46 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



[MARCli 



sylvatica, and the pupa remained suspended to the spike on which the 

 larvae had fed. My friend has since taken and reared larvae from the 

 same plant in Dorsetshire, and these have produced punctidactyla. 

 From this I judge that A . pitnctidactyla is often overlooked, and mis- 

 taken for acanthodadyla, and that it is worth while to examine more 

 closely the plume larvae feeding on this plant, with a view to clear, if 

 possible, these two plumes from confusion. Acanthodactylus is common 

 in this county (Norfolk), but I have never seen the other species here" 

 ("Entomologist's Monthly Magazine," Vol. XVIII. , pp. 212, 213). 

 Mr. W. F. de V. Kane records it from Kerry, in Ireland (in litt.J. 



(To be continued.) 



Notes. 



Sutherland Lepidoptera. — I had the good fortune to spend a 

 fortnight in the extreme north of Sutherlandshire last autumn ; but I 

 am sorry to say that, like last year, the very bad weather I experienced 

 made my holiday — entomologically — a failure. The v/eather was cold 

 and disagreeable, and the moors so soft with the heavy rains that 

 collecting was altogether unprofitable. I stayed a few days at a pretty 

 little village called Strathy, bordering on the stormy Pentland Firth ; 

 but during my whole stay I only saw a few nice black specimens of 

 Larentia didymata. This seemed to be the only insect on the wing. 

 Two summers ago, in July, I spent some days with my people in 

 this place, and the heather was literally swarming with insect life. 

 Cwuonympha davus was a perfect nuisance, almost every step raising 

 one or more specimens. Noctua f estiva, Agrotis porpJiyrea, and other 

 Noctno!, could be seen in great profusion at the heather bloom^ as many 

 as half-a-dozen povpliyrea sometimes being taken on one sprig of 

 blossom. But the rarest species in this district which I took then was 

 Cvanihus ericelliis. I had occasion to visit the ruins of a house which 

 belonged to our family in the olden times, and, curiously, in this se- 

 cluded spot I saw this very rare species in great numbers. It was so 

 plentiful that I could have taken hundreds of specimens. Of course, 

 in August I was too late for this much-sought-after Cranihus ; but I, 

 hope, on some future occasion, to visit Sutherland at the proper season 

 for tliis species, and fill a few boxes for my southern entomologist 

 friends. After staying a few days at Strathy, I proceeded along the 



