318 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Catocala fraxini in Hyde Park. — I had the good fortune 

 to capture a fine specimen of Catocala fraxini in Hyde Park on 

 September 9th last. It was at rest on a tall s^'camore 

 near the Serpentine, thirty feet from the ground, and not 

 being sure whether it was C. nupta or not I threw a handful of 

 gravel at it. It fell at my feet, feigning death. A gardener had 

 seen it two hours previously on an ash tree, but not knowing its 

 value took no notice of it. I have no doubt it had emerged from 

 the pupa in the immediate locality ; it had apparently not flown 

 far. — Joseph Potter ; 24, Henrietta Street, Brunswick Square, 

 London, November, 1885. 



Lepidoptera of Derbyshire. — The lepidopterous fauna of 

 the midland counties of England does not appear to have so much 

 engaged the attention of entomologists as that of some other 

 districts, and generally the impression prevails that they are 

 somewhat barren of species and not profitable working ground for 

 the collector. Some short notes of a sojourn therein, from 8th to 

 to 18th June last, may not be without interest. A considerable 

 proportion of my time was not available for Entomology, and the 

 weather generally was not favourable ; but, in spite of these 

 obstacles, I managed to take a number of, and some fairly good, 

 species. I made the village of Little Eaton (three miles north of 

 Derby) my head-quarters ; the country round here looks very 

 promising, the subsoil is chiefly gravel, and the district is noted 

 for its quarries of freestone. The flora is very extensive, and 

 many plants well known and valued by entomologists occur freely; 

 this is particularly the case with respect to the food-plants of the 

 Eupithecics, no less than twenty- six species of which genus occur 

 within a radius of two miles. In front of my lodgings stretched 

 Breadsall Moor, an elevated tract of country covered with heath, 

 bilberry, &c. ; whilst all round were fine woods of larch, fir, 

 oak, &c., intermixed with beech, birch, alder, and a large growth 

 of sallow. I did not sugar, and chiefly confined my operations to 

 day-work. Amongst the species I took were Drepana falcataria, 

 Enplthecia nanata, and Tephrosia j^unctularia amongst birch. 

 Ast]ienia luteata, E.ohliterata (lieparata), and Hypsipetes trifasciata 

 (impliiviata) were common amongst alder ; whilst in the neighbour- 

 hood of larch and fir E. indigata and E. lariciata, with Macaria 

 Utiirata ; fine forms of TepJirosia hiundularia, dark as Boarmia 

 gemmaria[rJiomhoida7'ia), occurred freely, andCoccyx tcedella {hyrci- 



