CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 15 



Breconshire on June 15th, and the last in South Devon in September. 

 I should like to mention an instance of how these moths, like many others, 

 rely on their protective resemblance. On one occasion I watched for some 

 time two specimens flying up and down an old wall on the borders of Dart- 

 moor, the day being bright, with clouds occasionally only passing over. The 

 insects occasionally settled ; at last one alighted near me, and appeared in- 

 clined to remain at rest. Cautiously approaching, I was able to place my 

 hand completely over the moth, which remained perfectly still until I 

 touched it with my fingers, when of course there was a great buzzing, until 

 I allowed it to escape. In June some Noctuae came freely to the blossoms 

 of shrubs in Breconshire. Among these were Hadena dentina, H. oleracea, 

 Apamea unanimis, A. basUinea, Leucania pallens, L. comma, Cucullia um- 

 bratica, &g. ; one specimen of Aplecta tincta and H. pisi also came ; H. den- 

 tina was extremely abundant. I did not try sugaring throughout the season, 

 but a friend in Somersetshire complained of it not being at all productive. 

 The Geometrse appeared fairly abundant. 



Of other insects, wasps, so commonly seen last year, I did not observe a 

 score of individuals, and on no occasion came across a nest ; the common 

 house-fly, on the contrary, was quite a plague in many places. Much injury 

 was done in some parts by the larvae of white butterflies ; and I have heard 

 complaints of that of Carpocapsa pomonella (the codlin moth). — T. B. 

 Jefferts ; Bath. 



Lepidoptera at Winchester in 1899. — Lepidoptera were particularly 

 abundant last season in the Winchester district ; at any rate that was my 

 experience, though I have not compared notes with other collectors there. 

 Sugaring at Crabbe Wood, which I found such a failure in 1898, was much 

 more productive this season, the following coming freely : — Noctua baia, 

 A', brunnea, N. rhomboidea, N. /estiva (including many beautiful varieties), 

 Aplecta nebulosa, Xylophasia hepatica, X. polyodon, Thyatira derasa, 

 Rusina tenebrosa, Leucania lithargyria, Agrotis exclamationis, Hadena 

 thalassina ; and less commonly, Triphcena fimbria, T. subsequa, T. orbona, 

 T. pronuba, Acronycta ligustri, Noctua dahlii, ISf. c-nigrum, N. triangulum, 

 Thyatira batis, Cymatophora duplaris, Epionc omicronaria, E. porata, 

 Ligdia adustata, Platypteryx unguicula, Metrocampa margaritata, Halias 

 prasinana. Doubtless, if I had gone oftener, my list would have been con- 

 siderably swelled ; but I only went sugaring sotne ten or twelve times in 

 all (and it was only thoughts of Triphcena subsequa that tempted me to go 

 as often as I did), for I found that my nights were far more profitably spent 

 collecting at the street lamps. Winchester has, within the last three or four 

 years, discarded the oil lamps, with which she formerly used to " make 

 darkness visible " in her streets ; and by a great leap has arrived at very 

 decent incandescent gas lamps. There is one lamp in particular which is 

 most favourably situated on the outskirts of the town, and commands the 

 view of a well-wooded valley. To this lamp I would repair every night 

 during June and July (with the exception of the few occasions on which I 

 went sugaring to Crabbe Wood), as soon as it was dark, armed with a chair, 

 net, and killing bottles, besides the usual pocketful of pill boxes ; and it 

 was often past 1.30 or 2 a.m. before I could drag myself home to bed, so 

 fascinated was I with my occupation, and so remunerative was the time 

 spent in this manner. During those two months I took no less than two 

 hundred and sixteen species (exclusive of Micros) at that one lamp, besides 

 many beautiful and valuable varieties. I have kept a careful record of all 



