1889.] 225 



Heliothis scutosa. — One of the two specimens taken fifty years 

 ago by Mr. Hey sham, near Carlisle. It is a female in good condition, 

 and darker in colour, and more strongly marked than those obtained 

 in Norfolk some years ago by Mr. Thornthwaite. T think that no 

 doubt need be entertained of the genuineness of this example of one 

 of our rarest British species. 



Certainly, the same may be said of another which Mr. Burney 

 sent as " a funny little nondescript, which I have had for many years ; 

 I think it was from R. Weaver, and was taken by him in the fen 

 country." This specimen, which had never been recognised, is un- 

 doubtedly a female Hyclrilla palustris. It is in good condition, and 

 must have been taken in the fen country. The male is rare enough, 

 but of the female I doubt whether half a dozen specimens exist in 

 collections in this country ; it is also very rare abroad. This queer 

 little moth — not larger than a Miana — is, therefore, a great prize. 



The most interesting other moths sent by Mr. Burney were two 

 of the original specimens of Epischnia (Anerastia) Farrella, Curtis, 

 taken by Mr. Earr near Yarmouth or Lowestoft. A very curious 

 point about them is their large size, almost equal to lotella, and con- 

 siderably greater than that of those recently taken in Norfolk, or 

 those received from the continent. 



King's Lynn, Norfolk : 



February 5th, 1889. 



THE NOISE OR SOUND PRODUCED BY BUTTERFLIES OE THE 



GENUS VANESSA. 



BY H. T. STAINTON, E.R.S. 



We read in No. 7 of " Insect Life " (Vol. i, p. 221) " Vanessa 

 Antiopa has a ' voice ' similar to Acherontia Atropos, but evidently not 

 so strong, much finer, but still remarkably loud for its body, proboscis, 

 and for a day butterfly. I heard it in Europe, in Lorraine, from two 

 Antiopas on a beech stem, walking round each other, and agitating 

 their wings with often-repeated cries, evidently preparing for copula- 

 tion. I wrote of it to Dr. Eimer at Tubingen, but he wanted some 

 larvse of the Antiopa to study the thing, and I could not find him any, 

 as they are scarce in Lorraine. — Ch. Werckle, Ocean Springs, Miss. : 

 September 6th, 1886." 



The first record of a sound produced by a Vanessa was in a note 



