1893. 1 (55 



the lower " light," thus leaving a passage from the lower into the upper one ; and 

 on the ground underneath the erection is placed a small jampot or saucer, containing 

 beer and brown sugar, decaying peaches, or similar tempting baits ! Lured by the 

 sweets, the insects descend and enter the trap from below, then — although there is 

 no bait inside the upper " light " — they instinctively fly upwards into it through the 

 hole left by the removal of the piece of glass, and, when once there, they " ne'er 

 come down again," although there is nothing special to prevent their doing so ! It 

 is surprising what enormous numbers of them are caught by this simple contrivance, 

 which also acts as a death-trap to a good many butterflies and moths ; in a year like 

 the last, when Vanessa Atalanta is abundant, dozens upon dozens of them are to be 

 seen inside the glass, and one can often get an idea of what NoctucB are to the fore at 

 the time. 



Now, it should be mentioned that C. nupta seems to be scarce with us — in fact, 

 the only two specimens of it that I have ever taken were found inside one of these 

 same wasp-traps in the year 1875! When, therefore, on September 12th, 1892, I 

 caught a glimpse through the dim glass of a large moth of that shape, my first 

 thought naturally was : " Halloa ! here is our old friend C mipta again, after an 

 absence of seventeen years ! " Having no box large enough for it in my pocket, I 

 came back to the house in search of one, and after calling up a gardener to raise the 

 upper " light " for me, I safely secured the moth, which was still alive. On looking 

 at its markings, I was sorely puzzled by them, as the great difference in the pattern 

 showed that it could not be 0. nupta, but, as T was extremely busy at the time, it 

 was duly set, labelled, and put aside for further examination. Last month, when 

 working through the contents of the store-box in which it was temporarily " housed," 

 and anxious to get it satisfactorily determined, I sent for foreign specimens of G. 

 electa and G. elocata, thinking that the former would probably be about the mark. 

 And so it proved, for a glance at the continental examples of C. electa showed that 

 they were identical with my insect, which is a fairly good specimen, except as regards 

 the right hind-wing, which, unfortunately, is blemished, and has lost a piece out of 

 the black border ; considering, however, the low-class company that it was keeping, 

 the crowded state of the trap, and the fierce onslaughts made by some of the wasps 

 on their fellow-prisoners, one must be thankful that it was not more damaged. 



It is only necessary to add that the insect cannot have been imported into this 

 neighbourhood in any stage j if it is not a " genuine native, boim and bred," it must 

 have been favoured by fortune (up till that — for it — unluckly September 12th !) to 

 have been enabled to successfully accomplish the long flight from the continent — 

 the Channel itself opposite our coast being fully 60 miles in breadth at its very 

 narrowest point ! — Eustace R. Bankes, The Rectory, Corfe Castle, Dorset : Feb- 

 ruary 2nd, 1893. 



The recent occurrence of the true Acidalia osseata, Hilb., in Britain. — Acidalia 

 osseata, Hiib., appears to have been claimed as a British species from the earliest 

 date at which such small Geometry were noticed in this country. It is recorded and 

 described by Haworth, Stephens, and Westwood, and had a place in Mr. Doubleday's 

 Lists, and it does not appear to have been until about 1867 that any doubt was felt 

 as to its identity. Indeed, the doubt was then only aroused in an indirect manner : 

 by the introduction of Acidalia interjecturia into our fauna as a new British species, 



