The TOUHO HATHSAUST: 



A Penny Weekly Magazine of Natural History. 



No. 114. 



JANUARY Uth, 1882. 



Vol. 3. 



IN RE AUTUMNARIA. 



^NNOMOS autiimnaria, better 

 known to British entomologists 

 as E. alniaria, was, until recently, 

 Dne of the rarest of British insects. So 

 rare was it that Stainton's manual men- 

 :ion8 only three, and Newman in his 

 British Moths says "It is said that 

 ,hree specimens of this conspicuous 

 French insect have been blown across 

 he channel." The fact that light 

 )088esses a great attraction for all the 

 amily, and that one of these three 

 ipecimens was taken at the North Fore- 

 and Lighthouse, and that other speci- 

 nens have been taken on the coast 

 anging from Gosport to Margate, makes 

 t possible enough that the species, 

 iither attracted by the lights on our 

 ;hores, or blown from the French coast 

 vas glad to reach England in safety. 

 3ut it should be borne in mind that the 

 outhern parts of the island are, at all 

 ivents, within the range of the species 

 iccording to Dr. Staudinger, and, there- 

 ore, that the places where it has been 

 aken are just the places where it ought 

 0 have .occurred if native. There is, 

 herefore, nothing remarkable in the 

 •pecies being turned up in some num- 

 )er8, as it has been, and as many another 



species has been before it. But it 

 unfortunately happens that at the very 

 time the insect is being taken at Deal 

 and elsewhere, large numbers are being 

 bred from foreign ova that have been 

 imported, and the suspicion immediately 

 arises in the minds of some that the 

 captures are not genuine, or if the species 

 has really been taken, the specimens 

 have been " planted " for that purpose. 

 It is not very creditable to men 

 following a scientific pursuit to sup- 

 pose such a thing possible. But the 

 high price paid for supposed British 

 specimens of a rarity, has induced dis- 

 honest men before to-day, to palm off 

 foreign insects as British, On this 

 subject we shall have something more 

 to say on another occasion, our present 

 business is with Autumnaria. On page 

 335 of our last volume, before the 

 records of the numerous captures appear- 

 ed, Mr. Gregson warned young natural- 

 ists not to part with their "gems" in 

 exchange for this insect, stating that he 

 knew a considerable number had been 

 imported. This letter led to a contro- 

 versy which has now assumed rather 

 unpleasant proportions, and rather than 

 continue to occupy our space with; 

 articles such as have appeared, we have 



