NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 261 



A worn specimen of S. convolvuli was caught at dusk, 

 hovering before the ilowers of tobacco plant, on September 30th, 

 at Cranbrook, Kent. — H. K. Woolacott ; Bedales, Petersfield, Hants. 



Isle of Wight.— &'j;/imrc convolvuli has appeared in Shankhn, 

 Isle of Wight, in great numbers this season ; as many as nine at 

 a time have been seen in tlie pubHc gardens hovering over tobacco 

 flowers. My brother, myself, and other collectors have caught 

 twenty-one, and we could easily have largely added to that number. 

 Some were caught quite a mile inland, others in the heart of the 

 town, especially where Nicotiana was in bloom. — W. D. W. Geeen- 

 HAM ; Wentworth, Shanklin, Isle of Wight, September 21st, 1917. 



South Devon. — Since writing on September 13th I have 

 captured three more and missed two Herse convolvuli, the last on 

 September 24th, a female and the least worn. In all I have 

 captured six, missed four, and seen one at Nicotiana blossoms. 

 The moths almost invariably came when it was nearly too dark to 

 see, hence the number of misses. — H. M. Pabish ; " Mount Vernon," 

 Totnes, South Devon, October 7th, 1917. 



I have recently taken three specimens of Sphinx con- 

 volvuli at Torquay ; the first, a male, on August 31st ; the second, 

 a female, on September 2nd ; the third, a male, on September 12th ; 

 except the first they were in very fair condition ; they were all 

 hovering over a bed of petunias. Since I took the first two at 

 about nine o'clock, the place being low-lying and partly over- 

 shadowed by trees, it was much too dark to see them in an ordinary 

 way so I had recourse to artificial light. It Was curious to see 

 how intent they were when they had once commenced to feed, for 

 they would hover over the flowers only about 3 ft. from me in the 

 bright light of an electric torch. The third insect I took at dusk. — 

 E. B. FoED ; Thursby Vicarage, Carlisle. 



Scotland and in Gloucesteeshire. — Two specimens of Sphinx 

 convolvuli were captured on September 3rd, on the window of the 

 railway station at Bo'ness, Linlithgowshire, Scotland, by Mr. John 

 Gilmour. A specimen of the same species, but in very worn condi- 

 tion, was also taken in Clifton during the month of September by 

 Mr. E. J. Lowther. The above-mentioned specimens were presented 

 to the Bristol Museum by the captors. — Geo. C. Geiffiths ; 3, Leigh 

 Eoad. Clifton, Bristol.''' 



SOCIETIES. 

 The South London Entomological and Natueal Histoey 

 ^ocm'TY.— August 9th, 1917.— Mr. Hy. J. Turner, F.E.S., President, 

 in the chair.— The Eev. A. O. Soames" M.A., F.E.S., Bromley, Kent, 

 was elected a member.— Mr. Ashdown exhibited Tipula gigantea 

 from the New Forest, and the Tachinid, Echinonnjia grossa, from 

 the same place. — Mr. Edwards, a living pupa of the stag-beetle, 

 Lucanus cerv2is, from Blackheath, and specimens typical of the 

 groups of exotic Hesperiidce. — Mr. Hugh Main, a food-mass of 

 Copris lunaris (Coleoptera) containing a nearly full fed larva, and 



* Several records are held over. — En. 



