NOTES ON COLLECTING. 155 
More Hemaris tityus were seen than ever before, but owing to the 
hot weather very shy and almost untakeable. 
On May 27th, a fine still day, on the bogs at Tamnamore I found 
Hydrelia uncula flying in abundance among the sedges, together with 
Euclidia mi and Strenia clathrata, the latter varying a great deal; a 
very few Melitaea aurinia were also observed on another part of the 
bog flying over the heather; a day or two later a little moth was 
noticed at rest on a flower of Cerastium in a damp meadow—-this was 
Eupithecia pygmaeata, and searching around, they were found in 
numbers at rest on flowers or flying a few inches above the short grass, 
unfortunately a great many were more or less worn, but 1 managed to 
pick out a series of a dozen in beautiful condition; the few local 
specimens I had previously were captured flying along hedges, in the 
afternoon sunshine, where the Great Stitchwort, Stellaria holostea 
grows; on June 14th, another afternoon was spent on the bogs, 
when Jno statices was found at rest on Ragged Robin, and a number of 
the females of H. uncula were netted as well as Aspilates strigillaria 
and Coenonympha tiphon, an early date for the last insect here. About 
the middle of the month a search for the cocoons of Zyyaena lonicerae 
was undertaken, but owing to the wind they were hard to spot in the 
‘grass, and when found often minus their contents, but all the same 
the wind helped to discover the robber; walking slowly among the tall 
grass and rushes, a Reed Bunting suddenly got up a few paces ahead, 
going to the exact spot I found a cocoon just torn open, but no pupa 
could I find. I had often suspected this bird, having seen it many 
times previously hovering over and then alighting in the grass, in the 
locality where the cocoons used to be so abundant, but was never able 
to detect it actually in the very act, until this season. 
During the month of July several excursions were made to the 
Lough Neagh district especially for Selidosema ericetaria, but not a 
single example could be found after miles of bog-trotting ; the only 
Lepidoptera seen were numerous worn and tattered Hmaturga atomaria 
and some Bupalis piniaria in a like condition among the pines. 
' During one of these trips, a number of Lepidoptera were found in the 
clutches of the Long-leaved Sun-dew Drosera intermedia, growing in a 
bog drain, these ‘‘ poor unfortunates”’ included P. napi, C. tiphon, E. 
jurtina, and <Anarta myrtilli, many were quite dead, an almost 
undistinguishable jumble of wings, others fluttering feebly, and some 
just entangled, which on being released were able to fly away seemingly 
not much the worse. 
The bogs at this time were as dry as a board and covered with sun 
cracks; no doubt the globules of apparent moisture secreted by this 
plant had tempted these deluded insects to their doom; at any rate 
my good friend “ the Doctor” and I would have fared badly had he 
not taken the precaution of bringing liquid refreshment in the shape of 
lemonade. 
In its locality K)inephele jurtina ab. addenda was not rare; I also 
‘captured several males of this aberration. 
Sugar is seldom of much use hereakouts owing to the counter- 
attraction of numerous grasses and rushes, and this year honey-dew 
was everywhere, but by searching the leaves of birch trees after dark I 
took a number of beautifully fresh Geometra papilionaria as well as 
Dyschorista suspecta and hosts of other commoner insects. 
