128 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



says undoubtedly two of them are meliloti. Here is a chance for the 

 Dorset collectors. As I have a good series of true meliloti, I should be 

 happy to send them to au expert for identification. — J. Hy. Fowler. 



Spring Lepidoptera at Chester. — Phigalia pedaria (= pilosaria) is 

 unusually common on our gas-lamps, and a male Nyssia hispidaria emerged 

 from the pupa this morning. Hybernia defoliaria still continues to appear 

 on the lamps and in my breeding-pots.— J. 'Arkle ; 2, George Street, 

 Chester, February 18, 1893. 



Captures at Light — Since my last list of Lepidoptera taken in the 

 moth trap (Entom. 15), I have, by the same means, secured the following : 

 — Pcecilocampa populi, three females and a number of males ; Cerastis 

 vaccina, numerous examples ; Asteroscopus sphinx, twenty males ; Himeria 

 pennaria, several males ; Hybernia defoliaria, a large and varied series of 

 males; H. rupricapraria, two males; H. leucophmaria, two males; Cheima- 

 tobia brumata, numerous males. — E. F. Studd ; Oxton, Exeter, Feb- 

 ruary 7, 1893. 



" A Shower of Caterpillars." — The following extract is from the 

 • Liverpool Echo' of March 6th:—" A letter from Salins, in the Depart- 

 ment of the Jura, relates that on the 22nd of February the inhabitants were 

 astonished to find that snow, which was falling fast, was mixed with innu- 

 merable living caterpillars. After the storm had blown over, the ground 

 was, it is said, literally covered with them. It is supposed that the storm, 

 having come from the south-west, had brought the caterpillars with it from 

 Madeira, the Canary Islands, the Azores, or Cape Verde. If that were 

 really the case, the caterpillars, which are described as of all sizes, had been 

 held in suspension in the air for some thousands of kilometres." — 

 J. Arkle ; Chester. 



Rhopalocera from the Alpes-Maritimes. — I am reliably informed 

 that the undermentioned species of Rhopalocera have been either seen or 

 taken on the wing near Nice, viz. : — Pieris brassicce, L., several seen. An- 

 tJwcharis belia, Cr., one seen and one taken, on February 25th, by my 

 cousin, E. 0. Casey, at Cap St. Jean, near Villefranche ; time, about 3, 

 p.m. I was present on the occasion. The larval food-plant for this species 

 [Biscutella didyma) I noticed in flower as early as January 22nd, this year, 

 on the rocks at Villefranche, and facing full south. Colias edusa, F., one 

 observed by the same collector on February 12th, and several since seen by 

 me. Rhodocera cleopatra, L., a male example apparently just emerged 

 from the pupa, on Mont Vinaigrier, January 28th. hyccsna argiolus, L., 

 one seen on February 16th. Going back to former seasons, I find from my 

 diary that Papilio podalirius, L., has been seen as early as March 29th 

 (1891 ) ; and I have met with Anthocharis cardamines, L., and A. euphenoides, 

 Stgr., both on March 28th (J 890). Polyotnmutus phlceas, L. (if I remember 

 rightly), I saw at the end of February, about five or six years ago, in a 

 sheltered locality to the north of Nice. LyccBna baton, Bgstr., has been 

 found as early as March 26th (1890), — a solitary male individual. The 

 females usually appear about a fortnight later than the males. As regards 

 this latter, I have always taken it commonly on Mont Vinaigrier and at 

 St. Jean (near Villefranche), where wild thyme {Thymus vulgaris) abounds. 

 It does not seem to frequent the plain much, — that is to say, I have not 

 generally found it in hilly localities. — F. Bromilow ; Nice, S. France, 

 March 4, 1892. 



