NOTES ON COLLECTING, ETC. 
295 
of the system followed. — J. Mason, Clevedon Court Lodge, Somerset. 
Septe7nber T^oth, 1891. 
Sphinx convolvuli in Wales. — A very large female S. comwlvuli 
was given me on September 2nd. It was caught the day before by a 
brother, at rest in a hall of a house a few hundred yards from the sea. 
It either came to light or to a lily which was inside the hall. It 
measures 4J inches and is bigger by nearly half inch than either of 
the two specimens I had previously. Is it abnormally large? — R. 
B. Robertson, Sketty Park, Swansea. September 2^th, 1891. 
Sphinx convolvuli in Kent. — Next season I intend to plant a few 
plants of Nicotiana affinis, to attract Sphinx convolvuli^ as they seem to be 
about here. Within the last tour seasons, I have had three dilapidated 
specimens brought me, and this year I had one brought from Keston, 
on August 17th; but as the captor of it had it in a flower-pot all the 
week, it was quite shorn of its beauty, more like a Whitechapel than a 
West-ender. On September 27 th, I had a splendid specimen brought 
by the road surveyor here, who found it crawling about on the middle 
of the road at Green St. Green, not the least damaged. He carried it 
in a paper bag. I have been told of different captures of it in this 
neighbourhood from time to time. — Hope Alderson, Farnboro’, Kent. 
October ^th, 1891. 
Foodplant of Chcerocampa porcellus. — In reply to the Editor’s 
query, re the foodplant of C.^porcellus^ I beg to state that the larva was 
r\o\. feeding on the purple loose strife {^Ly thrum salicaria), but was found 
amongst the grass at a short distance from the plant, on which I 
presumed it had been feeding, as this is mentioned as one of its food- 
plants by the Rev. Seymour St. John. I must not, however, omit to say 
that in another part of the field there was some Lady’s Bedstraw from 
which it is possible the larva may have wandered. — D. H. S. Steuart, 
North Leigh, Prestwich, Lancashire. October 2 >th, 1891. 
Acherontia atropos in the Isle of Man.— On Saturday afternoon 
last, Mr. John Moughton from Laxey, sent to me a beautiful specimen 
of this insect, which had been captured by him in Laxey Glen on 
Thursday evening last, October 22nd. The insect is in splendid 
condition, and probably had not long emerged from the chrysalis before 
it was caught. These moths are very uncertain in the time and place 
of appearance in the Isle of Man. — H. Shortridge Clarke, 2, 
Osborne Terrace, Douglas, Isle of Man. October 26th, 1891. 
Difficulty of setting the forelegs of Agriopis aprilina. — I 
remember reading (in the Ento??iologist) a short time ago about the 
difficulty of setting out the forelegs of Agriopis aprilina. I, however, 
set them out on the last I captured, but with some trouble. They 
seem gripped like a vice and as if fitted into a notch. It may be the 
joint stiffens, that I am unable to say. However, they can be separated 
by inserting a fine point between the thickest part and pulling at 
the same time with a pair of fine forceps. — Hope Alderson. October 
^th^ 1891. 
Stauropus fagi and Cuspidia alni in the New Forest. — I beat 
a fine full-fed larva of the first mentioned species on beech in the New 
Forest, last September. Those of the latter species were comparatively 
common this year, though several were ichneumoned. — C. Edward 
Crane, Emery-Down, Arundel Road, Eastbourne. 
