326 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Eugonia antiimnaria. I have seen a specimen 

 of this insect which was taten last yeax* at Shoe- 

 btiryness. The captor, who is ciiiite a beginner, 

 believes he took it at sugar. E. alniaria and E. 

 fuscantaria, Southend, at light ; not common. E. 

 quercinaria. Southend ; not common. 



Himera pennaria. Southend at light ; not 

 common. 



Phigalia pedaria. Sonthend ; scarce. 



Biston liirtaria. Southend; scarce. 



Amphidasys betularia. Southend ; scarce. 



HemeropMla ahruptaria. Southend ; rather 

 common. 



Boarmia repandata. Southend ; larvae on elm. 

 B. rhomboidaria, Benfleet. 



Pseudoterpna pruinata. Eastwood ; scarce. 



Phorodesma pustulata (^=bajularia) . Eastwood; 

 not common. A larva of this insect was, quite 

 imknown to me, in my tunbrella. Had it not 

 attempted to escape, its clothing of fragments of 

 the food-plant would have effectually protected it 

 and deceived me. It is as admirably concealed 

 as is its congener, the following fine species. 

 P. smaragdaria.. This insect is, as all moth col- 

 lectors know, closely identified Avith Soixthend and 

 the neighbouring salt-marshes. Its discoverer in 

 this country was Christopher Parsons, of South- 

 chxu-ch, near Southend, who having found the 

 caterpillar, bred the first moth, 30th June, 1826. 

 (See John Curtis' "British Entomology," vol.7, 

 plate 300.) A writer in the "Essex Naturalist" 

 states that so rare was this moth that for a time 

 it was vakied at the rate of ^7 per specimen. 

 Erom being an exceedingly rare insect it may be 

 now classed as a locally common one, and this is 

 solely due to the fact that its life-history has been 

 made known, with the result that any collector 

 bent upon finding the species can, with a little 

 perseverance, count upon getting his series with- 

 out much labour. With us, the larvae hatch out 

 in July, feed until October, hibernate, pupating 

 about the middle to end of May. The imago 

 appears about middle of June, and is, as far as I 

 know, attached to one food-plant only, that being 

 Artemisia maritima. One is, I think, pretty safe 

 in assuming that this is not a delicate caterpillar. 

 It is usually found well below the level of the river 

 drift and must, consequently, be often under water 

 at high tide, dviring its existence of about ten 

 months. I should be very pleased to hear from 

 any readers of Science-Gossip who can tell me 

 as to the habitat of this insect on the continent of 

 Europe. I have seen several Continental records, 

 and know that the moth has been reported from 

 Switzerland up to an altitvide of 4,000 ft. ; also 

 that larvae have been reared on salad-burnet, 

 tansy and yarrow ; but I should like to know if 

 larvae have ever been found on the Continent in 

 any habitat resembling that favoured in this 

 neighbourhood. 



lodis lactearia. Eastwood; common. 

 Hemithea strigata. Benfleet, Eastwood, Leigh, 

 and Southend ; common. 



Asthena luteata. Eastwood; not common. A. 

 candidata, Eastwood ; very common. 



Acidalia dimidiata. Shoebxiry, Southend, Leigh 

 Benfleet and Vange ; common. A. hisetata, East- 

 wood; common. A.trigeminata, Eastwood; scarce. 

 A. dilutaria, abundant on the river wall. A. 

 virgularia, Southend; common on fences. A. 

 marginepunctata, Leigh and Southend ; often taken 

 at light ; occiu's freely on Southend side of South 

 Shoebiu-y Coast Guard Station ; earliest date 12th 

 May, latest 16th September. A. subsericeata,. 

 Benfleet, Leigh and Southend ; fairly common. A. 

 imviutata, Canvey, Benfleet, Leigh ; very common. 

 A. remutata, Eastwood ; common. A. imitaria,. 

 Leigh and Benfleet ; not common. A. emutaria,. 

 Shoeburyness and Benfleet ; uncommon. Specimens 

 taken in this district have a delicate pinky flush. 

 A. aversata, Southend, Benfleet and Eastwood ; 

 common. A. emarginata, Leigh and Benfleet ; not 

 common. 



Timandra amataria. Southend, Leigh, East- 

 wood ; not common. 



Cabera pwsaria. Eastwood. C exanthemata^ 

 Southend and EastM^ood. 



Bapta temerata. Eastwood ; not common. 



Aleucis pictaria. Southend and Leigh; scarce, 



Strenia clathrata. Shoeburyness, Prittlewell, 

 Leigh and Benfleet ; common. 



Panagra petraria. Eastwood. 



Numeria pulveraria. Eastwood ; not common. 



Aspilates ochrearia. Shoebury, Southend, Leigh 

 and Eastwood ; still a common insect. 



Abraxas grossulariata, everywhere ; not much 

 variation. 



Ligdia adustata. Prittlewell. 



Lomaspilis marginata. Eastwood and Hockley f 

 very common. 



Hybernia rwpicapraria. Southend; abundant.. 

 H. leucophearia, Eastwood. H. aurantiaria, East- 

 wood; common. H. marginaria, Southend. H. 

 defoliaria, Eastwood. 



Anisopteryx aesctdaria. Eastwood and Southend, 



Cheimatobia brumata, abundant everywhere. 



Oporabia dihitatx, very common all over the 

 district. 



Emmelesia alchemillata. Eastwood ; not common. 

 E. unifasciata, Leigh ; not common. 



Ewpithecia linariata. larvae at Leigh ; not 

 common. E. oblongata, the commonest pug in 

 the district. I once found a larva on a flower 

 of sea-wormwood, and was almost persuaded 

 that the Hunstanton insect, E. extensaria, had 

 travelled to Southend. E. subfulvata, Leigh ;. 

 Benfleet and Southend at light. E. scabiosata^ 

 Shoeburyness ; not common. E. plumbeolata,. 

 Eastwood ; not vuicommon. E. castigata, East- 



