NOTES ON COLLECTING, ETC. 
279 
by Lieut. Brown, whilst the less common Agrotidce. appear to have been 
as abundant as usual in their respective haunts, Agrotis ravida in some 
numbers, and A. candelariun var. ashworthii being perhaps the best of 
them. TriphcBna siibsequa has occurred but sparingly ; the differen- 
tiation of Noctua festiva and N. conflua has been worked out ; and 
N. stigmatica has occurred in some numbers in the central part of the 
Thames Valley. Dasycampa rubiginea has turned up in several localities, 
and our Reading friends have supplied us with quite a nice lot of 
Xanthia aurago and its vars., whilst Cosmia pyralina has been more 
than usually common ; Dianthcecia irregu/aris larvm were very abundant, 
at Tuddenham, the suggestion that Dianthcecia capsophila is a var. of 
D. carpophaga has been again mooted, D. cczsia has also occurred 
rather freely, and Dianthoecia luteago var. barrettii has been well to the 
fore. Folia nigrocincta has appeared in its usual haunts, and Hadena 
satura has again turned up in Fenland.” H. atriplicis^ confined 
almost entirely to Upware in Britain, has occurred, and Cucullia 
scrophularicB bred, although its identity with C. lychnitis has been 
suggested. Plusia orichalcea still occurs in its old abundance in the 
“ Fens,” and Capt. Robertson must get the aid of one of the fen-workers 
to prove how common it is at Swansea. Plusia 7uoneta is again 
recorded a few times, showing its continued existence here. Stilbia 
ano77iala has been here and there abundant, and the Crimsons ” have 
again appeared in the New Forest. 1 cannot leave the Noctu^ without 
referring to the specimen of Prode7iia littoralis^ bred by Mr. Boden 
from a tomato. The species is found in Crete, Syria, Canary 
Isles, etc.” 
Of the Geometers there is less to note. The usual Highland species 
have occurred. Phorodes77ia S77iaragdaria seems to increase in numbers 
the more the larvm are worked, and, whilst we have to bewail the total 
destruction of the locality for Acidalia ochrata^ our Welsh collectors 
have taken A. co7itiguaria^ and our Lewes friends keep up the supply 
of A. i77i77iorata. Eupiihecia exte7isaria has been interbred sufficiently 
to make it cease to be rare, — E. pyg77iceata, E. coTisigTiata and E. 
dodoTieata are all much more wanted species of the genus. Our York 
friends gave us E. albipunctata var. a7igelicata this year, for which we were 
very thankful. Mr. Farren has bred a beautiful lot of Anticlea smuata ; 
Phibalapteryx lapidata has been taken sparingly at Rannoch, whilst 
Cidaria reticulata has occurred again as usual. No rare Deltoides or 
Pyrales are recorded except Botys lupulmalis (from Hartlepool) ; 
perhaps, the two Hype7i,ides are the next best. Our two leading 
Hereford lepidopterists have bred Phycis hostilis again, Melia anellus 
occurred very sparingly at Deal, whilst the taking of Dmyctria 
splendidella by Mr. C. G. Barrett at South wold, by Mr. Jones at 
Wallasey and Mr. Gardner at Hartlepool, shows the peculiar localities 
of this species. Cra77ibus 77iyellus appears to occur regularly now in 
Perthshire, whilst C. diwietellus is common in Aberdeenshire. Of the 
Tortrices and Tineina we have several records, of which the most 
important are to be found in our Current Notes” from month to 
month. Perhaps one of the strangest of these records is that of 
Dr. Chapman, who discovered that the larva of Micropteryx calthella 
is provided with antennae. Besides the records of Dr. Chapman ; 
Dr. Wood, Messrs. C. G. Barrett, Elisha, Bankes, N. M. Richardson’ 
