﻿68 TflE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



same month. Free and frequent damping with tepid water is one of the 

 most essential things connected with forcing pupa?. I am of opinion 

 dryness is far more fatal than heat. — T. Walpole ; 9, Dudley Terrace, 

 New Somerby, Grantham, January 6, 1890. 



Lepidoptera in 1889. — 



New Forest. — On July 15th last I arrived at Brockenhurst to spend 

 the two succeeding days collecting Lepidoptera. The following were among 

 my observations : — Apatura iris : I captured a fine female, the only one I 

 saw during my short stay. It was resting with outspread wings upon the 

 wet ground in the shade, undoubtedly beaten from the oaken foliage overhead 

 by the torrents of rain that fell during the night and early morning ; it 

 being still quite early in the day when I found it. Limenitis sibylla was 

 fairly plentiful, but mostly in worn condition. Argynnis paphia, plentiful 

 and in very fine condition : T took one male with a pale yellow spot on each 

 of the primaries, and a female with two straw-coloured spots on each 

 primary ; I secured ten of the var. valesina, all except one being in the 

 finest condition ; eight of these I took on the 17th. Considering A. paphia 

 was not so abundant as usual, valesina was out in large proportion. In a 

 low-lying part of the Forest, where the wild gladiolus grows, many species 

 of Diptera swarm, such as the great Tabanus bovinns, and the tormenting 

 blood-drinking Hamiatopota pluvialis, whose bite is only too well known. 

 In this particular spot I noticed A. paphia, especially the females, were all 

 in the most perfect condition and in great numbers ; it was here, too, where 

 I found the beautiful Calopteryx virgo. Argynnis aglaia I found very 

 abundant on a rough grassy opening, settling on the thistle bloom. 1 took 

 a fine series (but mostly males) in a few minutes. A. adippe appeared very 

 scarce ; I noticed only two or three, and they were much worn. Lyccena 

 agon was out in abundauce ; some of the males were of large size. Satyrus 

 semele I found just out on the wing; males in plenty, but one female only. 

 Lithosia quadra : I took but one specimen, a female, at rest on the trunk 

 of the knight-wood oak. Vanessa polychloros : not one specimen seen, and 

 I heard of none being taken this year in the Forest. It is now many years 

 since I had the pleasure of taking this fine insect ; in the years of 1872-3 

 it absolutely swarmed in South Suffolk, since which time I have taken but 

 one solitary specimen, and this was at rest on palings in the Croydon 

 district in 1874. — F. W. Frohawk ; October, 1889. 



Botherham. — In this district the year 1889 opened with cold winds 

 and much wet, the insects usually appearing in February and March being 

 much behind time, and the season did not fairly commence before April. 

 Larvae searching during April was not a success as compared with 1888, 

 when the abundance of several species was remarkable, although T. fimbria 

 was fairly plentiful if well searched for on the docks and low herbage. At 

 the end of April and first week in May the sallows were in bloom, and I 

 found plenty of work, insects being abundant ; but owing to the difficulty 

 of getting at the sallows, many of them being in the thick brush, a patch 

 of trees were sugared in the hope that we might be fortunate in taking a few 

 stragglers. I was very agreeably surprised to find that, notwithstanding the 

 close proximity of the sallows, a number of Teeniocampidse visited the 

 sugar, including P. leucographa, P. rubricosa, T. munda, and T. populeti, 

 as well as other insects, hybernated S. satellitia and C. vaccinii being very 

 abundant. During the first half of May very few visits to the woods were 

 made, the weather being wet and cold, and towards the latter end of the 



