Proceedixos. 1924 17 



latei-, and took my first Autographa speciosa ciff it in .Inly. liH."). I have 

 planted special beds of this hi,L;'lily scmti'd t'l(i\\'('r sinre T discovered its 

 attractive properties, and liave taken speciosa every season; it is on the 

 wing from the beginnini;- of .Inly mitil ahont thi' 2(lth. In Scpteraher. 

 1922, I took a pair of Autographa brassicae at the flowers, a new record 

 for Vanconver Island, and an addition to my 1>. ('. collection. 



Last year (lft2o) my record for the season, from tlie beyinnin";' of 

 -Inly to the be^innini;' of OetobiT. was 11 species of Antofi'rapha. some 

 ]'){) specinu-ns. Kvery species that I have taken on the Island has beei! 

 attracted, except Mapjia. which iiies in .Inne before the flower ai-e ont. 

 Stran^^-e to say comparatively few otliei' sjiecies of noctnids appeal- to be 

 attracted to this flowei-. aIthon;.:h I have twice taken sinLih' specimens of 

 Cucullia. I have tnken the i'each-bhissom moth (L. pudens) at blossom 

 of the wihl cheri-y. 



Last year a nei.uhbour, ^Ir. Demns Ashby, called my attention to the 

 attractiveness of the Tansy ragwort; Stinking Willie is another name for 

 it, and a fitting one, for it has a very strong sour, disagreeable smell — 

 and he gave me some plants. I can truthfully state that I have never 

 before seen such swarms of insects on any flowers or plants. All order-^ 

 were \vell represented, but, as the flowers \vere not open until the begin- 

 ning of Auiiust. not many species of Diurnals were out to be attracted. 

 Hymenoptera simply swarmed: the Coleoptera were mostly "Lady- 

 birtls." and "Longhorns." l)nt hei-e again ]iot a great luimbei- of species 

 of the latter were still about; I, iiowever. to(dv two sjiecies new to tiiis 

 district. Hemiptera were alnindant, ami Diptera also. Micro-Lepidop- 

 tera Avere attracted in numbers, and species new to nu' turned up. includ- 

 ine our tinyest "Plume" (Trichoptilus pygmaeus), and Allononyma vica- 

 rialis; of the latter I caught about twenty specimens during August, all 

 during the daytime, never towards dark or later. Strange that, during a 

 residence at Quamichan of 18 years, I had never run across it before. 

 This handsome little moth skipped about on the flower heads, usually 

 with its wings (Uit at i-ight angles or up-tilted; oiu-e it took flight, it dis- 

 appeared from my vision. Tliis moth was met with one season at Gold- 

 stream in xVugust. In the evening a lot of "Micros" were on the flowers, 

 also noctnids and geometers. Amcjiig the latter tlie pick was a specimen 

 of Cleora albescens. If this plant (it is really a weed) could be persuad- 

 ed to flower earlier than August, the possibilities of its attraction would 

 be almost unlimited. To all collectors of "Bugs" possessing a garden, 

 my advice is, grow a jiatch of Tansy ragwort, and one of Mathiola; tii:^ 

 flowers of tlie latter, except on i-ainy or ^•ery dull days, close up entirely, 

 and it is therefore no use for day collecting. lIoiu\v suckle (not the wild 

 kind) draws the Sphingidae, and Lilac (I only grow the whiti' variety) 

 attracts well ; in the day time Paplllos and cb'ar wing moths, among them 

 Proserpinus clarkiae and ulalume — l)olh rather lare species usually — and 

 towards evi'uine- many of the early appcai-iiiL;' Polias, etc. 



