CADDIS-FLY HUNTING IN 1882. 

 By a. H. Swinton. 



My friend Mr. King lias jnst written to say lie quite envies us south- 

 erners in our fine localities for Trichoptera. As chance has it, I have 

 just been reading in the " BuUetino della Societa Entomologica 

 Italiana " an interesting account of the pursuit of a HeliocopsycJie in a 

 watercourse at Atrani, of which the males are as black as the prince 

 of Morocco, while the females are garbed in the russet-grey of Nancy ; 

 and whose larv^, previous to transformation, have been noticed to seal 

 their cases with an operculum, and to anchor them to stones with 

 threads of silk. I am quite captivated by the manners of the Helioco- 

 psyche, and feel rejuvenescent as a Nimrod. 



Well, here we are, at the end of June, among the crimson willow 

 herbs and the yellow water-lilies of the river Wey Beside the lock stand 

 some vine-mantled cottages, and a little wicket takes you on to the 

 rustic wooden bridge that spans the eddies. Listen to the pleasant 

 gush of the water, and the. melodious chirp of the young throstle from 

 its cage suspended on wall : how the bull-frogs of Atrani would 

 have fired a volley of Brekake, Jcake, hoax, koax, hoax, in soft response 

 and gratitude. Look Low invitingly the roses and currants trail their 

 lustrous branches in the darker water. " The very place !" you 

 exclaim, " for Heliocopsyche.''^ The forest flies rest idly on the rushes^ 

 and desecrate not the sweet sounds and shadows of the afternoon with 

 their buzz. Now is your chance for a sweep among the rank grass 

 and ropy flowers : the net has hitched on a thorn, and all the boys 

 are down upon you — " Caught a jack, sir 1" The Trichoptera flicker 

 like moths in a barrel of bran, and you wish the boys and spaniel 

 anywhere. Next, some workmen have been rolling in the marsh hay, 

 and here is the proprietor arrived to give you a history of their 

 misdeeds. Now then for the longhorns. Nothing but the yellow 

 cerus serdlis and the black Leptocerus aterrimus. My thoughts revert 

 to the Trichoptera of Atrani, and something whispers to me, perchance 

 there was a time when senilis and aUrrimus were one in matrimony. 



Summer is gone, and the scene changes to Glasgow. I am seated 

 with my friend, recapitulating my heroic deeds. As he calls the roll 

 of the slain, I hear Molanna angustata, Leptocerus ci?iereus, Ti^wdes 

 Waeneri, Hydropsyche angustipennis, Neureclipsis bimaculata, Cyrnus 

 trimaculatus, Sisyra terminalis — all from Guildford. Then comes a 

 conventional rarity, Setodes notata, only hitherto taken at Weybridge 

 N.S., Vol. viii. June, 1883. 



