86 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



rather than encouraged. Some of the specimens were very fine 

 and strongly marked. 



Light proved very useful with the Geometers also, and I took 

 many species in this way whose presence in the neighbourhood 

 I had never before suspected. Among those seen or captured 

 at light were Odontopera hidentata, Ennomos tiliaria, Himera 

 pennaria, Boarmia rhomhoidaria, ■Strenia clathrata, Lomaspilis 

 marginata, Oporahia dilutata, Eiipithecia venosata, E. centaureata, 

 LohopJwra polycommata, Hypsipetes elutata, Melauthia ocellata, 

 Melanippe unangidata, Anticlea derivata, Cidaria propugnata, 

 Scotosia duhitata, Cidaria miata, C. truncata, var. cenUim-notata, 

 C. testata, C. dotata, C.fidvata, Euholia cervinaria, E. hipunctata, 

 and Anaitis plagiata. Besides these, I beat up or netted in the 

 evening, Venilia maculata, Ellopia fasciaria, Crocallis elinguaria, 

 Pseudoterpna cytisaria, lodis lactearia, Asthena candidata, Acidalia 

 remutata, Corycia temerata, Macaria litwrata, Bupalus piniaria, 

 Aspilates strigillaria, Emmelesia ajffinitata, E. decolorata, Eupi- 

 thecia nanata, Cidaria suffumata, Euholia mensuraria, and many 

 others. The neighbourhood is, I am convinced, specially rich in 

 Geometers, but I could not work them adequately. 



My experiences of mothing with a light were often very 

 puzzling and contradictory. Some dark nights were quite un- 

 productive, and some moonlight nights gave me a good variety 

 of species. I used to light up about 7.30 in spring and in 

 autumn, and at 8.30 in summer ; and though I tried many 

 experiments, the results seemed to prove that it was useless to 

 begin earlier. If I did, the moths still appeared at the old time, 

 with a regularity that almost suggested their expectation of the 

 light at a fixed hour. The only rule that seemed to hold good in 

 all cases, however, was that whatever might be the weather in 

 temperature, a great falling off was always noticeable between 

 9.30 and 10.30 p.m. ; and, curiously enough, the moths that had 

 already got into the room punctually observed this hour of 

 repose, and settled down quietly upon the walls and ceiling. A 

 fact which to me became very significant was, that if these 

 sleepers became restless during the quiet interval, the dis- 

 turbance nearly always immediately preceded a fresh arrival from 

 without. So regular was this correspondence, that if any of the 

 moths which dotted my walls and ceiling began to move during 

 the quiet hour, I always took up the net in anticipation of 

 the sharp tap at the window which announced a new comer, — an 

 anticipation which seldom failed to be realised immediately. 



Burghclere, Newbury, Dec. 10th, 1894. 



