176 
THE EN'I’OMOLOGISTS RECORD. 
IgOTES ON COLLECTING, Etc. 
Notes of the Season. — Wickefi Fen. — Probably, next to Darenth 
Wood, Wicken is one of the oldest of the historical entomological 
localities of the country still left to us. The mention of the name 
suggests at once to the entomologist thoughts of the lovely green and 
black ringed larva of Papilio machaon^ and its beautiful imago flying 
rapidly from place to place over the level country ; or an abundance of 
yellow-haired larvae covering the endless beds of reeds, and occurring 
in such profusion that the local collectors considered themselves well 
paid by receiving is. 6d. per gross from those who retailed them to 
amateurs at a slightly greater cost, and of the resulting imago dashing 
wildly at the light, to be captured as the species which occurred 
nowhere else in the country, and which, even here, probably occurs 
now no more. Lcelid ccEiiosa has not been seen for many years, the 
last s])ecimens having been captured by Messrs. G. T. Porritt and A. 
Houghton. Wicken also suggests swarms of the beautiful larvae of 
Vimmia venosa, twin brother to the plebeian and common V. rwnicis \ 
crowds of the beautiful Nascia cilialis hurrying up to the light and 
sitting contentedly until transferred to the pill-box of the collector; 
hurrying crowds of the peeping rough-headed Nonagria hellma7ini, 
who, in a wondering way come to look at the light, but are quickly off 
again ; reed-boring Macrogaster ariindmis ; root-feeding Calamia 
lutosa : numbers of Crambus-\^Q Meliana flanwiea coming up to light 
in almost as ghost-like a fashion as the common Chilo phragniitellus.^ to 
which it bears no small superficial resemblance. Rare Tortrices and 
still rarer Tineina attract the collector, and many a one has found his 
way to Wicken with the hope of capturing some of the rarer “ Fen ” 
species. It was with some such hope that I paid my first visit to 
Wicken on July i8th and 19th, and under the able guidance of Mr. 
Farren I cannot say that I was altogether disappointed. Taking Tud- 
denham on the way from Cambridge, a series each of Caioptria citrana^ 
Dicroramplia politana^ Argyrolepia subbati??ianniana, a single specimen 
of Anticlea sinuata, some worn Acidalia riibricata^ together with a fine 
lot of larvae of Lithostege griseata were the principal results of the few 
hours’ work, although sweeping the roadside for a minute or two 
showed that Dia7ithoecia irregularis larvae were as abundant as ever. 
Going on to Wicken, a few specimens of Caioptria expallidana, Elachista 
CT-epusculella, Phoxopteryx paluda7ia, Siig77ionota oroba7ia, Eupoecilia 
7Wtula7ia, and, quite at dusk, plenty of Collix sparsafa, with smaller 
numbers of I.obophora sexalata, Scoiosia rha77mata and Scoparia pallida 
were captured. But we had made up our minds to have a turn at sugar 
and light, so, whilst I took charge of the former, Mr. Farren attended to 
the latter, and we had scarcely commenced operations before we knew 
we were going to have one of those nights in which entomologists and 
moths alike revel — drizzle and warm. The sugar revealed a mass of 
Le7ica7iia p7idorina with a good sprinkling of Apa77iea ge77iina, Hadena 
pisi^ Aplecta advena^ Noctua rubi, and hosts of the common “fen” 
species, but nothing special. After an hour’s back-breaking work, at 
what the natives call “ knots,” I got back to the light, and found Mr. 
Farren hard at it. Acidalia wwiuiata, Nudaria senex^ Lithosia ^riseola, 
