THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 193 



25th of August, last year, I had a convincing proof of the 

 truth of this. Walking on the footway between RatcliflTand 

 Seagrave, in Leicestershire, I saw a heajj of broken pieces of 

 granite, spotted all round with whitish specks, of which 1 was 

 very curious to know the nature. The weather was very dry 

 and hot, and the sun setting. I took my pocket lens, and, 

 looking at one of those fragmentary stones, was struck at 

 seeing, in each nook and crevice of the same, a cluster of 

 very fine dark purple insects, which I supposed to be some- 

 thing like Erythrajus parietum, Latr. : on scratching some of 

 these with the point of a knife they emitted a very dark 

 purple humour, of the same kind as that of the Acaridea ; 

 so that I needed no further proof of their truly animal nature. 

 — P. J. Gagliardi ; Market-lVeighloii, January 5, 1865. 



126. Injluence of Atmospheric Changes upon Insect Life. 

 ; — I am sure that many of my brethren of the net have gone 

 out expecting great things, but have come back sadly disap- 

 pointed. Now this could not be the case if they would take 

 notice of the state of the weather a little before they start. 

 I am perfectly aware that the slightest change will pre- 

 vent moths from moving (of course I am alluding to night- 

 flying insects). Here is a case in point : at the end of last 

 September (the wind being west), having to get some Galium 

 for larva-food, I went out in the dusk of the evening : on ray 

 return I observed some small Noctua flying over a dyke that 

 was crowded with herbage ; I knew the moth was Nonagria 

 despecta, and, wanting a few of them, I filled what boxes I 

 had with me, to the number of sixteen ; some of the speci- 

 mens were a good deal worn, so I resolved to go on the next 

 night for a few more. At about the same time of the evening, 

 after looking about some time, I observed one rise, but it 

 soon went down again among the herbage : this was the only 

 one I saw that night : the wind had shifted about two 

 points to the north. On the next night not one N. despecta 

 was to be seen : the wind had shifted a little : I was about 

 leaving, when I observed several small moths flying among 

 some flags on the same spot ; I took about twenty of them : 

 on getting them home, to my surprise I found they were Nu- 

 daria Senex : this was new to the Kentish coast, so I went 

 on the next evening for a few more, the wind having gone 

 back to the west : N. despecta was flying most merrily, but 



