246 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



although I searched a good deal for them ; and since the 19th of July, 

 when I saw the first imago in a state of nature, the moth has swarmed 

 here. Is not the wood-sorrel an unusual food-plant for this insect ? — 

 John William Vaughan, Jun. ; The Skreen, Radnorshire, Erwood, 

 Pt. So., August 22, 1891. [In North Devon the larvse of L. didymata 

 occur in profusion on the flowers of a coarse kind of grass growing in the 

 woods. Around London I have frequently found the larva of this moth on 

 Lychnis diurna. The Rev. J. Seymour St. John, in his * Larva Collecting 

 and Breeding,' gives Anemone nemorosa, ClicBrophyllum temulum, Anthriscus 

 sylvestris, send Vaccinium inyrtillus as food-plants. — R. S.] 



BOMBYX LANESTRIS FLVE AND SEVEN YEARS IN PuPA. FrOm tWO 



larvae of Bombyx lanestris, collected in June, 1882, Dr. A. Speyer bred 

 one imago on April 4th, 1887, and the other in April, 1889. Both 

 imagines were quite as fine as those which had passed but one year 

 in pupa (Stett. Entom. Zeit., 1888, p. 205, Z. c, 1889, p. 140). 



Captures at Sugar in Argyllshire in September. — I had come 

 across three or four specimens of Epunda Uchenea at rest on trees and 

 posts, and so, on September 11th, I sugared along the road which runs 

 through a wood, composed of oak and birch, on the shores of Loch Riddon, 

 one of the arms of the sea which run up far inland into Argyllshire. The 

 weather was very hot and the night still. The result was about — 

 16 E. Uchenea, 2 Hydrcecia micacea, 1 Triphmia orbona, 2 Calocampa 

 vetusta, 6 Anchocelis riifina, 1 A. litura, and 1 Cerastis vaccinii. On the 

 13th I sugared again in the same place. There was more wind this time, 

 and torrents of rain were descending, so much so that it was difl&cult to 

 keep the water out of the killing-bottles. There were several moths on each 

 sugared tree, far more than on the previous occasion. E. Uchenea, 

 A. rnfina, and C. vetusta were very common. There were also a few 

 Orthosia macilenta, 0. lota, A. Utura, and Calymnia trapezina ; and one 

 worn specimen of Calocampa soUdaginis. The E. Uchenea are mostly worn. 

 I have kept several females alive, and they are now depositing ova in card- 

 board pill-boxes. While sugaring I took a larva — Ampjhidasys prodromaria, 

 I think. It is beautifully mottled with green and plum colour, and is only 

 1^ inch long. It was crawling on a wire-fence. — T. M. Christy; Water- 

 gate, Emsworth, Sept. 16, 1891. 



Lepidoptera in Dorset, Berks, and Oxon. — In West Dorset, during 

 the last ten days of June and the first ten of July, crowds of moths were 

 attracted by sugar. I took long series of Apilecta herbida, A. rubricosa, 

 Gonop)hora derasa, Thyatira batis, Xylophasia hepatica, Euplexia lucipara, 

 one Neuria saponaricB ; while commoner things were troublesome by their 

 abundance. The weather was chilly and unsettled, rain being frequent. On 

 returning to Reading, Noctua rhomboidea put in its first appearance at 

 sugar on July 18th, and on the following day commenced emerging in the 

 pupse-box. In August I obtained a large number of this moth at sugar; 

 the worn females were boxed, and, as a result I have many larvae feeding 

 on plantain and chickweed. My last winter's experience makes me hopeful 

 of getting a considerable percentage into pupae. I found, when low plants 

 were difiicult to obtain, N. rhomboidea made no objection to sliced potato as 

 a substitute. On August 10th, I took three Costnia pyralina, and on the 

 l4th I had the pleasure of taking all the Cosmiae, including two more C. 

 pyralvia. Sugar was the mode of capture. In all, eight C. pyralina were 

 taken during the week, a number unprecedented, I believe, in this district 



