3 68 



NOTES on LEPIDOPTERA. 

 Death's Head Moth in Furness.— On either the ist or 2nd of 



October I heard of a Lindal Moor miner who had a ' singing butterfly.' 

 On getting: hold of him in the evening the insect, which was in a tin box 

 and making a great noise, turned out to be Acherontia atropos. Seemingly 

 the moth was in decent condition, but its owner would not allow it to be 

 taken out of the box. It was caught on Lindal Bank, Lindal-in-Furness. 

 I am told a few were heard of last year. — S. L. PETTY, Ulverston, 

 6th October i<->02. 



Sesia sphegiformis at Bishop's Wood, Yorkshire. — In connection 

 with the proposed supplement to the ' List of Yorkshire Lepidoptera,' 

 Mr. F. Emsley, jun., of Leeds, recently sent me for examination a fine 

 specimen of this Moth, which he took 4 on an alder leaf in Bishop's Wood, 

 near Selby, ist July 1894. The only previous county record for the species 

 was that of a specimen taken at York many years ago, the locality of which 

 (Lang-with) is now destroyed. — Geo. T. Porritt, Crosland Hall, near 

 Huddersfield, 10th October 1902. 



Sphinx convolvuli and Vanessa io near Spurn. — I had brought 

 me by two boys on 15th August a specimen of Sphinx convolvuli. After 

 telling- them what it was we let it go. A Sparrow on the house-top must 

 have been watching us, for, as soon as we let it g-o, it flew after the moth, 

 and, in spite of our running and shouting, it flew with it over a wall to 

 enjoy its prey. Another 5. convolvuli was seen in the garden last week. 

 These are the only two I have heard of this season about here. 



We have had a good many Peacock Butterflies ( Vanessa io) of late 

 about here. It is some years since I have seen them in my garden. — 

 Philip W. Lotex, Easington, 13th September 1902. 



Zeuzera sesculi and other Lepidoptera near Caistor, Lincoln- 

 shire. — On the 13th August I caught a beautiful example of Zeuzera cesculi, 

 3% inches in length. It was laying eggs when I caught it. I saw another 

 two days later. 



On the 15th August I caught a Common Footman {Lithosia complanula). 



Last year 1 caugkt two examples of the Small Elephant Hawkmoth 

 {Chcerocampa porcellus) on the Syringa trees. — F. W. Sowerbv, Cuxwold 

 Hall, Caistor, Lincolnshire, 19th August 1902. 



The occurrence of Zeuzera cesculi is interesting ; the insect appears to 

 have been unusually common this year, quite a number having occurred in 

 the Barnsley district. — G. T. Porritt. 



NORTHERN NOTES and NEWS. 



' Lincolnshire Spiders ' is the title of a pamphlet issued by the Grimsby 

 Naturalists' Society. It is a reprint of Mr. A. Smith's paper in ' The 

 Naturalist,' and is interleaved. 







' Pigmy Flint Implements from the Sand Beds at Scunthorpe in 

 Lincolnshire' is the title of a paper by the Rev. R. A. Gatty, printed in 

 abstract in ' Man ' for February last. Several small flint flakes are figured 

 and described, but whether these are evidence of a Pigmy race of people is 

 another matter. There is certainly not the slightest evidence of such a race 

 in England. 



In the transactions of the Yorkshire Dialect Society, Part 4, 1902, just 

 published, our enthusiastic contributor, Mr. C. Crossland, F. L.S., has a 

 most important contribution on ' Some Place-Names in the Parish of 

 Halifax, considered in relation to surrounding Natural Features.' In this, 

 Mr. Crossland reveals abilitv of observation such as could only be acquired 

 by a naturalist. No fewer than 1,300 place-names have reference to the 

 natural inequalities of the -surface in the parish of Halifax. 



Naturalist, 



8 NOV. 1902 



