1 2 I January, 



Lepidoptera, Sfc, at Morecamhe. — August 11th to Slat last I spent at More- 

 cambe, on the Lancashire coast, and, in company with Mr. G-. C. Dennis, of York, 

 paid some attention to the entomology of the neighbourhood. We found very little 

 to encourage us, however, and although in a season where everything had appeared 

 exceptionally early, most August species were no doubt over, we were obliged to 

 regard the district as one of the very worst we had ever collected in. Most of our 

 woi'k was done in Heysham Moss, and the adjoining ditches and ground, a promising 

 enough spot about two miles from Morecamhe, and a mile inland, but exceedingly 

 disappointing in its results. Nine of the commonest autumn butterflies were on the 

 wing in the daytime, including perfectly fresh Vanessa cardui, which species appears 

 to have been very scarce in most parts of Britain this year, and an occasional 

 Macroglossa steLIatarum occurred with them. At dusk, Plusia festucce occurred on 

 all the ditches, and was not uncommon, and a few worn Apamea fibrosa, of which 

 both forms appeared equally common, occurred with them. Sugar was an almost 

 complete and inexplicable failure, and it was certainly not from any absence of 

 common sugar-loving NoctucB, as the following fact, among similar instances, will 

 prove. One to all appearance likely evening we sugared the stems and flowers of 

 various plants along the side of a very promising ditch, but not a single moth of 

 any description visited the sweets. But on lighting up the lamps after dark, and 

 getting into the ditch (which was dry, owing to the long drought) we at once saw 

 Noctuce in profusion, sitting on the stems and flowers (mostly the dead and dry 

 flowers) of various plants. Nor had they flown there, for we had been closely 

 working the ditch at dusk for Plusiafestucce, and had the NoctucB been on the wing, 

 we could not have failed to have seen them. They had simply crawled up the stems 

 from the bottom of the ditch ! Hydrcecia micacea (not a sugar visitor, however) 

 was most numerous, but there were scores of others, comprised of Agrotis suffusa, 

 A. segetum, Tryphcena orbona, Koctua plecta, N. c-nigrum, Xanthia cerago, X. silago, 

 Phlogopliora meticulosa, &o., many of which, had sugar been attractive at all, would 

 have been found ravenously feasting on it. On August 28th, a perfectly fresh 

 Hadena oJeracea was taken, without doubt, a " second brood " specimen. Crambus 

 geniculellus did come freely to sugar the only evening we tried it directly on the 

 coast, but the NoctucB would not come even there, and the ragwort flowers, both on 

 the coast and on the " Moss," were almost as unproductive. Nor were the Neurop- 

 tera and Trichoptera any better represented. Of the former, Ischnura elegans and 

 one or two common species of Hemerohius were the only things netted ; and 

 ColpotauUus incisus, Glyphotmlius pellucidus, Limnophilus marmoratus, L. flavi- 

 cornis, L. lunatus (the most abundant species), and L. ajffinis represented the 

 Trichoptera. As elsewhere, wasps occurred in profusion the first few days of our 

 visit, and I was much interested in noticing what an attraction to them were some 

 blue artificial flowers in Mrs. Porritt's bonnet. They repeatedly followed these 

 flowers long distances, flying about them and trying to settle on them all the way, 

 thus showing that these insects are quite as much attracted by colour and appearance 

 as by scent.— Q-EO. T. Poeeitt, Huddersfield : October I'^th, 1893. 



Lepidoptera in the Belfast district. — The season in this district has been un- 

 usually good, and I have been fortunate in adding some good species to my list. 

 Tceniocampa opima occurred sparingly at sallows, near Belfast, at the end of March; the 



