294 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



turning the moth outside I began turning over my picture-boxes, pre- 

 paratory to packing up, when, to my astonishment, there on a lid of 

 a case which had been resting against the attic wall was the libatrix, 

 back again ! There was not the slightest doubt about its being the 

 same moth. It was a perfect specimen, very clearly marked, only it 

 had a large peculiarly shaped chip out of its left upper wing, which I 

 had noticed when I first took the moth, and which I have seen almost 

 daily for a fortnight, as I used to look at the moth in the evenings to 

 see if moved according to the weather. I again put the moth outside, 

 this time through the attic window. About a week after doing so I 

 took all my picture-boxes out of the attic. On taking off the loose 

 lid of the box where the moth had been, I discovered the same moth 

 again, sitting on the same lid ! I must explain that the lids and 

 boxes were not attached, but were all placed in a pile resting against 

 the wall, so there was plenty of room for the moth to creep inside the 

 box on to the lid. This particular box, that the moth had twice 

 selected, was of walnut- wood ; the others were of deal. The insect 

 might certainly have easily selected the same box twice, once it had 

 entered the room, but how did it manage to find its way from the 

 garden to the attic window round the other side of the house the first 

 time I turned it out ? There can be no question about its having been 

 the same moth each time from the peculiar mark I have mentioned. 

 At Camberley, about three years ago, I noticed somewhat the same 

 thing. A specimen of Goneptery'x rhamni hybernated on the upper 

 side of a leaf of a thick laurel-bush in my garden. The insect was 

 not snowed on, as upper leaves protected it, but it certainly must have 

 been frozen several times. It was quite visible to anybody standing 

 near the bush, and who knew where to look for it. One day early in 

 spring, when it was bright and sunny, my wife and I were in the 

 garden near the bush, when the butterfly started off and flew about 

 the garden. It then disappeared over a hedge. I saw it fly back and 

 up and down several times in our garden. I then went away, and on 

 returning about 4 p.m., on passing the laurel-bush, there was the 

 insect back again, within six inches of its original resting-place ! 

 There it remained until spring really came, when it finally flew away. 

 Of course I cannot vouch in this case that it was the identical butter- 

 fly, as there were no special marks on it, but the facts of the case all 

 go to show that it was the same one. — (Capt.) B. Tulloch ; K. 0. 

 Yorkshire L. I., November 20th, 1907. 



The Raynor Collection of British Lepidoptera. — From marked 

 catalogues kindly lent by Mr. A. J. Scollick we are enabled to note some 

 of the prices realized at the distribution of this collection, which was 

 exceedingly rich in varieties of Abraxas grossulariata and a few other 

 species. 



First day's sale (October 22nd) : — Sesia culiciformis, a specimen 

 with extra orange band at base of the body (" var. or n. sp. ? "), sold 

 for 50/-. A lot of nine specimens each of H. jacobam and 0. dominula, 

 one of the former a variety with costal streak and apical spot united, 

 brought in 32/6. Four nice varieties of P. plantaginis made 20/-, and 

 a specimen of A. villica with dusky hind wings went for 26/-. Another 

 example of A. villica with a large cream-coloured blotch covering apical 



