OBSERVED NEAR SAND RIDGE. 
61 
entomological wealth. The rivers Lea and Yer run through parts 
of onr district, hut night-work is very necessary for marsh insects, 
and this we have not attempted. Near Hatfield are some capital 
reed-heds; and there are many other likely spots near Welwyn 
and Hertford, and in fact scattered all over the county, where, 
among osier-beds and reed-beds, with their attendant rich vegetation, 
rare species are no doubt to be obtained. Some years ago I found 
traces of larvae in reeds near Wheathampstead which I have no doubt 
were Calamia phragmitidis. But Nonagria neurica and geminipuncta , 
Leucania straminea, and other rarities are almost certainly to he 
found in some of these spots. A friend of mine has told me that he 
has seen Acentropus niveus on the canal near Hemel Hempstead, 
and I have taken Nudaria senex plentifully on the Lea where 
JSlacMsta poce and E. monticola also occur, so that any one who is 
determined to hunt such spots may be sure of getting at any rate 
something to reward him. 
In conclusion, I may be allowed to express the hope that the 
comparative length of this paper in proportion to the small amount 
of novel matter contained in it will be excused. If what I have 
said should lead but one or two persons to make systematic researches 
into the entomology of their own neighbourhood, it will have so far 
succeeded in its aim. Any one residing in a district has immense 
advantages in studying its natural history, over one who like myself 
only attacks it from a distance. And I very much hope that any 
members who have made such investigations or may intend to do so 
will not fail to communicate either with one of the Secretaries of 
our Society or with myself, and from time to time give the Society 
the benefit of their knowledge. 
But there is one suggestion that I should like to make in order 
to prevent mistakes creeping into our list; namely, that each insect 
taken in the county should he labelled with a distinctive mark. A 
very simple plan and one that takes but little time is as follows :— 
Choose certain letters to denote certain localities; thus, S might 
stand for Sandridge, It for Koyston, Wd for Wheathampstead, 
Wn for Welwyn, and so on; several rows of each of these marks 
can then he written very small on thin note-paper, and when a 
number of specimens are ready to be taken off the setting-board, it 
is easy to cut off a row, cut it up into little labels, and stick the pin 
of each moth through one of them. If a key to the abbreviations 
he kept with the moths, it is easy by this method to he sure of the 
locality of each specimen, and thus an additional interest is given 
to one’s collection. Without some such plan, it is surprising how 
soon we may become uncertain as to the locality of some insect 
which we perhaps did not recognise at the time of capture, or for 
some other reason did not notice particularly; and this uncertainty 
is a fruitful source of error in local lists. 
