LEPIDOPTERA IN AUGUST IN SOUTH DEVON. 267 



Carcharodus lavaterce. Buda Pestb ; Herculesbad. Common. 



C. alcecB. Herculesbad. 



Hesperia alveus. Herculesbad. — Var. fritillum. Herculesbad. 



These are all the species that I am able to record during 

 June and July, 1900. No doubt, had the weather been less un- 

 favourable, many more species would have been added to the 

 list, especially in the more elevated regions. It will be noticed 

 that very many common species are conspicuous by their absence, 

 and several species which might have been reasonably expected 

 to be taken, were not found, such as Colias chrysotheme, C. 

 myrmidone, Vanessa l-album, Erebia melas, Pararge clwieiie, &c. 



All Saints Vicarage, Southend-on-Sea. 



LEPIDOPTERA IN AUGUST IN SOUTH DEVON. 

 By G. H. Heath, B.A., B.Sc. 



With glowing visions of Laphygma exigua and Leucania albi- 

 puncta before my eyes, I arrived at Babbicombe on Friday, 

 Aug. 2nd, and promptly got to work. The first two nights were 

 spent on Oddicombe Beach, where white flower-heads were 

 sugared for Leucania putrescens, with very little result, the few 

 specimens seen being badly worn ; in fact, out of a dozen seen 

 at various times and places, only two were in fair condition. It 

 seems to have been an early season for this insect, some ninety 

 specimens being taken by one collector from flower-heads (un- 

 sugared) in July. Lantern and net produced a good set of 

 Gnophos obscuraria, some very dark forms turning up. 



The rest of the time was spent on the clift's towards Torquay. 

 I was fortunate in securing a run adjoining one of the places 

 where Lithosia caniola is taken. The habits of this insect are 

 very interesting. It seems to occur all round this piece of coast 

 from Babbicombe to Torquay, but to be found in greater numbers 

 at certain favourable spots. It spends the day on the perpen- 

 dicular face of the cliff, and at dusk, or sometimes just before, it 

 flies in numbers from its resting-place to the gorse-bushes on the 

 steeply-sloping brow of the cliff. The female probably comes 

 up first, and hides herself in the bushes, and the males follow in 

 search of her. So great is the attracting power of the females, 

 that as many as eight males were taken, hovering over the same 

 bush, with one sweep of the net. This flight only lasts from ten 

 to fifteen minutes, and on favourable nights the collector has his 

 powers of rapid netting and boxing strained to the breaking point. 

 In choosing a position there is a choice of evils. One may stand 

 on the path on the brow of the cliff, some distance above the 

 real edge, where L. caniola is not always so plentiful, but where 



