144 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



unseasonably mild ; winter then came, and lingered in the lap of 

 spring and summer in most provoking fashion, so that it was not till 

 the end of May that I was tempted to set forth on a ramble after 

 Lepidoptera. 



True I had heard of such things as Aleucis pictaria, Taniocampa 

 rubricosa, and Antidea badiata having been taken at Ipswich street- 

 lamps, but to toil all nighi and catch only one specimen is not the 

 extent of my enthusiasm. I did visit the sallows once at Easter, but 

 the wind came on to blow bitingly from the north-west, and having 

 shaken a few of the commoner Taeniocampidje into the sheet, I trudged 

 home disgusted, and chilled to the marrow. Not till April 8th did I 

 start my diary with the records of Hi/pena rostmlis (2), Depressaria 

 applana (3), and Alucita polj/dactyla. These I discovered hybernating 

 in Freston Tower, of Margaret Catchpole associations. On April 

 29th Tinea fuscipunctella came to light at a public dinner at the Con- 

 servative Club. Then an uneventful month passed by till May 28th, 

 when I had the unexpected good fortune to obtain Amphidasys betu- 

 laria (var. doubled ay aria), Acronycta rumicis, and Trachea piniperda 

 at light. All were in the pink of condition, a circumstance which 

 bespeaks the lateness of the season. With T. piniperda I was espe- 

 cially pleased, as I had been searching for it for ten years in various 

 parts of Suffolk without success, a fact which points to its rarity. I 

 believe the record is the first made in Ipswich. The doubledayaria var. 

 of A. betalaria was a rich black specimen with scarcely a speck of 

 white, and that where the wings overlap. I have taken this melanic 

 form almost yearly, though my collecting has been unavoidably spas- 

 modic, which prompts the conclusion that it is by no means uncommon. 

 As Suffolk is practically an entirely agricultural county, the point may 

 be interesting to those who have sought for a solution in the influence 

 of smoke from manufacturing centres. 



My first excursion to Belstead Wood, that favourite resort of col- 

 lectors, was on June 21st. I spent an afternoon with the beating- 

 stick, the result being the capture of Ephyra punctaria (common on 

 trunks), Macaria notata, Acidalia remutata (several), Panayra petraria 

 (several), Venilia maculata (2). Asthena luteata, A. candidata (plentiful), 

 Eudorea ambiyiialis (swarming on trunks), Roxana arcuella, Crambus 

 pascuelliis, Halonota cirsiana {in cop. on a thistle head), Herminia tarsi- 

 pemudis, Harpella yeojfrella, Adela deyerella, and Glyphipteryx fusco- 

 virideila (these swarmed in sheltered patches). I found Anthocharis 

 cardamines in the country lanes still in good condition ; one was a 

 female. Aryynnis euphrosyne was just coming out. I revisited the wood 

 on the evening of June 25th, expecting to do well at dusking, but it 

 proved an utter failure. In the two hours beforehand, however, I was 

 kept continually going, my captures, mostly fugitives from trunks, 

 comprising: — Limacodes test^ido, Drepana falcula {falcataria), Hepialns 

 sylvanus, Acidalia. subsericeata, A. trigeminata (a lovely dark-marked 

 specimen), Cidaria corylata, Corycia temerata, E. punctaria, Ebulea ver- 

 bascaUs, A. ramella, Gelechia fugitiveUa, G. terrella, G. proximella, Graci- 

 laria sweederella, LithocoUetis qiiercifoliella (several), Tischera complanella, 

 Ptycholoma lecheana (2), and Nepticula aryentipedella, and many others 

 usually taken in May. Sphinx ligustri and Smerinthus tilia I also 

 recorded in June. 



