RECORDS FROM A LEPIDOPTERIST's LOG-BOOK. J7'i 



grass-stem. On the 12th ova of E. hastata hatched and I 

 successfully reared 80 per cent, of the larvae on birch in large 

 glass-topped boxes, and eventually these all pupated. The fore- 

 noon of the 13th was cool and somewhat cloudy after twenty-four 

 hours' steady rain. However, the weather showed signs of 

 improving, so I went to the woods for the day, it being Sunday. 

 I found Z. trifolii out in numbers, but they were somewhat worn 

 although I managed to secure a few good confluent forms. The 

 only other insects observed were a few P. plantaginis and A. 

 medon. Half-grown larvae of C. verbasci occurred on almost 

 every plant of mullein noticed. By beating sloe bushes growing 

 by the roadside on my way home I obtained larvae of A. pictaria, 

 and from sallow a few small Notodonta ziczac, N. palpi na, S. 

 libatrix, etc., but no P. retusa, as I was rather late for this species, 

 they having probably gone down for pupation. 



The 14th was very bright all day with a south-westerly 

 breeze which dropped to calm in the evening. The conditions 

 seemed favourable for night work, so at sunset I went to the 

 downs and sugared posts, and when I had finished this 

 preliminary occupation I rigged the net and went to see what 

 was going at the campion bloom. There were many moths 

 flying round it, but they were very much on the alert, and I had 

 great difficulty in approaching near enough to see what species 

 were represented. H. sordida seemed to be the commonest, with 

 M; dentina a good second, and I had the good fortune to get a 

 few N. reticulata. I have alwa\'s found this species difficult to 

 capture, as on the slightest alarm it dives at once into the 

 campion bed, and emerges somewhere round the edge where 

 least expected and is off like a flash. A. subsericeata was now 

 well out and I boxed several from the grass stems, and netted X. 

 fialiata, X. rivata, etc., on my way to look at the sugar patches. 

 I found moths swarming on them and they dropped off in 

 numbers when I turned the light on them. The commonest 

 seemed to be A. corticea, T. pronuba and A. exclamationis, and I 

 took a beautiful variety of the latter in which the orbicular and 

 reniform marks are united to form an irregular rayed blotch 

 over the centre area of the fore wings. In addition I took five 

 X. subluatris, numerous X. hepaUca, some richly suffused with 

 reddish purple, and I observed several fresh L. jmllena, the first 

 of the season. Countless larvae of Hipparchia semele and 

 Epinephele jurtina were feeding on short grass by the roadside. 

 On the 15th imagines of Sphinx ligustri commenced to appear in 

 my cages. They were reared from ova from a female that I 

 captured on the sand dunes last summer. 



(To be continued.) 



