NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 299 
were not supplied with rotten wood. Three out of seven larve spun 
up quite comfortably in withered hawthorn leaves, disregarding the 
material I had provided, and, further, all three pupated successfully. 
It is possible that strigosa may have done the same when unable to 
make use of rotten wood.—G. Brerrram Rensuaw, F.E.S.; West 
Wickham, Kent, September 30th, 1914. 
Wicken Frn:—Anyone interested in the Fen should write to 
My. A. H. Evans, 9, Harvey Road, Cambridge, the Local Secretary 
of the National Trust, who is taking a great interest in the welfare of 
the Fen, and who, I feel sure, would be only too glad of suggestions 
on his return from Australia. My advice to him, as the Fen is now 
too overgrown, was to leave bands of the older growth across the 
Fen and to cut strips of, say, eight acres cleared of bushes, these to be 
cut every fourth year in rotation. This would provide good shelter, 
and at the same time give the flowers a chance of appearing again. 
Of course, there are many spots where special insects seem to be 
confined to a small area, these he has kindly consented to leave 
untouched. As regards the notes on A. strigosa in your last 
numbers, it certainly used to be taken in the Fen and in the lane, the 
latter probably is its habitat, as there are few thorn bushes in the 
Fen. I may add that it pupates freely in old reeds, if rotten wood is 
scarce. It is, I think, an interesting fact that S. stramwnea and 
S. maritima have appeared within recent years, and B. argentwla, 
introduced by S. Bailey, is abundant, so we may still hope other 
species may appear from the preservation of the Fen.— H. B. 
Nevinson ; Morland, Cobham, September 5th. 
A Note on Acronycta stricgosa.—Dr. Chapman’s appeal for 
the preservation of all vegetation suited to Acronycta strigosa at 
Wicken Fen will doubtless be followed by further notes on the 
subject from those who are well acquainted with the habitat of this 
insect in South Cambridgeshire. While the subject is under dis- 
cussion it may also be of interest to bring together the few records 
of strigosa from a district in North Cambridgeshire, since it appears 
that there is some misapprehension as to the type of country 
inhabited by the species. The district to which I refer may be 
roughly described as that surrounding the town of Chatteris, which 
is about twenty miles north-west of Wicken, close to the Huntingdon- 
shire border of the Isle of Hly. The first specimen from this locality 
was taken on July 10th, 1876, by Mr. A. H. Ruston, who caught it 
flying at dusk along a hedge close to the town on land which is not, 
and never has been, of a marshy nature. It may also be of interest 
to record that within a few hundred yards of Mr. Ruston’s locality 
my father formerly took Hadena atriplicis, a species which now 
seems to have practically disappeared. From 1876 to 1903 there are 
no records of strigosa at Chatteris, but in 1904 I took a single 
specimen at sugar early in July in a locality about five miles from 
the town. This locality is practically on the county boundary, and 
also is not of a marshy nature. The only other species of interest 
which occurred there was Agrotis ravida, which was then quite 
common, but subsequently became very scarce. In 1905 I ayain 
found A. strigosa, obtaining two larvee by beating towards the end of 
