﻿Motes, captures, etc. 323 



consist of bramble and nettle. On July 12th the night was cool, air clear, 

 sky overcast, and wind S.W., fresh breeze. Hardly had I got the sugar 

 on the trees when the moths began to come to it, and continued to do so 

 freely as each succeeding round was made. Between the trees were large 

 patches of bramble in full blossom, but I failed to find any Noctuse at 

 them, nor was I any more fortunate at the nettles ; but these were perhaps 

 hardly sufficiently far advanced to be likely to prove attractive. July 19th, 

 night chilly, air clear, sky cloudless, wind N.E., light breezes. Moths 

 were decidedly common at the sugar, and continued to arrive until, having 

 filled < all my boxes, I left. Bramble was still in full bloom, and nettles 

 fairly well well out ; but although both plants were carefully searched, no 

 Noctuae were taken at them. August 6th, the day had been hot and the 

 evening at starting was very warm and calm, a slight haze hung in the 

 valleys and the sky was clear. While applying the sugar, an ominous 

 chattering of the aspens foretold a coming breeze, which ultimately proved 

 to be from the E. Not one moth visited the sugar. Nettles were now In 

 full bloom, but produced nothing in the way of Noctuae, nor were any seen 

 on the wing ; the only representative of that group observed being 

 Triphmna pronuba, a solitary example in most dilapidated condition, 

 feasting on a somewhat over-blown cluster of bramble. Reports have 

 reached me from time to time during the summer from various localities, 

 extending over the greater part of the kingdom, and they all agree that up 

 to the middle of July sugar was most attractive and then suddenly became 

 absolutely useless, and my own experience in other parts of the London 

 district are quite in accord. Ragwort, thistles, rush, and sundry other 

 flowers, appear to have produced some few Noctuge, but the general report 

 is that the numbers are but small, — too small indeed to explain their com- 

 plete absence from the sugar; nor do the meteorological conditions appear 

 to offer a satisfactory solution of the problem, for if the east wind and clear 

 sky were the cause of the dearth of moths on the 6th of August, we might 

 reasonably have expected them to exert a like influence on the 19th July. 

 — Robt. Adkin ; Lewisham, Aug., 1890. 



Notes on the Season. — When I first took up the study of our 

 Tortrices and Tineas I am afraid that I handled the latter very roughly ; 

 this I ought not to have done with youth and good sight on my side. Now 

 not being quite so young, my maiu hobby is the Nepticida, and of these I 

 have this year set more and better than ever, both as regards pinning and 

 setting. Now to begin an account of my doings. All my pots were left 

 outside until April this time. I wanted to break the back of breeding 

 before active service began, so I brought the said pots into my breeding- 

 room, that was kept at a moderate temperature. The first insect to 

 appear was N. sorbieila, from mountain ash ; next came N. hodgkinsonii, 

 from wild rose, ten specimens ; then Trifurcula pulverosella, from wild 

 apple ; N. Jloslactella, from nut ; N. aucuparicB, from mountain ash ; IV". 

 ujnobilella, from hawthorn ; JV. lapponica, from birch ; iV. splendidissimella 

 from raspberry ; N. gei, from dewberry ; N. vialella, from wild apple, from 

 the highland district; this I had not met with before and mistook them for 

 N. desperatella. After spending days and walking miles looking over all 

 the old crab-trees for what 1 supposed to be desperatella (but I did not 

 neglect the few well-known local trees), I found desperatella. I thought 

 what an observer Dr. T. H. Wood was when he found larva? of this local 



