208 THK KNTOMOLOaiST. 



an orange apical blotch, but that it gi'adually became obsolete in the 

 female, thus rendering her less conspicuous? — (Rev.) Gilbert H. 

 Raynor ; Hazeleigh Rectory, Maldon, Essex, August 17th, 1917. 



Vanessa io and Aglais urtig^ in Gloucestershire. — During 

 a holiday in the Stroud district at the end of July last I noticed 

 hundreds of larva of A. urticcB on almost every patch of nettles, and 

 a good few of the butterflies in perfect condition were flying. In 

 view of the idea that V. io is getting scarcer in the country I was 

 glad to see it common in many parts of the district, the butterflies 

 in all cases being in perfect condition, but no larva3 were seen, so 

 presumably all had turned in— and out. — G. Nicholson ; Hale End, 

 Ghingford, August 15th, 1917. 



Plusia moneta in Cheshire. — The accidental finding of a freshly- 

 emerged specimen of P.fcstncce in my garden caused me to watch the 

 flowers of sweet williams, of which I have a fair number. I found 

 the Plusias well represented, and in the course of a week took quite 

 a nice series of fcstuca, iota, and jj'^i'^clirina ; chrysitis was very 

 common, and a few gamma were taken, but I was delighted to find 

 moneta had found its way into the garden, and I secured six specimens 

 in all. An odd specimen had, I believe, been taken in the district 

 before, but it has evidently, in common with the other Plusias, been 

 much more plentiful than usual this season. — Robert Tait ; Rose- 

 neath, Ashton-on-Mersey, Cheshire. 



Apatura iris in West Sussex. — On August 7th Master E. G. 

 Thorpe, a schoolboy staying here, brought me a butterfly he had just 

 caught in my garden to identify. It was a Purple Emperor ; I have 

 lived here thirty years, and this is the first time I have seen it. — 

 Alfred Lloyd, F.E.S. ; The Dome, Bognor, August 16th, 1917. 



Ch^rocampa elpenor Larv^ on Balsam. — Last week two larvse 

 of G. elpenor were brought to me feeding on wild balsam [Impatiens 

 fulva). They were found by Lieut. Gapp when fishing. This plant, 

 which grows in profusion along the banks of the Tillingbourne, does 

 not appear to have been noticed as a food of this insect, so I think 

 some 6f your readers may be interested. I may say that since the 

 larvae have been in my possession they have eaten voraciously of 

 this diet. One went down yesterday and the other is full fed. — 

 Alfred G. Scorer ; Hillcrest, Chilworth, Surrey, August 3rd, 1917. 



Larvae of Macroglossa stbllatarum, etc., at Cambridge. — 

 As the yellow bedstraw {Galium verum) is much in evidence this 

 summer, it would be as well if lepidopterists (especially those living 

 near the coast where Dcil&phila galii may turn up) were to search 

 this plant thoroughly for larvae, as on a few sprays picked at random 

 as food for C. porcellus larvae I found two eggs of Macroglossa 

 stellatarum and a minute "looper," which I have since determined to 

 be Anticlea sinuata. The M. stellatarum ova have just hatched, and 

 as August advances I hope to find a lot more on the chalk near by, 

 where porcellus always, and galii sometimes, occur. 



A visit to the old Roman road less than three miles south of 

 Cambridge on July 28th in search of Heliothis dipsacea resulted in 

 two specimens of this moth, both var. maritima, which seems to be 



