THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
107 
COMMUNICATIONS. 
Lepidoptera. 
Doings at Oxford. — Yesterday our 
society had a “meet” iu Stow Wood. 
The day was bright, but very windy — 
too windy for beating for Geometrce. Five 
of us met about one o’clock. Our grand 
amusement was chasing Nemeophila 
Plantayinis, the males of which were 
flying briskly in the sunshine. We found 
the under-growth of the wood rather an 
obstacle to a rapid pursuit of Planta- 
ginis. However, by each taking different 
stations, we managed between us to in- 
tercept and bag any of this beautiful 
Tiger that ventured to take wing, and 
when we ceased our sport we found we 
had boxed twenty-eight splendid speci- 
mens. W e captured besides Procris 
Statices, Melilcea Artemis , Abraxas Ul- 
maria, Phibalapteryx vitalbaria, and a 
few Nemeubius Lucina. Rubricollis was 
flying all about the wood in such swarms 
as to be quite a nuisance, — one could 
hardly avoid getting one or two of them 
in one’s net when striking at anything 
else. Towards seven o’clock the members 
of our society, rather fatigued, hungry 
and dry, alter the chase of Plantaginis, 
repaired to a little inn on the outskirts of 
the wood, where we all did great execu- 
tion amongst some bacon and eggs, beer 
and cyder, &c. After our meal we pro- 
ceeded to think of sugaring : we sugared 
many trees, doing a little mothing every 
now and then, as the “shades of night” 
fell, and the insects commenced to stir 
abroad ; then we took a Cerura bicuspis, 
as it was rising from the thicket. At 
the sugar were taken Rusina lenebrosa, 
Aplecta herbida, Hadena Genista , Eu- 
plexia lucipura , Eurymene dolabraria, 
and many commoner species. — M. A. 
Matthews, Curator of the Oxford Ento- 
mological Society , Merlon College , Ox- 
ford ; June 1 6. 
Sphinges on the Wing. — On Wednesday 
evening I visited Bury Hill, close to this 
town. The large garden there is filled 
with Rhododendrons, but is, alas! for- 
bidden ground ; so I was fain to content 
myself with searching a few of those 
splendid flowers that had escaped ap- 
parently from their brethren, and were 
growing in an uncultivated piece of 
ground close to the garden-pales. The 
sun had been set for about half-an-hour, 
and the whole sky was golden, flecked 
with crimson clouds, when I noticed a 
slight stir among the topmost flowers of 
a tall clump of Rhododendrons. Another 
instant, and a yellow shadow is hovering 
over a flower, lower down than the first : 
it must be a “ Hawk” — I strike, clutch 
the bottom of my net — “ what, not 
caught!” The insect, I feel convinced, 
did not fly off, but I am nearly sure that 
I rather miscalculated the distance, and 
struck the moth with the ring of my net. 
However, nil desperandum, — try again ! 
I accordingly advanced to another tall 
cluster of flowers, and behold! — I held 
my breath at the sight — two great hover- 
ing Sphinges playing about the congre- 
gated blossoms! I was cautious enough 
not to attempt to catch both, but struck 
at the nearest. A tremendous flapping 
and tumbling in the bottom of my net 
announced that this time I had been suc- 
cessful, and having felt for and found 
the thorax of the unfortunate Sphinx, 
I pinched away at it till I felt that the 
wings had ceased to flap, and then care- 
fully abstracted it from the net. It was 
only a very fine Liguslri ; but, as all my 
specimens are bred, I determined to keep 
it, as it was the first I had ever seen on 
the wing. I saw many more Sphinges 
that same evening, but caught none. — 
Roland Trimen, Dorking ; June 20. 
Captures in Gloucestershire. — Having 
within the last few weeks made several 
entomological excursions in this county, 
sometimes accompanied by a friend (Mr. 
S. Clark), some of the captures may be 
