251 



ODONATA, &c., IN THE NORFOLK BROADS. 

 By Geo. T. Porritt, F.L.S., F.E.S. 



From June 20th to July 2nd last, in company with a lepi- 

 dopterist friend, Mr. Arthur Whitaker, of Worsbrough Bridge, 

 Barnsley, I made another visit to the Norfolk Broads, making 

 (as in the previous year, see E. M. M., October, 1903, pp. 251-2) 

 Stalham headquarters. My principal object was to fill up my 

 series of the local, and until last year very rare, xEschna isosceles, 

 and also, if possible, to turn up Agrion armatum, a couple of 

 specimens of which had been taken in the neighbourhood the 

 previous year by Mr. Balfour Browne. In my efforts for the 

 former I was perfectly successful, but a close search for armatum 

 was a complete failure, for no trace of it could I find. The first 

 isosceles was taken on June 22nd, or nine days earlier than in 

 1903, and from then to the 29th, including two captured by 

 Mr. Whitaker, I managed to secure eleven. The nine I captured 

 were all netted from a boat, and most of them, as may be 

 imagined, took a good deal of stalking, in which Mr. Whitaker's 

 assistance was invaluable. But, contrary to my last years 

 experience, a specimen was now and again seen on the drier 

 ground. One was netted by my friend under very interesting 

 circumstances. He had gone down to sugar on the evening of 

 June 24th, and when almost dark noticed a large dragonfly 

 hawking for insects, just in the same way that M. grandis has 

 long been known to do, but a characteristic which was not known 

 to be shared by any other British dragonfly. It proved to be an 

 /E. isosceles, thus making a second species which is not averse 

 to somewhat nocturnal habits. Of the beautiful Lihellnla fidva, 

 which in 1903 was quite abundant, we probably did not see 

 more than half a dozen specimens on this visit, and only one 

 male was captured. Orthetrum cancellatum was plentiful, chiefly 

 on the drier ground, and Erijthromvia naias was still more 

 abundant ; it settled in numbers on the floating leaves of the 

 water-lilies. The pretty Agrion pulchellum was m profusion. 

 The other species included Libellida qiiadrimacidata, Brachytron 

 pratense, Pyrrliosoma nymphula, Lestes sponsa, and Ischnura ele- 

 gans, all more or less common except L. sponsa, which we had 

 never before seen out so early as June, and which would no doubt 

 be abundant enough later. 



The Trichoptera included Phryganea grandis, P. varia, Lepto- 

 cerus seiiUis, L. aterrimns, Erotesis baltica, Mystacides longicornis, 

 M. nigra, Tricenodes hicolor, Limnophilus xanthodes, L. luridus, 

 L. rhomhicus, L. sparsiis, &c. 



Of Orthoptera, we took Tettix hipunctata and Xij^hidium dor- 



