NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 159 



persistent and very cold north-easterly wind. Spring geometers 

 were noticeably scarce, with the single exception of Hyhernia 

 rujncapraria, which could be taken in numbers on the hawthorn 

 hedges on the few mild evenings of early January. Mr. MaUinson 

 reported males of H. leucophcearia common on lamps at Windermere, 

 but our own experience with this species was not encouraging. Four 

 specimens were taken on January 27th, no more being seen until 

 March 8rd, when eleven males, including four of the var. marmori- 

 naria, were boxed from the oak-trunks. Again, this year, no females 

 could be found, although the trunks and the grass around were care- 

 fully examined after dark, and the lower branches of the trees beaten. 

 Phigalia pedaria seemed to be entirely absent, and I do not remember 

 seeing a single example. A few night-feeding larvae turned up on 

 March 23rd, including Xylophasia rurea, X. hepatica, and Apamea 

 unanimis. Larvae of Agrotis lucernea, notwithstanding the cold, were 

 well advanced and approaching full growth by March 29th, and one 

 can only surmise that they had made good progress during the milder 

 though very wet month of February. Polyploca flavicornis appeared 

 at the Windermere lamps in late March, and was accompanied by 

 numbers of the commoner Taeniocampids. Of the last, T. munda 

 was more than usually abundant, and a fine and variable series was 

 taken. This species comes to light at a late hour, the bulk of the 

 captures being made after 12.30 a.m. The all too brief cessation 

 of the wind was taken advantage of by Mr. Mallinson, who reported 

 the Windermere sallows to be "alive" with moths on the evenings 

 of April 1st and 2nd. Amongst an abundance of Tceniocampia insta- 

 hilis, T. stabiUs, T. gothica, T. cruda, and T. munda, he took several 

 T. rubricosa, two T. leucographa, one Panolis piniperda, one Calo- 

 campa exoleta, and one female D. tevipli. On April 6th, again 

 windy, Anisopteryx cescularia was found fairly plentifully sheltering 

 beneath projecting pieces of bark on the tree-trunks and lower 

 branches, and even under loose stones at the foot of the tree. On 

 April 14th a specimen of Pieris brassiccs was seen flying in the 

 garden ; possibly the pupa had wintered in some greenhouse, as 

 the conditions outside had not been of a kind to tempt a natural 

 early emergence. Mr. T. Smith discovered in sloe bloom a rival to 

 the sallows, the flower attracting ah the commoner Taeniocampids, 

 and in addition, on April 16th, a beautiful female Lobophora poly- 

 commata, and on the 23rd an odd Panolis p)iniperda. At the end 

 of the month the forcing-cage produced two fine melanic female 

 N. dromedarius ; a series of A. rumicis var. salicis, and an odd 

 specimen of Eucosviia undtdata from larva found on sallow on the 

 " moss " in the previous August. 



With the advent of May, however, the weather improved, and we 

 felt that at lasC we had said "good-bye" to winter! On the 10th 

 Pieris rapa, P. napi, and Euchloe cardamines were observed, and 

 after dark Lampropteryx suffumata, Melenydris salicata, ixnd Lozo- 

 gramma petraria, the latter resting on the dead brackens in the 

 wood. Night-feeding larvae were not really plentiful ; but our 

 captures, principally on heather, hawthorn, birch, and bilberry, 

 included Eurois prasina, Trip)hana fimbria, T. ianthina, Noctua 

 brunnea, N. augur, N. triangulum, N. festiva, N. glareosa, Aplecta 



