NOTES OX COLLECTING. 273 



■\vith the exception of 'Iri/i/iaoia praniiha and Xi/ldjiliasia iii<iniitjli////ia no 

 species has been really al)undant this year so far ; and the -weather has, 

 as a rule, been very nnfavoui-able for night work, a large amount of 

 east wind, clear sky, and ground fog having rendered many nights 

 blank as far as our connuon is concei'ncd. After the thundery weather 

 at the end of June sugar proved attractive for most of July, 7'. in-onnha 

 and A'. )iio)io<iIi/jiJut being perfect pests ; and many other common species 

 turning up, but the only things of any note were a couple of Mamrstra 

 ahjrrta. I >i/scJiorista susju'cta was more plentiful than usual with us, 

 and I got three specimens of Aurotis re.stinialis which seems an unlikely 

 sort of species to get so far from the coast. At the end of June I had 

 the inside of a Aveek (my only holiday this year) at Chatham. "While 

 there I had an afternoon at Chattenden Avith Mr. J. J. Walker, but 

 Avas grievously disappointed. Very feAV lepidopterous insects of any 

 sort Avere about, and the only species Avorth boxing AA'ere Acroh'ijia 

 anwana (1), Aridalia triiicininata (1), J<!u<<)siiiia inuhdata (1) and a feAV 

 ( rclirliia lii/iilclla. At Chatham itself I got Kniiitltccia srahiosata and/V. 

 aJis/iitthiatd, Avhilst Mi/cloi^ cribrclla AA^as abundant on thistles, and Catop- 

 fiia fulrana Avas also common. I had one day at Cuxton, but alas! the 

 Avind IjleAV a gale and it Avas impossible to use a net. I obtained Dasi/cera 

 nlirieirlla, and that Avas aboiit all. In the capsules of Silene infiata, I got 

 some ncAvly hatched larv;e Avhich proA"ed to be Diantlunria cHcnbali and 

 one of these produced an imago on August 3rd. Is this usual ? The 

 remainder are apparently lying OA-er as pupje. With regard to the 

 present month, I had one good night on the West Yorkshire moors after 

 H. xordidata and got some good forms ; but sugar has been quite use- 

 less, oAving, I suppose, to the persistent east Avind. During the past Aveek 

 I have been Avorking A'ery hard for ('irrlwedia .irraiiipcliiia and A;irotis 

 (tijathina. The former has been rather more plentiful than last year, 

 but by no means as common as in some seasons, and seA'eral cripples 

 have turned up. The Aveather has been all against A.anathina — clear cold 

 nights, Avith bright moon and east Avind, and (about every other night) 

 ground fog has caused the catch to be a very small one, and noAV Ave 

 haA-e thunder shoAvers, Avhich Avill finish them oft", I only kept a fcAV 

 larvfe myself but these have turned out fairly Avell, and AA'Ould probably 

 have done better, but a mole burroAved under, and into, my best tub, 

 and I expect demolished all the pup^e as not a moth emerged in it. 

 With regard to Psychids I have found old cases of Tcdei><)iia titbidnsa 

 {jisniddhdiidji/cdla) on the trees here, but as far as 1 knoAV this is the 

 only species Ave have. Larva^ are very backAvard at present, and 

 apparentlv scarce.- (Kev.) C. ]). Ash, 15. A., Skipwith Vicarage, 

 Selby. 



Lepidoptera at Oxton. — Collecting here has been very good during 

 the last month or so. A visit to Sidmouth on J uly LSth, 181)9, produced 

 'riiijiiii'Uriis actacdu in plenty, and Miianaiyia ijalatlKU in splendid con- 

 dition. ( 'aUiiiiiiijdia licra has been A'ery abundant, though I have 

 hardly Avorked for it myself. Xojwsoina parata and Av'uhdia cmanjinata 

 have been freely beaten from hedges, Avith oqcq.^\oiva\ i'idaiia piiata. 

 Sugar here has been, as ahvays in summer, a complete failure, but it 

 has paid aa'cII on DaAvlish Warren, Avhere Manicatia ahjnta, Ai/rotis 

 rextifiialix, A. tn'tici, Hadcno dissiinilix, Miaiui hicuhiria, etc., haxe turned 

 up. Ai/riitis aiiat/ii)ia again has been a failure I am sorry to say, I 

 cannot tell Avhy for they have been treated exactly the same as in 1897, 



