﻿tfOTES, CAPTTJKES, ETC. 99 



against the " Skippers," during the next season or two, are determined to 

 slay all and spare none, our well-known friend thaumas should suffer no 

 more inconvenience than that which may be caused him by capture and a 

 brief inspection. However, that nothing may be left uudone that could in 

 any way tend to prevent unnecessary destruction, the following differential 

 synopsis is given ; — 



H. thaumas. 



1. Tips of antenna? yellow be- 



neath. 



2. Central black streak of male 



slightly curved to inner 

 margin. 



3. Hind wings beneath, inner 



margin fulvous. 



H. lineola. 



Tips of antennae black be- 

 neath. 



Central black streak of male 

 short, straight, and some- 

 times interrupted. 



Hind wings beneath, inner 

 margin not fulvous. 



1 and 3 refer to both sexes, 2 to male sex only. — Ed.]. 



Hesperia lineola : a Correction. — There is a mistake in my note 

 (Entom. p. 57). " On the marshes near Purfleet, Shoeburyness," should 

 read, " on the marshes near Benfleet and Shoeburyness. — F. G. Whittle. 



Gas-lamp Entomology. — With reference to Mr. Arkle's remarks con- 

 cerning the entire absence of the genus Tcsniocampa at gas-lamps (Entom. 

 62), it may be of interest to record that towards the end of April, 1887, 

 Tcsniocampa stabilis, T. incerta, T. gothica, and T. pulverulenta, were all 

 common on the gas-lamps in this neighbourhood, together with a few T. 

 munda and Pachnobia rubricosa. — R. M. Prideaux ; 9, Vyvyan Terrace, 

 Clifton, Bristol. 



In view of Mr. Arkle's statement that he has never taken the 

 genus Tceniocampa at gas-lamps, the following observation may be inter- 

 esting. Some seasons ago I took a good number of Pachnobia rubricosa 

 (or Tceniocampa rubricosa according to Doubleday's list), on gas-lamps 

 in Lancashire; but no other members of the Tceniocampa genus came to 

 light, although several others occur in the neighbourhood. It would thus 

 appear that the species P. rubricosa is more correctly placed in the 

 ' Entomologist' list than in the old list. — J. E. R. Allen; Nantclwyd 

 House, Ruthin, N. Wales. 



I am rather surprised to find, from Mr. Arkle's notes on " Gas- 

 lamp Entomology (Entom. p. 62), that he has never captured a single 

 Sphinx at light. My own experience of this branch of collecting has been 

 exceedingly small; but on one of the few occasions when I attended to it, 

 I found a fine Smerinthus ocellatus, clinging tenaciously to the outside of a 

 gas-lamp at Tottenham. Moreover, Dr. Knaggs, in his ' Guide,' refers to 

 the " absurd habit " that the Smerinthi have of creeping up underneath the 

 lamp, aud also states that atropos, convolvulus aud galii, have been known 

 to enter houses attracted by the light. Kirby too (' European Butterflies and 

 Moths '), states that A. atropos is attracted by light. Evidently, therefore, 

 the Sphinges are habitually light-seekers, and it certainly seems very 

 strange that Mr. Arkle's experience has been uniformly negative of this 

 fact ; it would be somewhat interesting to hear from other collectors as to 

 their luck. I have some recollection of reading that M. stellatarum has 

 been known to come to light, but I cannot locate my authority. — F. H. 

 Perry Coste ; " Ravenshoe," Burnt Ash Hill. 



