310 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



AcHERONTiA ATROPos IN SHROPSHIRE. — Two Diore fuU-growD larvse of 

 this species have been brought to me, the last on Sept. 7th ; this went down 

 on the 9th, and pupated successfully. On Oct. 12th another larva was 

 received, but as it had been in a dry box for some days the treatment was 

 fatal to it. This makes the eleventh example I have had, and I have heard 

 of two others this year. Five of the pupae produced moths. In one pupa 

 the right antenna was deformed; the moth from this was minus the right 

 antenna, and the eye on that side was ill-developed. The dates of emergence 

 were Sept. 29th and 30th; Oct. 15th (two specimens) and 18th.— F. C. 

 Woodforde; Market Drayton, Salop, Oct. 20th, 1895. 



AcHERONTiA ATROPOS IN SOMERSET. — On Aug. 13th two full-fed larvaB 

 of A. atropos were sent me from Wellington, Somerset, by a brother of 

 mine there. One of them I h^id preserved; the other pupated two days 

 afterwards. The moth, measuring nearly five inches, appeared on Sept. 

 25th. The pupa was broken on the part of the left fore wing (evidently 

 caused in its larval state), which I feared would entirely disfigure it ; but 

 the only damage done was a hole about the size of a small pencil near the 

 posterior margin. Five were found there altogether, feeding on potatoes in 

 gardens. It is many years since they were seen there before. — F. Milton ; 

 184, Stamford Hill, N. 



Acherontia atropos in Surrey. — I had a nice imago of A. atropos 

 brought to me this morning, captured alive in an old stable-roof in East 

 Croydon by a local bricklayer. The specimen would have been in perfect 

 condition had not the extreme tip of one wing been slightly rubbed. Its 

 stridulating qualities were much in evidence, and caused no small amount 

 of alarm to its captor. Judging from its condition and autumnal emergence, 

 there can I, think, be no question of its having been bred in the district, as 

 all around South Croydon is a considerable expanse of potato-fields, and 

 doubtless the species would turn up in some numbers if properly worked 

 for in the larval stage.— T. W. Hall; 60 & 61, West Smithfield, E.C., 

 Sept. 21st, 1895. A specimen of A. atropos in good condition, 125 ram. 

 in expanse of wing, was taken by me in the evening of Sept. 17th ult., 

 flying at an electric light in Kingston-on-Thames. — W. H. Wollstein ; 

 Dorset Villa, Kingston-on-Thames, Sept. 24th, 1895. 



Acherontia atropos in the London District. — It may interest 

 some of your readers to know that A. atropos has occurred this year in the 

 environs of the metropolis. I have just received a fine healthy pupa of that 

 insect from the proprietor of potato-grounds at Lower Tooting, S.W. ; his 

 brother turned it up whilst lately digging the potatoes up. A friend of mine 

 has also had one sent him from the neighbouring parish of Merton, S.W. ; 

 this was found in the private garden of a relative living there, and emerged 

 on Oct. 1st.— Ed. G. J. Sparke; Tooting Bee Road, S.W., Oct. 22nd. 



Acherontia atropos at St. Agnes, Scilly Islands. — Last month 

 I received a very fine female A. atropos, partially alive, from Mr. G. W. 

 Brown, who captured the specimen at rest on the entrance gate leading to 

 the lighthouse, on Sept. 14th; it had evidently been attracted by the 

 light.— F. W. Frohawk; Oct. 1895. 



Plusia moneta in Essex. — In Mr. Rickard's most interesting " Ob- 

 servations on Plusia moneta" {ante, pp. 261, 262), he says, " There does not 

 appear to be any recorded from Essex," &c. I captured a specimen in my 

 garden at Woodford June 2nd, 1893, and exhibited it at a meeting of the 



