NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 239 



apparently just hatched, were plentiful again in April', 1916. Frona 

 this it would appear that larvoe which had not pupated before the 

 cold weather, died. Probably the butterflies spent the cold weather 

 in the pupal state. These emerged in April, laid eggs, and gave rise 

 to tlie young larvte found in April. — F. B. Scott ; Capt., LA., Aden, 

 June 13th, 1917. 



Some Notes and Oijsekvations from the New Forest. — 

 Cycling througli to the Forest on July 20th, I was struck with the 

 unusual number of butterflies on the wing. On arrival, I proceeded 

 on the 21st to my valezina ground, to find my expectations more 

 than fulfilled. Dryas paphia was to be seen in thousands : every 

 flowering bramble-clump was alive with them. As many as a dozen 

 valezina could be seen at once on a single clump. After as careful an 

 estimate as could be made with insects on the wing, I found the 

 proportion of valezina to ? ? paphia to be as high as 1 in 10. In 

 previous seasons I have known the proportion to be 1 in 100. No 

 specimen of A. adippe was seen. It was probably over. This 

 species, however, appears to be a decreasing one — at any rate in the 

 northern parts of the Forest. It was very plentiful early in July in 

 some other parts of Hampshire, notably in the Portsmouth district. 

 Limenitis sihylla, though evidently passe, was in greater abundance 

 than in previous seasons. Of Apatura iris I saw three, though only 

 one was captured (on the 27th), and that a ? ovipositing on sallow. 

 ^2<(/07wa^o/?/c/t/o7-os was more in evidence than usual from the 20th 

 to the 30th. Some species I usually take fairly plentifully at the 

 same time and place were, this year, unaccountably scarce, notably 

 hippocastanaria, plumaria, obscuraria, agathina, neglecta, and ano- 

 viala. Sugaring gave only moderate results. Catocala promissa was 

 fairly abundant ; G. sponsa represented by a single example. The 

 latter insect, like adippe, appears to have become much less plentiful 

 of late. During the last eight or nine years the proportion of sponsa 

 to promissa bears a ratio of about 1 to 60. With the exception of 

 three Nola strigula (on the 21st) and two Noctua stigmatica (on the 

 26th), the rest of the visitors to the sugar consisted of trapczina — 

 trapezium, however, in amazing variation, including all the named 

 vars., and, in addition, a unique uniform brown speckled form. 

 Beating for larviB produced the usual mixed bag, which included, 

 among others, trepida (14), fagi (8), chaonia (12), dodonea (3), alni 

 (1), leporina [1), iwiipcrda, firmata, etc. Of these, a fair, or, i-ather, 

 unfair proportion, including, as usual, alni, were stung. Whilst 

 larvae beating, a very nice, varied series of Sarrothripa revayana 

 (tmdulanus) was obtained, accompanied, it may be added, by swarms 

 of pestiferous and ubiquitous mosquitos, of ah especially vigorous 

 and attentive disposition. Beating for Cleora glahraria, as I ex- 

 pected, gave very poor results. I have seldom taken glahraria 

 plentifully, except after a mild, wet winter. Finally, I may mention 

 that T. interjecta flew intermittently on certain nights, being very 

 uncertain in its times of flight, appearing as early as 5 and as late as 

 9 o'olock. One curious habit of this motli I remarked for the first 

 time this season, and that was its habit of flying for a time, and then 

 hiding on the grass for a period varying from nine minutes to forty- 

 five minutes — the shortest and longest periods under observation — 



