284 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



interest to note that some time ago I came across two male 

 specimens of C. virgatirecs, supposed to have been taken in 1785 in 

 Norfolk. They have been re-set, and one can see that they are very 

 old. One has the antennae missing and the other has a slit along 

 nervure 2 in the left hind wing. — Leicester Payne ; " Delamere," 

 Silver Hill, Sheffield. 



Sphinx convolvuli in Kent. — On September 2nd last I received 

 by post a specimen of S. convolvuli from my sister at Margate, with 

 a request for the name of the insect. It was badly worn, and had 

 been found in the garden, she said, in an almost dead condition. A 

 few nights later she visited a bed of tobacco-plants growing in the 

 garden, and found three of the moths flying over it ; her cat was 

 also on the spot and had captured one, which she released, and 

 rather suspected that the damage to the previous insect came from 

 the same source. After this she improvised a net, and I have since 

 been indebted to her for nine specimens, taken on various dates 

 during the month, from the 8th to the 20th inclusive, five of which 

 were in good condition. I might mention that her cat developed an ' 

 extraordinary penchant for catching these moths, capturing four on 

 different occasions, and in describing her modus operandi to me by 

 letter my sister said she usually visited the bed at dusk, and kept 

 quite still until the cat " got excited," when she would know a moth 

 was on the way, and prepared to strike. On September 26th I had 

 a specimen of this insect brought to me by a postman, which he had 

 taken locally. — A. F. Bobby; " St. Margaret's," Summerdown Eoad, 

 Eastbourne. 



Sphinx convolvuli at Chichester. — A specimen of S. convol- 

 vuli was taken here on August 30th and others were captured during 

 September. All the specimens that I saw were much worn, one 

 almost beyond recognition. — Joseph Anderson; Chichester. 



ACHERONTIA ATROPOS IN HAMPSHIRE. — TwO full-fcd larvSB of 



A. atropos were brought to me in August which duly pupated. I am 

 now endeavouring to force them. — (Rev.) J. E. Tarbat ; Fareham, 

 Hants. 



Notes on some Sphingid^, etc., in 1917. — On July 15th, in one 

 of my rambles after insects, I noticed the frass of large caterpillars 

 on the gwoidiQv vo^Q [Viburnum opulus). After closer examination I 

 found a beautiful larva of Sphinx ligustri in attitude of repose ; then 



1 carefully examined all tlie bushes of the same species in the neigh- 

 bourhood, and was fortunate enough to find two more nearly fully 

 grown larvEe. All the three were found on very young bushes— 

 indeed, one of the bushes with its single stem was not more than 



2 ft. high, and all its leaves with the exception of two had been eaten 

 away by this handsome sphinx larva. Wild privet [Ligustrum vul- 

 gare) was growing in abundance all round this particular spot ; after 

 a couple of hours' search I had obtained two more specimens of 

 S. ligustri. The specimens were taken to the laboratory of the 

 South-Eastern Agricultural College and pupated. When the larvae 

 were fully matured I noticed that those feeding on V. op)ulus were 

 liner, being quite an inch longer than those feeding on privet. The 



