﻿NOTES, CAPTURES, ETC. 101 



appearance, like a captured specimen ; and also the one in my collection, 

 the capture of which was recorded in Entom. xvi. p. 311. My variety, I 

 believe, is in finer condition than any of those previously recorded ; the 

 dark purple border is strikingly intensified. I remember, in a conversation 

 with Mr. Prest, when he came to look at my specimen (which he described 

 as the best he had seen), saying that all examples of the variety in question 

 had been taken close to a hillock at Sandburu, and I believe Mr. Hewett's 

 specimen was captured within a few yards of where the others were taken. 

 There are several pretty forms of E. parallelaria bred as well as captured ; 

 indeed, most of the York entomologists possess something unique in 

 markings of the species, but I believe the natural variety, which has the 

 centre of the wings dark brick-red, without the reticulated markings, but 

 with the border purplish black, is exceedingly scarce. All the examples of 

 this form have been captured about one particular spot, which seems to 

 point to the existence of a distinct local race. — S. Walker ; 75, Union 

 Terrace, York, January 20, 1890. 



[The note referred to should have been signed J. T. C, not Ed.]. 



Lepidoptera taken in Dorsetshire in 1889. — Although rather late 

 in the day, the following records from this district will not perhaps have 

 lost all their interest. The general character of the season here last year, 

 — 1889, closely corresponded to that of so many other localities, being about 

 the worst I have ever known. There seemed a good promise at the end of 

 May and during the first week in June, but soon after that a plague of 

 larvae of several species completely devastated the young foliage over large 

 areas of coppice and timber, and thenceforward there succeeded an almost 

 complete dearth of insects. Busy among the devastating larvae were 

 numerous Ichueumonidae, chiefly, as far as I could observe, one almost en- 

 tirely black species. To this cause perhaps it was due that the common 

 green oak Tortrix, T. viridana, was not very abundant, though quite 

 common enough ; the succeeding brood, however, of Hibemia defoliaria, 

 H. aurantiana, and Gheimatobia brumata, I have never seen exceeded in 

 numbers. Among the latter species of Lepidoptera we meet with, I may 

 mention Pterophora pallidum, Zell. After many visits to its localities I 

 met with one example of each sex in good condition, on the 29th of August; 

 no others were seen or taken. It did not appear at all in 1888, 

 at any rate we did not meet with it, though its localities were well worked. 

 In 1886 and 1887 (Entom. xix. p. 256, and xx. pp. 308, 326), we took it in 

 tolerable abundance. All our efforts to find the larvae or pupae have as yet 

 proved unavailing. Psoricoptera gibosella, which was plentiful on trunks 

 and branches of oak-trees in 1888, did not appear in 1889. Chauliodus 

 illigerellus ; two fine specimens were bred from larvae in united blossoms of 

 Angelica sylvestris late in August. Cerostoma lucella, about twenty examples, 

 sixteen of which were beaten from one oak-bush at different times between 

 July 9th and September 1st; the rest were beaten from oak near the same 

 spot, excepting one which was flying in sunshine and settling on the 

 blossoms of the bull-daisy, in a rough field at some little distance. Cero- 

 stoma alpella occurred but rarely in the same locality, though in greater 

 abundance than C. sylvella, which is usually the more common species. 

 Elachista pallidum, one example on a bog on the heath. E. monticola, in 

 a swampy spot, appeared to be pretty frequent. These two have not been 

 before recorded from Dorsetshire. Laverna subistrigella, one, in a rough 

 field. L. lacteclla, three in the same field as the last species, at the end 



