23 
Personally I have only once taken this insect in January, and that 
was some years ago on the 31st of the month in Richmond Park. 
Another species which occurred in great abundance, although 
apparently not much before its usual time, was leucophearia. 
This, perhaps, was brought into more prominent notice owing to 
the special exhibition of the species, which we had at this Society, and 
the number taken by Dr. Cockayne in a short visit to Chingford was 
phenomenal. This exhibition afforded some features of considerable 
interest, particularly the great increase in melanic specimens in the 
present day. As a proof of this I may say that I well remember going 
to see a collection of an eminent Entomologist some 45 years ago, 
when he pointed out a dark suffused specimen of leucophearia, saying 
that it was the rarest form he had. 
During the whole of my early collecting, which was chiefiv confined 
to C'oombe Wood and Richmond Park, I never saw anything that could 
be called a melanic specimen. 
Another species that occurred in unusual numbers was Bistort 
liirtaria. This moth absolutely swarmed in my own district, Forest 
Gate, and there are other records from London Entomologists of this 
great abundance of the species, and remarks as to the probable causes 
of these years of excessive abundance. There is one phase which, 
perhaps, has been overlooked by many, and that is, that this species is 
very much given to laying over in the pupal stage for more than one 
winter, and doubtless owing to favourable climatic conditions, an over¬ 
abundance of delayed pup® may emerge any season. In any case this 
was pre-eminently a liirtaria year, and I never before saw lime-trees 
so entirely stripped of their foliage by the larvae of this species as they 
were this year. 
Some other records of early appearances, which was a marked 
characteristic of the early part of 1912, are January 12th for 
Xylocampa lithoriza , near Eastbourne; arpiolus occurred on April 5th, 
Tavistock ; April 7th, E. Dulwich and Mucking; April 13th, Ching¬ 
ford; and I took a specimen myself on April 16th at Mistley, Essex. 
Theda rubi, April 21st, Kendal; April 18th, New Forest; April 21st, 
Horsley : April 23rd, Wolverhampton. My own captures of this 
insect were May 27th, Crawley Down, Sussex, and from June 3rd to 
June 11th in N. Cornwall, and the specimens which I took were in 
quite good condition, showing the considerably long period during 
which the first brood can be found. Euphrosyne and lucina both 
occurred at Horsley, on April 14th ; tapes on April 21st, also at 
Horsley, and walvae on April 28th at the same place. 
Cardamines was seen on March 21st, Earlswood; April 5th, 
Tavistock; April 21st, Shenlev ; April 28th, Crawley Down. This- 
species I also took in N. Cornwall as late as June 11th. Light at 
Haslemere, on May 3rd, brought fa pi, trepida, dictaeoides, and chaonia. 
Deinas conjli was out by April 20th at Warlington, and Tephrosia 
punctulata was out as early as March 30th at Esher; paphia was seen 
in the New Forest by June 16th. 
Among the rarities, the most conspicuous of the season has been 
Phry.ats livornica, w r hich was taken at Dover on May I7tb, at Coventry 
xxii.-xxiii. 
