CAPTURES AND FIELD RErORTS. 237 



fifty ova captured it, and found it to be the common Yellow Under- 

 wing. Wondering what would become of the young larvae when 

 they found themselves on so peculiar a " food-plant," I examined 

 another batch of ova which had been laid some time previously, and 

 found that after slowly eating so much of the egg-shell as was not 

 attached to the tarred string, the larva spun a fine thread of silk and 

 floated gently to the ground, presumably there to continue its life 

 among the grass. It would be interesting to learn whether any 

 other observers have noticed the moth doing the same thing in other 

 districts. — Harry Eltringham ; South Shields. 



[On July 23rd last I noticed a number of the ova of Mamesira pcr- 

 sicaria on some black thread hanging on the branches of a plum-tree 

 in the garden. (The thread, it may be mentioned, had l^een put over 

 the tree to protect the blossom from bird attack in the spring.) In 

 one case the eggs W'cre arranged in beautifully neat order, side by 

 side, all down a loose end for about four inclies of its length : in 

 appearance this was not unlike a string of tiny beads. A shorter 

 row of eggs was laid on a length of thread that was still stretched 

 from one twig to another. This was cut off for examination, and was 

 found to have some sixty eggs upon it ; of these I kept about half. 

 The larvae hatched a few days later, and at first ate the foliage of the 

 plum, but when supplied also with knotgrass and other weeds they 

 seemed to lose their taste for plum. Larvae also hatched out from 

 the ova left on the thread in the open, and those that have so far 

 escaped their enemies are no doubt feeding upon various plants in the 

 garden. At all events I have failed to detect any on the plum-tree, 

 although those from the eggs I kept are now (Aug. 27th) nearly full- 

 grown. — E. S.] 



ACRONYCTA ACERIS LaRVA FEEDING ON LABURNUM. — AcroniJCta 



aceris, L. is not uncommon in this district and, though it occurs on 

 sycamore, its favourite food-plant here appears to be horse-chestnut. 

 Last autumn (1908) I took a very young Acronyctid larva off 

 laburnum, which, as Mr. South suggested when I mentioned it to 

 him, turned out to be that of A. aceris, Laburnum seems to be a 

 strange food-plant for this species which, however, may be more of a 

 general feeder than is usually supposed. When a species is excep- 

 tionally abundant it sometimes takes to unusual food-plants, but 

 A. aceris was not more frequent than usual last season. I may also 

 mention that from the early stage of the larva when I took it, and 

 from the way in which it ate the laburnum leaves supplied to it, I 

 have no doubt that the egg was laid by the parent on the laburnum- 

 tree. I failed however to find any further larvte of this species on 

 the tree. — Alfred Sich ; Corney House, Chiswick, Aug. 18th, 1909. 



Lepidoptera in East Sussex. — For the past four years it has 

 been my good fortune to spend a portion of the month of August at 

 the "ancient town" of Rye. It is a place known chiefly to artists 

 and golfers, and has apparently received little attention from ento- 

 mologists. Yet it is perhaps better situated as a locality for the 

 insect-hunter than any other spot on the south-east coast. The 

 town itself rises sharply above the river Bother, and is separated 

 from the sea by a mile or more of salterns, the coast being bordered 



