least, quite as numerous as the moths ; 

 and I cannot help believing that a judicious and sj'stematic 

 examination of Convolvulus arvensis and C. sepium, wherever 

 found, by even a few experienced collectors, must have resulted 

 in the discovery of numbers of larvte. — W. McRae ; Bedford 

 House, Bournemouth, October, 1885. 



Sphinx convolvuli in Sussex. — This fine moth bas 

 occurred here twice this season, two specimens in good condition 

 having been taken by a friend of mine. The first was taken on 

 August 17tb, settled on some palings; and the second, near the 

 same place, about September 12tli. It seems to have been found 

 very plentifully in most places this year. — W. H. Blaber ; 

 Beckworth, Lindfield, Sussex, October 8, 1885. 



Callimorpha HERA IN Devon. — In the ' Entomologist ' for 

 1884 (vol. xvii., p. 283) I gave an account of the occurrence and 

 capture of Callimorpha liera. Early in August, 1885, I journeyed 

 to the pretty little seaside village of Starcross, at tbe mouth of 

 tlie Exe, about two miles and a half from Dawlish, which place I 

 have annually visited for the last six years. I commenced work 

 on the 10th with a very dull prospect, for nothing could be 

 disturbed by beating. On the 12th Mr. Waring and I had gone 

 up a narrow lane to return with but little for our labour, when 

 my son, a lad of twelve years of age, strolling later into the lane, 

 to his surprise saw one of the insects of our search on the 

 wing, which he succeeded in capturing. On the 10th, while 

 returning from the Warren, an enclosure from the sea, which in 

 places is covered with heath, thrift, galium, and rushes, where we 

 had been taking the pretty little Mesotype virgata (lineolata), 

 which was in some abundance, we took to the woods, through a 

 large orchard, into a narrow lane, where we commenced to beat, 



ENTOM. — NOV., 1885. 2 Q 



