68 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



vulgatissimus and L. dubia, are hardly likely to occur in this district.— 

 C. A. Briggs; Surrey House, Leatherhead, Dec. 17th, 1894. 



The Season in North Middlesex. — Compared with my list of obser- 

 vations previously published in this magazine (Entom. xxvii. 146), the 

 record of 1894 is meagre indeed. The magnificent weather in March, 

 closely resembling that of the year preceding, gave promise of a brilliant 

 entomological season ; but the miserably cold spell we experienced in May 

 and June, followed by rain in August and fogs in September, effectually 

 disappointed all hope, and species which occurred in some abundance in this 

 district in 1893 have been conspicuous by their absence. T have again to 

 thank Mr. George Wall for a carefully compiled list of his captures at 

 Grim's Dyke. Among them Asphalia flavicornis, of those noted bv me 

 as new =i= to the catalogue of Middlesex Lepidoptera colkted by Mr. T. D. 

 A. Cockerell (Entom. xxiv. xxv. xxvi.), turns up again, and Eupitliecia pul- 

 chellata with Hypenodes costastrigalis and Scoparia aiiihifjualis (quoted 

 somewhat ambiguously, Entom. xxvi. 102) appear to be novelties, so far as 

 the county is concerned. On March 21st Gunopteryx rhamni was out, and 

 two days later V. urticcB, in very perfect condition, flitted over the sallow 

 bushes on Harrow Weald Common ; while I was informed that P. rapes 

 was flying at Eastcote on March 25th. On April 29th Ccenonympha pam- 

 philus, Syrichthus malvce (swarming in some places), and Tkanaos tages were 

 common, with (May 7th) Polyoininatus phlceas. On Mny 18th I encoun- 

 tered a single perfect female specimen of Pararge megitra, the first of its 

 kind that I have netted here for the last fifteen years. The same day I saw 

 Euchlo'e cardamines and Lycmm icarus, the former very scarce, and then 

 came the bad weather. Hesperia sylvanus, on the L. & N.W. Railway 

 bank, was fairly numerous; other butterflies practically disappeared till 

 September, V. atalanta (last seen Oct. 13th) was rather more abundant 

 than usual; "the whites" notably rare. In the following list of the 

 Heterocera I have only enumerated, with a few exceptions, those species 

 which were not included in my last year's list. Rhopalocera (19 species): 

 Pieris brassica, P. napi, P. rapce, Euchlo'e cardamines, Gonopteryx rhamni, 

 Argynnis euphrosyne (noted in error last year as selene), Vanessa urticcR, V. 

 io, V. atalanta, V. cardui, Pararge megara. Epinephele ianira, E. tithonus, 

 Ccenonympha pamphilus, Polyommatus jjhhvas (May 7th to mid-October), 

 hycana icarus, Syrichthus malva, Thanaos tages, Hesperia sylvanus. The 

 occurrence of A. paphia on Stanmore Common, noted by Mr. Rhoades 

 Smith (Entom. xxvii. 272), is welcome as supporting my belief that in 1893 

 I caught a glimpse of the same species hard by ; and I think it may be in- 

 teresting to those who work in Middlesex to know that reports have reached 

 me of Lycana corydon and CoHas hyale being taken also in 1893, close to 

 the same locality, though at present I have had no opportunity of assuring 

 myself that the specimens are properly identified. Heterocera — inter 

 alia : Smerinthus popiili, Macroglossa stellatarum, Arctia caia, Spilosoma 

 fuligiuosa (May 15th), Heplalus hectus, Cossus ligniperda (one at sugar, 

 July 9thj, Cilix glaucata (April 29th), Notodonla dictaoides (two, April 

 25 th, on tree trunks), Asphalia flavicornis, Leucania lithargyria, Hydrcecia 

 micacea, Miana fasciuncida, Caradrina alsines, Tryphcena comes, Pachnobia 

 rubricosa, Calymnia diflinis, Aplecta nebulosa, Hadena dentina, Zanclo- 

 gnatha griseatis, Pechypogon barbalis, * Hypenodes costastrigalis (July 6th), 

 Phigalia pedaria, Nyssia hispidaria (one female, Feb. 24th), Acidalia dimi- 

 diata, A. virgularia, Anisopteryx ascularia, ^Eupithecia pulchellata (July 



