NOTES FROM AN ESSEX LEPIDOPTERIST's DIARY. 267 



one Acronycta rumicis — a second or third brood, several T. pro- 

 nuha and L. pallens, and a few Hadena protea. 



8th. — A female *S'. convolvuli in a very rubbed condition was 

 brought to me ; it bad been taken off some palings. I went to 

 the marshes and reedy dykes at dusk. Moths were swarming 

 on the reed-blossom, but it was rather hard to distinguish them, 

 as there was a strong breeze and the reeds kept swaying to and 

 fro. As far as I could make out, they were chiefly Noctiia 

 xanthographa, N. c-nigrum, and L. pallens, with an occasional 

 H. micacea, H. paludis, and A. siifusa. 



On the 12th another fine female S. convolvidi was brought to 

 me. It had been taken off some washed clothes hanging up to 

 dry in a backyard. I took a rather nice variety of C. phlceas 

 with extra large blue marginal spots on hind wings. The larvae 

 of Homoeosoma senicionis, or hincsvella, were now rather numerous 

 spun up in flowers of ragwort ; both species occur here. 



On the 13th another S. convolvuli was brought in. It was 

 taken resting on a coal-truck at Parkeston, and had been very 

 roughly handled. One Gortyna Jlavago, one Ennomos tiliaria, 

 and two Tortrix podana were taken at the electric lights, Parkes- 

 ton ; the latter must be a second brood. 



The 15th was fine, sun and cloud, getting cooler. I saw 

 several T. podana in our garden amongst Euonymus bushes, also 

 many fresh Pararge megai'a on an old railway-bank — these must 

 have been a partial third brood. I had seen several A. incanaria. 



On the 17th the first C. phlaas was bred from ova laid by 

 the female taken the beginning of August ; about fifty were bred 

 from this brood, the last appearing on October 10th, and there 

 was not a decent variety among them. Macroglossa stellatarum 

 was seen in our garden. This is a rare moth here, and I have 

 not met with one for some years. Its favourite food-plant, Galium 

 veruni, does not occur here. 



The 19th was fine and bright and warmer. I went to the 

 woods to look for larvae among young aspens, but there were 

 hardly any to be seen ; I only found one Notodonta ziczac, one 

 Dasychira pudibunda, and one Nephopteryx hostilis, and scarcely 

 any larvae are to be obtained by beating. I had a great surprise, 

 namely, at seeing six or seven fresh Limenitis sibylla. (An 

 account of this appeared in the ' Entomologist ' for October last, 

 p. 327.) 



The 20th was rather overcast and cool. I tried sugar in the 

 evening ; there were very few moths, but I noticed Amathes 

 pistacina for the first time, and several of a second brood of 

 Agrotis puta. 



The 23rd was fine and bright in the morning, but clouded 

 over during the afternoon, and rain set in at 10 p.m. At the 

 end of July I had obtained a batch of ova of A. emarginata, of 

 which the larvse fed up well upon knotgrass, and the first moths. 



