MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES AND OBSERVATIONS. 249 
In proof of this I may mention that I have never seen a single 
Vanessa the whole year round, not even the usually abundant 
Urtice ; only two A. Cardamines in the beginning of July ; a 
few Meadow Browns, but no other Hipparchiv; and a sprinkling 
of “ Whites.” P. Alexis and C. Phleas were however common. 
The only common Moths were H. Humuli and velleda, Oxya- 
canthe, ferruginea, and Montanata. 
A curious variety of the female H. Humuli fell tomy net. It 
was uniformly pale yellow, with hardly any visible markings, 
and very small. Also a black variety of H. sujfumata. —David 
P. Morison, Pelton, 17th October, 1861. 
A curious Habit of Agabus uliginosus.—I was, one morning 
last week, searching along a pond bank after a heavy shower of 
rain, for some Chrysomelide, which I found frequenting the 
flowers of the common butter-cup, when my attention was drawn 
to a dark creature attached to the stems of some high grass 
which grew near. Thinking it was one of the genus Carabus, 
T picked it off, when, to my astonishment, it proved to be Agabus 
uliginosus. Making further search, I soon found several others 
in a similar position They had all climbed the grass stems 
(some eight inches), as high as they would bear, in fact till they 
began to bend with the weight; and these Agabi appeared to be 
holding on tight by their fore legs, and with their head drawn 
inwards and revelling in the hot sun. That such an apparently 
clumsy beetle as the Agabus should perform such a feat as this, 
is a circumstance I think worth recording; and it also explains 
the mystery of this insect being sometimes found in the bottom of 
the net when sweeping long grass and herbage by the sides of 
ditches. The Agabi appear to be fond of sunning themselves, for I 
have often found A. maculatus on the top of a dry stone wall, evi- 
dently enjoying the blaze of a July sun, and where it could only have 
got by using its wings; but attached to the uppermost part of 
a blade of grass, is the last place I should ever have thought 
of for searching for any of this family—V. R. Perkins, 17th 
June, 1861. 
