NOTES ON COLLECTING. 



9& 



lettuce, and the images emerged 5 on the 14th, 2 on the 15th, and 

 1 on the 16th August of the same year. The specimens were smaller 

 and much paler than the original pair. I see by South's " British 

 Moths" that I ought rather to have been surprised in 1899. It 

 would be interesting to hear the cause of this modification of habit in 

 this species. 



On July 16th, at Bournemouth, Zygaena fiUpenclulae were well out,, 

 and Hipparrhia seinele (^ s and $s were plentiful and in the best 

 possible condition. 



On July 17th I had a day in the New Forest, at Hollands' Wood, 

 and Ramnor enclosure. It was a very warm morning, with the sun 

 partially obscured at times, and evidently the Idnd of morning to- 

 induce mating among the butterflies. 



I have already published my observations on paired Dri/as papJda,. 

 and although I was able to observe the courting flight, I did not observe 

 the actual pairing. In tlie courting flight, the 2 flies along in a fairly 

 direct line, the <? flying close behind in a dancing up and down flight,, 

 with a rise of about six inches, or else he flies round her tail in a circle 

 of about six inches diameter, from right to left. 



The Cicada montana were singing everywhere in the trees — gentle 

 trilling, rather high pitched notes. 



I came across a spider's web over bracken, attached by one thread 

 to a branch of an oak tree 30ft. up, another thread attached to a haw- 

 thorn branch 6ft. up, and by a third to a branch of bracken near the 

 ground, a most formidable looking affair, and I could but admire the 

 diligence of the creature that made it, and regret that I had not been 

 a witness of the performance. 



Gonepteryx rhavmi 3" s and $ s were in perfect condition as they 

 passed in a continuous stream down the ride, feeding on the bramble 

 flowers on the way. 



Aphantopns hypefrantus were just coming out, and only one Aglais 

 urticae was seen — feeding on flowers of ragwort. 



A leaf -cutter bee was very busy, and so were a number of specimens 

 of the New Forest fly, much to my annoyance, to say nothing of the 

 smaller fry that kept up a continuous buzz round one's head. In the 

 afternoon, when the sun was partially obscured, Epinejihele jartina and 

 D. paphia ainused themselves by sunning on the gravel road, or else 

 wandered lazily about feeding on the bramble flowers, but G. rhaimd 

 had disappeared entirely. One or two hornets were careering about, 

 and a <? Opisthograptis crataegata was observed flying. 



A specimen of a sawfly emerged to-day, the larvae were feeding on 

 my rose trees at Dulwich, and this particular larva pupated on June 

 30th. That the House Sparrow does a deal of good in the garden^, 

 was borne out to-day by my watching at close quarters some of these 

 birds clearing insects off peas, and I also watched sparrows in my 

 garden at Dulwich clearing out the larvte of Pyrausta purpuraUs from 

 the terminal shoots of mint, and off apple leaves. I also bred parasites 

 from these larvas which I will enumerate later. 



On July 20th, P. purpuralis started emerging, and I paid a visit to 

 a piece of heath near Bournemouth. "Cabbage Whites " were now 

 out in numbers, flying over the flelds, sowing the seeds of the destruction 

 that eventually took place in the cabbage flelds of the south of England,, 

 which I have already reported [Ent. Record, vol. xxix,, Dec. 1917). 



