NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. '299 



were not supplied with rotten wood. Three out of seven larvae spun 

 up quite comfortably in withered hawthorn leaves, disregarding the 

 material I had provided, and, further, all three pupated successfully. 

 It is possible that strigosa may have done the same when unable to 

 make use of rotten wood. — G. Bertram Eenshaw, F.E.S. ; West 

 Wickham, Kent, September 30th, 1914. 



WiCKEN Fen. — Anyone interested in the Fen should write to 

 Mr. A. H. Evans, 9, Harvey Road, Cambridge, the Local Secretary 

 of the National Trust, who is taking a great interest in the welfare of 

 the Fen, and who, I feel sure, would be only too glad of suggestions 

 on his return from Austraha. My advice to him, as the Fen is now 

 too overgrown, was to leave bands of the older growth across the 

 Fen and to cut strips of, say, eight acres cleared of bushes, these to be 

 cut every fourth year in rotation. This would provide good shelter, 

 and at the same time give the Howers a chance of appearing again. 

 Of course, there are many spots where special insects seem to be 

 confined to a small area, these he has kindly consented to leave 

 untouched. As regards the notes on A. strigosa in your last 

 numbers, it certainly used to be taken in the Fen and in the lane, the 

 latter probably is its habitat, as there are few thorn bushes in the 

 Fen. I may add that it pupates freely in old reeds, if rotten wood is 

 scarce. It is, I think, an interesting fact that S. straminea and 

 S. maritima have appeared within recent years, and B. argentula, 

 introduced by S. Bailey, is abundant, so we may still hope other 

 species may appear from the preservation of the Fen. — B. B. 

 Nevinson ; Morland, Cobham, September 5th. 



A Note on Acronycta strigosa. — Dr. Chapman's appeal for 

 the preservation of all vegetation suited to Acronycta strigosa at 

 Wicken B'en will doubtless be followed by further notes on the 

 subject from those who are well acquainted with the habitat of this 

 insect in South Cambridgeshire. While the subject is under dis- 

 cussion it may also be of interest to bring together the few records 

 of strigosa from a district in North Cambridgeshire, since it appears 

 that there is some misapprehension as to the type of country 

 inhabited by the species. The district to which I refer may be 

 roughly described as that surrounding the town of Chatteris, which 

 is about twenty miles north-west of Wicken, close to the Huntingdon- 

 shire border of the Isle of Ely. The first specimen from this locaHty 

 was taken on July 10th, 1876, by Mr. A. H. Euston, who caught it 

 flying at dusk along a hedge close to the town on land which is not, 

 and never has been, of a marshy nature. It may also be of interest 

 to record that within a few hundred yards of Mr. Huston's locahty 

 my father formerly took Haclena atriplicis, a species which now 

 seems to have practically disappeared. From 1876 to 1903 there are 

 no records of strigosa at Chatteris, but in 1904 I took a single 

 specimen at sugar early in July in a locality about five miles from 

 the town. This locahty is practically on the county boundary, and 

 also is not of a marshy nature. The only other species of interest 

 which occurred there was Agrotis ravida, which was then quite 

 common, but subsequently became very scarce. In 1905 I again 

 found A. strigosa, obtaining two larvte by beating towards the end of 



