January, 1881.1 
109 
NOTES ON MACRO-LEPID OP TER A IN THE NEW FOREST IN 1880 . 
BY W. II. B. FLETCHER. 
Having stayed at Lyndhurst from the middle of April to the end 
of September, with the exception of the month of Juno (which I spent 
at Wicken), I venture to send a short account of my captures, from 
which it will, I think, appear that 1880 has not been altogether a bad 
year for collectors in “ The Forest.” 
Colias Edusa was very scarce, I did not see a specimen myself, 
and heard of only a very few being seen by others. Argynnis Eapliia , 
var. Valezina , was, as usual, common. In August, 1879, I obtained a 
batch of about sixty eggs from a worn specimen of this form, the 
larvae hatched out in September, they did not seem to touch their food- 
plant, but began to hibernate at once ; and Mr. Greorge Tate tells me 
that a few larvae obtained by him this year acted in the same way. 
For want of care on my part, most of these little larvae died in the 
winter ; thirteen, however, survived, and fed freely on Viola odorata, 
V. sylvatica , and V. camna , the last-named being their food-plant in 
the New Forest. I obtained eleven pupae, and bred from them, 
towards the end of June, 1880, three males and three females of the 
typical form, and five of the form Valezina. 
Cynthia cardui , abundant here, as elsewhere, in 1879, in the present 
autumn was less common than usual, although the spring specimens 
were plentiful. The latter, owing to the bright sunshine in April and 
May, w r ere a week or ten days earlier on the wing than they usually 
are in this district. 
The larvae of Demas coryli were plentiful on all kinds of trees from 
June to October, but absolutely swarmed in September. 
Limacodes asellus occurred sparingly in July on the wing, and a 
few larvae were taken by Mr. Styan and myself off oak and birch in 
September. 
Litliosia quadra was plentiful in the larva, pupa, and imago states, 
and L. lielvola was not uncommon towards the end of July. 
In the spring, Nola cristulalis was very common on the trunks of 
trees, and its larva was beaten freely from beeches in June and July. 
The larvae of Ellopia fasciaria were plentiful on Scotch fir in the 
spring, as were also those of Selenia illustraria, Eurymene dolabraria , 
and Odontoptera hidentata , on all kinds of trees, towards the end of 
summer, some of the varieties of the last-named larva being very 
beautiful. 
