404 Remarkable Visitation of 
Art. IV. Remarkable Visitation of the Phalena typicoides. By 
E. S. 
Sir, 
In Vol. III. p. 247. I observe an article from J. H. Davis, 
Esq., R. M., on the periodical appearance of certain insects, 
to the general truth of which every observer of natural 
history will bear testimony. As a sequel to his communi- 
cation, I beg leave to relate a somewhat singular instance 
which occurred to me in the year 1826, respecting the 
Phalze‘na typicdides, called by Donovan* “ the scarce Gothic, 
moth;” being on that account, as he adds, much esteemed 
among collectors in Britain. Godart} also, in his valuable 
work on French Lepidoptera, mentions it as by no means 
common in the environs of Paris; and, from the slight allusion 
and few particulars recorded by Simnonelie: it may he inferred 
that he too had seldom met with it. Haworth 4, indeed, pro- 
nounces it to be “ripis frequens ” (common on banks) ; but my 
own experience accords with that of the above entomologists, 
who have considered it to be scarce, having, during a rather 
close attention to the natural history of this parish$, only seen 
it once in the course of twenty years, on the following oc- 
casion :— 
About 7 o’clock on the 25th of August, 1826, the weather 
having throughout the day been sultry and gloomy, and the 
evening closing i in with a damp oppressive air, barom. 29°15, 
when sitting in a room on the ground-floor, with folding doors 
opening on a lawn, I was surprised at the sight of a moth of 
this species, fluttering round the spherical gauze covering on 
the summit of a French lamp. In a few minutes another 
made its appearance ; and these were in a short time followed 
by a small number of stragglers. About 8 o’clock, heavy 
drops of rain began to fall, and finally a tremendous shower 
set in, which continued with little intermission till near 10 
o’clock, accompanied with vivid lightning and loud claps of 
thunder. When the storm commenced I closed the doors: 
but my attention was soon drawn to a pattering noise at the 
windows, which were actually beset with crowds of moths 
beating against the panes, or creeping up and down in a 
hurried and tumultuous manner. I should remark, that they 
were partially sheltered from the immediate effect of rain 
a covering of trellis-work thickly interwoven with honey- 
suckles, extending round the front of the room in which I 
sat. On opening the glass doors, a rush of these fluttering 
* Donoy., vol. xv. p. 2. pl.505. + Godart, Lepid., vol, vi. p. 269. pl. 90. 
fig.1. { Haworth. Lepid., vol.ii. p.195. = § In the county of Chester. 
