NOTES ON COLLECTING DURING 1906. 129 



The larvae of Plusia moneta were discovered on both Aconitum 

 and Delphinium in various parts of Leicester and the county. 

 The insect seems to have established itself thoroughly as far 

 north as this. On June 7th the larvae of Xylophasia scolopacina 

 were taken, still small and not numerous, though they fed up 

 very rapidly. A morning in the Forest on June 12th produced 

 Venilia maculata (few), and Emmelesia albulata plentifully, and 

 the larvae of Nudaria mundana were crawling about the lichen on 

 a stone wall. During this month the trees all over the Forest 

 district were almost completely denuded of their leaves by larvae, 

 mostly Tortrix viridana and Hybernia defoliaria. Possibly the 

 late season brought on the larvae more quickly than the leaves 

 grew. At all events, I never remember their ravages being so 

 marked ; whole woods looked at a little distance as brown as in 

 February. Happily they very soon succeeded in putting on a 

 fresh growth of leaves. On June 22nd Bomolocha fontis was 

 flying, and some eggs were obtained, the larvae from which fed 

 up and pupated at the end of August. Hepialus velleda, Eupi- 

 thecia debiliata, and Penthina sauciana were obtained at the same 

 time. 



In the middle of July worn specimens of Vanessa cardui were 

 noticed in this county, and larvae of Smerinthus ocellatus were 

 brought to me from several gardens. This is evidently a common 

 moth in the neighbourhood of Leicester. Sugaring was almost 

 a complete failure during the summer in this neighbourhood, a 

 single example of Orthosia suspecta being the only insect obtained 

 by this means of any interest. A female Pericallia syringaria 

 was netted in the garden on July 15th ; she laid a few eggs, 

 which duly hatched, and the larvae hybernated successfully sleeved 

 on ash, and are now feeding on privet. 



In September, Macroglossa stellatarum was noticed on two or 

 three occasions in town gardens, and the following Vanessids 

 were also seen: atalanta, cardui, io, and urticce; but butterflies 

 were certainly not plentiful in the late summer. The common 

 late summer and autumn moths appeared in the garden, among 

 them Polia Jlavicincta and Xanthia gilvago. The larvae of Hy- 

 bernia defoliaria and aurantiaria had been plentiful, but the 

 emergences in the autumn were very few in proportion to the 

 larvae obtained, owing, perhaps, to the very dry summer. They 

 were also late in emerging, the first aurantiaria appearing on 

 November 11th, and the first defoliaria on November 14th. A 

 fairly long series of Himera pennaria was also bred from a local 

 female, including one male with the wings, especially the hind 

 marginal area, suffused with rosy — a somewhat pronounced 

 example of the coloration more usual in females. 



I had an unpleasant and, fortunately, quite exceptional expe- 

 rience with some larvae sleeved in the garden — Selenia lunaria 

 almost full-fed, and large broods of Acidalia aversata and Abraxas 



