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LIBRARY     OF 


1685- IQ56 


THE 

ENTOMOLOGIST 

^n  HUitstratfb  Journal 

OF 

GENERAL    ENTOMOLOGY. 

EDITED    BY    RICHARD    SOUTH,    F.E.S. 

WITH    THE    ASSISTANCE    OF 


ROBERT   ADKIN,  F.E.S. 
H.   ROWLAND-BROWN,  M.A.,  F.E.S. 
W.   LUCAS  DISTANT,  F.E.S.,   &c. 
F.  W.  FROHAWK,  F.E.S.,  M.B.O.U. 


C.   J.   GAHAN,   M.A.,   F.E.S. 
W.   J.   LUCAS,   B.A.,  F.E.S. 
CLAUDE    MORLEY,   F.E.S.,  F.Z.S. 
De.  D.   sharp,   F.R.S.,   F.E.S.,  &c. 


'By  mutual  confidence  and  mutual  aid 
Great  deeds  are  done  and  great  discoveries  made." 


VOLUME    THE    FORTY-FIFTH. 


LONDON 


WEST,   NEWMAN   &   CO.,   54,   HATTON   GARDEN. 
SIMPKIN,    MARSHALL,    HAMILTON,    KENT    &    CO.,    Limited. 

1912. 


LIST    OF    CONTRIBUTORS. 


Abbot,  E.  P.,  183 

Adams,  Cyril,  278 

Adkin,  B.  W.,F.E.S.,299 

Adkin,  B.,  F.E.S.,  79,  81 

Aiken,  The  Eev.  James,  M.A.,  146 

Anderson,  Joseph,  208,  209,  327 

Barclay,  F.  H.,  F.E.S.,  209 

Barraclough,  W.,  209 

Barraud,  p.  J.,  F.E.S.,  48 

Barrett,  J.  Platt,  F.E.S.,  232,  283,  306 

Baumann,  E.  T.,  157 

Blair,  R.  G.,  F.E.S.,  207 

Blenkarn,  S.A.,  F.E.S.,  101,  182,  184, 

209,  299 
Bowater,  W.;  137 
Boyd,  A.  W.,  M.A.  F.E.S.,  47,  212,  234, 

284 
Braithwaite,  J.  0.,  205 
Burr,  Malcolm,  D.Sc,  M.A.,  F.E.S.,  236 
Burt,  L.  T.,  182 
Butler,  Douglas  H.,  327 
Butler,  W.  E.,  F.E.S.,  80,  328,  343 
Cameron,  P.,  195 
Campion,  F.  W.  &  H.,  173,  321 
Campion,  Herbert,  117,  151,  185,  235, 

327, 328 
Carter,  J.  S.,  300 

Chapman,  T.  A.,  M.D.,  F.E.S.,  181,  182 
Claxton,  Eev.  W.,  181,  208,  301 
Clutten,  W.  G.,  30,  158 
Cldtterbuck,  C.  Granville,  F.E.S.,  39, 

101,  343, 344 
Cockerell,  Prof.  T.  D.  A.,  9,  119,  175, 

322 
CoRBiN,  G.  B.,  278 
Croft,  E.  Octavius,  M.D.,  F.E.S.,  36 
David,  G.  U.,  231 
Dewar,  D.,  326 

Distant,  W.  L.,  F.E.S.,  200,  251 
DoiDGE,  H.,  231,  300 
DoLTON,  H.  L.,  29,  157 
Donisthorpe     Horace    St.    John    K., 

F.Z.S.,  F.E.S.,  100 
Druce, Hamilton,  H.,F.Z.S.,F.E.S.,  182 
DuNSTER,  L.  E.,  100,  230 
Edelsten,  H.  M.,  F.E.S.,  285 
Edwards,  F.  W.,  B.A.,  F.E.S.,  191,  217 

260,  277,  298 
Enoch,  G.  J.,  100 
Fleet,  H.,  230,  299 
Frohawk,  F.  W.,  M.B.0.U.,F.E.S.,  225, 

237,  253,  298 
Gahan,  C.  J.,  M.A.,  F.E.S.,  49,  107,  206 
Goodwin,  Edward,  F.E.S.,  79,  326 


Gurnet,  Gerard  H.,  F.E.S.,  96,  133, 

158,  278 
Haines,  F.  H.,  D.P.H.  (Lend.),  &c.,  201 
Harrison,  J.  W.  H.,  B.Sc,  315 
Harwood,  Bernard  Smith,  208 
Hodge,  A.  E.,  80 
Holford,  H.  0.,  F.E.S.,  157 
HooLE,  The  Eev.  Arthur,  279 
Jackson,  F.  Seymour,  209 
JoiCEY,  J.  J.,  F.E.S.,  229,  231,  342 
Jupp,  B.  E.,  181,  182,  183 
Kaye,  W.  J.,  F.E.S.,  150,  156 
Kershaw,  G.  B.,  F.E.S.,  31,  229,  256 
Le  Eay,  G.,  299 
LiTTLEwooD,  F.,  35,  138,  156,  161,  186, 

211,  277,  281 

LOFTHOUSE,  T.  ASHTON,  F.E.S.,  29 

Lowe,  The  Rev.  F.  E.,  M.A.,  F.E.S.,  144 
Lucas,  W.  J.,  B.A.,  F.E.S.,  48,  99,  106, 

114,  141,  164,  171,  182,  184,  221,224, 

227,  234,  350 
Lyle,  G.  T.,  126,  138 
Mason,  G.  W.,  30,  326 
MANDERs,Lt.-ColonelN.,F.Z.S.,F.E.S., 

30 
Manley,  Capt.  W.  G.,  79,  80 
Mansbridge,  W.,  F.E.S.,  45,  84,  94, 139, 

233,  350 
Mathew,    G.    F.,   Paymaster-in-Chief, 

R.  N.,  F.E.S.,  34,  135,  137,  153,  178, 

202,  227,  264,  278,  296,  301,  343 
Meldola,  Prof.  E.,  D.Sc,  LL.D.,  F.R.S., 

&c.,  8,  156,  184 
Mellows,  Charles,  30,  344 
Metcalfe,  The  Eev.  F.E.S.,  279 
Meyrick,  Edward,  B.A.,  F.E.S.,  F.E.S., 

&c.,  89,  205 
Morley,  Claude,  F.E.S.,  F.Z.S.,  4,  29, 

76,  79,  99,  153,  155,  275,  341,  342 
Morris,  A.  C,  137,  230 
Morton,  Kenneth  J.,  F.E.S.,  109 
Moulton,  J.  C,  B.Sc,  F.L.S.,  F.E.S., 

S:c.,  213,  246 
Muirhead,  J.  M.,  100 
Nevinson,  E.  B.,  F.E.S.,  79 
Nicholson,  C,  158,  206 
Noakes,  a.,  F.E.S.,  229 
Noebs,  G.,  29,  278 

Nurse,  Lt.-Colonel  C.  G.,  F.E.S,,  93 
Oliver,  G.  B.,  208 
Pizza,  E.,  184 
Plum,  H.  V.,  182 

PoRRiTT,  Geo.  T.,  F.L.S.,  F.E.S. ,  205 
Postans,  a.  T.,  230,  325 


IV 


INDEX. 


Prodt,  L.  B.,  F.E.S.,  1,  3,  181,  196,  241 

Rattray,  Colonel  R.  H.,  80 

Raven,  The  Rev.  C.E.,  208 

Reid,  Percy  C,  184,  206 

Riley,  Norman  D.,  F.E.S.,  212,  308 

Robinson,  L.  H.  Mosse,  33,  182 

Robinson,  L.  W.,  182 

Rothschild,    The   Hon.    N.    Charles, 

M.A.,  F.L.S.,  P.E.S.,  &c.,  237,  279 
Rootledge,  G.  B.,  F.E.S.,  48 
Rowland-Brown,  H.,   M.A.,  F.E.S.,  5, 

14,  56,  78,  84,  137,  207,  268,  287,  307, 

324,  333 
Saville,  W.,  181 
Sharp,    David,     M.A.,    M.B.,    F.R.S., 

F.E.S.,  &o.,  289 
Shaw,  V.  E.,  106 
Sheldon,  W.  G.,  F.E.S.,  23,  65,   100, 

122,  309,  337 
Sladen,  The  Rev.  C.  A.,  343 
Smith,  B.  Harold,  B.A.,  F.E.S.,  183, 

209 
Smith,  Robert  S.,  207 
Sopp,  E.  J.  Burgess,  F.E.S.,  149 
South,  Richard,  F.B.S.,  1,  62,  73,  108, 

138,  140,  156,  157,  188,  204,  231,  236, 

308,  325,  327,  342,  350,  351,  352 
Stenton,  Rupert,  F.E.S.,  7 


Stiff,  The  Rev.  Alfred  T..  326 
Stoneham,  Lieut.  H.  F.,  F.E.S.,  157, 210 
Stowell,  E.  a.  C,  182,  183 
Tatchell,  Leonard,  231 
Tarbat,  The  Rev.  J.  E.,  30,  100 
Theobald,  F.  V.,  M.A.,  F.E.S.,  &c.,  20, 

165,  223 
Thorne,  G.  Talbot,  F.E.S.,  325 
Thdrnall,  a.,  327 
Todd,  R.  G.,  F.E.S.,  285 
Tulloch,  Major  B.,  F.E.S.,  17 
Turner,  Hy.  J.,  F.E.S.,  45,  104,  139, 

188,  233,  284,  307,  349 
ViGGERS,  Charles,  209,  332 
Vinal,  Hugh  J.,  300 
Warren,  B.  C.  S.,  F.E.S.,  138 
Waldegrave,  Rt.  Hon.  Earl,  299 
Wheeler,  The  Rev.  G.,  M.A.,  F.E.S., 

41,  103,  163,  187,  212,  331,  346 
Whittaker,  Oscar.  45,  84,  233 
Whittingham,  The  Rev.  W.  G.,  M.A., 

F.E.S.,  289,  324 
Whittle,  F.  G.,  230 
WiLEMAN,   A.  E.,  F.E.S.,  69,  91,   130, 

147,  168.  258 
Williams,  D.  S.,  181 
WooDBRiDGE,  Francis  B.,  F.E.S.,  300 
Young,  S.L.  0.,  M.D.,  230 


INDEX. 


GENERAL. 


Abnormal  Emergence  of  Pieris  rapae,  30 

A  Book  Sale,  80 

Abundance  of  Larvae  of  Abraxas  grossu- 
lariata,  205 ;  of  Pyrameis  atalanta 
larvffi,  299 

Acheron tia  atropos  at  Bradford,  209 ; 
and  Sphinx  convolvuli  in  Lancashire, 
100 

A  Collecting  Trip  to  the  Camargue  and 
the  Sierra  Albarracin,  109 

Adams  Collection  of  Lepidoptera,  The, 
342 

Africa :  Khodesia,  196  ;  Transvaal,  92 

Agrotishypoborea(alpina),  &c.,  inPerth- 
shire,  343 ;  puta  in  May,  208,  230 

A  Holiday  in  Norfolk,  287 

Anarta  myrtilli  reared  in  July  from  June 
larvae,  325 

A  New  Generic  Name  in  the  Hemi- 
theinte,  181 

A  New  Species  of  Phasmidte  of  the 
Genus  Prisopus,  49 

A  New  Strawberry  Aphis,  223 

Annosia  plexippus.  Note  on,  146 

Aporophila  nigra,  138 

Apparent  Autumnal  Migration  of  Pyra- 
meis atalanta,  324 

A  Public  Benefactor,  306 

A  Bare  Jamaica  Butterfly,  150 

Arctic  Dragonfiies,  327 

Argynnis  euphrosyne,  ab.,  277 ;  Selene 
in  August,  80 

As  Others  See  us,  287 

Attempt  to  Colonize  Papilio  machaon  in 
Essex,  An,  8 

Balatella  germanica  (Orthoptera),  184 

Boarmia  Cinctaria,  157 

Borneo:  Serambu,  Sarawak,  213,  246 

Brephos  parthenias,  ab.,  181 

British  Mosquitos  (Culicinffi),  Notes  on 
the,  191,  217,  260 

British  Neuroptera  in  1911,  221;  Odo- 
nata  in  1911,  141,  171  ;  Orthoptera  in 
1911,  114 

Butterflies,  &c.,  at  Freshwater,  230 

Butterflies  at  Digne,  96,  133 

Butterfly  Collecting  in  Sicily  and  Cala- 
bria in  1911,  231,  281,  303 

Butterfly  Hunt  in  Some  Parts  of  Un- 
explored France,  14 


Butterfly  Notes  from  Heidelberg,  34 

By  the  Way,  27,  76,  98.  152,  275,  340 

Callophrys  (Thecla)  rubi,  early  appear- 
ance, 156 

Calymnia  pyralina  in  West  Surrey,  157 

Camptogramma  fluviata,  and  Phryxus 
livornica  at  Lewis,  300 

Capture  of  Moths  at  Sea,  204 

Catocala  nupta,  ab.,  300 

Celastrina  (Cyaniris)  argiolus  in  April, 
157 

Cerura  bifida  in  May,  183 

Ccenonympha  typhon,  137 

Colias  edusa  at  Keigate,  181  ;  in  Bucks, 
207 ;  in  Dorsetshire,  231  ;  in  Gla- 
morganshire, 231  ;  in  Isle  of  Wight, 
231 ;  in  Kent,  231 ;  in  North  Devon, 
342  ;  in  Somerset,  299  ;  in  Wiltshire, 
278  ;  notes  on,  298 

Colias  edusa,  &c.,  in  North  Devon,  343 

Colias  edusa,  Pyrameis  cardui,  and  P. 
atalanta  at  Folkestone,  299  ;  in  the 
Isle  of  Wight,  278  ;  in  Wilts,  343 

Colias  edusa  var.  helicein  Channel  Isles, 
299  ;  in  Kent,  299 

Colias  hyale  in  Hants,  1911,  79,  80 

Collecting  in  North  Devon  in  1909-1910, 
36  ;  in  Westmoreland,  158,  185,  210, 
279 

Cornwall :  Penzance,  30 

Corrections,  158,  184,  298 

CucuUia  umbratica  reared  in  September, 
29 

Cyaniris  argiolus  at  Beading,  29 

Daphnis  (Choerocampa)  nerii  in  Kent, 
209 

Dasycampa  rubiginea  at  Christchurch, 
183 

Dasypolia  templi  in  Lincolnshire,  326 

Depressaria  putridella  in  the  Harwich 

district,  137 
-Description  of  a  New  Ethiopian  Cicada, 
200  ;  of  a  New  Species  of  Anomalon 
(Ichneumonidse)  from  Hong  Kong, 
195  ;  of  the  Egg  of  Vanessa  poly- 
chloros,  225 

Devonshire  :  North,  36  ;  South,  30 

Deilephila  galii  in  Inverness-shire,  278  ; 
in  Somerset,  231  ;  a  correction,  300 

Diaphora  mendica  in  Ireland,  209 


VI 


INDEX. 


Dicycla  oo  and  Palimpsestis  ocularis  at 

Winchraore  Hill,  230 
Dipterygia  scabriuscula  in  Hyde  Park, 

279 
Discomyza  cimiciformis,  Hal.,  On  the 

Habits  of,  342 
Dorset  Odonata  in  1911,  201 
Dragontiy  Season  of  1911,  173 
Drymonia  ehaonia,  ab.,  181 
Early  Apoearance  of  Butterfiies  in  1912, 

208  ;  of  Lepidoptera,  100 
Early  Emergences,  137,  183,  207 
Early   Stages  of  Eustroma   reticulata. 

The,  85  ;  of  Hesperia  linea  (=  thau- 

mas),  253 
Editorial,  1 
Egg-laying  of  Hesperia  linea  (thaumas), 

253 
Egg  of  Eustroma  reticulata,  277 
Endromis  versicolor  in  October,  29 
Erebia  epiphron  var.   cassiope,  Fabr., 

Note  on,  333 
Erebia   manto  and  its  Varieties  above 

Champery,  144 
Erebia  melampus,  Fuessl.,   in  Central 

France,  333 
Erratum,  39 
Essex :  Dovercourt,  135,  137,  152,  178, 

202,  208,  227,  264,  296 
Euchloe  cardamines  in  April,  182 
Eurois  occulta  and  Cosmia  paleacea  in 

Yorkshire,  344 
Euproctis  chrysorrhoea  in  Norfolk,  230 
Eustroma  reticulata,  Schiff.,  Variation 

of,  1 
Feeding  Habits  of  Scorpion-flies, The,321 
Formalin    a    Eemedy    for    Mould     on 

Cabinet  Specimens,  30 
France  :   Aries,    109  ;    Camargue,  109  ; 

Gharente-Inferieure,  14 ;    Digne,   96, 

183  ;   Dompiere,   14  ;    Gavarnie,   61 ; 

High  Pyrenees,  56 
Further  Eecords  of  Colias  edusa  in  Eng- 
land, 327 
Germany  :  Heidelberg,  34 
Gloucestershire  Lepidoptera,  101,  344 
Gynandrous  Antheraa  mylitta,  46 ;  Cya- 

niris  argiolus,   208 ;   Euchloe  carda- 
mines, 181 
Hampshire :    Christchurch,   149  ;    New 

Forest,  126,  158,  301 ;  Porchester,  31 
Hesperia    melotis,    Dup.    (Hypoleucos, 

Led.),  77 
Hesperia  onopordi  in  the  Pyrenees,  137 
Idiaspa  maritima,  Hal.  in  Suffolk,  155 
Immigration  of  Pyrameis  atalanta,  17 
Isle  of  Wight,  Lepidoptera  in,  184 
Italy :  Calabria,  281,  303 
Ithysia,  The  Genus,  315 
Kent :    Aphididae,    20  ;   Tonbridge   dis- 
trict, 80 
Labidura  riparia,  99 
Lancashire  :  Burnley,  30  ;  Grassington, 

157 


Laphygma  exigua  in  South  Wales,  184 

Large  '•  Coppers  "  in  Wicken  Fen,  156 

Larva  of  Cardiophorus  asellus,  The, 
189 

Late  Emergence  of  Apatura  iris,  326 

Lepidoptera  and  Odonata  in  South 
Cornwall,  30 

Lepidoptera  at  Burnley,  30 ;  at  Gras- 
sington, Notes  on,  157  :  at  Light  in 
early  May,  183  ;  attracted  "  by  Honey- 
dew  "  on  Larch-shoots,  229  ;  from  the 
Isle  of  Wight,  Notes  on,  184  ;  in  the 
Porchester  district  of  Hants,  31 ;  in  the 
Tonbridge  district  1911,  80;  of  the 
Norwegian  Provinces  of  Odalen  and 
Finmark,  309,  337;  of  the  Swedish 
Provinces  of  Jemtland  and  Lapland, 
23,  65,  100 

Leucania  favicolor,  Barr.,  Notes  on,  62 ; 
unipuncta  in  Isle  of  Wight,  326 

Life-histories  of  Tapinostola  concolor 
and  T.  helmanni,  285 

Life-history  of  Melanargia  japygia  subsp. 
suwarovius,  237 

Limenitis  sibyila  and  Apatura  iris  in 
.     Surrey,  231 

Lincolnshire  :  Peterboro',  154 

Lithosia  lutarella  (pygmreola)  and 
Crambus  fascelinellus  in  Norfolk,  279 

Lycfena  argiades  (Life-history),  An 
Amendment,  298 

Lyctenopsis  (Cyaniris)  argiolus,  Linn., 
in  April,  182 

Males  of  Bupalus  piniaria  attracted  by 
a  Spider,  229 

Manduca  (Acherontia)  atropos  in  Salop, 
182 

Metopius  dentatus,  Fab.,  and  Sphinctus 
serotinus,  Grav.,  78 

Metrioptera  (Platycleis)  roeselii.  Notes 
on  British  Occurrence,  117  ;  in  Essex, 
207 

Metrioptera  roeselii  (fig.),  224 

Metrocampa  margaritaria  and  Thyatira 
batis  in  Isle  of  Skye,  279 

Monochamus  galloprovincialis,  Oliv.,  at 
Hackney,  205 

Mortality  among  Delphax  (Arseopus) 
pulchellus,  Curt.,  341 

Natural  History  Books  from  the  Harri- 
son Library,  204 

Nemophila  noctuella  at  Kew,  182 

Nemoura  dubitans,  Morton,  as  a  British 
Species,  93 

New  Aberration  of  Zonosomalinearia,  3 

New  and  Little-known  Bees,  175 

New  British  Proctotrypidse,  97 

New  Forest  Notes,  1911,  126,  158,  301 

New  Species  of  Boarmiinaj  from  For- 
mosa, 69,  90  ;  of  Geometridffi  from 
Formosa,  168 ;  of  Lepidoptera  from 
Formosa,  258  ;  of  Noctuidte  from  For- 
mosa, 130,  147 

Norway — Finmark  and  Odalen,  309, 327 


Vll 


Notes  from  an  Essex  Lepidopterist's 
Diary,  135,  153,  178,  202,  227,  264, 
296 

Notes  on  Agrotisexclauiationis,  &c.,  300 

Notes  on  Anosia  plexippus,  146 

Notes  on  "  Micro  "  Lepidoptera  in  South 
Devon,  30 

Notes  on  the  Dragonfly  Season  of  1911, 
173 

Notes  on  the  Life-history  of  Colias 
nastes  var.  werdandi,  with  Descrip- 
tion of  Ova  and  Larvse,  122 

Notes  on  Rhopalosiphum  solani,  Kalt., 
165 

Nyssia  hispidaria  in  Norfolk,  137 

Obituary : — 
Capper,  S.  J.,  84,  139 
Cottam,  Arthur,  48 
Dixon,  Michael  C,  48 
Fitch,  Ed\Yard  Arthur,  235 
Jeffrey,  William  Eickman,  332 
Kirby,  WiUiam  Forsell,  351 
Shelford,  Robert,  236 
Smith,  Prof.  John  B.,  164 

Occurrence  of  Second  Broods  of  Py- 
rameis  atalanta  and  P.  cardui,  324 

Odonata  in  South  Cornwall,  30  ;  in  the 
Chichester  District,  149 

On  the  Name  Rhyacionia,  Hb.,  89 

Oviposition  of  Nemobius  lucina,  229  ;  of 
Plusia  moneta,  206  ;  of  Tapinostola 
concolor,  256 

Panorpa  cognata  in  Surrey,  328 

Papilio  dardanus  var.  leighi  and  Danais 
chrysippus-dorippus  in  Natal,  324 

Pararge  egeria  :  Early  Appearance,  156 

Percnoptilota  (Camptogramma)  fluviata 
in  Surrey,  230 

Phigalia  pedaria  in  December,  100 ; 
noted  from  Reading,  80 

Phryxus  (Deilephila)  livornica,  278  ;  at 
Dover,  183 ;  in  Cornwall,  209  ;  in 
Devon,  100  ;  in  Norfolk,  209 ;  in  North 
Wales,  209 

Phryxus  livornica,  Manduca  atropos, 
and  Heliothis  peltigei*a  in  Cornwall, 
183 

Plusia  moneta.  Notes  on,  181,  206,  207 

Polyploca  flavicornis  in  February,  183 

Pupation  of  Lepidopterous  Lavas  in 
Glass  Tubes,  7 

Pyrameis  atalanta,  ab.,  326;  at  Chi- 
chester, 208  ;  at  Dover,  182  ;  at  Hasle- 
mere,  182;  in  Early  Spring,  138;  in 
Isle  of  Wight,  182 

Pyrameis  cardui  at  Chichester,  208  ;  at 
Dover,  182  ;  at  Kew,  182 ;  in  Isle  of 
Wight,  182 ;  in  April,  156  ;  in  Nor- 
folk, 182  ;  Notes  on,  298,  328 

Recent  Liteeatuke  : — • 
Annals    of    Tropical    Medicine    and 

Parasitology,  vol.  v.,  47 
Memorias  do  Instituto  Oswaldo  Cruz, 
47 


House-flies  and  their  Connection  with 
Disease,  48 

A  Manual  of  Philippine  Silk  Culture, 
by  C.  S.  Banks,  48 

Leitz'  Catalogue  of  Prismatic  Binocu- 
lars, 48 

The  Annals  of  Scottish  Natural  His- 
tory, 1911, 106 

Social  Life  in  the  Insect  World,  by 
J.  H.  Fabre,  106 

Ichneumonologia  Britannica.  The 
Ichneumons  of  Great  Britain,  vol. 
iv.,  by  Claude  Morley,  107 

Bulletins  of  the  United  States  De- 
partment of  Agriculture,  108 

Transactions  of  the  Norfolk  Society, 
108 

Dermaptera  (Fasc.  122.  Gen.  Insect.), 
by  M.  Burr,  D.Sc,  163 

Annals  of  Tropical  Medicine  and 
Parasitology,  164 

Butterfly-hunting  in  many  Lands,  by 
Dr.  G.  B.  Longstaff,  M.A.,  F.E.S., 
&c.,  188 

British  Butterflies,  by  A.  M.  Stewart, 
212 

How  to  use  the  Microscope  :  A  Guide 
for  the  Novice,  by  the  Rev.  C.  A. 
Hall,  212 

Forty-second  Annual  Report  of  the 
Entomological  Society  of  Ontario, 
234 

Early  Stages  of  our  Dragonflies,  by 
W.  J.  Lucas,  B.A.,  F.E.S.,  234 

Polymorphism  in  a  Group  of  Mimetic 
Butterflies  of  the  Genus  Pseud- 
acrosa,  by  Prof.  Poulton,  307 

Proceedings  of  the  South  London 
Entomological  and  Natural  History 
Society,  1911-12,  308 

Catalogue  of  the  Lepidoptera  Phal- 
ffinrs  in  the  British  Museum, 
vol.  xi.,  by  Sir  George  Hampson, 
Bart.,  308 

Annals  of  Tropical  Medicine  and 
Parasitology,  vol.  \i.,  Nos.  1-3, 
350 

Memorias  do  Instituto  Oswaldo  Cruz 
(Ano  1911),  350 

Two  Insect  Pests  of  the  United  Pro- 
vinces—the Sugar-cane  Grasshop- 
per and  the  Potato  Moth,  by  T, 
Bainbrigge  Fletcher,  R.N.,  350 

Dragon  Flies  of  the  Cumberland  Val- 
ley in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  by 
C.  B.  Wilson,  350 

The  Proportion  of  the  Sexes  in  Forfi- 
cula  auricularia,  byH.  H.Brindley, 
M.A.,  350 

"Microscopes  for  Entomologists," 
350 

The  Humble-Bee,  its  Life-History, 
and  how  to  Domesticate  it,  by 
F.  W.  L.  Sladen,  F.E.S.,  350 


TiansacLions  of  the  Carlisle  Natural 
History  Society  (1912),  351 

Kediscovery  of  the  Braconid,  Meteorus 
vexator,  Hal.,  with  Description  of  the 
Male,  4 

Eetinia  (Rhyaiionia)  purdeyi  in  Norfolk, 
327 

Rhopalosiphum  solani,  Kalt.,  Notes  on, 
165 

Rhyacionia  (Retinia)  purdeyi,  Durrant, 
and  E.  logfea,  Durrant,  73 

Scarcity  of  Arctia  caia  in  1912,  280 

Second  Brood  of  Agrotis  exclamationis, 
(fee,  33  ;  of  Apatura  iris,  &c.,  79 

Second  International  Congress  of 
Entomology,  The,  268 

Second  List  of  Aphididje  found  in  Kent, 
A,  20 

Seitz's  '  Macro  Lepidoptera  of  the 
World,'  Notes  on,  322 

Sicily,  Lepidoptera  in,  281,  303 

Societies : — 
City  of  London  Entomological,  104 
Entomological  of  London,  39,  81,  101, 

161,  186,  211,  328,  344 
Lancashire  and  Cheshire  Entomolo- 
gical, 45,  84,  139,  233,  349 
Manchester   Entomological,   45,  212, 

233,  284 
South  London  Entomological,  41, 103, 
139,  187,  232,  284,  306,  346 

Some  Bees  from  Formosa,  9 ;  of  the 
Genus  Nomia  from  Australia,  119 

Spain  —  Albarracin,  112 ;  Barcelona, 
112 

Sphinctus  serotinus,  Grav.,78 

Sphinx  convolvuli  reared  from  the 
egg,  29 

Sphinx  convolvuli  and  Acherontia  atro- 
pos  at  Eastbourne,  79 

Sphinx  ligustri  in  May,  183 

Spilosoma  urtics  in  Isle  of  Wight, 
209 

Spring  Lepidoptera,  &c.,  in  Essex,  1912, 
208 

Spring  Brood  of  Cyaniris  argiolus, 
208 

Stephens's  Culicidfe,  Notes  on,  277 

Suffert  Collection  of  Butterflies,  The, 
342 

Supplementary  Note  on  Hesperiid  Classi- 
fication, 5 

Sweden— Abisko,  23,  65,  100;  Jemt- 
land,  23,  65 

Syrapetrum  scoticum,  Don.,  157 

Tseniorhynchus  richiardii.  Fie,  in  Mid- 
dlesex and  Hampshire,  327 

Tephrosia  punctularia  in  March,  183 

Teratological  Specimen  of  Anthrocera 
filipendulae,  106 ;  of  Epinephele 
ianira,  346  ;  of  Carabus  catenulatus, 
44  ;  of  Mimas  tilia-,  44  ;  of  Pimelia  for- 
nicata,  44 ;  of  Spilogaster  nliginosa, 
44  ;  of  Wheeleria  spilodactyla,  44 


The  Entomological  Club,  138 

The  Genus  Ithysia,  Hubn.,  315 

The    Larva    of    Cardiophorus    asellus 

(Coleoptera),  189 
The  Summer  of  1911  and  the  Present 

Season,  155 
Thera  variata  in  Britain  (fig.).  241 
Three   Weeks   in  the   High    Pyrenees, 

56 
Thyatira  batis  in  Isle  of  Skye,  279 
Tortrix  iironubana,  301,  326 
Two  Peculiar  forms  of  Boarmia  repan- 

data,  94 
Vanessa  antiopa  in  Kent,   1911,  209; 

io.  Note  on,  100 
Variation     of      Eustroma      reticulata, 

Schiff.,  On  the,  1, 
Varieties  : — 

Abraxas  grossulariata,  284 

Acidalia  incanaria,  105  ;  ornata,  349 

Adactylus  beunettii,  38 

Agriades  corydon,  15,   43,   57,  349  ; 
thetis,  14 

Anthrocera  filipendulaj,  44,  106 

Apatura  iris,  348 

Argynnis   euphrosyne,   32,   43,   105 ; 
■      niobe,  348 

Boarmia  repandata,  94 

Brenthis  euphrosyne,  43,  284 ;  selene, 

43,  316 

Brephos  parthenias,  181 

Callimorpha  dominula,  44 

Catocala  nupta,  44,  300 

Colias  nastes,  26 

Conistra  vaccinii,  281 

Cupido  minimus,  15 

Cyaniris  argiolus,  106,  348 

Drymonia  chaonia,  106 

Ematurga  atomaria,  47 

Ennomos  queicinaria,  349 

Ephyra   annulata,   187 ;   pendularia, 

44,  232 
Erebia  euryale,  60 
Eubolia  bipunctaria,  105 
Euchloe  cardamines,  44,  104 
Guophos  obscurata,  44 
Heodes  hippothoe,  345 
Melanippe  fluctuata,  46 ;  montanata, 

44 
Melitsea  aurinia,  105,  232  ;  parthenie, 

133 
Nola  cucuUatella,  105 
ffineis  norma,  68 
Parasemia  plantaginis,  185 
Pieris  napi,  26,  105,  348 
Polygonia  c-album,  43 
Polyommatus  argus,  57 ;  icarus,  15 
Porthesia  similis,  44 
Pyrameis    atalanta,    104,   326,   343; 

cardui,  43 
Eumicia  phlseas,  42,43.44,  103,  104, 

266,  348 
Satyrus  semele,  348 
Spilosoma  lubricipeda,  106 


IX 


Strenia  clathrata,  46 
Urbicola  comma,  60 
Zonosoma    linearia,    3,    43;    orbicu- 

laria,  43 
Where  Wallace  Trod  "  :  An  Entomo- 
logical Trip  to  Mt.  Serambu,  Sarawak, 
213,  246 


West  Surrey,  Lepidoptera  of,  184 
Westmoreland :    Lepidoptera  in    1911, 

158,  185,  210,  279 
Xanthorhoe    (Melanippe)    fluctuata    in 

December,  80 


PLATES. 

I. — Aberrations  of  Eusiroma  reticulata  and  Zonosoma  linearia 
II. — Gavarnie,  July,  1911 :  A  Portrait  Group  . 

I  Near   Puerto   de  La    Losillo,   Sierra  Albarracin 


to  face 


III 


[  In  the  Camargue,  near  Les  Saintes  Maries 


I  Gryllotalpa  gryllotalpa  (Mole  Cricket),  wings  spread 
IV.  J  ,,  ,,  wings  folded  . 


Meconema  tlialassinum,  ovipositing 


VI. 

VII.- 
VIII. 


■  Where  Wallace  Trod  ' 


-Puszta  Peszer 

-Early  Stages  of  Hesperia  linea. 


yv   (Appendages  of  Tapinostola  concolor 
I     vianni,  female  and  ova    . 


female,  and  2 


X. — Portrait  of  Professor  E.  B.  Poulton 
XI.— Valley  of  the  Laxelv  (habitat  of  Colias  liecla)    . 
XII. — Dolomite  Screes,  Kolvik,  Porsanger  Fjord 

„' jForms  of  Scandinavian  Diurni. 


hell 


PAGE 
1 


109 


117 

213 

237 
253 

285 
268 

309 


ILLUSTRATIONS     IN     THE     TEXT. 

Prisopus  Jisheri,  Gahan 55 

Larva  of  Eustroma  reticulata 85 

Rhopalosiphum  solani  (structural  details} 166,  167 

The  larva  of  Cardiophorus  asellus 189 

iletrioptera  roeselii 224 

Thera  variata 243 

Theobaldia  theobaldi  (Meij.)  and  T.  morsitans  (Theo.) 262 


SPECIAL     INDEX. 


New  Genera,  Species,  Sub-Specics,  and  Varieties  are  marked  with  a?i  asterisk. 


Order  III.     THYSANUEA. 
saccbarina  (Lepisma),  139 


Order  VII.     OETHOPTEEA. 


albipennis  (Apterygida),  114,  164 
albopunctata   [  =  grisea]    (Metrioptera), 

225 
annulii^es  (Anisolabis),  164 
aracbidis  (Prolabia),  164 
auricularia  (Forficula),  114,  164,  350 
auricularia  var.    forcipata   (Forficula), 

114 
australasiffi  (Periplaneta),  103,  246 
bicolor  (Staui'odorus),  116 
bipunctatus  (Tetrix),  116 
bracbyptera  (Metrioptera),  115,  207,  225 
brevipennis  (Acrida),  119 
carlottse  (Prisopus),  54 
cavernicola  (Iscbnoptera),  246 
centurio  (Opistbocosmia),  251 
chorea  (Loncbrea),  345 
Cotylosoma,  49,  54 
crurifolium  (PulcbripbylUum),  284 
dipneusticum  (Cotylosoma),  53,  54 
*fisberi  (Prisopus),  49,  54,  101 
flabelbformis  (Prisopus),  51 
forcipatus  (Cordax),  251 
fuliginosus  (Tetrix),  117 
fusciter  (Hieroglypbus),  350 


germanica  (Blattella),  114,  184 
grossus  (Mecostetbus),  116 
gryllotalpa  (Gryllotalpa),  115,  117 
guttata  (Spodromantis),  284 
Heraimerus,  41 
!    horstokkii  (Prisopus),  55 
lesnei  (Forficula),  164 
lewisi  (Anecbura),  164 
maculatus  (Gomphocerus),  115,  116 
maritima  (Anisolabis),  164 
minor  (Labia),  106,  114,  164 
morio  (Cbelisoches),  164 
morosus  (Dixippus),  42 
orientalis  (Blatta),  114,  347 
parallelus  (Cbortbippbus),  116 
Prisopus,  49,  50,  51,  53,  54,  101 
riparia  (Labidura),  76,  99,  164,  345,  349 
roeselii  (Metrioptera),  116, 117, 118, 119, 

207,  224,  225, 348 
scabriuscula  (AUodablia),  251 
sylvestris  (Nemobius),  115 
tbalassinum    [  =  varium]    (Meconema), 

115,  117 
vicinus  (Timomenus),  251 
viridulus  (Omocestus);  116 


Order  VIII.     PLECOPTEEA. 


dubitans  (Nemoura),  93,  94 
fulviceps  (Nemoura),  113 
grammatica  (Chloroperia),  113 


inconspicua  (Nemoura),  94 
marginata  (Perla),  113 
variegata  (Nemoura),  94 


Order  X.     ISOPTEEA    (Termites). 
tlavipes  (Termes),  272 


Oi-der  XIII.     ODONATA.    [  =  Paraneuroptera. 


acutipennis  (Platycnemis),  110,  111 
senea.  (Cordulia),  141,  174,  201 
^schna,  84,  173 
affinis(.Eschna),110,  111 
alpestris  (Somatochlora),  327 
annulatns  (Cordulegaster),  31,  111,  112, 

142,  149,  171,  172,  202 
annulatus  var.  immaculifrons  (Cordule- 

gaster).  111,  112 
arraatum  (Agrion),  235 
arctiea  (Somatochlora),  235 
barbara  (Lestes),  110,  111,  112 
brunneum  (Orthetriim),  110,112 
Cferulea  (.Eschna),  172,  235,  327 
cffirulescens  (Orthetrum),  110,  112,  143, 

149,  174,  201 
cancellatum  (Orthetrum),  110,  111,  112, 

201 
curtisii  (Oxygastra),  110,  112 
cyanea  (^schna),  112,   149,   172,  174, 

202 
cyathigerum    (Enallagma),    141,    172, 

175,  202,  234 
dauae  (Libelhila),  151 
dan£e  (Sympetrum),  151,  173 
depressa  (Libellula),  112,  141,  142,  174, 

201 
dryas  (Lestes),  112,  174,  235 
elegans  (Ischnura),  84,   111,   142,   149, 

172,  173,  175,  202, 234 
elegans  var.  rufescens  (Ischnura),  149, 

172,  175 
erythrtea  (Crocothemis),  110.  Ill,  112 
Haveolum  (Sympetrum),  112,  143,  144, 

173, 235 
flavipes  (Gomphus),  110,  111 
fonscolombii    (Sympetrum),    112,    114, 

130, 143,  144,  172.  234 
fulva  (LibeUula),  110,  111,  112, 142,  201, 

235 
fusca  (Sympycna),  110,  111,  112 
graellsi  (Ischnura),  112 
grandis  (.Eschna),  149,  172,  173,  174, 

175,  202 
hffimorrhoidalis  (Calopteryx),  110,  111, 

112 
hafniense  (Brachytron),  174 
hastuiatum  (Agriou),  172,  235 
imperator  (Anax),  110,  111,  112,  202 
isosceles  (^schna).  111 


juncea  (.Eschna),  149,  171,  172,  202 

iatipes  (Platycnemis),  110,  111,  114 

Libellula,  84 

lindenii  (Agrion),  110,  111,  114 

Macromia,  109 

mercuriale  (Agrion),  110,  111,  142,  174, 

202 
meridionale  (Sympetrum),  112 
metallica  (Somatochlora),  174 
mixta  (.Eschna),  111,  112,  174,  202 
naias  (Erythromma),  173,  175 
*nigrescens  (Sympetrum),  171 
nympha  [  =  dryas  J  (Lestes),  235 
nymphula  (Pyrrhosoma),  141,  142.149, 

172,  175, 185,  202 
parthenope  (Anax),  110,  111 
pennipes  (Platycnemis),  110, 142,  173 
pratense  (Brachytron),  142,   149,    172, 

202 
puella  (Agrion),  111,  112,  142,  172, 175, 

202 
pulchellus  (Gomphus),  110,  111 
pulchellum  (Agrion),  111,  142 
pumilio  (Ischnura),  142 
quadrimaculata    (Libellula),    111,    112, 

141,  142,  149,  171,  172,  201 
quadrimaculata  var.  prsenubila  (Libel- 
lula), 112 
sanguineum    (Sympetrum),   111,    112,  * 

143,  174,  235 
scoticum  (Sympetrum),  149,  161,  152, 

171,  172,  173,201 
simillimus  (Gomphus),  110,  111 
splendens  (Calopteryx),  110,    111,  112, 

114,  149,  174,  175,  202 
splendens,     race     xanthosoma     (Calo- 
pteryx), 110,  112 
splendens  (Macromia),  109 
sponsa    (Lestes),    111,    142,   171,   172, 

202 
striolatum  (Sympetrum),  112,  142,  143, 

171,  172,  173, 175,201 
Sympetrum,  84 
tenellum  (Pyrrhosoma),  110,  111,  141, 

174,  175, 202 
uncatus  (Onychogomphus),  112 
virgo  (Calopteryx),  31,  142,  174 
viridis  (Lestes),  110,   111 
viridulum  (Erythromma),  110,  111 
vulgatura  (Sympetrum),  171,  234  ' 


Order  XIV.     THYSANOPTEEA. 

Hoodia,  162 

Liothrips,  162 

nobilis  (Megalothrips),  328 


INDEX. 


Order  XV.     HEMIPTERA. 


abdominalis  (Serinetha),  250 
affinis  (Pemphigus),  22 
albiguttata  (Maua),  249 
albipes  (Psylla),  187 
alni  (Callipterus),  21 
Aphidioides,  21 
Aristaphis,  21 
arundinis  (Hyaloptera) ,  342 
auratus  (Chrysochoris),  250 
basinotata  (Suracarta),  250 
beryllus  (Z.),  252 
betularius  (Callipterus),  21 
betulicola;  (Callipterus),  21 
biplagiata  (Narbo),  250 
Bucktonia,  22 
bursarius  (Pemphigus),  346 
Byrsocrypta,  22 
Callipterus,  21 
capreffi  (Chaitophorus),  21 
capini  (Callipterus),  21 
castanseae  (Callipterus),  21 
Chaitophorus,  20 
Cladobius,  21 
convergens  (Eicauia),  250 
corni  (Sehizoneura),  22 
coryli  (Callipterus),  21 
crassa  (Z.),  252 
crocea  (Scieroptera),  249 
Dactylopius,  162 
f         delineata  (Tricoxarta),  250 
Delphax,  341,  342 
dianthi  (Rhopalosiphum),  165,  166,  167, 

168 
dilineatus  (Hyalopterus),  20 
dislocata  (Phymatostetha),  250 
Drepanidosiphum,  21 
dryophila  (Vacuna),  22 
fabEB  (Aphis),  165 
farinosa  (Tettigoniella),  250 
filaginus  (Pemphigus),  22 
fimbriata  (Plautia),  250 
Flata,  344 

flavus  (Hyalopterus),  20 
*fragaria;  (Myzus),  229 
fullo  (Erthesina),  47 
fuscata  (Pochazia),  250 
gnaphalium  (Pemphigus),  22 
graminis  (Rhizobius),  22 
graminis  (Rhizoicus),  22 
humuli  (Alibis) ,  165 
Hyalopterus,  20 
Kallistaphis,  21 


Lachnus,  22 

lactuarius  (Pemphigus),  22 
lanigera  (Sehizoneura),  165 
.  laricis  (Chermes),  229 
Vliberiana  (Platypleura),  200 
limitaris  (Ricania),  250 
Macrosiphum,  273 
■^makaga  (Platypleura),  201 
marsupialis  (Pemphigus),  22 
megistus  (Conorhinus),  47,  48 
*monti vagus  (Glaucias),  252 
Myzocallis,  21 

nigronotatus  (Thessitus),  250 
oculata  (Dalpada),  250 
Pemphigus,  22 
persicfe  (Aphis),  165 
picus  (Cimex),  252 
pieus  (Halyomorpha),  252 
platanoides  (Drepanidosiphum),  21 
populeus  (Aphidioides),  21 
populeus  (Cladobius),  21 
populi  (Chaitophorus),  21 
Psylla,  276 
Pterocallis,  21 
Pterocomma,  21 
pulchellus  (Arfeopus),  341 
pulchellus  (Delphax),  341 
pyriformis  (Pemphigus),  22 
quercus  (Callipterus),  21 
raphse  (Aphis),  165 
Rhizobius,  22 
Rhizoicus,  22 

salicivorus  (Chaitophorus),  21 
Sehizoneura,  22 
*scutel]atus  (Hippotiscus),  251 
semiclara  (Bhandara),  250 
signoreti  (Centrocnemis),  250 
simulans  (Opistharsotheus),  250 
solani  (Aphis),  165 
solani  (Rhopalosiphum),  165 
spirotheese  (Pemphigus),  346 
stellata  (Phymatostetha),  250 
superba  (Phromnia),  344 
tomentosus  (Lachnus),  22 
tricolor  (Suracarta),  250 
trimaculata  (Dalpada),  251 
trimaculata  (Pentatoma),  251 
Tuberculatus,  21 
Vaccuna,  22 
vastator  (Aphis),  165 
versicolor  (Chaitophorus),  20 


Order  XVI.     NEUROPTEEA. 


appendiculatus  (Macronemurus),  113 
barbara  (Lertha),  39 
bipennis  [^lusitairica]  (Nemoptera),  39 
boeticus  (Ascalaphus),  112 
Chrysopa,  347 


chrysops  (Osmylus),  221 
cognata  (Panorpa),  222,  328 
cognata  (Raphidia),  221 
communis  (Panorpa),  222,  321 
concinnus  (Hemerobius),  222 


flava  (Chrysopa),  222 

fuscata  (Sisyra)',  221 

germauica  (Panorpa),  40,  222,  322 

hiemalis  (Boreas),  42 

humuli  (Hemerobius),  113,  222 

ictericus  (Ascalaphus),  110 

lineolata  (Chrysopa),  113 

longicornis  (Ascalaphus),  111,  112,  113 

lutaria  (Sialis),  188,  221 

lutescens  (Hemerobius),  222 

meridionalis  (Dilar),  113 

micans  (Hemerobius),  222 


nervosus  (Hemerobius),  222 
nitidulus  Hemerobius),  222 
notata  (Raphiclia),  221 
orotypus  (Hemerobius),  222 
perla  (Chrysopa),  222 
plumbeus  (Creagris),  113 
prasina  (Chrysopa),  113 
septempunctata  (Chrysopa),  222 
stigma  (Hemerobius),  113,  221,  222 
subnebulosus  (Hemerobius),  222 
vulgaris  (Chrysopa),  113 
xanthostigma  (Raphidia),  221 


Order  XVII.     TEICHOPTERA. 


fragilis  (Metalype),  113 
guttata  (Hy dropsy che),  113 
instabilis  (Hydropsyche),  113 


lepida  (Hydropsyche),  113 
vittatum  (Sericostoma),  113 


Order  XVIII.     LEPIDOPTERA. 


abietaria  (Boarmia),  188,  245 

abjeeta  (Mamestra),  32,  180,  203,  204, 

227 
ablatrix  (Pencillaria),  308 
abruptaria  (Hemerophila),  208 
acaciffi  (Strymon),  97 
acanthodactyla  (Amblyptilia),  154 
accipiter  (Epilecta),  131 
acciusalis  (Ramila),  249 
aceriana  (Hedya),  38 
*aclea  (Zamarada),  200 
Acrffia,  41,  83 
*acritoides  (Acra3a),  41 
actfea  (Satyrus),  134 
action  (Hesperia),  254,  255,  256 
actaaon  (Thymelicus),  60,  96 
actuaria  (Craspedia),  249 
adippe  (Argymris),  97, 158,  202,  279,  302 
admetus  (Polyommatus),  97 
adrasta  (Pararge),  62 
adulatrix  (Eurhipia),  308 
adulatrix  (Eutelia),  308 
adustata  (Ligdia),  208,  349 
ad  vena  (Aplecta),  45,  179 
advenaria  (Epione),  32 
advenella  (Eurhodope),  37 
advenella  (Rhodophaea),  37 
adyte  (Erebia),  67 
.Egeria,  43,  44 
agidion  (Plebeius),  65 
asgimiusalis  (Piletocera),  249 
ffigon  (Lycfena),  84,  280 
ffigon  (Plebeius),  37,  97 
aequalis  (Eugoa),  249 
*ffirata  (Archanara),  148 
rescularia  (Anisopteryx),  159 
■  ffisculi  (Zeuzera),  180 
sestiva  (Leptosia),  187 
sethiops  (Erebia),  43,  83,  102,  157 
affinis  (Calymnia),  31,  227 


affinis  (Horagia),  248 
affinitata  (Larentia),  100 
aliinitata  (Perizoma),  136,  153 
agatha  (Neptis),  186 
agathina  (Agrotis),  47,  160,  280,  340 
agathyrsus  (Alcides),  234 
agestis  (Lyceena),  157,  185 
aglaia  (Argynnis),  62,  97,  343 
agnes  (Eucherodes),  169 
agramella  (Coleophora),  284 
Agriades,  15 
ajax  (Papilio),  44 
alba  (Colias),  323 
alba  (Rumicia),  103,  104 
*alberta  (Acrtea),  41 
albicans  (Lymantria),  249 
albicillata  (Melanthia),  157,  179 
albicincta  (Polyommatus),  57 
albicolon  (Melanchra),  180 
albida  (Epinephele),  323 
albidus  (Epinephele),  323 
*albigutta  (Perigea),  133 
albipuncta  (Leucania),  348 
albipunctella  (Depressaria),  30 
albistria  (Argyresthia),  38 
albitarsella  (Coleophora),  38 
albovenosa  (Arsilonche),  46,  292 
albulahs  (Nola),  349 
albulata  (Emmelesia),  69,  106 
alcaese  (Carcharodus),  16 
alciBse  (Erynnis),  96 
alcella  (Chrosis),  38 
alchemillata  (Emmelesia),  157 
alcinoe  (Planema),  102 
alciphron  (Loweia),  60,  97 
alcon  (Lyc£ena),  15 
alcyone  (Satyrus),  60,  133 
alcyonipennella  (Coleophora),  38 
alecto  (Erebia),  59 
Aletis,  161 


alexandra  (Colias),  323 

alexanoi-  (Fapilio),  97,  347 

alexis  (Lycffina),  80,  35 

alexias  (Agriacles),  345,  348 

alexias  (Polyommatus),  331 

algirica  (Hipparchia),  44 

aliris  (Thaumantis),  247 

alni  (Acronycta),  129 

alniai-ia  (Eugonia),  293 

Alotsa,  308 

alphusalis  (Bertula),  249 

alpina  (Agrotis),  343 

alpina  (Hesperia),  7,  78 

alpina  (Ithysia),  315,  316,  317,  318,  319, 

320,  321 
alpinaria  (Ithysia),  316,  317,  318 
alpinellus  (Crambus),  295,  296 
alsines  (Caradrina),  37 
alstrcBmeriana  (Depressaria),  38 
alternata  (Semiothisa),  127 
althese  (Carcharodus),  60 
alticola  (Hepialus),  58 
alveolus  (Hesperia),  154 
alveus  (Hesperia),  6,  59,  78,  137 
amata  (Sinthusa),  248 
amataria  (Tirnandra),  33,  180,  203,  204, 

227,  228,  264,  297 
ambigua  (Caradrina),  32 
amethystus  (Zeuxidia),  247 
amphidamas  (Chrysophanus),  65,  310 
anceps  (Mamestra),  179 
anderregiella  (Argyresthia),  38 
andrei  (Cricula),  284 
andreniformis  (iEgeria),  233 
andromedae  (Hesperia),  59,  69 
anemosa  (Acraa),  83 
angustana  (Enpoecilia),  30 
angustana  (Hypermecia),  38 
anigrusalis  (Pilocrocis),  249 
annulata  (Ephyra),  127,  187 
anomala  (Hypolimnas),  247 
anthedon  (Euralia),  161 
antiopa  (Euvanessa),  61,  133 
antiopa  (Vanessa),  35,  36,  105,  209,  227 
antiphus  (Papilio),  248 
aphirape  (Brenthis),  25,  65 
apicalis  (Ilema),  248 
apicella  (Coleophora),  347 
apiciaria  (Epione),  80,  161,  228,  292 
apiforniis  (Trochilium),  179,  180,  202 
apoUo  (Parnassius),  61,  97,  305 
applana  (Depressaria),  30,  38,  188 
*approximaria  (Urapteryx),  168 
approximata  (Atacira),  308 
aprilina  (Agriopis),  281,  296 
aquilo  (Latiorina),  309,  314 
arbuti  (Heliodes),  136,  308 
arcania   (Coenonympha),   62,  134,  306, 

307 
archesia  (Precis),  83 
archippus  (Anosia),  105 
arctica  (Agrotis),  100 
*arctiea  (Pieris),  338 
arcuana  (Boxana),  153 


arenella  (Depressaria),  30 

*arenosa  (Agrotis),  130,  279 

areola  (Lithomia),  153 

areola  (Xylocampa),  84 

arete  (Aphantopus),  279 

arethusa  (Hipparchia),  16,  17,  134 

arge  (Melanargia),  283,  305 

argentimaculella  (Tinea),  37 

argentula  (Bankia),  46 

argiades  (Everes),  15,  17,  97,  248 

argiades  (Lycasna),  35,  298 

argillacea  (Alabama),  273 

argiolus  (Celastrina),  17,  97,  157,  207, 

310,  345,  347,  348 
argiolus  (Cyaniris),  29,  35, 106,  128,  135, 

157,  182,  203,  208,  231 
argiolus  (Lycfena),  208 
argiolus  (Lycasnopsis),  182 
argus  (Plebeius),  37,  57,  59,  97 
argyrognoraon  (Plebeius),  65,  97 
arion  (Lyca^na),  15,  16,  61,  97,  345,  348 
aristolochiaj  (Papilio),  248 
armoricanus  (Hesperia),  7 
arundineta  (Nonagria),  203, 204,  227,  290 
arundinis  (Nonagria),  293,  294 
asella  (Heterogenea),  129 
asella  (Limacodes),  302 
ashworthii  (Agrotis),  45,  46,  349 
asinalis  (Botrys),  30 
aspasia  (Danais),  247 
aspersana  (Peronea),  37,  38 
assimilata  (Eupithecia),  268 
associata  (Cidaria),  158 
asteris  (Cucullia),  180,  297 
astrarche  (Aricia),  207 
astrarche  (Lycffina),  157 
astrigera  (Acrasa),  41 
Atacira,  308 
atalanta  (Pyrameis),  17,  18,  19,  30,  31, 

36,  104,  133,  138,  182,  187,  208,  228, 

230,  266,  278,  296,  297,  298,  303,  324, 

325,  326,  328,  343 
athalia  (Melittea),  133,  232 
atoraaria  (Ematurga),  47,  103,  154,  179 
atra  (Laverna),  38 
atrata  (Tanagra),  157 
atrella  (Gelechia),  332 
atricapitana  (Eupcecilia),  36,  295 
atricapitana  (Phalonia),  36,  37,  38 
atricommella  (Elachista),  39 
atropos  (Acherontia),  79,  100,  104,  100, 

182,  209 
atropos  (Manduca),  182,  183,  348 
augur  (Noctua),  159,  178 
aurago  (Xanthia),  46 
aurantiaria  (Hybernia),  296,  297 
aurata  (Pyrausta),  30,  293 
aurelia  (Melitroa),  163 
aureoflavcscens  (Anthocharis),  323 
*aureola  (Acrtea),  41 
aureolalis  (Pionea),  249 
aurifrontella  (Chrysoclista),  36 
aurinia  (Melit;Ea),  105,  133,  187,  232 
aurivillius  (Colias),  323 


XV 


australis  (Hesperia),  7 

autumnaria  (Ennomos),  45 

autumnaria  (Oporabia),  162 

aversata  (Acidalia),  79,  279 

aversata  (Ptychopoda),  4 

avis  (Callophrys),  162,  188 

badiana  (Argyrolepia),  37 

badiana  (Phalonia),  37 

badiata  (Anticlea),  179,  208 

badiipenella  (Coleophora),  328 

baia  (Noctua),  135,  203,  227,  228 

baluana  (Amnosia),  247 

barbalis  (Hypsena),  153 

barcealis  (Agrotera),  249 

barrettii  (Dianthoecia),  284 

basilinea  (Apamea),  178 

*basinotata  (Alcis),  91 

*basistrigaria  (Lygris),  170 

♦bathyscaphes  (Zamarada),  19G,  199 

batis  (Thyatira),  46,  249,  279 

belina  (Hestia),  233 

bellargus  (Agriades),  14 

bennettii  (Adaetylus),  38 

bennettii  (Agdistis),  '-iS 

bentleyana  (Ehyacionia),  74,  75 

betulffi  (Ornix),  349 

betulaj  (Thecla),  154 

betulte  (Zephyrus),  35,  128,  227,  302 

betulaetana  (Penthina),  292 

betularia  (Amphidasys),  135,  153,  234 

bianca  (Chionfema),  248 

bicolorana  (Hylophila),  129 

bicolorata  (Miana),  203 

bicoloria  (Miana),  38,  295 

bidentata  (Gonodontis),  47,  160 

bidentata  (Odontopera),  95,  137 

bifasciana  (Sericoris),  295 

bifida  (Ceruva),  183 

bifida  (Dicranura),  lOG,  306 

bilineata   (Camptogramma),    180,   241, 

280 
bilunaria  (Selenia),  38,  46,  160,  292 
binajvella  (HomcBOsoma),  267 
binaria  (Drepana),  295 
bipunctaria  (Eubolia),  38,  105 
bipunctata  (Senta),  204 
bipunctidactyla  (Mimaesioptilus),  38 
*bipupillata  (ffineis),  68 
birdella  (Ochsenheimeria),  38 
bischoffaria  (Acidalia),  105 
bisetata  (Acidalia),  279 
bistortata  (Tephrosia),  100 
bizonoides  (Asura),  248 
blandina  (Erebia),  157 
blomfieldii  (Smyrna),  347 
boeticus  (Lampides),  15,  17 
boisduvali  (Hewitsonia),  187 
boisduvalii  (Opsiphanes),  347 
bombycaria  (Ithysia),  316 
bombyliformis  (Hemaris),  310 
bondii  (Tapinostola),  105 
bore  ((Eneis),  25,  68 
borealis  (Brenthis),  66,  67 
borealis  (Phragmatobia),  100 


borneensis  (Parthenos),  248 
bracteata  (Miresa),  249 
bracteolalis  (Eurrhyparodes),  249 
brassicffi  (Mamestra),  33,  228,  281 
brassicffi  (Pieris),  26,  34,   35,  97,   135, 

159,  280,  302,  322,  343 
brevicovnis  (Baronia),  163 
*brevifasciata  (Ectropis),  69 
brevilinea   (Nonagria),   291,    292,   293, 

294 
briseis  (Hipparehia),  16,  134 
briseis  (Satyrus),  113 
*britannica  (Ithysia),  316,  321 
brumata  (Cheimatobia),  297 
brumeata  (Halia),  45 
*brunnea  (Acraea),  41 
brunnea  (Noctua),  127,  159 
brunnearia  (Selenia),  46 
bryonire  (Pieris),  265,  331,  338,  346 
bucephala  (Phalera),  297 
buoliana  (Ehyacionia),  74,  75 
burrowsi  (Hydroecia),  330 
butesalis  (Simplicia),  249 
buxtoni  (Kallima),  248 
c-album  (Polygonia),  17,  34,  35,  43,  133 
c-nigrum  (Noctua),  31,  33, 179,  228,  265, 

267, 281, 297 
Cfficilia  (Erebia),  58,  59,  60 
cserulea  (Colias),  323 

Cferulea  (Polyonimatus),  65 

ca'ruleopuncta  (Rumicia),  103, 104, 105, 
340,  348 

Cfesiata  (Entephria),  47,  160,  211 

cassiata  (Larentia),  45,  69 

caia  (Arctia),  44, 187,  203,  230,  323 

caicus  (Grammodia),  40 

Caledonia  (Erebia),  43,  83,  102 

Caledonia  (Pararge),  83 

cahginosa  (Arctia),  301 

callandra  (Actias),  46 

caUidice  (Pontia),  61 

Callidryas,  19,  346 

callunaria  (Eupithecia),  349 

camelina  (Lophopteryx),  32,  46,  157, 
280 

Camilla  (Limenitis),  133,  323 

cana  (Catoptria),  37 

candidata  (Acidalia),  153 

canescens  (Adolias),  248 

canteneri  (Thais),  45 

capsincola  (Dianthcecia),  32,  345,  347 

capsophila  (Dianthoecia),  46,  345,  347 

captiuncula  (Phothedes),  157 

capucina  (Miselia),  281 

carbonaria  (Fidonia),  100 

cardamines  (Euchloe),  43,  44,  104,  135, 
159,  181,  182,  207,  208,  231,  232,  310 

cardui  (Pyrameis),  17,  42,  43,  61,  82, 
133,  156,  182,  208,  209,228,  230,  265, 
266,  278,  297,  298,  299,  300,  323,  324, 
825,  343,  344,  346,  347 

Carea,  308 

carlinse  (Hesperia),  96 

carnana  (Amaurinia),  204 


*carniolica  (Ithysia),  319,  321 
carniolica  (Zygtena).  305 
carpini  (Saturnia),  135,  203,  232 
carpophaga  (Dianthoecia),  32,  44,  296, 

345,  347 
carthami  (Hesperia),  61,  96 
cassioides  (Erebia),  58,  134 
cassiope  (Krebia),  58, 158,  210,  333,  334, 

335,  336 
cassiusalis  (Bertula),  249 
castanea  (Noctua),  160,  280 
*castanea-punc[ata  (Colias),  27 
castrensis  (Malacosoma),  180 
catena  (Augiades),  69 
Catophaga,  39 
Catopsilia,  19 

cecropia  (Philosamia),  42,  346 
celeno  (Lampides),  248 
celestina  (Tachyris),  39 
celtis  (Libythea),  305,  346 
cenea  (Papilio),  83,  271 
centaurese  (Hesperia),  25,  68,  69,  310 
cephalariffi  (Saturnia),  212 
cerago  (Xanthia),  268 
cerinus  (Zygsena),  323 
cerri  (Strymon),  97 
cesonia  (Colias),  323 
cesonia  (Meganostoma),  323 
cespitis  (Luperina),  31,  32 
ceto  (Erebia),  163,  335 
chamomillte  (Cucullia),  34,  180 
chaonia  (Drymonia),  31,  160,  181,  183 
chaonia  (Notodonta),  185 
Charaxes,  233 

chariclea  (Brenthis),  309,  337 
chenopodii  (Hadena),  33,  180 
chi  (Polia),  30,  45,  139,  281,  348 
chlorana  (Earias),  308 
Chlosyne,  151 

christiernella  (Hypereallia),  332 
ehristiernssoni  (Colias),  27  ' 

chrysippus  (Danais),  324 
chrysitis  (Plusia),  31,  32,  227,  268 
chrysorrhcea  (Euproctis),  184,  230 
chrysorrhcea  (Liparis),  230 
chrysorrhcea  (Porthesia) ,  348 
cinctalis  (Spilodes),  203 
cinctaria  (Boarmia),  157,  233 
cinerea  (Acraea),  41 
cinerea  (Agrotis),  32,  183 
cinerella  (Brachycrossata),  37 
cinerella  (Recur varia),  37 
cingulalis  (Ennychia),  38 
cinxia  (Melitaea),  16,  17,  133,  232 
cinxioides  (Melitffia),  133 
circe  (Satyrus),  133,  303 
circeis  (Acraea),  83 
circellaris  (Amathes),  265,  281 
circellaris  (Orthosia),  265 
circii  (Hesperia),  96 
circulana  (Eucosma),  75 
circumscripta  (Simplicia),  249 
clararia  (Ophthalmodes),  249 
clathrata  (Chiasmia),  280 


clathrata  (Strenia),  46 
Claudius  (Euplcea),  247 
*clava  (Trigonophora),  147 
cleodoxa  (Argynnis),  97 
Cleopatra  (Gonepteryx),  44,  97,  232 
clivalis  (Dichocrocis),  249 
codina  (Agathea),  249 
coecilia  (Erebia),  145 
ccelestis  (Agriades),  14,  15 
j   Coenonympha,  306 
I   Colias,  125,  349 
colorata  (Miana),  203 
comariana  (Peronea),  139 
comes  (Triphasna),  292 
comitata  (Pelurga),  204 
comma  (Augiades),  69 
comma  (Leucania),  32,  178 
comma  (Urbieola),  60 
commixta  (Papilio),  186 
compactaria  (Boarmia),  249 
comparataria  (Paradarisa),  258 
complana  (Lithosia),  180,  295 
complanula  (Lithosia),  36,  38,  204 
compositella  (Stigmonota),  37,  38 
concinnata  (Cidaria),  82 
concinnata  (Dysstroma),  82 
conclusa  (Chionasma),  248 
concolor  (Tapinostola),   104,  256,  285, 

286,  287 
conferta  (Pomasia),  249 
conflua  (Agrotis),  100 
confluens  (Anthrocera),  104 
conHuens  (Zygsena),  209 
conformis  (Xylina),  41,  184 
conigera  (Leucania),  180,  203 
*conjuncta  (Alcis),  90 
*connexa  (Colias),  27 
consortaria  (Boarmia),  79,  80 
conspersa  (Dianthoecia),  32 
conspersana  (Sciaphila),  38 
conspicillaris  (Xylomiges),  105 
constrica  (Lygris),  170 
contaminei  (Anthrocera),  57,  59 
contigua  (Mamestra),  46,  127 
contiguaria  (Acidalia),  47,  140 
continua  (Ariola),  249 
continuata  (Neptis),  186 
conversaria  (Boarmia),  43,  45 
*convexa  (Lygris),  170 
convolvuli  (Agrius),  44 
convolvuli  (Sphinx),  29,  32,  79,  100,  106, 

264,  266,  257 
coracina  (Psodos),  100 
cordigera  (Anarta),  69 
cordula  (Satyrus),  133 
coretas  (Everes),  97 
coridon  (Agriades),  43,  347,  348,  349 
coronata  (Eupithecia),  38 
corticea  (Agrotis),  32 
coruscans  (Lampides),  248 
corydon  (Agriades),  15,  17,  43,  44,  57, 

97,  146 
corydon  (Lycnena),  46,  301 
corylata  (Cidaria),  153 


XVll 


coryli  (Demas),  183 

cosmius  (Xylophanes),  40 

costalis  (Ilema),  248 

costana  (Tortrix),  154,  178,  234,  349 

costaria  (Boarmia),  249 

*costimacula  (Alcis),  72 

*costimacula  (Eustroma),  3 

costleyi  (Mimacrsa),  328 

costovata  (Melanippe),  46 

crabronifonne  (Troebilium),  210 

cramerella  (Lithocolletis),  349 

crassistriga  (Pachyodes),  259 

cratffigata  (Rumia),  208 

crataegi  (Aporia),  97,  126,  158,  301,  302 

crepuscularia  (Tephrosia),  79,  160,  161 

crepuscularis  (Nyctipao),  249 

crinigera  (Baniana),  249 

crishna  (Neorina),  346 

croceago  (Oporina),  84 

crocealis  (Ebulea),  36,  266 

croceus  (Colias),  323 

croesus  (Ornithoptera),  188 

cruciata  (Miltochrista),  249 

cruda  (Tffiniocampa),  159 

cubicularis  (Caradrina),  31 

cucubali   (Dianthoecia),    32,    183,   211, 

296 
cucullata  (Nola),  105 
cuculloides  (Stictoptera),  308 
culmellus  (Crambus),  290 
cuneifeia  (Asura),  248 
cuneiplana  (Darantasia),  248 
cuneonotata  (Miltochrista),  249 
curtisellus  (Prays),  38 
curtula  (Pygasra),  80 
cyllaris,  281 

cyllaris  (Glaueopsyche),  310 
cyparissus  (Polyommatus),  65 
cytisaria  (Pseudoterpna),  136,  180 
dahlii  (Noctua),  280 
damon  (Polyommatus),  97,  146,  348 
damone  (Euchloe),  44,  282,  328 
daos  (Ideopsis),  247 
daphne  (Brenthis),  97 
daplidice  (I'ontia),  16,  17,  62,  97,  278 
dardanus  (Papilio),  83,  162,  270,  288, 

324 
deauratella  (Coleophora),  344 
debora  (Eumteus),  284 
decolorata  (Hydriomene),  37 
decolorata  (Perizoma),  3,  153 
defoHaria  (Hybernia),  104, 136,  296,  297 
deione  (Melitrea),  133 
delamerensis  (Tephrosia),  79 
deleta  (Abraxas),  105 
deliaria  (Problepsis),  249 
Delias,  40 

dentata  (Hipparchia),  134 
dentina  (Hadena),  32,  157,  178,  179 
deplana  (Lithosia),  41,  103 
derivalis  (Herminia),  203 
derivata  (Anticlea),  208 
desertella  (Gelechia),  38 
designata  (Coremia),  157,  160,  161,  292 
Entom.  Vol.  xlv.  1912. 


deversaria  (Ptychopoda),  4 

dharma  (Cirphis),  132 

dia  (Brenthis),  62,  97 

Dianthoecia,  345 

dictasa  (Notodonta),  31 

dictasa  (Pheosia),  183 

dictajoides  (Notodonta),  160,  183 

dictfeoides  (Pheosia),  80,  211,  280 

dictynna  (Melittea),  62 

didyma  (Apamea),  292,  295 

didyma  (Melitaea),  17,  62,  133 

dilutata  (Oporabia),  162,  281,  296,  297 

dimidiata  (Acidalia),  33,  289 

diniensis  (Leptosia),  187 

diores  (Thaumantis),  347 

disa  (Erebia),  309,  312 

discibrunnea  (Daseochajta),  132 

discistriga  (Alotsa),  308 

discordella  (Coleophora),  37 

dispar  (Chrysophanus),  103,  156 

dispar  (Porthetria),  331 

dissimilis  (Mamestra),  45,  46 

*distincta  (Colias),  340 

ditrota  (Luxiaria),  249 

diversipennis  (Risoba),  249 

*divisa  (Alcis),  91 

dodonea  (Drymonia),  31 

dodoneata  (Eupithecia),  135 

dolobraria  (Eurymene),  32,  46,  153, 160 

domestica  (Gelechia),  37,  38 

dominula  (Callimorpha),  44,  303,  347 

dorilis  (Chrysophanus),  283 

dorilis  (Loweia),  36,  97 

dorippus  (Danais),  324 

dorsigera  (Toxocampa),  249 

dorus  (Coenonympha),  134,  307 

dotata  (Cidaria),  158,  180,  203 

doubledayaria  (Amphidasys),  135,  234 

doubledayi  (Zeuxidia),  247 

doxo  (Pinacopteryx),  328 

dromedarius  (Notodonta),  129,  159 

dromus  (Erebia),  58 

dryas  (Ennodia),  134 

dryope  (Eurytela),  163 

dubia  (Euralia),  161 

dubitata  (Triphosa),  160,  185 

dumerilii  (Luperina),  43 

duplana  (Retinia),  74 

duplaris  (Cymatophora),  32,  178 

duplaris  (Palimpsestis),  178 

duplicana  (Padenia),  248 

duponcheli  (Leptosia),  97,  187 

d'urvilleana  (Ornithoptera),  234 

Earias,  308 

ectypa  (Leucania),  62 

edusa  (Colias),  16,  17,  19,  42,  97,  181, 
182,  187,  207,  230,  231,  232,  278,  282, 
284,  298,  299,  327,  339,  342,  343,347, 
348,  349 

edwardsi  (Colias),  323 

effertalis  (Agrotera),  249 

ega  (Catophaga),  39 

egea  (Polygonia),  133,  283 

egenaria  (Syntomis),  248 

c 


XVlll 


egeria  (Pararge),  30,  34,  35,  126,  128, 

133, 155,  207,  231,  232,  299,  343 
egerides  (Pararge),  207,  231 
egialea  (Amauris),  187 
Eleale,  308 
electo  (Colias),  323 
eleus  (Chrysoijhanus),  266 
eleus  (Rumicia),  43,  104,  105 
elinguaria  (Crocalis),  135 
*ella  (Acrjea),  41 
elpenor  (Chffirocampa),  46,  294 
eltringhami  (Mimacrnea),  328 
elutalis  (Ercta),  249 
elutata  (Hydrioniene),  299 
elymi  (Tapinostola),  295 
emarginata  (Acidalia),  33,  180,  204,  267, 

292,  297 
emberizipenella  (Lithocolletis),  38 
embla  (Erebia),  67,  310 
emesioides  (Zemeros),  248 
emutaria  (Acidalia),  32,  180,  264 
Ephestia,  348 
Epiblema,  75 
epiphron  (Erebia),  45,  46,  57,  145,  333, 

334,  335,  336 
Erebia,  56.  163 
erecta  (Kodaria),  249 
ericetana  (Orthotfenia),  38 
ericetata  (Selidosoma),  280 
eriopsis  (Epiphele),  284 
erippus  (Anosia),  105 
eris  (Argynnis),  348 
Erites,  247 

eros  (Polyommatus),  58 
erymantliis  (Gupha),  247 
esclien  (Polyommatus),  15,  61,  97,  348 
eso  (Zemeros),  248 
Eulia,  74 

eulimene  (Calopieris),  330 
eupheme  (Zegris),  44,  45,  78 
euphorbiiB  (Deilephila),  35 
euphrosyne  (Argymiis),  32,  84,  105,  136, 

153,  154,  184,  277,  305,  349 
euphrosyne  (Brentliis),  43,  62,  67,  284 
Euptea,  103 
euprepoides  (Asura),  248 
Eurhipia,  308 
eurota  (Eunica),  347 
euryale  (Erebia),  6Q 
euryaloides  (Erebia),  60 
eury theme  (Colias),  323 
eurytus  (Pseudacrffia),  307 
Eutelia,  308 
evemon  (Papilio),  139 
Evetria,  75 

excelsior  (Isognathus),  40 
exclamationis  (Agrotis),    179,  228,  281, 

300 
exigua  (Laphygma),  44,  184 
exoleta  (Calocampa),  159,  268,  281 
expallidana  (Eucosma),  39 
extensaria  (Eupithecia),  106,  296 
"extincta  (Ithysia),  317 
extranea  (Leucania),  326 


exulans  (Anthrocera),  57,  59 
exulans  (Zygasna),  45,  69 
exulis  (Crymodes),  347 
fagaria  (Scodiona),  161 
fagella  (Diurnea),  208 
fagi  (Stauropus),  129,  183 
faginella  (Lithocolletis),  37 
falcataria  (Drepana),  45,  129,  292 
fascelinellus  (Crambus),  279,  290 
fasciana  (Erastria),  153 
fasciana  (Hapalotis),  178 
*fasciata  (Breuthis),  66 
fasciata  (Chrysophanus),  823 
fasciata  (Spilosoma),  106 
*fasciata  (Zonosoma),  4 
fasciuncula  (Miana),  179 
fauculalis  (Mabra),  249 
faunula  (Urbicola),  60 
fausta  (Anthrocera),  16 
favicolor   (Leucania),  42,   62,   63,    101, 
102,  106,  108,  179,  180,  203,  228,  204, 
265,  297 
ferrugalis  (Scopula),  349 
ferrugata  (Coremia),  34,  135,  157,  161, 

346 
ferrugata  (Larentia),  100 
ferruginella  (Blabophora),  37 
*fessa  (Zamarada),  199 
festiva  (Noctua),  159,  178 
festucaB  (Plusia),  279,  292,  349 
fibrosa  (Apamea),  44,  292 
fibula   (Adela),  36 
ficklini  (Dianthoecia),  284,  348 
fidia  (Hipparchia),  134 
filigrammaria  (Oporabia),   30,  47,  162, 

211,  280 
filipenduhe    (Anthrocera),   37,    38,    44, 

106 
filipendulffi  (Zygajna),  129,  323 
fimbria  (Triphsena),  32,  127,  135,  159, 

180 
fingal  (Brenthis),  67 

fiava  (Zygffina),  44,  323 

flavago  (Gortyna),  267 

flavibasalis  ((Etholis),  249 

flavicornis  (Asphalia),  137 

flavicornis  (Polyploca),  159,  183 

•flavilinea  (Epilecta),  130 

*flavimacula  (Phalera),  259 

flavofasciata  (Abraxas),  349 

flavofasciata  (Perizoma),  3,  161,  279 

*flavopuncta  (Colias),  27 

flexula  (Aventia),  30 

florentina  (Ithysia),  318,  319,  321    . 

fluctuata  (Larentia),  100 

fluctuata  (Melanippe),  46,  80,  160 

fluctuata  (Xanthorhoe),  80,  135 

fluviata    (Camptogramma),    36,    230, 
300 

fluviata  (Percnoptilota),  230 

fcenella  (Epiblema),  75 

forficellus  (Schcenobius),  349 

formosa  (Tn-umala),  186 

*formosana  (Alcis),  71 


XIX 


fortunata  (Epinepliele),  44 

freija  (Brenthis),  25,  66,  187,  310,  340 

frigga  (Brenthis),  25,  66,  187 

fritillum  (Hesperia),  5 

frugalis  (Kemigia),  249 

fuciformis  (Hemaris),  46,  153 

fuciformis  (Macroglossa),  84 

fulgens  (Nepticula),  101 

fuliginosa  (Phragmatobia),  31,  100 

fuliginosa  (Spilosoma),  291 

fulva  (Tapinostola),  30,  280,  292,  294 

fulvago  (Citi'ia),  43 

fulvana  (Eucosoma),  39 

fulvata  (Cidaria),  279 

fumata  (Acidalia),  44,  45,  69,  157,  160, 

185 
furcata  (Hydriomene),  44,  299 
furcifera  (Xylina),  41 
furcula  (Cerura),  80,  126,  129,  227 
furva  (Mamestra),  46 
fusca  (Philosamia),  46 
fusca  (Phycis),  349 
fusca  (Pygmsena),  100 
fuscantaria  (Ennomos),  32 
fuscediaella  (Coleophora),  349 
fuscula  (Erastria),  32,  153,  178 
gffidartella  (Argyresthia),  104 
gachtaria  (Eiibolia),  105 
galactodactyla  (Aciptilia),  178 
galatea  (Melanargia),  44,  82,  126,  134, 

158,  239,  240,  241,  301,  303,  304,  305, 

306 
galiata  (Melanippe),  349 
galii  (Deilephila),  231,  278,  300 
gamma    (Plusia),    31,    184,    227,    265, 

343 
gemina  (Apamea),  179 
geminipuncta  (Nonagria),  32,  227 
gemmana  (Rhyacionia),  74,  75 
gemmaria  (Boarmia),  158,  284 
geniculeus  (Crambus),  30,  38,  295 
genistie  (Mamestra),  80 
gentiana  (Penthina),  38 
geometroides  (Adrapsa),  249 
gerronella  (Brachmia),  37 
gerstffickeri  (Mimopacha),  161 
gilvago  (Mellinia),  43 
glacialis  (Erebia),  59,  346 
glandifera  (Bryophila),  31,  46 
glareosa  (Noctua),  159,  283    ' 
glauculalis  (Glyphodes),  249 
glyphica  (Euclidia),  178 
goante  (Erebia),  134 
Gonepteryx,  346 
goniosigma  (Cirphis),  132 
gonostigraa  (Orgyia),  188 
gordius  (Chrysophanus),  303 
gordius  (Loweia),  60,  97 
gorge  (Erebia),  145 
gorgon  (Epistor),  40 
gorgone  (Erebia),  58,  60 
gothica  (Tffiniocampa),  159,  230 
gracilis  (Tseniocampa),  135 
gradiens  (Terias),  139 


grfficaria  (Ithysia),   315,  316,  317,  318, 

319,  320,  321 
graminea  (Hemithea),  249 
graminea  (Stellaria),  347 
graminis  (Char^eas),  31,  227,  280 
grandipennis  (Butalis),  38 
granitella  (Acrolepia),  38 
graslini  (Luperina),  43 
grisea  (Stenosticta),  308 
grisea-typica  (Adactylus),  38 
griseata  (Lithostege),  40 
griseola  (Lithosia),  204,  292 
grossulariata  (Abraxas),  43,  45,  105, 184, 

187,  205,  232,  284, 299, 344, 349 
*grosvenori  (Acrsea),  41 
grotiana  (Dichelia),  227 
gueneei  (Luperina),  43,  47,  102,  212 
guttistriga  (Euproctis),  249 
guttulata  (Euproctis),  249 
halitherses  (Euripus),  103 
halteres  (Parnassius),  284 
hamula  (Drepana),  31,  32,  158,  203 
hamula  (Platypteryx),  208 
hartmanni  (Parnassius),  284 
harversoni  (Saturnia),  212 
hasfcana  (Rhyacionia),  74,  75,  89,  90 
hastata  (Eutype),  161 
hastata  (Larentia),  100 
hastiana  (Rhyacionia),  74,  75 
haworthii  (Celffina),  30,  294 
hazeleighensis  (Abraxas),  349 
hecabe  (Terias),  248 
hecate  (Amauris),  186 
hecla  (Colias),  25,  309,  312,  315,  339, 

340,  345,  349 
hectus  (Hepialus),  157 
heldreichi  (Colias),  339 
helenas  (Polyommatus),  16 
helenus  (Papilio),  248,  298 
helice  (Colias),  231,  298,  299,  303,  348 
heliconia  (Asota),  249 
hellmanni  (Tapinostola),  104,  285,  286, 

287 
helvola  (Agrotis),  281 
heparata  (Euchceca),  153 
hepatica  (Xylophasia),  159 
hera  (Ccenonympha),  306 
herbosana  (Dichrorampha),  101 
herbosana  (Hemimene),  101 
hermione  (Satyrus),  133 
Hesperia,  78 

hesperides  (Anthocharis),  323 
hesperina  (Eudule),  205 
hexadactyla  (Orneodes),  37 
hexapterata  (Loboi^hora),  136,  153 
hiarbas  (Eurytela),  163 
hiera  (Pararge),  62,  310 
hilda  (CEneis),  68 
hilda  (Neorina),  346 
hippocoon  (Papilio),  83,  102,  270,  271 
hippolyte  (Hipparchia),  78 
hippothoe  (Chrysophanus),  25,  29 
hippothoe  (Heodes),  345 
hirtaria  (Biston),  155,  156,  232,  233,  284 


XX 


INDEX. 


hirtaria  (Lycia),  135 

hispidaiia  (Apocheiraa),  80 

hispidaria  (Nyssia),  137 

hispulla  (Epinephele),  44 

hobleyi  (Pseudacraea),  308 

hochenwarthi  (Plusia),  69,  338 

holmiana  (Acalla),  36,  37 

holmiana  (Dictyopteryx),  37 

homerus  (Papilio),  151 

honoratii  (Thais),  45 

honorius  (Epitola),  187 

honrathi  (Tenaris),  347 

hortella  (Lithocolletis),  42 

hospita  (Nemeophila),  45,  350 

hospita  (Paraseuiia),  45,  185 

hostilis  (Nephopteryx),  267 

hubnerella  (Chilaria),  139 

humilis  (Acrfea),  83 

humuli  (Hepialis),  227 

hyale  (Colias),  16,   17,  35,  42,  44,  02, 

79,  80,  97,  106,  323 
hybridalis  (Stenopteryx),  208 
hybridaaa  i  Sciaphila),  139 
Hydroecia,  102 
hylas  (Polyommatus),  59,  97 
hyperantbus  (Aphantopus),  279 
hyperanthus  (Epinephele),  34 
hyperborea  (Agrotis),  343 
hyperboiea  (Pacbnobia),  338,  347 
hypericana  (Catoptria),  178 
hypericella  (Depressaria),  178 
hypermnestra  (Hestia),  233 
hypoleucos  (Hesperia),  7,  77,  78 
hypophlffias    (Chrysophanus),   65,    103, 

323,  340 
hypsea  (Cethosia),  247 
ianira   (Epinephele),  35,  95,  134,  279. 

299,  301,  343,  346 
ianthina  (Triphmna),  31,  134,  159,  180, 

227,  228 
icarinus  (Polyommatus),  348 
icarus  (Lycsena),  157,  210,227,  228,  233, 

268,  284,  297 
icarus   (Polyommatus),   15,   17,  65,  97, 

103,  207,  348 
ichnusa  (Aglais),  328 
ictericana  (Tortrix),  38 
iduna  (Melitasa),  25,  309 
ignieosta  (Zamarada),  307 
ilicis  (Strymon),  97 
imbutata  (Carsia),  280 
imitaria  (Acidalia),  47 
imitata  (Pseudacraea),  307 
immaculata  (Colias),  27 
immanata  (Cidaria),  42,  45 
immutata  (Acidalia),  292,  293,  294,  348 
impar  (Bryophila),  46 
implicitaua  (Eupoecilia),  82 
implicitana  (Phalonia),  82 
improba  (Brenthis),  25 
impudens  (Leucania),  46 
impura  (Leucania),  179,  203,  204,  279, 

292 
inachis  (Kallima),  248 


incanaria  (Acidalia),  266,  267 
incanata  (Acidalia),  33,  105 
incanata  (Larentia),  100 
incarnatana  (Spilonota),  38 
incisa  (Hermonassa),  131 
"inconstans  (Hermonassa),  131 
incursata  (Larentia),  100 
indigens  (Erebia),  145 
ines  (Melanargia),  113 
inextricata  (Silacida),  308 
iufracta  (Anaphe),  331 
inopiana  (Idiographis),  37 
inquiuatellus  (Crambus),  38 
insolitalis  (Nacoleia),  249 
*inspersa  (Urapteryx),  168 
instabilis  (Treniocampa),  159 
iusularia  (Pleuroprucha),  204 
interjecta  (Triphsena),  37,  80,  135,  136, 

180, 228 
interrogationis  (Plusia),  44,  45,  160,  211 
inuus  (Hemeroijlanes),  40 
io  (Vanessa),  34,  35,  100,  101,  133,  184, 

266,  280,  297,  299,  305,  343 
iogani  (Hestia),  139 
iota  (Plusia),  32,  80,  211 
iphioides  (Ccenonympha),  113,  306 
iris   (Apatura),   35,   79,   103,   128,    129, 

231,  326,  348 
ii'regularis  (Dianthcecia),  46 
*irrorata  (Boralia),  147 
ismene  (Melanitis),  247 
istrianus  (Ithysia),  320,  321 
*italica  (Ithysia),   315,   316,   317,  318, 

319,  320,  321 
itamputi  (Papilio),  139 
Ithysia,  315,  310 

jacobosffi  (Euchelia),  37,  208,  299,  345 
japonica  (Caligula),  46 
japygia  (Melanargia),  113,  237,  304,305 
jasioneata  (Eupithecia),  31 
jasius  (Charaxes),  305,  346 
juliaria  (Selenia),  292 
jurtina  (Epinephele),  17,  44,  62 
jutta  ((Eneis),  67,  310 
karwinskii  (Smyrna),  347 
kolga  (Norasuma),  102 
lacertinaria  (Drepana),  129 
lachesis  (Melanargia),  113 
lacteella  (Laverna),  344 
lacteella  (Mompha),  344 
lacticolor  (Abraxas),  105 
Iffitana  (Phoxopteryx),  135 
laglaizei  (Papilio),  234 
lambdella  ((Ecophora),  38 
lappona  (Erebia),  58,  59,  66,  338,  345 
lapponica  (Brenthis),  25,  66,  340 
lapponica  (Colias),  27 
laijponica  (Larentia),  100 
largetani  (Obedia),  169 
laricella  (Coleopbora),  38 
laripennella  (Coleophora),  37 
lathonia  (Argynnis),  36,  305 
lathonia  (Issoria),  62,  97 
*latifasciata  (Glaucopteryx),  109 


XXI 


latiorana  (Tortrix),  234 

lavandulfe  (Zygaena),  328 

lavatei-ffi  (Carcharodus),  60,  96 

lecheana  (Ptycholoma),  306,  347 

lefebvrei  (Erebia),  58,  59 

leighi  (Papilio),  271,  324 

lemolea  (Syntarucus),  102,  162 

lepida  (Discophora),  347 

leporina  (Acronycta),  80 

Leucania,  42 

leucographa  (Tfeniocampa),  159,  184 

leuconoe  (Deilemera),  186 

leucophfea  (Pacetra),  332 

leucophii;aria  (Hybernia),  129,  155,  159, 

232,  284 
leucospila  (Doronaga),  249 
leucostigma  (Apamea),  44,  290,  292 
levana  (Araschnia),  35,  36,  45 
libatrix  (Gonoptera),  31,  208,  211,  228, 

265 
libatrix  (Seoliopteryx),  136 
lichenaria  (Boarmia),  32 
ligea  (Erebia),  67,  134 
lignata  (Phibalapteryx),  349 
ligula  (Orrhodia),  80,  281 
ligustri  (Sphinx),  183,  238,  343 
limacodes  (Cochlidion),  129 
limacodes  (Heterogenea),  129 
limitata  (Ortholitha),  279 
linea  (Hesperia),  35,  203,  253,  254,  255, 

256 
linearia  (Zonosoma),  3,  4,  43 
lineola  (Adopa?a),  96,  203 
lineola  (Hesperia),  254,  255 
lineolata  (Hesperia),  60 
literana  (Leptogramma),  43 
literosa  (Miana),  32,. 38,  227 
lithargyria  (Leucania),  31,  64,  136,  160, 

179,  203,  326 
lithodactyla  (Alucita),  37,  38 
lithoxylea  (Xylophasia),  179 
littoralis  (Sericoris),  36,  38 
littoralis  (Leucania),  295 
litura  (Amathes),  266,  268,  281 
liturata  (Semiothisa),  80 
liverana  (Tortrix),  234 
livorniea    (Deilephila),   100,    127,    209, 

278 
livorniea    (Phryxus),  42,  44,  100,   127, 

183,  209,  278,  326 
lobengula  (Amauris),  331 
leuwenhoekella  (Pancallia),  349 
lofua  (Acrjea),  41 
logfea  (Rhyacionia),  73,  74 
Lophoptera,  308 
lota  (Amathes),  80,  161,  281 
lotella  (Anerastia),  38,  203,  295 
lotis  (Cupha),  247 
lowii  (Danisepa),  139 
lubricipeda  (Spilosoma),  106 
lucernea  (Agrotis),  44,  159,  280 
lucina   (Nemeobius),  32,   84,  127,   136, 

153,  185,  229,  349 
lucipara  (Euplexia),  31,  178 


luctuosa  (Acontia),  32 
ludovicaria  (Lygris),  170 
lunaria  (Selenia),  100,  160 
lundana  (Phoxopteryx),  135 
lunosa  (Amathes),  268 
lunula  (Philosamia),  46 
luridata  (Tephrosia),  349 
lurlinus  (Papilio),  44 
lutarella  (Lithosia),  279 
lutea  (Abraxas),  349 
lutea  (Leucania),  62,  63,  203 
luteago  (DianthcEcia),  284,  348 
luteata  (Asthena),  135 
lutescens  (Arctia),  323 
lutescens  (Zygfena),  323 
lutipennella  (Coleophora),  349 
lutosa  (Calamia),  265,  268 
lutosa  (Nonagria),  32 
lutulenta  (Aporophyla),  80 
luzella  (Lampronia),  36,  37 
lycaon  (Epinephele),  134 
lychnitis  (Cucullia),  32 
lydius  (Ornithoptera),  188 

lynceus  (Hestia),  233,  247 

macarista  (Planema),  307 

machaon  (Papilio),  9,  16,  17,  35,  36,  44, 
97,  292,  303,  347,  348 

macilenta  (Amathes),  281 

*macularia  (Alcis),  91 

maculata  (Venilia),  135,  157 

maculea  (Lita),  38 

maculifera  (Pansethia),  249 

'maculosa  (Arichanna),  258 

mffira  (Pararge),  35,  62,  133,  283 

malaya  (Megisba),  248 

malvffi  (Hesperia),  5,  6,  77,78,  154,207, 
310 

malvella  (Gelechia),  104 

malvoides  (Hesperia),  5,  6,  77,  78 

manni  (Pieris),  97 

mannus  (Dicchoragia),  248 

manto  (Erebia).  58,  59,  144,  145,  336 

marcellus  (Papilio),  44 

margaritaria  (Eudalinia),  127 

margaritaria    (Metrocampa),   127,   157, 
279 

marginalis  (Ambia),  249 

marginalis  (Redoa),  249 

marginaria  (Hybernia),  232 

marginata  (Lomaspilis),  136 

marginepunetata  (Acidalia),  31,  38,  178 

marionalis  (Nacoleia),  249 

maritima  (Senta),  203,  204,  227 

marmorea  (Gelechia),  37,  38 

marmorinaria  (Hybernia),  159,  284 

marshallana  (Agrotis),  104 

marshalli  (Mimacraa),  328 

matura  (Cerigo),  227,  228 

maura  (Mania),  42,  204,  265 

medicicastra  (Thais),  45 

medon  (Aricia),  61,  97,  207 

medon  (Polyommatus),  15,  17 

medusa  (Erebia),  335 

megacephala  (Acronycta),  179 


INDEX. 


megffira   (Pararge),  17,  30,  35,  62,  83, 

133,  136,  184,  207,  227,  232,  267,  268, 

229,  302 
megaspilaria  (Alcis),  91 
megillalis  (Dichocrocis),  249 
ruelaina  (Parnassius),  284 
melaleuca  (Anarta),  69 
melaleuca  (Xylomiges),  105 
melampus  (Erebia),  134,  158,  333 
melania  (Tachyris),  39 
Melanitis,  247 
Melanocoma,  316 
melanopa  (Anarta),  69 
meleager  (Polyomruatus),  57,  97 
melicerta  (Neptis),  185 
melilotis  (Zygjena),  129,  302 
Melitffia,  163 

melotis  (Hesperia),  7,  77,  78 
mendica  (Diaphora),  209 
menthastri  (Spilosoma),  160 
menyanthidis  (Acronycta),  45 
mercedonia  (Tirumala),  186 
meridionalis  (Zegris),  45 
mesomella  (Cybonia),  32,  45 
metarete  (Delias),  248 
metella  (Neptis),  186 
meticulosa  (Phlogophora),  31,  33,  265, 

343 
*metrioscaphes  (Zamarada),  199 
mi  (Euclidia),  161,  178,  266,  349 
miata  (Cidaria),  296 
micacea  (Hydrascia),  31,  32,  227,  265, 

267 
microdactylus  (Meioptilus),  292 
miegii  (Heodes),  61 
mimeticus  (Papilio),  186 
minima  (Lycsena),  253 
minimus  (Cupido),  15,  61,  207 
ministrana  (lihyacionia),  74 
ministrana  (Tortrix),  153 
minor  (Agriades),  44 
minor  (Authocharis),  322,  323 
minor  (Colias),  323 
minor  (Pyrameis),  323 
minorata  (Larentia),  100 
minutata  (Coremia),  69 
misippus  (Hypolimnas),  331 
mnemon  (Erebia),  334 
mnemosyne  (Parnassius  i,  58,  284 
modestalis  (Herminia),  100 
moestata  (Larentia),  100 
monaclia  (Psilura),  35 
moneta  (Plusia),  80,  101,  104,  181,206, 

207,  302 
monodaotylus  (Pterophus),  30 
montanata  (Larentia),  100 
montanata  (Melanippe),  44 
moolata  (Parnara),  248 
morgani  (Tirumala),  186 
morpheus  (Caradrina),  80,  179 
mucronellus  (Schoenobius),  294,  349 
iiiulciber  (Euplcea),  247 
multinealis  (Sylepta),  249 
munda  (Tseniocampa),  84,  128,  154,  159 


mundana  (Nudaria).  46,  158 

munitata  (Cidaria),  45 

munitata  (Coremia),  279 

muralis  (Bryophila),  32,  347 

muricata  (Hyria),  210 

muscffiformis  (^Egeria),  348 

muscerda  (Lithosia),  292,  293,  294 

musciformis  (Sesia),  31 

muscula  (Hylesiaj,  46 

Mycalesis,  247 

mylitta  (Antherea),  46 

myrtilli  (Anarta),  325,  326 

nana  (DianthcECia),  349 

nanatella  (Depressaria),  38 

napi  (Pieris),  34,  35,  44,  97,  105,   135, 

159,  202,  232,  265,  280,  310,  331,  338, 

346,  .■i48 
nastes  (Colias),  26,  39,  42,  122,  309,  339 
navalis  (Glyphodes),  249 
nebritana  (Endopsia),  178 
*nebulimargo  (Zamarada),  197 
*nebulosa  (Alcis),  91 
nebulosa  (Aplecta),  32,  46,  127,  160 
nebulosa  (Mamestra),  127 
nechus  (Xylophanes),  40 
nefte  (Atiiyma),  248 
neglectana  (Hedya),  179 
nelamus  (Erebia),  336 
nemetes  (Neptis),  186 
neoridas  (Erebia),  134 
nephelus  (Papilio),  248 
nerii  (Cha;rocampa),  209 
nerii  (Daphnis),  209 
nero  (Catophaga),  39 
nesimachus  (Dicchoragia),  248 
netunaria  (Orthocraspeda),  181 
netunaria  (Orthorisma),  181 
neurica  (Nonagria),  290,  291,  292,  293, 

294,  295 
neustria  (Malacosoma),  179,  297 
ni  (Plusia),  44 
niavius  (Amauris),  187 
nickerlii  (Luperina),  43,  102 
nicoraedes  (Neptis),  186 
nictitans  (Hydrcecia),  102,  227,  281 
nigra  (Abraxas),  344,  349 
nigra  (Aporophyla),  138 
nigra  (Boarmia),  94,  95,  96,  233 
nigra  (Epunda),  281 
nigra  (Gonodontis),  160 
nigra  (Limenitis),  323 
nigra  (Odontopera),  95 
nigrella  (Elachista),  39 
nigrescens  (Elymnias),  247 
nigrescens  (Pieris),  322 
nigricans  (Agrotis),  104,  203,  292,  301 
nigrifasciata  (Aricbanna),  73 
nigrilinearia  (Ectropis),  70 
nigrina  (Limenitis),  323 
nigripalparia  (Luxiaria),  249 
nigripes  (Nodaria),  249 
nigrocffirulea  (Abraxas),  349 
nigrocincta  (Polia),  31 
nigrocrocea  (Orgyia),  249 


INDEX 


XXI 11 


nigrofasciaria  (Aaticlea),  IGO,  183 

•nigrofusa  (Apophyga),  72 

nigromaculana  (Cydia),  37,  38 

*nigronotata  (Alcis),  71,  91 

•nigropallicla  (Boarmia),  94,  95,  96 

*nigropuuctata  (Archanara),  148 

*nigropunctata  (Colias),  3-iO 

nigrosparsata  (Abraxas),  105,  344,  349 

niobe  (Argynnis),  348 

nisella  (Grapholitha),  292 

niveus  (Acentropus),  349 

nivifera  (Athyma),  248 

noctuella  (Nomophila),  182 

noma  ((Eneis),  25,  68,  338 

notata  (Macaria),  188 

notata  (Semiothisa),  80 

nupta  (Catocala),  32,  44,  227,  228,  266, 

268,  300 
nyassinus  (Papilio),  44 
Nyctalemon,  233 
nympheata  (Hydrocampa),  349 
nysiades  (Neptis),  186 
obeliscata  (Theia),  242,  243,  244,  245, 

246 
obfuscaria  (Dasydia),  45 
obfuscata  (Gnophos),  388 
obliquisigna  (Alcis),  71 
obliterans  (Ancara),  249 
obliterata  (EuchcBca),  153 
obliterata  (Eupisteria),  295 
obliterata  (Limenitis),  323 
obliterata  (Thera),  244 
oblongata  (Eupithecia),  34,  180 
obscura  (Chrysophanus),  65 
obscura  (Colias),  340 
obscura  (Itbysia),  316,  321 
obscura  (Pseudacr£ea),  307 
obscuraria  (Pseudopanthera),  37,  38 
obscurata  (Gnophos),  44,  160,  280 
obscurata  (Pieris),  322 
obsoleta  (Agriades),  44 
obsoleta  (Asura),  248 
obsoleta  (Colias),  323 
obsoleta  (Ephyra),  187 
obsoleta  (Epinephele),  279 
obsoleta  (Erebia),  336 
obsoleta  (Leucania),  178,  179 
*obso!eta  ((Eneis),  68 
occulta  (Eurois),  344 
ocellaris  (Daphnusa),  249 
ocellaris  (Erebia),  322 
ocellaris  (Mellima),  43 
ocellata  (Mesoleuca),  299 
ocellata  (Smerinthus),  31 
ochracella  (Laverna),  38 
ochrata  (Zamarada),  198 
ochrearia  (Aspilates),  136,  295 
*ochreasuffusa  (Colias),  340 
ochronigra  (Boarmia),  95,  96 
octogesima  (Cymatophora),  230 
octomaculata  (Ennychia),  157 
*octoscripta  (Obedia),  169 
ocularis  (Palimpsestis),  230 
oculatrix  (Targallodes),  308 


oculea  (Apamea),  203,  227,  228,  280 

ocdipus  (Coenonympha),  306 

oeme  (Erebia),  333 

oleracea  (Hadena),  33,  179,  297 

olivata  (Larentia),  280 

onopordi  (Hesperia),  137,  138 

00  (Dicycla),  230,  302 

operculella  (Phthorimrea),  350 

ophiogramma  (Apamea),  80,  292 

opbione  (Neptidopsis),  186 

Oporabia,  162 

optilete  (Polyonimatus),  65,  340 

or  (Cymatophora),  179 

or  (Palimpsestis),  136,  179 

orbicularia  (Zonosoma),  43 

orbiferana  (Hemonia),  249 

orbitulus  (Latiorina),  309,  314 

orbona(Triphffina),  33,  135,  268 

orestia  (Acrsea),  83 

orion  (Scolitantides),  806 

ornata  (Acidalia),  349 

ornithopus  (Graptolitha),  343 

ornithopus  (Xylina),  84 

Orthocraspeda,  181 

Orthorisma,  181 

Orthotronia,  74 

osiris  (Cupido),  97 

ossianus  (Brenthis),  25,  65,  66 

ovulata  (Eustroma),  2,  3 

oxyacanthffi  (Miselia),  80,  281 

pactolinus  (Callioratus),  331 

Pffictes,  308 

pseonalis  (Nacoleia),  249 

palasmon  (Carterocephalus),  84,  154 

palajno  (Colias),  27,  42,  345 

palawanicus  (Papilio),  248 

paleacea  (Cosmia),  344 

pales  (Brenthis),  25,  62,  66,  337,  340, 
345, 348 

palleana  (Tortrix),  157 

pallens  (Leucania),  31,  33,  37,  42,  62, 
63,  101,  102,  108,  179,  203,  228,  232, 
265,  266,  267, 268,  297 

pallescens  (Colias),  323 

pallescentella  (Tinea),  139 

pallida  (Brenthis),  66 

^pallida  (Colias),  27,  323 

^pallida  ((Eneis),  68 

pallida  (Scoparia),  230 

pallidice  (Colias),  323 

♦palUdior  (Colias),  323 

pallidula  (Graphiphora),  132 

pallidula  (Hermonassa),  132 

palpina  (Pterostoma),  160 

paludata  (Carsia),  46 

paludella  (Schoenobius),  294 

paludis  (Hydrnecia),  32 

paludis  (Hydrilla),  203,  204,  227,  228, 
265,  267 

pamphilus  (Ccenonympha),  31,  35,  62, 
134,  136,  207,  208,  210,  306,  310 

pandamalis  (Dichocrocis),  249 

paniscus  (Carterocephalus),  154 

pantoni  (Chlosyne),  150 


XXIV 


INDEX. 


paphia  (Argynnis),  31,  35,  128,  202,  232, 

299,  301 
paphia  (Dryas),  97,  187 
papilionaria  (Geometra),  45,  80,  280 
paradisea  (Ornithoptera),  234 
paradoxus  (Papilio),  233 
paragea  (Planema),  307 
pardalaria  (Pantherodes),  205 
parenthesella  (Sophroiiia),  139 
parthenias  (Breplios),  181,  208 
parthenie  (Melita?a),  62,  133 
pastinum  (Toxocampa),  32 
paulina  (Catophaga),  39 
pavonia  (Saturnia),  46,  47,  160 
*pearsoni  f  Saturnia),  47 
pectinitaria  (Larentia),  157 
pedaria  (Phigalia),80,  100,  137,  155,159 
pelaus  (Papilio),  151 
peltigera  (Heliothis),  183 
Pencillaria,  308 

pendularia  (Ephyra),  44,  129,  232 
penkleriana  (Grapholillia),  292 
periphanes  (Acraea),  41 
perla  (Bryophila),  31,  347 
perlellus  (Crambus),  37 
permixtana  (Lobesia),  101 
petraria  (Lozogranama),  135,  159,  160 
petrificata  (Xylina),  43 
phalantha  (Atella),  19 
Phalga,  308 
pharte  (Erebia),  145 
pheretes  (Albulina),  162,  330 
pheretes  (Lyc^na),  330 
phicomone  (Colias),  323 
philanthiformis  (Sesia),  31 
philodice  (Colias),  323 
phlasas  (Chrysoplianus),  30,  35,  65,  128, 

161,  207,  208,  227,  228,  266,  267,  268, 

296,  297, 323 
phljgas  (Rumicia),   42,  43,  44,  61,  97, 

103,  104,  105,  232,  310,  340,  348 
phoebe  (Melitfea),  16,  17,  133,  303 
phorbas  (Pholus),  40 
phorcas  (Papilio),  346 
phragmitellus  (Chilo),  ISO,  203,  290,  291 
phragmitidis  (Calamia),  204,  290,  291, 

292,  294 
pictella  (Argyritis),  44 
pilosa  (Dochephora),  205 
pilosaria  (Phigalia),  136,  137 
pinellus  (Crambus),  295 
pinetellus  (Crambus),  179 
piniaria  (Bupalus),  43,  229,  322 
piniperda  (Panolis),  159,  183 
pinivorana  (Retinia),  155 
pisi  (Hadena),  153,  160,  297 
pistacina  (Amathes),  267,  268,  343 
pistacina  (Auchocelis),  104 
pitho  (Erebia),  145 
plagiata  (Anaitis),  280 
plagiata  (Ilema),  248 
plana  (Catophaga),  248 
Planema,  270,  331 
planemoides  (Planema),  274 


plautaginis   (Nemeophila),  30,   32,   45, 

178,  350 
plantaginis  (Parasemia),  45,  154,  157, 

178,  185 
plauta  (Lyca^nopsis),  248 
plebeia  (Alcis),  70 
plecta  (Noctua),  31,  33,  179,  265 
pleione  (Teracolus),  330 
plexippus  (Anosia),  146 
plusioides  (Eleale),  308 
podalirius  (Iphiclides),  97 
podalirius  (Papilio),  303,  305 
podana  (Tortrix),  41,  267 
PcEcilopsis,  316 
polaris  (Aglais),  65,  340 
polaris  (Brenthis),  25,  187,  309 
polata  (Larentia),  100 
politella  (Gelechia),  37 
polixenes  (Papilio),  44 
pollux  (Brenthis),  67 
polychloros  (Eugonia),  133 
polychloros   (Vanessa),   225,  227,   297, 

305 
polycommata  (Lobophora),  159 
polydactylus  (Orneodes),  37 
polyodon  (Xylophasia),  180,  203,  265 
polyxena  (Thais),  282 
popularis  (Epineuronia),  265,  280 
popularis  (Neuronia),  31 
populata  (Cidaria),  45 
populata  (Lygris),  100,  160,  279 
populeti  (TiLuiocampa),  80,  154 
populi  (Amorpha),  42,  43 
populi  (Smerinthus),  47,  136,  100,  211, 

297 
porcellus  (Chferocampa),  32,  211 
porphyrea  (Hadena),  187 
porina  (Araschnia),  45 
posthumus  (Epitola),  187 
posticana  (Retinia),  295 
potatoria  (Cosmotriche),  46,  136 
poveli  (Colias),  323 
prasina  (Enrols),  159 
priamus  (Ornithoptera),  234 
prieuri  (Satyrus),  113 
primulae  (Agrotis),  100 
princetonia  (Neophasia),  323 
proboscidalis  (Hypena),  136,  178,  180, 

268 
procellata  (Melanthia),  178 
proeida  (Melanargia),  82,  305 
prodromaria  (Amphidasys),  208 
progemmaria  (Hybernia),  137,  208 
promissa  (Catocala),128 
promutata  (Acidalia),  31 
pronoe  (Erebia),  145 
pronuba  (Triphajna),  33,  126,  179,  228, 

265, 267, 280,  281 
pronubana  (Tortrix),  326 
propugnata  (Coremia),  157 
prorsa  (Araschnia),  36,  45 
prosapiaria  (Ellopia),  32 
protea  (Eumichtis),  128 
protea  (Hadena),  267,  281 


provincialis  (Melitfea),  133 
pruinata  (Pseudoterpna),  136,  180 
prunaria  (Angerona),  44,  79 
prunata  (Cidaria),  158 
pruni  (Thecla),  154 
pruniuna  (Penthiua),  208 
Pseudaci'fea,  330,  331 
pseudargiolus  (Celasfrina),  345,  349 
pseudomas  (Colias),  323 
psi  (Acronycta),  33,  179 
psyttalea  (Amauris),  102,  18G 
pudens  (Chionffima),  248 
pudibunda  (Dasychiia),  153,  266,  267 
pudicaria  (Bronchelia),  205 
pudorina  (Leucania),  32 
puella  (Neptis),  186 
pulchellata  (Enpithecia),  36 
pulcherrima  (Ripogenus),  308 
*pulchra  (Daseocha^ta),  132 
pulchrina  (Plusia),  32,  80,  158,  211 
*pulveraria  (Ectropis),  91 
pulveraria  (Numeria),  135,  136,  153 
pulveratella  (Aristoleia),  344 
pulveratella  (Doryphora),  344 
pumilata   (Eupithecia),    34,   135,    203, 

228 
Ijunctalis  (Stenia),  37 
punctaria  (Zonosoma),  3 
punctifera  (Agriades),  348 
punctilinea  (Aichanara),  148 
punctivenaria  (Gnophos),  73 
punetularia  (Tephrosia),  157, 183 
purdeyi  (Retinia),  73,  327 
purdeyi  (Rhyacionia),  73,  327 
*purimargo  (Zamarada),  197,  199 
purpuralis  (Pyrausta),  30,  157,  208,349 
purpurea  (Depressaria),  37 
purpurescens  (Colias),  323 
pustulata  (Phorodesma),  32 
puta   (Agrotis),  33,   46,  127,  208,  230, 

267,  268 
putridella  (Depressaria),  44, 137 
putris  (Axylia),  31,  179 
pygnifeella  (Argyrestliia),  139 
pygmiT?el!a  (Lithosia),  279,  290 
pyraliata  (Cidaria),  157,  279 
pyralina  (Calymnia),  157,  184 
pyralina  (Cosmia),  157 
pyramidea  (Amphipyra),  227,  228 
pyrenaica  (Colias),  323 
pyrenaica  (Erebia),  58 
pyrenaica  (Hesperia),  78 
pyrenaica  (Polyommatus),  57,  59,  60 
pyrenaicus  (Hepialus),  345 
pyretorum  (Saturnia),  47,  196 
pyri  (Saturnia),  347 
pyrocincta  (Zamarada),  197 
pyrrha  (Erebia),  336 
pyrrhula  (Erebia),  145,336 
quadra  ((Enectra),  302 
quadrifasciata  (Flammona),  249 
quadrilineata  (Bocola),  249 
quadripuncta  ((Ecogenia),  37,  38 
quadripuncta  (Symmoca),  37,  38 


quadripunctata  (Caradrina),  28 

quercifolia  (Gastropaclia),  182 

quercifolielia  (Lithocolletis),  349 

quercinaria  (Ennomos),  349 

quercus  (Bombyx),  231 

quercus  (Bithys),  42 

quercus  (Lasiocampa),  36,  37,  78,  79, 

135,  297,  299 
quercus  (Thecla),  180,  185 
quercus  (Zephyrus),  35,  97 
quintella  (Neptis),  186 
radiata  (Phlaas),  348 
radiata  (Spilosoma),  106,  323 
radiella  (Furaea),  135 
radiosa  (Agriades),  15,  17 
ramella  (Grapholitha),  293 
rantaizanensis  (Paradarisa),  258 
rappe  (Pieris),  30,  34,  62,  97,  105,  135, 

159,  343 
*rectifascia  (Vindusara),  259 
regulata  (Macaria),  205 
reliquana  (Lobesia),  101 
remutata  (Acidalia),  136 
repandata  (Boarmia).  32,   43,   45,    46, 

94,  127,  129,  135,  157,  160,  283,  349 
resinaria  (Thera),  244 
reticulata  (Cidaria),  350 
reticulata  (Eustroma),  ],  2,  85,  88,  89, 

277 
reticulata  (Neuria),  349 
Retinia,  73,  74,  75,  89,  295 
retusa  (Plastenis),  80 
revayana  (Sarrothripus),  308 
rex  (Papilio),  186 
rhamni  (Gonepteryx),  17,34,  35,  44,  97, 

128,  158,  280,  329 
rhediella  (Pyrodes),  36 
rhodopensis  (Erebia),  335 
rhoio  (Melitffia),  133 
rhomboidaria  (Boarmia),  204,  268 
Rhyacionia,  73,  74,  75,  89,  90 
ribeata  (Thera),  245 
ridens  (Polyploca),  154 
ripsB  (Agrotis),  179,  180 
Ripogenus,  308 
rippertii  (Polyommatus),  97 
roborana  (Notocelia),  37 
roboraria  (Alcis),  71 
roboraria  (Boarmia),  45,  46,  80,  84, 129 
robsoni  (Aplecta),  46 
robustalis  (Simplicia),  249 
rogersi  (Pseudacraa),  307 
rondoui  (Polyommatus),  61 
rosa  (Colias),  323 
roscidaria  (Fidonia),  100 
rosea  (Agrotis),  349 
*rosea  (Colias),  323,  339 
roseana  (Phalonia),  38 
*rossica  (Ithysia),  316,  321 
rotundipennis  (Nishada),  248 
ruberata  (Hydriomene),  161 
rubi   (Callophrys),   65,    156,  207,   208, 

281 
rubi  (Macrothylacia),  185 


rubi  (Noctua)  33,  153,  227,  294,  297 

rubi  (Thecla),  32,  156 

rubicilia  (Agrotis),  129 

rubidata  (Anticlea),  188 

rubiginata  (Acidalia),  46 

rubiginea  (Dasycampa),  183,  184 

rubricollis  (Gnophria),  84 

rubricosa  (Tsniocampa),  159 

rubricosta  (Miltochrista),  249 

rufa  (Coenobia),  46,  291,  295 

rufa  (Leucania),  63,  203 

rufina  (Amathes),  288,  296 

rumicis  (Acronycta),  33,  159,  228,  267 

rumina  (Thais),  45 

rupicapraria  (Hybernia),  159 

rupicola  (Phalonia),  37,  38 

ruralis  (Notarcha),  37 

rurea  (Xylophasia),  38,  159 

russata  (Cidaria),  44 

russula  (Diacrisia),  42,  45 

russula  (Nemeophila),  84 

*rusticaria  (Alcis),  91 

rusticellaria  (Monopis),  104 

rutilus  (Chrysophanus),  103,  156 

saba  (Glutophrissa),  161 

saclava  (Neptis),  186 

sacraria  (Sterrha),  42,  44 

salicata  (Melanydris),  159,  161 

salicis  (Acronycta),  159 

salictella  (Marmara),  102 

salinellus  (Crambus),  180 

salmoni  (Caligula),  46 

sangana  (Phalera),  249 

sanio  (Diacrisia),  42,  45,  46,  185,  210 

sao  (Pyrgus),  16,  59,  96 

saponaria  (Neuronia),  32 

sari  (Terias),  248 

Sarrothripus,  308 

satellitia  (Eupsilia),  80,  281 

satellitia  (Scopelosoma),  296 

satura  (Hadena),  187 

saturnus  (Papilio),  248 

satyrata  (Eupithecia),  349 

saucia  (Agrotis),  31,  265,  343 

scabriuscula  (Dipterygia),  228,  279 

schaldusalis  (Simplicia),  249 

schalleriana  (Peronea),  30 

scbmidtii  (Rumicia),  42,  43,   44,    103, 

104 
schultziana  (Mixodia),  139 
schultziana(Ilhyacionia),  75 
scipio  (Erebia),  96,  134 
scolopacina  (Xylophasia),  184 
scopoliana  (Catoptria),  39 
scopoliana  (Eucosma),  39 
sebrus  (Cupido),  97 
segetum   (Agrotis),    31,    33,    265,   281, 

296 
selasellus  (Crambus),  294 
selene  (Actias),  46 
selene  (Argynnis),  46,  79,  80,  84,  153, 

185,  260 
selene  (Brenthis),  42,  43,  346 
selene  (Tenaris),  347 


semele  (Hipparchia),  17,  44,  103,  134 
semele  (Satyrus),  30,  35,  36,  83,   160, 

848 
semialba  (Alcis),  72 
semiarcuata  (Polyommatus),  348 
semiargus  (Cyaniris),  36,  97 
semiargus  (Nomiades),  15,  16,  61 
semibrunnea  (Lithoplanes),  80 
semibrunnea  (Xylina),  32,  43 
semiclarata  (Alcis),  91 
semifuscana  (Padisca),  292,  294 
semisyngrapha  (Agriades),  44,  347,  349 
senex  (Comacla),  32,  180 
senex  (Nudaria),  180,  293,  294 
senicionis  (Homceosoma),  267 
separata  (Boarmia),  249 
Serena  (Hecatera),  32 
serratulae  (Hesperia),  59 
Sesia,  43 

shepherdana  (Peronea),  292,  294 
Sibylla  (Limenitis),  127,  135,  136,  202, 

231,  267 
siculana  (Phoxopteryx),  292 
silaceata  (Cidaria),  30 
silaceata  (Eustroma),  160,  183 
Silacida,  308 
silenusalis  (Bocana),  249 
■silvatica  (Antherea),  46 
similis  (Lyman tria),  249 
similis  (Porthesia),  44,  47, 126,  227,297 
Simla  (Caligula),  46 
simpliciana  (Dichrorampha),  38 
simplonia  (Anthocharis),  61 
sina'pis  (Leptosia),  35,  62,  97,  187,  232, 

301 
sinapis   (Leucophasia),   126,   158,   188, 

310, 349 
sinuella  (Homceosoma),  38 
*sinuosa  (Hermonassa),  131 
sinuosa  (Phalga),  308 
snelleni  (Zobia),  308 
socia  (Lithophane),  128,  343 
socia  (Xylina),  43,  84 
solidaginis  (Calocampa),  280 
solidaginis  (Lithomoia),  210 
sorbi  (Litbocolletis),  101 
sordaria  (Gnophos),  100,  338 
sordida  (Mamestra),  32,  179 
sordidata  (Hydriomene),  44 
sordidata  (Hypsipetes),  42 
spadicearia  (Larentia),  100 
sparganiella  (Orthotoeiia),  227 
spartiata  (Chesias),  136,  296 
speciosa  (Agrotis),  100 
spilodactyla  (Wheeleria),  44 
spini  (Strymon),  61,  97 
spiniella  (Argyresthia),  38 
spinula  (Ciha),  208,  280 
sponsa  (Catocala),  128 
sponsana  (Peronea),  30 
squammigera  (Lopboptera),  308 
stabilis  (Tajniocampa),  159 
stachydalis  (Pyrausta),  37 
stagnata  (Hydrocampa),  332,  349 


XXVll 


statices  (Procris),  349 

statilinus  (Hipparchia),  134 

staudingeri  (Anarta),  100 

steiberi  (Chrysophanus),  25 

stellata  (Perigea),  133 

stellatarum  (Macroglossa),  19,  182,  183, 

229,  230,267,  299,347 
Stenosticta,  308 
stettinensis  (Lithocolletis),  42 
sthennyo  (Erebia),  58 
Stictoptera,  308 
stigmatica  (Noctua),  228 
stragulata  (Thera),  244 
straminalis  (Orobena),  295 
straminata  (Acidalia),  127 
straminea  (Conchy lis),  258 
straminea  (Leucania),  31,  46,  64,  153, 

154,  203,  204,  290,  292 
straminicola  (Lithosia),  292 
strataria  (Amphidasys),  187 
stratiolata  (Paraponyx),  349 
striata  (Agriades),  44 
strigilis  (Mianaj,  179 
strigillaria  (Perconia),  45,  185 
strigula  (Agrotis),  128 
strigula  (Nola),  127 
strigulata  (Diacrisia),  249 
stringipennis  (Asura),  248 
stygne  (Erebia),  58,  134,  163 
suasa  (Hadena),  32,  33,  178 
*subalba  (Eucherodes),  169 
subalbida  (Epinephele),  323 
*subdecora  (GirpLis),  147 
subfulvata  (Eupithecia),  42,  348 
*subfusca  (Trachea),  260 
subhastata  (Larentia),  100 
sublustris  (Xylophasia),  46 
subnigrella  (Elachista),  39 
subnotata  (Eupithecia),  180 
subornata  (Chionfema),  248 
subpropinquella  (Depressaria),  30,  38 
subpiirpurea  (Trigonophora),  148 
subroseata  (Ephyra),  232 
subsericeata  (Acidalia),  79 
substriata  (Agrotis),  349 
subtnsa  (Plastenis),  80 
succulenta  (Erebia),  310 
suffumata  (Cidaria),  157 
suffumata  (Larapropteryx),  159,  160 
suffusa   (Agrotis),    31,   265,    267,   268, 

343 
suffusa  (Conistra),  281 
suffusa  (Xylina),  41 
sulitelma  (Colias),  25,  339 
sulphuralis  (Emmelesia),  46 
sulphurea  (Colias),  27 
sulphurea  (Pieris),  26 
•suppressa  (Colias),  339 
supracasrulea  (Polyommatus),  15 
suradeva  (Vitessa),  249 
suwarovius  (Melanargia),  237,239,240, 

241 
swynnertoni  (Neptis),  186 
sylvanus  (Augiades),  96,  207,  210 


sylvanus  (Hesperia),  35 

sylvata  (Hydrelia),  32 

sylvella  (Lithocolletis),  42 

sylvestrana  (lletinia),  295 

sylvestrana  (Rhyacionia),  74 

Sylvia  (Parthenos),  248 

syngrapha  (Agriades),  15 

syracusana  (Melanargia),  82,  303 

syringaria  (Hygrochroa),  47,  127,  128 

syringaria  (Pericallia),  32,  136 

syringella  (Gracillaria),  41,  104 

tffidella  (Coccyx),  154 

tseniata  (Emmelesia),  32 

tages  (Nisoniades),  16,  96 

tages  (Thanaos),  154,  161,  207 

*taiwana  (Cirphis),  132 

*tai\vana  (Gnophos),  73 

*taiwana  (Pachyodes),  259 

talaca  (Hyposidra),  249 

tauaceti  (Dichrorampha),  101 

tanaceti  (Hemimene),  101 

Targallodes,  308 

tedella  (Evetria),  75 

telicanus  (Lampides),  97 

tellesalis  (Piletocera),  249 

tellus  (Planema).  307 

telphusalis  (Bocchoris),  249 

temerata  (Bapta),  127,  160,  349 

templi     (Dasypolia),     159,     234,     326, 

332 
tenebrella  (Aristotelia),  36 
tenebrella  (Monochroa),  36 
tenebrosa  (Rusina),  31 
tentacularia  (Herminia),  100 
tenuiata  (Eupithecia),  292 
tephradactyla  (Leioptilus),  233 
terra  (Pseudacraja),  307 
terrella  (Bryotropha),  30 
testacea  (Luperina),  31,  43,  265 
testata  (Cidaria),  280 
testudo  (Limacodes),  78,  107 
tetralunaria  (Selenia),  183 
thaumas  (Adopsea),  200 
Thera,  241 
thetis  (Agriades),  14,   15,   17,  59,   97, 

348 
thore  (Brenthis),  66,  67 
thules  (Emmelesia),  106 
tilaha  (Terias),  139 
tileicles  (Papilio),  233 
tilise  (Mimas),  44 
tiliaria  (Ennomos),  267 
tincta  (Aplecta),  45 
tiphon  (Coenonympha),  45,  306,  307 
tithonus  (Agriades),  15,  17 
tithonus  (Epinephele),  16,   17,  30,  31, 

134,  180,  299,  323 
tityrus  (Hemaris),  310 
*torneoensis  (Colias),  27 
tortricoides  (llema),  248 
trabealis  (Emmelesia),  46 
tragopogonis  (Amphipyra),  265,  281 
trajanus  (Erebia),  145 
transitelea  (Deilemera),  186 


INDEX. 


translucida  (Zamarada),  198,  200,  249 

transvisaria  (Zamarada),  199,  200 

trapeziiia  (Calymnia),  227 

tremula  ^Pheosia),  80,  160,  211 

trepida  (Notodonta),  SI,  80,  160, 183 

triangulum  (Noctua),  135,  159 

tridens  (Acronycta),  179 

trifenestrata  (Cricula),  284 

trifolii  (Anthrocera),  104 

trifolii  (Hadena),  180 

trifolii  (Pachygastria),  348 

trifolii  (Zygft'iia),  209 

trigeniinana  (Ephippiphora),  37 

trigeminana  (Epiblema),  36,  37 

trigeminella  (Coleophora),  328 

*trilineata  (P^ctropis),  70 

tringipenella  (Gracillaria),  37 

tripartita  (Abrostola),  32 

triplasia  (Abrostola),  158 

tristellus  (Crambus),  31,  38 

tritici  (Agrostis),  37,  203,  292,  295 

Trochilium,  44 

trophonius  (PajDilio),  271,  324 

truncata  (Cidaria),  44,  228,  280 

tuibaria  (Larentia),  100 

turca  (Leucania),  302 

turcica  (Melanargia),  304 

turionana  (Ehyacionia),  74 

turpisaria  (Luxiaria),  249 

turritis  (Anthocharis),  323 

tyndarus  (Erebia),  58,  134 

typhie  (Nonagria),  46,  294 

typhon    (Ccenonympha),    45,    46,    137, 

160,  161,  185,  210 
typica  (Mania),  179 
uhcetana  (Catoptria),  38,  135,  322 
uliginosellus  (Crambus),  38 
ulmana  (Ehyacionia),  75 
ulvfB  (Senta),  203 

umbratica  (CucuUia),  29,  32,  46,  211 
umbrosa  (Noctua),  228,  280 
unangulata  (Hydriomene),  37 
unanimis  (Apamea),  159 
undulata  (Eucosmia),  159 
undulataria  (Luxiaria),  249 
unguicula  (Drepana),  32 
unicolor  (Erebia),  310 
unidentaria    (Coremia),    34,    135,    203, 

280 
unifascia  (Thalera),  249 
unifasciana  (Tortrix),  30 
uniformeola  (Asura),  249 
unimaculella  (Micropteryx),  349 
unipuncta  (Leucania),  326 
*unipupillata  (CEneis),  68 
urticte  (Aglais),  17,  61,  65,  328,  340 
urticaj  (Spilosoma),  209,  323 
urticfB  (Vanessa),  30,  31,  35,  184,  226, 

228,  281,  297,  343 
vaccinii  (Conistra),  281,  266 
vaccinii  (Orrhodia),  80 
vagigutta  (Eugoa),  249 
valezina  (Argynnis),  128 
vanadis  (Zyga^na),  69 


varia  (Chrysopsycha),  331 
varia  (Melitfea),  163,  345 
variata  (Thera),  241,  242,  243,  244,  245, 

246 
variegana  (Peronea),  30,  38,  43 
varipes  (Carea),  308 
varleyata  (Abraxas),  105,  34 
venatus  (Pinacopteryx),  328 
venetia  (Peratophyga),  249 
venustula  (Erastria),  39 
verbasci  (CucuUia),  233 
vernacularia  (Pomasia),  249 
vernaria  (Geometra),  32 
vernetensis  (Melitaia),  62 
versicolor  (Endromis),  29 
verticalis  (Spilodes),  203 
vestigialis  (Agrotis),  266,  295 
vetusta  (Calocampa),  265,  281 
viburniana  (Tortrix),  180,  204 
vicaria  (Ilema),  248 
vidura  (Dacalana),  248 
villica  (Arctia),  32,  230 
viminalis  (Bombycia),  46 
vinula  (Dicranura),  135,  346 
viretata    (Lobophora),    32,    44,    183, 

294 
virgata  (Agrotis),  349 
*virgata  (Alois),  90 
virgata  (Melitsa),  232 
virgata  (Mesotype),  46 
virgaureffi  (Heodes),  60,  96 
virgaureata  (Eupithecia),  31 
virgo  (Hestia),  139 
virgularia  (Acidalia),  42,  103 
viridaria  (Prothymnia),  185 
viridisquama  (Aquis),  249 
vitiosata  (Thera),  244 
vittata  (Coenocalpe),  279 
vittata    (Phibalapteryx),    292,    293, 

294 
vittella  (Cerostoma),  38 
vittellina  (Leucania),  63 
vosgesiaca  (Erebia),  145 
vulpina  (Zamarada),  197 
walkeri  (Amphimsea),  40 
walkeri  (Craspedia),  249 
waterstradti  (Tagiades),  248 
werdandi  (Colias),  26,  39,  42,  122,  125, 

309 
whytei  (Amauris),  331 
wiskotti  (Colias),  323 
xanthographa  (Noctua),  228,  232,  265, 

266,  267,  280 
xanthomista  (Polia),  44 
xerampelina  (Cirrhcedia),  160 
ypsilon  (Amathes),  281 
Ypthima,  247 

zalmora  (Neopithecops),  248 
Zamarada,  196 
zancleus  (Papilio),  305 
zebra  (Lampides),  248 
ziczac  (Notodonta),  129,  160,  267,  280, 

295 
zitenius  (Melanitis),  247 


INDEX. 


Zobia,  308 

zoegana  (Euxanthio),  37 

zoegana  (Xanthosetia),  37 


zollikoferi  (Xylophasia),  108 
zonaria  (Ithysia),  315,  316,  320,  321 
zonaria  (Nyssia),  232,  349 


Order  XIX.     COLEOPTEEA. 


abbreviata  (Diaprepes),  272 

Amara,  46 

analis  (Heptadonta),  250 

analis  (OdonLachila),  250 

Anchomenus,  46 

andouini  (Oxynopterus),  83 

annulipes  (Apion),  344 

ai-ietis  (Clytus),  42,  347 

asellus  (Cardiophorus),  189,  190 

aurulenta  (Cicindela),  250 

Bembidium,  46,  341 

bipustulatus  (Chilocorus),  82 

bowringi  (Poteriophorus),  252 

brunnea  (Micrurula),  41 

Carabus,  107 

Cardiophorus,  189 

catenulatus  (Carabus),  44 

Cebrio,  331 

celia  (Glenia),  250 

cereus  (Discbissus),  250 

Chalasnus  sp.,  252 

clavicornis  (Mycetoporus),  83 

coarctatum  (Aetidium),  99 

Coccinella,  41,  46 

corruscus  (Philonthus),  83 

cyaneus  (Ocypus),  41 

Cybister,  46 

discipennis  (Aleochara),  40 

donisthorpei  (Philonthus),  83 

Eleodes,  351 

elytoides  (Daphisia),  83 

fairmairei  (Eryx),  102 

fastuosa  (Cassida),  347 

fimbriata  (Leprodera),  250 

formicetorum  (Stenus),  83 

fornicata  (Pimelia),44 

forticornis  (Mycetoporus),  83 

fucicola  (Actinopteryx),  99 

fuscipes  (Pasderus),  341 

galloprovincialis  (Monochamus),  205 

gigas  (Cebrio),  331,  348 

glauca  (Entelopes),  250 

Harpalus,  46 

heydeni  (Haliplus),  42 

Hister,  46 

button!  (Pentarthrum),  347 

Hydrous,  46 

immaculata  (Haliplus),  42 

intermedius  (Philonthus),  83 

Lesticus  sp.,  252 

linearis  (Hypophlseus),  83 

longicornis  (Claviger),  186 

luctuosa  (Lestiva),  39 


lunatus  (Diphyllus),  4 
lundii  (Euryphagus),  250 
luteola  (Psylliodes),  344 
mserkeli  (Triarthron),  40 
marginalis  (Dytiscus),  42 
melanocephala  (Micrurula),  41 
melanocephalus  (Longitarsus),  40 
melanura  (Pterolophia),  252 
micans  (Orchesia),  5 
montivagus  (Catops),  162 
morio  (Stenus),  83 
moschata  (Aromia) ,  42 
Nabis,  341 

nigroguttata  (Mysia),  187 
nomax  (Haliplus),  232 
nucleorum  (Caryoborus),  348 
nuctuorum  (Caryoborus),  42 
obliterata  (Adalia),  344 
oblongoguttata  (Mysia),  187 
obsoletus  (Carpophilus),  161 
o'connori  (Phsedrophilus),  82 
pallescens  (Luciola),  250 
pallidum  (Lathrobiuni),  344 
pedestris  (Xylotrechus),  250 
plumosa  (Himantocera),  250 
Pterolophia  sp.,  252 
Pterostichus,  46 
puella  (Philonthus),  347 
pustulata  (Glenea),  252 
pyrostieta  (Chrysodema),  250 
quadraticollis  (Praonetha),  2-50 
quadripustulatum  (Bembidium),  83 
rutipes  (Cardiophorus),  190 
sarawacensis  (Aspidomorpha),  250 
seenicus  (Xylotrechus),  250 
serratus  (Henoticus),  348 
sexdecimpnnctata  (Micraspis),  342 
sexpustulatus  (Carpophilus),  161 
silacea  (Aspidomorpha),  40 
stellatus  (Polriophorus),  250 
stipes  (Gabrius),  42 
sublineata  (Adalia),  344 
sutor  (Monochamus),  205 
sylvatica  (Cicindela),  42 
testaceus  (Claviger),  186 
tredecimguttata  (Laccoptera),  250 
tristis  (Catops),  162 
undecimpunctata  (Coccinella),  342 
undeviginta-punctata  (Coccinella),  341 
vittatus  (Orthogonius),  250 
vittatus  (Peltonotus),  252 
wehnckei  (Haliplus),  347 


XXX 


INDEX. 


Order  XXI.     DIPTEBA. 

{including  (6)  Siphonaptera.) 


Aedes,  192,  193,  260 

affinis  (Culex),  277 

albopunctatus  (Culex^,  220 

annulata   (Theobaldia),   192,   261,   262, 

264,  277 
annulatus  (Culex),  262 
annulipes  (Ochlerotatus),  192,  194,  217, 

218 
Anopheles,  98,  192,  193 
apicotoniata  (Uranotaeina),  93 
arcanus  (Culex),  218 
auricincta  (Erephopsis),  47 
austeni  (Glossina),  350 
barberi  (Anopheles),  193 
bicolor  (Brachyopoda),  306 
bicoloi-  (Culex),  264,  277 
bifurcatus  (Anopheles),  193 
*caballa  (Grabhamia),  93 
caliginea  (Glossina),  331 
calopus  (Culex),  263 
cantaus  (Ochlerotatus),  192,  218,  264 
cimiciformis  (Discomyza),  342 
cinereus    (Aedes),    192,    260,   261,  263, 

264 
concinnus  (Culex),  220,  277 
conitus  (Xanthandrus),  232 
Culex,  192,  163,  194,  263,  286 

Culicella,  286 

Dacus,  162 

detritus  (Ochlerotatus),  220 

Discomyza,  342 

diversus  (Ochlerotatus),   192,  194,  219, 

264,  277 
doliorum  (Culex),  263 

domesticus  (Culex),  263 

dorsalis  (Ochlerotatus),  192,  194,  264 

equestris  (Merodon),  139 

ficalbii  (Culex),  262 

flavescens  (Culex),  218 

flavirostris  (Culex),  277 

fumipennis  (Culex),  218,  263,  277,  286 

fusculus  (Culex),  220 

Glossina,  29,  331  * 

gossypii  (Contarinia),  273 

grossa  (Glossina),  47 

guttatus  (Culex),  220 

hiemalis  (Boreas),  42 

Hyperechia,  330 

lateralis  (Ochlerotatus),  192,  194,  218, 
220,  277 

*lineata  (Pseudohowardina),  92 

lineola  (Syrphus),  43,  82 

ludlowi  (Anopheles),  98 

luteovittatus  (Culex),  219 

lutescens  (Culex),  263,  277 


maculatus  (Ochlerotatus),  194,  195,  217, 

218 
maculipennis  (Anopheles),  193,  261,  263, 

277 
major  (Bombylius),  44 
marginalis  (Culex),  263,  277 
mellinum  (Melanostoma),  232 
morsitans  (Theobaldia),  192,  195,  261, 

262,  263,  286 
mutabilis  (Microdon),  186 
nemorosus  (Ochlerotatus),  192,  194, 195, 

218,  219,  220,  264,  277 
nigitulus  (Culex),  220,  261,  263 
nigra  (Physocephala),  330 
nigripes  (Anopheles),  194,  220 
*nivipous  (Uranot;eina),  93 
Ochlerotatus,  193,  261 
ornatus  (Culex),  219,  203,  277 
palpalis  (Glossina),  29 
penicillaris  (Culex),  195 
pertiuax  (Eristalix),  44 
perturbans  (Tseniorhynchus),  261 
Phlebotomus,  47 

pipiens  (Culex),  192,  220,  263,  277 
planifrons  (Platycephala),  155 
plumbeus  (Anopheles),  193,  194 
Pristirhynchomyia,  164 
pulchripalpis  (Culex),  195 
punctatus  (Culex),  263,  277 
pyrastri  (Catabomba),  232 
richiardii    (TEeniorhynchus),    192,   218, 

261, 327 
riparia  (Ephydra),  155 
rossi  (Anopheles),  98 
rufus  (Culex),  263,  277 
rusticus  (Culex),  263 
salinus  (Ochlerotatus),  192,  194,  219 
scutellaris  (Hyctodesia),  306 
simplex  (Sciomyza),  43,  82 
Simulium,  47,  273 
Stephens!  (Neocellia),  98 
sylvte  (Culicada),  220 
sylvaticus  (Culex),  277 
sylvestris  (Culex),  195,  264 
Tasniorhynchus,  193,  261 
terriei  (Culicada),  219 
theobaldi   (Theobaldia),  192,  218,   262, 

263,  277,  286 
Theobaldia,  192,  193,  286 
uliginosa  (Spilogaster),  44 
vexans    (Ochlerotatus),   192,   194,    195, 

264 
vittiger  (Syrphus),  44 
waterhousei  (Culicada),  218 


Order  XXII.     HYMENOPTEEA. 


aceris  (Phyllotoma),  284,  346 
adelaidella  (Nomia),  119 
aenea  (Nomia),  119 
algicola  (Paragryon),  99 
Andrena,  45 
annularis  (Polistes),  273 
Apanteles,  127 
argentifrons  (Nomia),  1'20 
aricensis  (Megachile),  175 
atratulus  (Anergates),  345 
*atriventris  (Paraniesius),  100 
aulicus  (Mesoleius),  233 
aurifrons  (Nomia),  13 
australica  (Nomia),  121 
basalyformis  (Spilomicms),  100 
bolivari  (Vespersus),  191 
Bombus,  351 

C£Bspitum  (Tetramorium),  345 
chalybeata  (Nomia),  12 
Cilissa,  42 

*citrullina  (Xenoglossa),  177,  178 
coarctata  (Ponera),  345 
contracta  (Allasa),  341 
corticalis  (Leptothorax),  82 
cuUmnanus  (Bombus),  351 
dentatus  (Metopius),  78 
doddii  (Nomia),  120 
Dolerus,  44 

elegans  (Paracolletes),  177 
elliotii  (Nomia),  10 
erichsoni  (Nematus),  233 
fasciipennis  (Megalyra),  77 
ferruginea  (Osmia),  43 
filicornis  (Spilomicrus),  100 
flava  (Philibertella),  175 
flavoviridis  (Nomia),  119,  120 
iioralis  (Nomia),  18 
formosa  (Nomia),  11 
*frenchi  (Nomia),  120 
fruhstorferi  (Nomia),  13 
fuliginosus  (Lasius),  84 
fusca  (Formica),  186 
geuerosa  (Nomia),  120 
germanica  (Vespa),  130 
gigas  (Camponotus),  250 
gracilis  (Ccelinius),  285 
gyammensis  (Nomia),  13 
halictella  (Nomia),  13,  122 
hemipterus  (Spilomicrus),  100 
Hoplonomia,  9 
iridescens  (Nomia),  12 
kurandina  (Nomia),  121 
labralis  (Microcryptus),  233 
lenticula  (Megachile),  176 
leucocephala  (Tetralonia),  177 
lucorum  (Bombus),  350 
maculitarsus  (Nomia),  13 
manicatum  (Anthidium),  43 
maritima  (Alysia),  155 
maritima  (Idiaspa),  155 
*maturans  (Nomia),  10 


*mediorufa  (Nomia),  12,  13 
Megalyra,  77 
*megasoma  (Nomia),  11 
Meteorus,  4 
mirabilis  (Nomia),  9 
nitidulus  (Formicoxenus),  345 
noctilio  (Sirex),  39 
Nomia,  9 

obfuscatus  (Meteorus),  5 
obscuripes  (Galeaus),  100 
Odynerus,  271 
(Ecophylla,  187 
opposita  (Nomia),  13 
opulenta  (Nomia),  10 
Osmia,  346 
Oxyura,  106 
papaveris  (Osmia),  43 
Paracolletes,  176 
Paranomia,  11 
parvula  (Ceratina),  43 
*pavonura  (Nomia),  11 
pedisequa  (Loxotropa),  99 
*pedi3sequus  (Spilomicrus),  100 
*philinca  (Megachile),  176 
*pilosus  (Spilomicrus),  100 
pini  (Lophyrus),  129 
planiventris  (Nomia),  9,  11 
pruinosa  (Xenoglossa),  177,  178 
pseudoceratina  (Nomia),  122 
Psithyrus,  351 

pulchricornis  (Meteorus),  128 
*punctulata  (Nomia),  9,  10 
*pyretorum  (Anomalou),  195 
quadrifasciata  (Nomia),  10 
reitteri  (Vesperus),  161 
rufa  (Formica),  345 
rufocognita  (Nomia),  121 
ruginodis  (Myrmica),  186 
*satelles  (Nomia),  120 
semiaurea  (Nomia),  121 
serotinus  (Sphinctus),  78,  79 
smithella  (Nomia),  121 
soroensis  (Bombus),  351 
Sphinctus,  79 
spinosus  (Paramesius),  100 
takauensis  (Nomia),  9,  13 
terrestris  (Bombus),  350 
thoracica  (Bombus),  11 
*Trichocolletes,  170 
tuberoafBnis  (Leptothorax),  345 
tuberum  (Leptothorax),  82 
turneri  (Paracolletes),  177 
umbratus  (Lasius),  186 
venustus  (Lamprocolletes),  176,  177 
venustus  (Trichocolletes),  176 
Vesperus,  161 
vexator  (Meteorus),  4 
vexator  (Perilitus),  4 
vulgaris  (Vespa),  130 
Xylocopa,  43,  330 


The  Entomologist,  January,   1912. 


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14 
Aberrations  of  Eustroma  reticulata  and  Zonosoma  lineari; 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST 


Vol.  XLV.]  JANUAEY,    1912.  [No.  584 


EDITORIAL. 

With  very  great  pleasure  we  have  to  announce  that  Mr. 
Charles  Joseph  Gahan  has  been  good  enough  to  join  the  Refe- 
rence Committee  of  this  Journal.  As  an  authority  on  Coleoptera, 
Mr.  Gahan  is  so  widely  known  that  his  association  with  the 
'  Entomologist '  will  enlarge  its  field  of  operation,  and  so  enhance 
its  usefulness  as  a  "Journal  of  General  Entomology." 

As  there  appears  to  be  some  misconception  about  the  date  of 
publication  of  the  first  volume  of  the  *  Entomologist,'  we  may 
mention  that  No.  1  of  Vol.  L  was  issued  on  November  1st,  1840, 
and  No.  26 — concluding  the  volume — in  December,  1842. 

In  1843,  and  for  some  twenty  years  afterwards,  the  *  Ento- 
mologist '  was  merged  in  the  *  Zoologist,'  but  in  May,  1864,  it 
was  revived,  and  has  continued  to  appear  month  by  month  from 
that  date  up  to  the  present  time.  It  should  be  stated  that  the 
first  six  volumes  were  double— that  is,  they  each  comprised  the 
numbers  for  two  years. 


ON     THE     VARIATION     OF    EU STROM  A 
RE  TIC  ULA  TA     (  Schiff.) 

By  Louis  B.  Prout,  F.E.S. 
(Plate  I.) 

My  little  note  on  Mr.  Nurse's  interesting  aberration  of 
Eustroma  reticulata  (Entom.  xliv.  p.  59)  seems  to  have  attracted 
some  attention,  and  has  been  instrumental  in  bringing  me  some 
really  astonishing  information  as  to  the  occasional  capacity  for 
variation  of  this  usually  constant  species. 

In  February  Mr.  Frank  Littlewood,  of  Kendal,  sent  me  a 
very  fine  photograph  of  the  pick  of  a  long  series  bred  by  himself 

ENTOM. — JANUARY,    1912.  B 


'Z  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

and  Mr.  George  Holmes,  of  Kendal,  and  it  is  only  extreme 
pressure  of  work  that  has  prevented  my  calling  attention  to 
them  earlier.  Then  more  recently  Mr.  B.  H.  Crabtree,  of 
Levenshulme,  Manchester,  followed  with  a  photograph  of  some 
extraordinary  forms  bred  by  Mr.  H.  Murray,  of  Carnforth,  in 
1893,  and  now  in  Mr.  Crabtree's  collection — probably  some  of 
the  most  remarkable  aberrations  of  the  species  in  existence. 
Our  Editor  has  wisely  made  arrangements  for  all  to  be  presented 
to  readers  of  '  The  Entomologist '  together,  and  I  believe  they 
furnish  a  new  chapter  in  the  written  history  of  E.  reticulata. 

To  begin  with  Mr.  Littlewood's  photograph  as  the  first  which 
reached  me — ^^although  chronologically  his  specimens  are  the 
younger.  Since  1904,  when  (after  an  interval  of  eight  years) 
JB.  reticulata  was  rediscovered  through  the  energy  of  the  Rev.  A. 
M.  Moss,  Mr.  Littlewood,  Mr.  Holmes  and  others  have  profited 
by  his  generosity  in  putting  them  into  the  way  of  working  for  it, 
and  have  bred  it  in  good  numbers.  I  may  perhaps  be  allowed 
to  say  in  parenthesis  that  Mr.  Littlewood  has  accumulated  some 
very  interesting  notes  on  the  early  stages,  which  I  hope  he  will 
be  induced  to  publish  at  no  very  distant  date.  The  specimens 
figured  are,  I  understand,  the  pick  of  the  breeding  of  the  years 
which  have  supervened  on  the  said  rediscovery.  Mr.  Littlewood 
and  Mr.  Crabtree  both  agree  with  my  remarks  as  to  the  general 
constancy  of  the  species. 

Figs.  7  and  14  represent  the  two  ordinary  forms  (both  about 
equally  common),  and  show  that  the  normal  range  of  variation  is 
restricted  to  a  difference  in  the  degree  of  approximation  of  the 
antemedian  and  postmedian  lines  on  the  costa,  as  mentioned 
in  my  note  above  referred  to.  The  other  specimens  are  all 
aberrant  in  some  way,  some  strikingly  so.  The  frequency  of 
asymmetry  is  a  noteworthy  feature ;  it  will  be  recollected  that 
the  two  most  striking  aberrations  previously  described  (Mr. 
Nurse's  and  Mr.  Webb's)  are  both  asymmetrical.  In  Fig.  8 
the  asymmetry,  though  slight,  is  curious,  probably  even  unique ; 
on  the  right  fore  wing  the  first  median  (vein  3)  is  only  white  as 
far  as  the  postmedian  line  instead  of  to  the  termen.  Fig.  9 
speaks  for  itself ;  the  abnormality,  it  will  be  noticed,  is  confined 
to  the  left  fore  wing.  Fig.  10  I  take  to  be  roughly  the  ab.  ovulata, 
Borgmann,  though  his  example  may  probably  have  had  the 
central  mark  more  nearly  oval — more  as  in  Mr,  Crabtree's  Fig.  4. 
Figs.  11  and  12  are  a  noteworthy  asymmetrical  pair,  each  with 
one  wing  of  the  ovulata  form.  In  Fig.  13  the  antemedian  double 
white  line  is  broadly  coalescent  on  both  wings. 

Still  more  strange  are  some  of  Mr.  Crabtree's  aberrations, 
all  of  which,  however,  are  full  sized  and  well  formed,  so  that 
one  cannot  attribute  them  to  arrested  development.  Fig.  4  is  a 
fine  extreme  example  of  ab.  ovulata.  Nos.  2,  3,  and  5,  though 
differing  widely  inter  se,  may  be  considered  as  having  something 


NEW    ABERRATION    OF    ZONOSOMA     LINEARIA.  6 

in  common  in  their  general  "make-up,"  illustrating  in  varying 
degree  the  potentialities  of  **  concentration  "  of  the  dark  colour 
into  costal  blotch  or  blotches,  of  which  I  spoke  in  discussing 
Mr.  Nurse's  and  Mr.  Webb's  aberrations.  As  this  phase  of 
variation  now  proves  to  be  recurrent,  and  not  entirely  confined 
to  asymmetrical  manifestation,  I  think  it  convenient  to  give  it  a 
special  name,  ab.  costimacula,  nov.  ab.,  and  designate  Fig.  5  the 
type  thereof.  Those  who  believe  in  naming  every  differentiable 
form  may  like  to  add  names  for  Figs.  2  and  3,  but  I  prefer  to 
cover  by  the  name  all  forms  which  have  a  dark  blotch  in  the  middle 
of  the  costa  followed  by  a  suffusion  of  white  in  the  middle  of  the 
wing.  The  distinctions  between  the  three  specimens  in  question 
are  well  shown  in  the  figures  :  No.  2,  with  its  very  extended  pale 
area  and  the  blurred  inner  marginal  markings,  is  the  most  ex- 
traordinary ;  Fig.  5  is  on  the  right  wing  intermediate  between 
costimacula  and  ovulata. 

As  regards  Fig.  6,  it  is  the  only  example  yet  known  in  which 
the  ground-colour,  as  well  as  the  scheme  of  markings,  has 
materially  changed.  The  parts  which  are  ordinarily  brown  (and 
which,  in  spite  of  their  reduction,  I  still  regard  as  theoretically 
the  "  ground-colour  ")  are  ochreous,  only  a  shade  darker  than 
in  Perizoma  flavofasciata  (decolorata) ,  while  the  white  parts  are 
duller  white  than  is  typical.  The  general  scheme  somewhat 
suggests  a  nebulous  ab.  costimacula,  vaguely  akin  to  that  in 
Fig.  5.  N 


A    NEW    ABERRATION     OF     ZONOSOMA     LINEARIA. 

By  Louis  B.  Prout,  F.E.S. 

The  very  interesting  aberration  of  Zonosoma  linearia  figured 
(Plate  I.,  fig.  A)  was  taken  by  my  friend,  Mr.  D.  P.  Betts,  in 
Epping  Forest,  on  June  5th,  1908,  and  is  now  in  Mr.  South's 
collection.  As  is  well  known,  this  species  varies  a  good  deal 
in  the  precise  position  and  thickness  of  the  median  line  (or 
shade),  and  I  myself  have  one  pretty  specimen  in  which  it  is 
thickened  Just  as  in  Mr.  Betts's.  But  what  gives  to  the  new 
aberration  its  distinctive  charm  is  that  the  entire  space  between 
this  line  and  the  postmedian  on  both  wings  is  suffused  with 
smoky,  resulting  in  the  formation  of  a  definite  postmedian  band, 
which  is  faithfully  brought  out  in  the  figure.  The  under  side 
shows  the  same  peculiarity,  though  more  faintly.  The  only 
specimen  previously  known  to  me  which  could  possibly  be 
described  as  "banded"  is  that  figured  by  Barrett  on  Plate  329, 
fig.  Ic,  of  his  'Lepidoptera  of  the  British  Islands,'  in  which  the 
dark  shading  that  accompanies  the  median  line  is  in-oximal, 
not  distal.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  of  interest  to  note  that 
a  specimen  of  the  allied  Z.  'punctaria,  which  was  sold  in  the 

b2 


4  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

collection  of  the  Eev.  G.  H.  Eaynor  (bred  from  Colchester), 
shows  a  parallel  variation  to  Mr.  Betts's  linearia,  and  Barrett 
figures  one  or  two  aberrations  of  punctaria  beginning  to  approach 
it ;  while  a  very  similar  scheme  is  normal  in  annulata,  and  is  well 
known  among  other  branches  of  the  Acidaliinre  —  Ptychopoda 
aversata,  deversaria,  d;c.  Although  I  do  not  consider  it  always 
expedient  to  give  special  names  to  single  aberrations,  the  present 
is  sufficiently  striking  and  definite  to  warrant  it,  and  I  therefore 
christen  it  Zonosoma  linearia  iib.fasciata,  nov.  ab. 


KEDISCOVEEY  OF  THE  BRACONID  METEORUS 
VEXATOR  (Hal.),  WITH  A  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE 
MALE. 

By  Claude  Morley,  F.Z.S.,  &c. 

In  his  "Essay  on  Parasitic  Hymenoptera  "  in  the  old  Ent. 
Mag.  (1836,  p.  33),  A.  H.  Haliday  describes  a  new  species, 
Perilitus  vexator,  in  the  female  sex  only — ''Habitat  cum  prsece- 
dentibus  rarus  "="  Habitat  in  nemoribus  passim  frequens. 
Femina,  locis  fungiferis  autumno."  This  duly  appeared,  with 
no  addition,  in  the  Rev.  T.  A.  Marshall's  1872  Catalogue  of 
British  Hymenoptera,  and  the  original  description  was  reproduced 
by  the  same  author  in  hi^  Monograph  of  British  Braconidae 
(Trans.  Ent.  Soc.  1887),  with  that  of  its  supposititious  male. 
Both  sexual  descriptions  were  copied  in  Andre's  Spp.  Hym. 
d'Europ.  1891,  p.  86,  with  the  remark:  "  J'ai  ajout^  ce  qui 
concerne  le  ^  d'apres  un  mauvais  exemplaire  de  ma  collection  ; 
pourtant  la  reunion  des  sexes  ne  parait  pas  incertaine,  a  cause 
de  la  grandeur  exceptionnelle  du  stigma."  In  Entom.  1908, 
p.  125,  I  gave  a  table  of  British  Meteorus  species,  assigning 
M.  vexator  a  position  based  upon  its  description  alone.  This  is 
all  we  knew  of  the  insect — one  or  more  Irish  females  and  a 
doubtfully  associated  male. 

From  a  black,  hemispherical  fungus  —  almost  certainly 
Stromatosph(^ria  concentrica — Mr.  J.  H.  Keys  recently  sent  me 
from  Plymouth  two  female  M.  vexator,  which  were  bred  along 
with  a  lot  of  the  clavicorn  beetle,  Diphyllus  lunatus,  Fab.,  during 
August,  1911 ;  no  other  host  or  parasite  emerged  from  the 
fungus,  which  constitutes  conclusive  evidence  of  parasitic  as- 
sociation. I  at  once  enquired  whether  no  males  were  also  raised, 
and  Mr.  Keys  has  kindly  presented  me  with  the  only  one  bred  : 
in  all  six  females  and  one  male  Meteorus  appeared  among 
numbers  of  the  beetle. 

The  true  male  differs  from  that  described  by  Marshall  in 
having  the  antenna  no  longer  than  the  body,  of  twenty-six 
joints,  with  the  basal  half  dozen  ferruginous ;   metathorax  nearly 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTE    ON    HESPERIID    CLASSIFICATION.  5 

horizontal  to  its  transcarina,  which  in  both  sexes  is  centrally 
interrupted  by  a  laterally  carinate  longitudinal  area,  and  then 
abruptly  declived ;  on  either  side  of  this  central  area  the 
metanotum  is  not  smooth,  but  finely  shagreened,  in  both  sexes ; 
the  wings  are  even  less  clouded  than  those  of  the  female,  with 
costa  piceous  but  nervures  testaceous ;  the  stigma  is  not  uni- 
colorous  but,  exactly  as  in  the  female,  large  and  nigrescent  piceous 
with  its  basal  third  pure  white  (=  "  stigmate  latissimo,  fusco 
puncto  pallido  " — Hal.);  the  second  cubital  cell  is  subparallel- 
sided  and  neither  triangular  nor  constricted  towards  the  radial 
nervure  ;  abdomen  longer  than  thorax.     Length,  11  mm. 

The  insect  is  closely  allied  to  Meteorus  obfuscatus,  so  fre- 
quently bred  from  the  heteromerous  beetle,  Orchesia  micanSy  in 
dry  Boleti  on  elm  and  other  large  trees. 


A     SUPPLEMENTARY     NOTE      ON     HESPEEIID 
CLASSIFICATION. 

By  H.  Rowland-Brown,  M.A.,  F.E.S. 

The  'Entomologist,'  vol.  xliii.  pp.  306-9,  contains  "A  Note 
on  the  New  Classification  of  certain  Hesperiid  Butterflies,"  rela- 
tive to  the  researches  of  Dr.  J.  L.  Reverdin  and  M.  Charles 
Oberthiir,  in  which,  inter  alia,  I  drew  attention  to  the  difficulty 
of  separating  the  malvce-fritillum  forms.  Dr.  Reverdin  has  now 
most  kindly  furnished  me  with  an  extract  from  the  *  Bulletin  de 
la  Soc.  lepid.  de  Geneve '  (vol.  ii.  fasc.  2,  August,  1911),  in 
which  he  gives  the  results  of  his  completed  investigations  on  this 
particular  subject. 

A  close  examination  of  long  series  leads  him  to  the  conclu- 
sion that,  superficially,  Hesperia  malvce,  and  the  insect  which  we 
have  known  hitherto  as  H.  fritillum,  Rambur,  are  practically 
inseparable.  It  is  only  when  we  come  to  compare  the  male 
appendages  that  we  are  conscious  of  a  complete  specific  differ- 
ence ;  but  there  are  one  or  two  points  also  of  structure  and 
habit,  which,  pending  a  complete  life-history  ol  fritillum,  Rbr,, 
may  assist  us  to  differentiate  these  perplexing  little  butterflies. 
I  take  the  liberty,  therefore,  to  epitomize  Dr.  Reverdin's  several 
experiments ;  but,  as  a  preliminary,  repeat  what  I  have  already 
explained  in  my  paper  on  the  species  met  with  by  me  in  the 
Basses-Pyr6nees  (Entom.  vol.  xliv.  p.  335),  that  fritillum,  Rbr., 
is  henceforth  to  be  known  as  malvoides,  Elwes  and  Edwards 
(c/.  "A  Revision  of  the  Oriental  Hesperidse,"  Trans.  Zool.  Soc. 
xiv.  1898)  :— 

Size:  Malvoides  ordinarily  larger  than  malvce  (but  not  invariably). 
Shape  of  wings :  Fore  wings  of  malvoides  more  pointed,  and  relatively 
less  broad  ;  malvcB  appears  more  compact  {ramasse). 


6  THE   ENTOMOLOGIST. 

Coloration :  Malva  darker  ;  and  the  white  markings,  therefore,  shown 
up  in  stronger  reHef  on  the  ground  colour;  in  malvoidcs,  the 
general  tint  rather  brownish  than  actually  black ;  the  white 
spots  contrasting  less  vigorously.  (Examples  must  be  quite 
fresh  to  demonstrate  this  difference.)  This  is  due  to  the  hairs 
which  cover  the  wings  being  somewhat  lighter  and  whiter  in 
malvoidcs,  which  is  also  more  abundantly  provided  with  them 
than  vialvce. 

Fore  wdngs,  upper  side :  No  palpable  difference  in  the  distribution 
scheme  of  the  white  spots  forming  the  irregular  Y  in  the  middle 
of  the  wing ;  but  the  row  of  small  ante-marginal  spots,  very 
clearly  defined  as  a  rule  in  malvcB,  absent  in  malvoidcs,  or  reduced 
to  a  few  atoms  ;  instead  of  the  spots  traces  of  feeble  brownish, 
lighter  than  the  ground  colour. 

Hind  wings,  upper  side :  Differences  even  less  constant.  Usually 
the  median  band  of  white  spots  with  denticulations  turned  out- 
wards is  more  extended  in  malvcB. 

Fore  wings,  under  side  :  In  malvoides  the  costa,  and  a  thin  "piping" 
the  length  of  the  outer  margin  immediately  inside  the  fringe, 
ochreous  yale  yellow ;  in  malva  more  or  less  dirty  white. 

Hind  wings,  under  side :  Normal  colour  in  malva  greyish,  in  onal- 
voides  rather  yellowish ;  median  band  of  spots  more  often  carried 
through  unbroken  from  one  margin  to  the  other  in  malvoides  ;  in 
malvcd  almost  invariably  broken  at  the  back  of  the  large  spot. 
In  very  fresh  examples  pearly  reflections  of  the  white  spots  more 
pronounced  in  malvoides.  Inner  margin  in  malvce  usually 
greyish,  or  blackish  normally ;  in  malvoides  whitish  or  yellowish. 
Not  constant.  Black  spot  in  line  with  the  anal  angle  more 
obvious  in  malvoides.  Tiny  black  spot  in  white  spot  just  beyond 
anal  angle  fails  or  almost  disappears  less  frequently  in  malvoides 
than  in  malvcB. 

Nervures :  Usual  colouring  hind  wings,  either  yellow  or  reddish 
yellow  in  malvoides  ;  whitish,  or  of  a  less  pronounced  yellow,  in 
malvcB. 

Antennae :  The  club  in  malvoides  yellow  or  tawny,  and  almost  con- 
stant ■■'-  ;  in  malvcz  brown  or  black  almost  without  exception. 

Palpi :  In  malvoides,  seen  from  below,  sometimes  white,  more  often 
pale  grey ;  in  malva  sometimes  pure  black,  and  more  often  grey 
of  a  deeper  shade  than  in  malvoides.  Seen  from  above  the  bunch 
of  black  hairs  in  the  middle  in  malvoides  usually  contains  several 
white  or  grey  hairs  ;  in  malvce  they  are  black  or  blackish.  Less 
constant  than  the  differences  of  the  antennae. 

Joints  of  antennas  :  Less  on  the  average  in  malvoides  than  in  malvce, 
on  the  whole ;  but  not  constant,  some  examples  even  showing  a 
different  number  on  one  antenna  to  the  other  ! 

Examination  of  ordinary  and  androconeal  scales  inconclusive. 

Dr.  Reverdin  concludes  with  a  number  of  observations  from 
entomologists  in  the  various  countries  where  it  occurs  tending 

*  E.  Audre,  '  Lepid.  de  Saone-et-Loire '  (Macon,  1902),  under  alveus 
var'.  fritillum,  Hb.,  writes,  quoting  Frey,  "Under  side  of  the  clubs  of  the 
antennEe  rusty-red." 


PUPATION  OF  LBPIDOPTEROUS  LARV^  IN  GLASS  TUBES.      7 

to  show  that  malvoides  mvariably  affects  marshy  ground,  whereas 
this  pecuHarity  has  not  been  noticed  in  malvcs.  I  can  supple- 
ment these  with  two  further  observations  of  my  own  to  the  same 
effect.  My  Biarritz  malvoides  were  taken  flying  singly  ni  the 
marshland  outside  that  town ;  and  my  Berisal  example  (as  far 
as  I  recollect)  in  a  damp  upland  pasture  near  to  a  mountam 
stream.  , 

As  a  result  of  these  discoveries,  coupled  with  Dr.  Leverdm  s 
further  discovery  (based  also  on  the  character  of  the  male  appen- 
dages) that  Hesperiamelotis,  Duponchel  (=  hypoleucos,  Lederer), 
is  a  good  species,  it  follows  that  some  modification  and  amend- 
ment is  required  in  Tutt's  exhaustive  account  of  Hesperia  malvce 
('British  Butterflies,'  vol.  i.  pp.  221-255).  His  var.  pyrenaica 
(p.  225),  by  reason  of  the  date  of  captures  made  on  the  Pyrenees- 
Orientales,  must  be  referred  as  a  var.  of  malvoides— unless,  as  I 
suspect,  it  be  malvoides  itself.  His  var.  alpina,  for  the  same 
reason,  is  probably  the  mountain  malvoides  of  Switzerland,  and 
belongs,  therefore,  to  that  species. 

Lastly,  though  I  observe  that  Tutt  cites  and  describes  var. 
melotis,  Dup.,  and  var.  hypoleucos,  Lederer,  as  two  separate 
varieties  of  H.  malv(S— the  former  occurring  at  Locarno— Dr. 
Eeverdin  (and  other  authors)  regard  the  names  as  synonyms 
of  what  now  appear  to  be  one  and  the  same  true  species,  viz. 
melotis. 

Mr.  J.  Edwards,  of  Colesborne,  having  kindly  determined  tor 
me  the  specific  identity  of  H.  armoricanus,  Obthr.,  with  //.  alveus, 
despite  certain  pronounced  superficial  differences,  my  abstract 
of  the  classification  of  this  particular  group  should  now  read  as 
foll(iws  {cf.  Entom.  xliii.  p.  308)  :— 

To  the  vars.  of  H.  alveus  add  (g)  var.  armoricanus,  Obthr. 
For  H.  FRiTiLLUM,  Rbr.,  read  H.  malvoides,  Elw.  &  Edw. 

(a)  ?  var.  alpina,  Tutt. 

(6)  ?  var.  pyrenaica,  Tutt. 
and  add  H.  malv-e,  L. 

(a)  var.  (et  ab.*)  australis,  Tutt. 
H.  melotis,  Dup. 


PUPATION  OF  LEPIDOPTEROUS  LARV^  IN  GLASS 

TUBES. 

By  Piupert  Stbnton. 

It  may  not  be  generally  known  that  lepidopterous  larvae  will 
pupate  in  glass  tubes  plugged  with  cotton-wool,  and  as  far  as  I 

*  I  notice  on  p.  224,  '  British  Butterflies,'  vol.  i.,  Tutt  gives  full  varietal 
rank  to  australis,  u.  var.,  but  on  p.  225  he  calls  a  form  from  Digne  ab.  (et 
var.),  and  another  from  Draguignan,  a  few  miles  away,  ab.  simply. 


8  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

have  observed,  a  larger  proportion  will  do  so  more  successfully  in 
the  artificial  cocoon  thus  made  than  in  the  earth  or  other  material 
provided  for  them  in  captivity.  Of  course,  if  biological  data  are 
desired  it  is  the  obvious  thing  to  do,  but  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  hitherto  regarded  as  a  simple  alternative  to  the  usual  and 
more  natural  method. 

I  first  noticed  that  larvae  would  so  pupate  in  the  autumn  of 
1910,  when  an  attempt  at  transferring  external  parasites  to 
other  hosts  (Noctuid  caterpillars)  failed,  partly  perhaps  through 
the  intended  victims  too  rapidly  turning  to  chrysalids  in  the 
tubes.  Since  then,  by  way  of  a  test,  I  have  placed  all  my  larvse 
under  the  same  conditions,  and  they  have  all,  without  exception, 
turned  to  healthy  chrysalids  :  and  in  thus  managing  them  I 
have  found  several  advantages,  among  which  may  be  mentioned 
the  elimination  of  earth,  &c.,  a  decreased  mortality  w^hen 
changing,  being  able  to  feed  several  species  in  the  same  cage 
without  an  eventual  mixing  of  chrysalids,  and  keeping  in  touch 
with  individual  larvse  through  to  the  imago ;  also,  when  travelling, 
to  have  the  difficulties  of  dealing  with  larvae  then  obtained,  which 
desire  to  pupate,  removed  is  an  advantage,  as  they  can  be 
accommodated  en  route  by  carrying  a  supply  of  tubes  and  wool. 

I  must  add,  though,  that  I  have  had  nothing  like  a  sufiicient 
number  of  caterpillars  to  make  a  really  comprehensive  test  of 
the  usefulness  of  this  method.  But  perhaps  some  collector  with 
greater  opportunities,  and  to  whom  large  boxes  of  earth  and 
other  impedimenta  are  cumbersome,  may  think  it  worth  while 
to  experiment. 

St.  Edward's,  St.  Mary  Church,  Torquay,  Devon. 


AN    ATTEMPT     TO    COLONIZE    PAPILIO    MACHAON 

IN    ESSEX. 

By  Professor  Eaphael  Meldola,  D.Sc,  LL.D.,  F.E.S.,  &c. 

In  the  November  issue  of  the  '  Entomologist '  (vol.  xliv. 
p.  365)  there  are  three  records  of  captures  of  this  butterfly,  one 
at  Bishop's  Stortford,  one  near  Kelvedon,  and  a  third  at  Enfield. 
The  tendency  to  attribute  the  occurrence  of  the  insect  in  districts 
so  far  removed  from  its  native  habitat  to  the  exceptionally  warm 
summer  is  quite  justifiable,  and  may  be  the  correct  explanation. 
I  remember  in  1895,  when  at  Sheringham,  in  Norfolk,  seeing  a 
boy  sweep  a  specimen  of  P.  machaon  off  a  flower-head  with  his 
net,  but  this  locality  is  not  very  remote  from  fenny  districts. 
With  respect  to  the  recent  captures  in  Hertfordshire,  Essex,  and 
Middlesex,  however,  I  think  it  only  right  to  offer  a  suggestion. 
In  1909,  in  the  course  of  a  conversation  with  the  Earl  of  War- 


SOME    BEES    FROM    FORMOSA.  » 

wick  concerning  a  swampy  area  in  the  grounds  of  his  estate 
at  Easton,  near  Dunmow,  in  Essex,  the  wish  was  expressed  that 
this  marshy  bit  could  be  "naturalized  "  as  far  as  possible,  both 
with  respect  to  insects  and  plants.  With  the  concurrence  of 
Lord  and  Lady  Warwick  I  determined  to  try  and  introduce 
P.  machaon.  Large  supplies  of  the  food-plants  were  procured 
and  planted  round  the  swamp,  and  in  the  spring  Lord  W^arwick 
and  I  attached  six  dozen  chrysalids  of  the  butterfly  to  various 
posts  and  walls  of  summer-houses  round  about.  All  the  butter- 
flies emerged  in  due  course,  and  were  seen  from  time  to  time 
sailing  away,  but  no  larvae  were  found  on  the  food-plants  that 
season,  nor  have  they  been  found  at  Easton  since;  neither  has 
the  butterfly  been  seen  in  the  grounds.  So  far  the  experiment 
was  a  failure,  and  I  believe  that  others  who  have  attempted  to 
introduce  this  butterfly  into  new  districts  have  had  similar 
experiences.  But  there  is  a  lurking  suspicion  that  these 
"escapes  "  from  Easton  may  have  founded  a  successful  colony, 
or  successful  colonies,  elsewhere,  and  that  the  recently  captured 
specimens  may  have  spread  therefrom.  Bishop's  Stortford  is 
only  about  eight  miles  in  a  bee  line  from  Easton,  and  Kelvedon 
cannot  be  very  much  further.  Enfield  is  the  farthest  point  from 
the  centre  of  distribution.  It  will  be  interesting  to  note  what 
happens  next  season.  Of  course,  it  is  too  much  to  hope  that  any 
specimens  seen  at  large  should  be  simply  recorded  and  not 
slaughtered.  With  strange  butterflies,  as  with  rare  birds,  the 
tendency  is  to  "  kill  at  sight."  Had  we  been  successful  with  the 
Easton  experiment,  it  is  needless  to  say  that  no  "  collecting  "  of 
this  butterfly  would  have  been  permitted. 
6,  Branswick  Square,  W.C. :  Dec.  14tb,  1911. 


SOME     BEES    FEOM    FOEMOSA.— IL 

By  T.  D.  a.  Cockerell. 

The  genus  Nomia  is  represented  in  the  Sauter  Collection  by 
six  species,  but  three  others  {N.  takauensis,  N.  mirahilis,  and 
iV.  planiventris)  were  earlier  collected  by  Sauter  and  have  recently 
been  described,  from  males  only,  by  Friese.  According  to  the 
material  before  me,  two  species  appear  to  be  exceedingly  abundant, 
and  these  are  the  species  which  also  occur  on  the  Asiatic  main- 
land. The  others,  apparently  endemic,  are  represented  by  few 
specimens. 

Group  A.  (Subg.  Hoplonomia,  Ashmead). 
Postscutellum  with  two  large  teeth. 

Nomia  punctulata,  Dalla  Torre,  var.  a. 
Forty-six  specimens,  all  males.      The  wings  are  dusky,  and 


10  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

the  first  recurrent  nervure  joins  the  second  submarginal  cell 
beyond  the  middle  ;  otherwise  the  insects  seem  not  to  differ  from 
the  mainland  form.  Finding  no  females,  I  wondered  whether 
N.  maturans  could  be  the  true  female,  although  it  is  very  unlike 
punctulata  female  as  known  from  elsewhere.  Close  comparison 
led  me  to  abandon  this  idea,  for  maturans  differs  from  male 
jmnctulata  in  the  duller  surface  of  the  mesothorax,  the  non- 
bilobed  scutellum,  and  the  dull  metathorax,  with  the  area  merely 
granular.  A'',  yunctulata  is  a  Chinese  and  Japanese  species,  while 
N.  jjiaturans  is  related  to  a  species  of  the  Philippine  Islands. 

The  Formosan  N.  punctulata  all  come  from  Takao,  August  to 
October.  The  abdominal  bands  are  light  emerald  green,  the 
first  two  suffused  with  orange,  the  last  two  with  purple. 

Nomia  maturans,  n.  sp. 

?  .  Length  about  10-11^  mm.  ;  black,  the  head  and  thorax 
strongly  punctured,  with  rather  abundant  pubescence,  white  on 
cheeks,  pleura  and  metathorax  creamy-white  on  face  and  prothorax, 
black  on  mesothorax  and  scutellum,  but  white  tomentum  along  hind 
border  of  mesothorax,  and  a  little  at  the  sides,  postscutellum  covered 
with  white  hair,  slightly  creamy  above ;  head  broad ;  eyes  dark 
brown  ;  mandibles  strongly  bidentate ;  clypeus  and  supraclypeal  area 
with  a  dehcate  but  distinct  median  carina,  not  reaching  the  lower 
margin  of  clypeus  ;  sides  of  lower  half  of  clypeus  carinate ;  antennas 
black,  with  the  fourth  joint  red  beneath,  and  the  apical  part  of  the 
flagellum  reddish  beneath  ;  front  shining,  strongly  and  closely  punc- 
tured ;  a  flattened,  slightly  concave  smooth  area  at  side  of  each 
lateral  ocellus ;  mesothorax  dull,  with  very  large  strong  punctures, 
sparse  in  the  middle  posteriorly ;  scutellum  with  strong  widely 
separated  punctures  ;  postscutellum  with  two  large  triangular  teeth ; 
metathorax  dull  and  granular,  the  area  with  a  more  coarsely  granular 
band,  the  lateral  areas  strongly  punctured  ;  tegulas  black  with  creamy- 
white  margins ;  wings  dusky,  stigma  dark  ferruginous,  nervures 
brown ;  second  s.  m.  rather  broad,  receiving  first  r.  n.  much  beyond 
middle  ;  legs  black,  with  mainly  white  hair,  ferruginous  on  inner  side 
of  tarsi ;  abdomen  sparsely  punctured,  segments  two  to  four  with 
broad  tegumentary  orange  bands,  sometimes  flushed  with  emerald 
green. 

Hah.  Takao,  Formosa,  three  collected  November  10th,  1907. 
Evidently  closely  allied  to  N.  quadrifasciata  (Ashm.)  from  the 
Philippine  Islands ;  the  first  distinctly  Philippine  type  I  have 
noted  among  the  Formosan  bees.  Some  years  ago  I  hastily 
examined  Ashmead's  type  of  N.  quadrifasciata,  but  only  noted 
that  the  abdominal  bands  were  green  tinged  with  orange- 
vermilion.  Ashmead's  description  of  N.  quadrifasciata  is  rather 
incomplete,  and  his  account  of  the  legs  of  the  female  is  evidently 
based  on  a  male.  In  the  colour  of  the  abdominal  bands,  N.  ma- 
turans also  recalls  N.  opulenta.  Smith,  In  Bingham's  work  on 
the  '  Hymenoptera  of  India'  it  runs  in  the  table  to  A^".  elliotii. 


SOME  BEES  FROM  FORMOSA.  11 

Sm.,  from  which  it  differs  at  once  by  the  colour  of  the  bands  and 
the  absence  of  a  band  on  the  first  segment.  According  to  Friese, 
N.  elliotii  also  occurs  in  Formosa. 

Group  B.  (subg.  Paronomia,  Friese). 
Postscutellum  unarmed ;  abdomen  with  coloured  tegumentary  bands. 

Nomia  thoracica,  Smith. 
The  specimens  have  been  compared  with  a  thoracica  from 
F.  Smith's  collection.  Thirty  specimens,  including  both  sexes, 
all  from  Takao,  July  to  October.  Easily  known  from  the  other 
Formosan  species  of  this  group  by  the  dense  covering  of  moss- 
like fulvous  or  ferruginous  hair  on  the  thorax  above. 

Nomia  megasoma,  n.  sp. 

?  .  Length  about  13J-15  mm. ;  black,  the  head  and  thorax 
finely  punctured,  clothed  with  fulvous  hair,  that  on  the  mesothorax 
not  hiding  the  surface  ;  mandibles  thick,  bidentate  ;  clypeus  shining, 
with  scattered  punctures,  and  with  a  median  keel  which  is  strong 
above,  evanescent  below ;  supraclypeal  area  convex,  not  keeled  ; 
antenniB  black,  the  scape  long,  the  flagellum  obscurely  ferruginous 
beneath  ;  vertex  angulate  behind  ocelli  ;  front  finely  rugosopunctate  ; 
mesothorax  dull,  finely  and  rather  closely  punctured ;  scutellum 
irregularly  punctured,  the  punctures  of  different  sizes  ;  metathorax 
shining,  with  scattered  punctures,  more  or  less  in  rows  ;  basal  area 
consisting  of  a  broad  shining  transverse  sulcus,  crossed  by  raised 
lines,  and  a  V-shaped  median  apical  smooth  area ;  tegulae  rather 
large,  bright  ferruginous  ;  wings  dusky,  strongly  orange-tinted,  the 
apex  with  a  dark  fuscous  patch  ;  stigma  and  nervures  ferruginous  ; 
first  r.  n.  joining  second  s.  m.  near  its  base ;  legs  black  with 
ferruginous  hair,  the  tarsi  dark  reddish  ;  abdomen  shining,  sparsely 
punctured,  the  punctures  on  first  abdominal  segment  distinctly  larger 
than  those  on  second  ;  first  two  segments  with  fulvous  hair,  the 
others  with  mostly  black,  but  fulvous  at  sides  ;  hind  margins  of 
segments  two  to  four  with  pale  orange  tegumentary  bands,  which 
are  narrow,  only  covering  about  half  of  the  apical  depression  ;  venter 
with  much  red  hair. 

Hab.  Formosa  (no  special  locality  given)  ;  four  specimens. 
In  Bingham's  table  this  runs  nearest  to  N.  thoracica  and 
N.formosa,  but  does  not  closely  resemble  these  species.  N.  plani- 
ventris,  Friese,  of  which  only  the  male  is  known,  appears  to  be 
very  similar,  but  the  outer  margin  of  the  wing  is  dark,  not 
merely  the  apex.  I  am  not  sure  that  N.  viegasorjia  is  not  the 
female  of  planiventris,  but,  after  carefully  going  over  Friese's 
description,  I  have  thought  it  best  to  regard  it  as  distinct. 

Nomia  pavonura,  n.  sp. 
S  .     Length  about  12  mm. ;  black,  the  head  finely  and  irregularly 
punctured,  the  shining  mesothorax  and  scutellum  strongly  and  quite 


12  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

closely ;  head  and  thorax  with  very  pale  ochreous  hair,  white  on 
lower  part  of  pleura,  light  fulvous  on  sides  of  metathorax,  on  meso- 
thorax  and  scutellum  strongly  mixed  with  dark  fuscous ;  eyes  strongly 
converging  below  ;  clypeus  finely  rugose,  it  and  the  supraclypeal  area 
with  a  longitudinal  carina ;  front  densely  punctured ;  hair  on  anterior 
part  of  cheeks  shining  silvery ;  antennae  long,  black,  basal  half  of 
flagellum  with  a  poorly  defined  red  band  beneath ;  scutellum  moder- 
ately bigibbous ;  metathorax  shining,  the  basal  area  smooth,  with  a 
fine  transverse  raised  line  separating  the  apical  part ;  tegulse  pointed 
behind,  testaceous  with  a  large  piceous  patch  ;  wings  faintly  dusky, 
more  strongly  so  on  apical  margin ;  nevures  and  stigma  dusky 
ferruginous  ;  first  r.  n.  joining  second  s.  m.  beyond  middle ;  legs  black, 
with  pale  hair,  reddish  on  inner  sides  of  tarsi ;  hind  femora  moder- 
ately swollen,  flattened  beneath  ;  hind  tibiae  thick,  trigonal,  strongly 
curved,  the  broadly  truncate  apical  lobe  light  yellow,  stained  at  end 
with  ferruginous ;  hind  basitarsus  pallid  on  outer  side  near  base  ; 
abdomen  more  or  less  metallic,  with  purple  tints,  very  strongly 
punctured,  with  broad  tegumentary  bands  (occupying  much  more 
than  half  of  the  apical  depression)  on  segments  two  to  five  ;  in  the  type 
the  last  two  are  iridescent,  with  brilliant  emerald  green  and  purple 
colours,  while  the  other  two  (doubtless  abnormally)  are  dull  greenish ; 
in  a  second  specimen  they  are  all  dull  greenish ;  penultimate  seg- 
ment with  a  dentiform  lobe  on  each  side ;  apex  very  broad,  emar- 
ginate. 

2  .  Similar,  but  more  robust,  with  the  usual  sexual  differences  ; 
abdominal  bands  three,  green  without  purple  ;  hind  femora  beneath 
with  a  curled  fulvous  scopa,  but  scopa  of  hind  tibiae  white ;  flagellum 
bright  ferruginous  beneath  except  at  base ;  mesothorax  and  scu- 
tellum with  most  of  the  hair  black  or  dark  fuscous ;  scutellum  with 
a  median  groove ;  basal  sulcus  of  metathorax  rather  faintly  beaded 
laterally  ;  abdomen  not  so  strongly  punctured  as  in  the  male. 

Hah.  Takao,  Formosa,  August  18th,  1907,  one  female.  The 
female  approaches  N.  iridescens,  Smith,  but  is  much  larger,  with 
very  much  larger  punctures  on  the  two  basal  segments  of 
abdomen.  The  closest  affinity  is  with  N.  chalybeata,  Smith, 
which  differs  in  the  colour  of  the  thoracic  pubescence.  The 
insect  may  be  regarded  as  the  Formosan  representative  of 
N.  chalybeata.     The  type  is  a  male. 

Group  C. 

Postscutellum  unarmed ;  abdomen  with  hair-bands  ;  tegulae  not 
enlarged. 

Nomia  mediorufa,  n.  sp. 

$  .  Length  about  8  mm. ;  black,  with  the  flagellum  (dusky  in 
middle  above),  the  basal  two-thirds  or  more  of  the  first  abdominal 
segment,  the  knees,  the  anterior  tibise  (with  a  large  dusky  cloud)  and 
the  tarsi  ferruginous ;  pubescence  of  head,  thorax,  and  legs  fulvous, 
nowhere  becoming  white ;  head  transversely  suboval,  eyes  strongly 
converging  below ;   face  covered  with  appressed  pale  fulvous  hair ; 


SOME  BEES  FROM  FORMOSA.  13 

clypeus  normal  not  keeled  ;  mandibles  red  subapically ;  front,  vertex, 
mesothorax,  and  scutellum  granular  from  minute  dense  punctures ; 
basal  sulcus  of  metathorax  with  fine  transverse  ridges ;  posterior  face 
of  metathorax  dull  and  rough,  with  much  hair ;  tubercles,  upper 
border  of  prothorax  and  postscutellum  densely  covered  with  hair,  but 
surface  of  mesothorax  not  hidden  by  hair ;  tegute  clear  ferruginous  ; 
wings  dusky,  nervures  and  stigma  pale  ferruginous ;  b.  n.  not  quite 
reaching  t.  m. ;  abdomen  very  finely  punctured ;  hind  margins  of 
segments  testaceous,  with  heavy  broad  fulvous  hair-bands,  widely 
interrupted  on  first  segment,  thin  in  the  middle  on  second ;  apical 
ventral  segment  broadly  rounded. 

Hob.  Koroton,  Formosa,  September  8th,  1907,  two  females. 
N.  takauensis,  Friese,  was  based  on  males  from  Takao  and  Ku-sia, 
Formosa  ;  it  appears  to  resemble  N.  mediorufa,  having  the  same 
fulvous  pubescence,  but  the  abdomen  is  not  red  at  base,  and  the 
mesothorax  and  scutellum  are  much  more  densely  hairy.  I  do 
not  think  takauensis  can  be  the  male  of  mediofura.  In  Bingham's 
table  N.  mediorufa  runs  near  N.  floralis,  Smith,  but  the  clypeus 
is  produced  at  apex  into  a  short  truncate  lobe,  not  toothed  as  in 
floralis ;  the  hair  of  face  is  pale  fulvous,  not  fuscous  as  in 
floralis  ;  and  the  scutellum  is  closely  punctured,  while  in  floralis 
it  has  scattered  punctures.  N.  maciditarsis,  Cam.,  may  also 
be  compared,  but  that  species  has  smooth  silvery  white  apical 
margins  to  the  abdominal  segments. 


Nomia  mediorufa  gyammensis,  n. 

5  .  Like  N.  mediorufa,  but  abdomen  not  at  all  red  basally ;  legs 
darker,  hind  tibise  with  dark,  fuscous  hair  on  outer  side ;  pubescence 
paler,  the  abdominal  bands  very  pale  ochreous ;  flagellum  black 
above  except  at  apex. 

Hah.  Gyamma,  Formosa,  April  6th,  1907.  This  is  almost 
exactly  like  the  Australian  N.  halictella,  Ckll.,  so  much  so  that 
without  very  close  scrutiny  they  would  be  considered  identical. 
N.  halictella  has  the  wings  distinctly  darker,  and  is  a  larger  insect, 
but  the  resemblance  is  most  extraordinary,  extending  to  every 
microscopical  detail.  It  is  a  question  whether  N.  gyammensis 
and  medionfa  should  not  be  regarded  as  races  of  halictella,  in 
spite  of  the  wide  geographical  separation.  Among  the  Indian 
species  N.  gyammensis  may  especially  be  compared  with  N. 
kangrcB,  Nurse,  in  which,  however,  the  pubescence  hides  the 
sculpture  on  front,  and  there  are  other  differences.  It  is  easily 
known  from  N.  opposita,  Sm.,  by  the  smaller  size  and  light 
nervures,  and  from  N.  fruhstorferi,  Per.,  by  the  yellowish  hair- 
bands  on  abdomen,  &c.  In  Bingham's  tables  it  runs  nearest  to 
N.  aurifrons,  Sm.,  which  is  very  different. 


14  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

A  BUTTERFLY  HUNT  IN  SOME  PARTS  OF 
UNEXPLORED  FRANCE. 

By  H.  Rowland-Brown,  M.A.,  F.E.S. 

(Concluded  from  vol.  xliv.  p.  389.) 
(iv)  Donipierre-sur-Mer,  Charente-Infeneiire. 

I  think  the  quahfication  of  my  title  admitted  in  a  previous 
paper  of  this  series  is  not  required  for  Dompierre-sur-Mer, 
which  is  six  miles  away  from  the  sea  north-east  of  La  Rochelle, 
in  the  Charente-Inferieure,  and  only  designated  "  sur-Mer  "  to 
distinguish  it  from  several  other  Dompierres  elsewhere.  But 
Dompierre  has  a  history,  and  a  very  remarkable  one,  which  I 
may  briefly  state,  inasmuch  as  one  incident  at  least  bears 
directly  on  the  entomological  wealth  of  the  region.  From  La 
Rochelle  to  Dompierre,  and  for  some  little  way  further  inland, 
there  is  a  canal,  and  along  the  huge  bank  of  excavated  earth  on 
the  south  side  runs  the  railroad  to  Nantes.  At  this  particular 
spot  the  banks  are  scarcely  less  than  fifty  feet  deep,  and  almost 
perpendicular,  so  that  there  it  is  not  possible  to  scramble  up  or 
down,  and  close  to  the  station  is  a  long  tunnel,  through  which 
the  canalized  waters  of  one  of  the  Sevre  rivers  (the  neighbouring 
Department  is  that  of  Deux- Sevres)  are  carried.  The  work  was 
conceived  by  Louis  XIV.,  and  achieved,  so  far  as  it  goes,  by 
convict  labour.  But  it  has  never  been  completed,  and  the 
waterway  is  abandoned.  The  soil,  however,  is  calcareous,  and 
for  two  hundred  years  the  immediate  surrounding  land  on  each 
side  has  been  left  uncultivated — a  wild  garden  such  as  one 
seldom  encounters  elsewhere  in  a  country  where  great  enclosed 
estates  are  unknown,  and  every  inch  of  available  earth  pressed 
into  the  service  of  industry.  When  I  entered  this  No-man's 
Land,  on  the  morning  of  August  4th,  I  must  confess  that  the 
prospect  filled  me  with  dismay.  Every  blade  of  grass  seemed 
to  have  been  burnt  up  by  the  fierce  sunshine  of  the  past  weeks, 
and  such  land  as  might  have  escaped  on  the  railway  banks  had 
been  devastated  by  fires.  However,  I  set  out  for  the  village  of 
Dompierre,  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  away,  to  seek  out 
M.  Vige,  the  schoolmaster,  who  is  an  enthusiastic  lepidopterist, 
and  would  no  doubt  guide  me  to  the  best  localities.  Not  only 
did  he  offer  me  the  warmest  of  welcomes  and  the  requisite  advice, 
but,  net  in  hand,  accompanied  me  back  to  the  canal-banks, 
where,  despite  the  drought,  a  few  green  oases  survived.  Now, 
my  chief  object  in  visiting  Dompierre  was  to  investigate  the 
wonderful  Lycsenid  races,  duly  recorded  and  examples  of  many 
figured  by  M.  Charles  Oberthiir  ('  Lepid.  Compar6e,'  fasc.  iii., 
Rennes,  1909).  In  particular  there  is  the  blue  form  of  the 
female  of  Agriades  thetis  {=  bellargus),  ab.  coelestis,  Obthr.,  in 


BUTTERFLY    HUNT    IN    SOME    PARTS    OF    FRANCE.  15 

which  the  upper  side  of  the  wings  is  suffused  entirely  with  a 
silky  blue,  closely  approximating  to  the  colour  of  typical  males. 
I  may  say  at  once  that  I  did  not  have  the  good  fortune  to  net  a 
single  one.  The  males  of  the  second  generation  were  just 
coming  out,  the  one  sole  female,  observed  in  cop.,  being  of  the 
normal  and,  at  Dompierre  apparently,  the  rarer  form.  Thus, 
just  as  at  Angouleme,  in  Charente,  I  had  been  too  early  for 
the  coclestis  of  the  first  brood,  here  I  was  in  advance  of  the  next 
emergence.  Still,  there  were  many  compensations  in  store  for 
me,  for  A.  thetis  is  not  the  only  member  of  the  family  which 
exhibits  this  remarkable  tendency  to  "  cseruleanism "  in  the 
female.  A.  conjdon  was  well  out,  the  males  in  hundreds  flitting 
over  the  dry  grass-bents,  with  rarer  females,  all  of  which,  or 
nearly  all,  were  ab.  tithonus,  Mieg.  (=  ab.  syngrapha,  Kef.),  and 
I  was  able  to  collect  on  this  day  and  the  morning  of  the  5th  a 
very  respectable  series  of  this  exquisite  butterfly.  In  size  they 
show  great  variation,  from  about  the  dimensions  of  a  large 
Cupido  minimus  to  those  of  the  fine  well-developed  British  type  ; 
while  I  took  one  with  the  nervures  superimposed  blue,  and 
striated  as  in  the  remarkable  form  first  described  from  a  less 
pronounced  example  by  Gaschet  as  ab.  radiosa  {cf.  *  British 
Butterflies,'  Tutt,  iv.  p.  31).*  I  gather  further  from  M.  Oberthiir's 
illuminating  account  of  the  species  that  the  blue  female  form 
predominates  here  over  the  brown,  and  though  there  were  many 
fine  richly  coloured  brown  females  in  evidence,  the  tithonus 
form  was  decidedly  the  commoner  of  the  two.  In  the  case 
of  Polyommatus  icarus,  also  abundant  on  the  wing  in  both  sexes, 
I  could  observe  no  marked  predominance  of  the  blue  form  ; 
indeed,  it  was  decidedly  less  in  evidence  than  I  have  found  it  on 
the  Chilterns  and  other  English  localities  where  **  blues"  are 
common.  I  took,  indeed,  but  one  worn  female  corresponding 
in  detail  to  the  ab.  supraccerulea,  Obthr.  {op.  cit.  p.  147).  None 
the  less,  it  is  worthy  of  observation  that  in  this  natural  locality 
the  blue  females  of  the  Agriades  group  should  apparently  tend 
to  oust  the  "  brown,"  while  another  still  more  remarkable  feature 
is  the  extraordinary  frequency  hereabouts  of  androgynous  P. 
icarus.  M.  Bene  Oberthiir  informs  me  {in  litt.)  that  his  collector 
in  the  spring  of  1911  brought  back  no  fewer  than  twenty-seven 
such  examples — surely  a  record  !  Single  Everes  argiades  ;  Lam- 
pides  boeticus,  common  round  the  acacia-bushes  ;  two  or  three 
belated  Lycmia  arion,  which  I  was  unable  to  net ;  A.  medon,  of 
the  second  emergence  ;  and,  less  frequently,  Nomiades  semiargus 
complete  the  tale  of  "blues"  upon  the  wing.  But  M.  Vig6 
tells  me  that  Dompierre  produces  L.  alcon,  and  P.  escheri  var. 

*  M.  I'Abbe  Gaschet's  radiosa  is  described  from  examples  taken  also  in 
the  Charente-Inferieure — St.  Georges,  near  Royan,  which  is  in  the  extreme 
south-west  of  the  Department,  as  Dompierre  is  in  the  extreme  north-west. 
It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  the  aberration  is  not  unusual  in  this  region. 


16  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

helencB,  Obthr.,  has,  of  course,  been  distinguished  and  named  quite 
recently  by  M.  Charles  Oberthiir  from  examples  taken  in  this 
same  district. 

But,  notwithstanding  the  arid  condition  of  the  soil  and  the 
exhausted  verdure  both  of  plants  and  trees,  there  were  countless 
butterflies  besides  Lycaenidfe  upon  the  wing.  The  fast-fading 
clumps  of  valerian  on  the  railway  bank  were  clustered  with 
Colias  edusa  and  C.  hyale,  and  occasional  Pontia  daplidice; 
while  on  the  outskirts  of  a  little  pine-wood,  which  filled  the 
whole  air  with  sweet  resinous  odour  and  afforded  a  grateful 
shade,  fresh  examples  of  Papilio  machaon  were  chasing  each 
other  with  an  energy  we  poor  perspiring  mortals  might  well 
envy.  Pyrgus  sao,  isolated  Carcharodus  alcece,  and  Nisoniades 
tages  represented  the  **  skippers,"  while  every  blue  thistle  was 
alive  with  Epinephele  tithonus,  and  the  driest  pathways  and 
glaring  masonry  of  the  canal  with  Hipparchia  arethusa ;  that 
other  heat-loving  Satyrid,  H.  hriseis,  being  not  yet  emerged. 
Of  the  Argynnids  I  saw  nothing ;  they  must  have  been  well 
over  in  this  forward  season,  but  a  fresh  brood  of  MelitcBa  cinxia 
was  about,  and  some  very  small  but  lively  coloured  M.  phcehe. 
Several  stout  Anthrocerid  larvte  also  found  their  way  into  the 
net,  although  the  only  member  of  the  family  on  the  wing  was 
A.fausta,  very  small  and  in  brilliant  condition. 

But  the  sands  of  holiday-time  were  already  running  low,  and 
I  could  only  give  Dompierre  a  second  visit  of  a  few  hours  on 
August  5th,  though  in  a  normal  year,  throughout  the  collecting 
season,  a  profitable  month  might  be  spent  in  the  Charente- 
Inferieure.  The  difficulty  is  to  work  this  locality  from  comfort- 
able headquarters.  The  best  way,  I  should  think,  to  reach  La 
Rochelle  is  by  steamer  to  La  Pallice  from  Liverpool,  thus 
avoiding  the  tiresome  journey  across  France;  or,  if  the  long  sea- 
voyage  is  not  convenient,  via  Southampton,  St.  Malo,  Rennes,  and 
Nantes.  The  trains  stopping  at  Dompierre  from  La  Rochelle  are, 
however,  very  limited  in  number,  and  there  seems  no  alternative 
between  spending  the  whole  day  there  from  ten  to  six,  or 
returning  a  few  hours  before  noon.  But  there  is  a  small  cafe 
opposite  the  station,  kept  by  a  sympathetic  landlord,  who  waxed 
eloquent  on  the  entomological  treasures  of  his  locality ;  and  it 
is,  therefore,  not  necessary  to  transport  dejeuner,  a  considera- 
tion when  box-room  is  limited,  and  the  sun  making  every  ounce, 
human  or  otherwise,  tell  against  the  carrier  of  bag  or  satchel. 
I  cannot  recommend  the  small  hotel  in  which  I  put  up  at  La 
Rochelle,  but  I  dined  each  evening  at  the  Hotel  du  Commerce  in 
the  Place  d'Armes,  and  it  appeared  to  be  admirably  managed. 

Butterflies  observed  at  Dompierre-sur-Mer,  Charente- 
Inf:6rieure,  August  4th  and  5th,  1911. — Carcharodus  alcece  ; 
Pyrgus   sao  ;  Nisoniades  tages ;  Lycana  arion ;  Nomiades  semi- 


THE    IMMIGRATION    OF    PYRAMEIS    ATALANTA.  17 

argus ;  Agriades  corydon,  and  ab.  tithonus,  and  ab.  radiosa,  A. 
thetis  ;  Polyommatus  icarus ;  Aricia  iiudon ;  Everes  argiades ; 
Celastrina  argiolus  ;  Lampides  hoeticus  ;  Papilio  machaon  ;  Pontia 
daplidlce  ;  Colias  hyale,  C.  edusa ;  Gonepteryx  rhamni ;  Melitcea 
phoebe,  M.  cinxia,  M.  didyma ;  Pyrameis  cardui,  P.  atalanta  ; 
Aglais  urticcs ;  Polygonia  c-album,  Pararge  megcera ;  Hipparchia 
semele,  H.  arethusa ;  Epmephele  jartina,  E.  tithonus. 

Harrow  Weald:  December,  1911. 


THE     IMMIGEATION     OF    PYRAMEIS    ATALANTA. 
By  Major  B.  Tulloch,  F.E.S. 

I  HAVE  been  much  interested  in  reading  in  various  numbers 
of  the  '  Entomologist  '  discussions  as  to  whether  P.  atalanta  is  a 
regular  immigrant  to  the  British  Islands  or  not. 

Without  wishing  to  lay  down  the  law  in  any  way,  and  say 
definitely  that  P.  atalanta  does  or  does  not  immigrate  regularly, 
yet  I  should  like  to  make  a  few  observations  bearing  on  the 
subject,  and  relate  certain  facts  that  have  come  under  my  own 
observation.  There  are  always  two  sides  to  every  question, 
and  my  remarks  may  tend  to  prove  that  I  am  an  "  anti- 
immigrationist."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  have  an  open  mind  on 
the  subject,  but  I  am  afraid  I  cannot  enter  into  any  wordy  war- 
fare with  such  eminent  authorities  as  Mr.  Frohawk,  for  instance, 
as  I  am  too  far  away.  Therefore,  from  the  safe  distance  of 
Hong-Kong  I  can  only  state  facts  as  known  to  myself,  and  leave 
others  to  draw  their  own  conclusions. 

My  life  at  school,  and  afterwards  as  a  soldier,  has  led  to  my 
having  lived  at  certain  places  which  were  peculiarly  well  placed 
for  the  observation  of  the  movements  of  butterflies  across  the 
sea.  I  can  also  lay  claim  to  have  been  an  observer  of  butterflies 
and  moths  ever  since  I  can  recollect  catching  beetles  in  the  sand 
on  the  neutral  ground  of  Gibraltar  about  1874.  Since  then  I 
have  lived,  amongst  other  places,  at  Dover  (one  period  of  three 
years,  and  another  of  two  years),  at  Guernsey  one  and  a  half 
years,  Alderney  one  year,  Malta  one  year,  Mauritius  two  and  a 
half  years,  and  now  I  am  on  another  island — Hong-Kong. 

Now,  of  the  above  places,  Dover,  Malta,  and  the  Channel 
Islands  are  situated  on  the  known  lines  of  flight  of  migrating 
birds. 

Before  continuing  the  subject  further  I  should  like  to  ask 
the  upholders  of  the  theory  of  the  immigration  of  butterflies, 
and  of  P.  atalanta  in  particular,  whether  they  will  agree  to  the 
fact  that  butterflies  do  not  fly  by  night,  or  on  cloudy  days  (in 
England,  but  not  necessarily  in  the  tropics),  or  when  there  is  a 

ENTOM. — JANUARY,    1912.  C 


18  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

strong  east  wind  blowing  or  a  stiff  south-wester,  nor  as  a  rule 
before  10  a.m.,  nor  after  4  p.m.,  except  to  sun  themselves?  I 
should  also  like  to  know  whether  they  consider  that  P.  atalanta 
immigrates  in  swarms  or  singly,  whether  they  are  supposed  to 
come  from  the  east  from  Germany,  Holland,  and  Belgium,  or 
from  the  south  from  France  ?  If  they  come  from  the  east,  they 
can  only  come  on  an  east  wind,  which  they  hate,  and  the 
distance  across  the  North  Sea  is  too  far  for  them  to  travel  in  a 
day — and  by  night  they  do  not  fly.  If  they  are  supposed  to 
come  from  France  in  the  spring,  then  any  reference  to  meteoro- 
logical records  will  show  that  in  late  spring  or  early  summer 
there  are  a  very  great  number  of  days  when  a  strong  cold  east 
wind  blows ;  in  fact,  I  have  recollections  of  east  winds  prevailing 
all  through  May.  If  the  butterflies  immigrate  in  swarms,  then 
surely  some  entomologist  in  North  France  must  have  noted  the 
gatherings  preparatory  to  migration,  in  the  same  way  that 
swallows  gather  preparatory  to  their  autumn  flight  abroad.  If 
it  is  contended  that  P.  atalanta  comes  over  by  single  individuals 
in  the  spring,  then  what  theory  is  advanced  that  it  should  only 
enter  the  head  of  certain  individual  butterflies  to  migrate,  and 
must  not  the  number  of  individuals  be  very  great  to  admit  of 
their  spreading  over  England  ? 

I  have  previously  stated  that  Dover,  Malta,  and  the  Channel 
Islands  are  places  on  a  regular  line  of  migration  for  birds.  Any 
day  during  spring  or  autumn,  about  the  time  that  certain  birds 
migrate,  you  will  find  those  birds  at  Dover,  Malta,  and  the 
Channel  Islands  in  places  where  you  do  not  see  them  at  any 
other  times.  For  instance,  standing  on  the  shore  at  Dover,  one 
can  observe  the  swallows  coming  to  land,  and  in  my  garden  on 
the  outskirts  of  the  town  during  the  migrating  season  I  have 
seen  numbers  of  warblers  and  small  birds  that  live  outside 
towns.  Now  apply  the  preceding  remarks  to  the  migration  of 
P.  atalanta.  It  can  only  arrive  by  day,  during  a  limited  number 
of  hours,  from  France,  on  a  south-east  to  south-west  breeze,  not 
too  strong,  at  certain  times  of  the  year,  and  the  sun  must  be 
shining,  and  there  must  not  be  any  abnormally  large  gathering 
of  the  butterflies  reported  on  the  north  coast  of  France.  Given 
the  above  conditions,  has  anybody  noticed  P.  atalanta  arriving 
over  the  sea  in  sufficient  quantities  to  spread  all  over  England 
and  be  the  parents  of  the  autumn  specimens  ?  Personally  I 
have  never  noticed  them,  and  for  the  five  summers  that  I  lived 
at  Dover  I  suppose  I  was  on  the  cliffs  or  in  a  boat  pretty  well 
every  fine  day  that  was  possible,  and  I  take  it  that  Dover  is  the 
most  advantageous  place  possible  in  which  to  note  the  arrival  of 
"  red  admirals."  I  have  noticed  every  year  in  my  garden  in 
spring  abnormal  numbers  of  small  birds  immigrating  and  going 
inland,  but  never  abnormal  numbers  of  P.  atalanta,  and  yet  the 
autumn  brood  appears  regularly.     I  always  *'  sugar  "  for  P.  ata- 


THE    IMMIGRATION    OP    PYRAMEIS    ATALANTA.  19 

lanta  in  the  early  autumn  because  I  like  watching  them  (not  to 
"  collect "  them),  and  the  autumn  supply  always  seems  to  me  to 
be  pretty  constant,  however  few  I  may  have  seen  in  the  spring. 
Neither  have  I  observed  any  numbers  passing  the  Channel 
Islands. 

At  Alderney,  in  1892,  there  was  a  perfect  plague  of  Colias 
edusa  and  Macroglossa  stellatarum,  but  they  remained  in  Alderney 
the  usual  period,  and  did  not  leave  the  island.  Will  somebody 
turn  up  the  back  files  of  the  'Entomologist'  to  see  whether  1892 
was  a  clouded  yellow  year  in  England  or  not? 

In  Malta,  P.  atalanta  is  a  very  common  insect.  It  appears 
to  have  a  succession  of  broods  there.  I  had  particularly 
good  opportunities  of  observing  the  insect  in  that  island,  as  my 
road  to  work  every  day  led  me  past  a  spot  where  the  insect  bred 
freely.  I  could  always  find  it  in  one  or  other  of  its  stages,  and 
when  the  perfect  insects  emerged  I  never  noticed  that  they 
moved  far  from  the  particular  locality,  neither  did  the  numbers 
of  butterflies  appear  to  diminish  as  though  they  migrated, 
although  Sicily  and  Italy  are  handy  places  for  them  to  go  to. 

Being  very  keen  on  sea-fishing  and  rowing,  I  spend  many 
days  on  the  water,  and  at  none  of  the  islands  where  I  have  lived 
have  I  seen  any  migration  of  butterflies,  not  even  at  Dover. 

Individual  butterflies  of  course  I  have  seen,  but  those  I 
always  put  down  to  chance  ones,  blown  ofi"  shore,  or  those  that 
have  lost  their  way.  One  day,  when  steaming  near  Aden,  a 
sudden  squall  came  off  shore  and  brought  with  it  hundreds  of 
locusts  and  many  butterflies,  which  afforded  amusement  to  the 
children  on  deck,  who  enjoyed  a  butterfly  and  locust  hunt  at  sea, 
but  nobody  could  say  that  either  insect  was  migrating.  One 
often  reads  in  accounts  of  tropical  butterflies  about  the  migrating 
swarms  of  certain  kinds,  and  especially  species  of  Catopsilia 
and  Callidryas.  Has  anybody  ever  followed  up  a  swarm,  or  had 
a  correspondent  at  the  other  end  of  the  line  of  flight  to  say  where 
the  butterflies  ceased  their  wild  career  ?  I  take  it  the  answer  is 
"No,"  because  it  is  generally  impossible  in  the  tropics  to  go 
straight  across  country,  on  account  of  the  jungle.  In  Mauritius, 
however,  I  once  did  see  a  migrating  swarm — or  rather  thought 
I  did.  It  happened  that  one  bright  day  when  the  south-east 
trade  wind  had  died  away  and  a  "  Malagash  "  wind,  i.  e.  a 
westerly  breeze  from  Madagascar,  was  blowing,  that  I  went 
butterfly  hunting  on  the  Trou-aux-Cerfs.  Now  a  "Malagash" 
wind  only  blows  but  very  rarely,  and  when  it  does,  the  atmo- 
sphere is  very  clear  and  bright  but  hot.  The  Trou-aux-Cerfs  is 
an  extinct  volcano,  with  a  well-formed  crater,  perfectly  circular, 
filled  with  jungle,  and  on  the  outer  sides  grow  small  trees, 
bushes,  and  lots  of  grass  and  Lantana.  On  arriving  near  the 
top  of  the  crater,  and  whilst  collecting  on  the  outside  slope,  I 
noticed  that  there  was  an  abnormal  number  of  Atella  phalantha 

c  2 


20  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

about,  a  common  insect  at  any  time  in  Mauritius.  Soon  I 
noticed  that  they  were  in  immense  numbers  and  all  flying  in 
one  direction,  viz.  up  towards  the  top  of  the  crater  and  down 
wind,  i.  e.  towards  the  east.  Here  at  last  I  thoughf  is  a  migra- 
tion of  butterflies,  such  as  I  have  often  read  about.  Then  the 
thought  occurred  to  me,  "  Where  do  they  go  to  when  they  get 
to  the  top  of  the  crater — do  they  go  right  up  into  the  air  and 
drift  away  to  sea,  and  what  happens  to  them  there?"  This 
seemed  a  problem  that  I  could  solve  if  I  climbed  to  the  top  and 
looked  to  see  whether  they  went  away  in  any  given  direction, 
probably  going  straight  before  the  wind.  Up  I  went  to  the  top, 
when  I  found  that  the  insects  did  not  go  any  higher,  but  just 
made  a  bee  line  for  the  other  side  of  the  crater,  one  after  the 
other — thousands  of  them.  Then  I  walked  round  to  the  other 
side,  when  I  found  to  my  astonishment  that  they  were  now  all 
going  downhill.  This  required  some  further  explanation,  so 
downhill  I  went  after  them  till  I  got  nearly  to  the  bottom  of  the 
Trou,  when  I  found  that  the  swarm  was  now  going  right-handed 
round  the  base  of  the  volcano.  After  them  I  went  round  to  the 
other  side  again,  where  I  had  been  before,  when  I  found  that 
the  swarm  went  uphill !  In  fact,  the  butterflies  were  all  going 
on  an  endless  round,  up  the  hill,  across  the  top,  down  again, 
and  round  to  where  they  started.  So  much  for  a  migration 
when  followed  up.  Why  the  butterflies  did  it  I  don't  know  ; 
perhaps  because  as  it  happened  to  be  a  particularly  fine  day 
they  were  feeling  extra  fit  and  happy,  and  were  indulging  in  a 
butterfly  game.     Possibly  somebody  will  explain,  for  I  cannot. 

Hong-Kong,  South  China:  August  11th,  1911. 


A  SECOND  LIST  OF  THE  APHIDIDiE  FOUND  IN  KENT. 
By  Fred  V.  Theobald,  M.A.,  F.E.S.,  &c. 

(Concluded  from  vol.  xliv.  p.  399.) 

Genus  Hyalopterus,  Koch. 

Hyalopterus  flaviis,  Kittel. — On  cultivated  aquilegias  in  a  garden 
in  Wye,  found  by  Mi'.  Alban  Duffield,  June  6th,  1911 ;  a  few  winged 
and  wingless  females. 

H.  dilineatus,  Buckton. — On  the  upper  surface  of  young  rose 
leaves.  Wye,  May  21st,  1911.  All  wingless  females  in  small  colonies 
along  the  middle  of  the  leaves. 

Genus  Chaitophorus,  Koch. 

Cliaitophorus  versicolor,  Koch. — On  maple  leaves,  Wye,  May  5th 
to  June  25th ;  winged  and  wingless  females.  Also  at  Hollington 
Wood,  near  Hastings,  May  12th,  1911.  This  is  given  by  Schouteden  as  a 


APHIDID^    FOUND    IN    KENT.  21 

variety  of  Linnaeus's  populi,  which  I  have  been  unable  to  find  in 
Kent. 

C.  salicivorus,  Walker. — Wye,  on  the  under  side  of  willow  leaves. 
Very  pale  and  sluggish,  all  wingless  females,  July  10th,  1911. 

G.  caprece,  Koch. — Wye,  on  willows,  July  10th,  1911,  under  the 
leaves.     Winged  and  wingless  females. 

Genus  Callipterus,  Koch. 

CallipUrus  quercns,  Kaltenbach. — Wye ;  abundant  on  oak  leaves 
in  June,  and  on  to  September  22nd.  Winged  females  and  young 
under  and  on  the  leaves,  and  producing  much  honey-dew,  especially 
abundant  high  up  on  the  trees.  The  species  and  the  querceus  of 
Kaltenbach  are  placed  in  Mordwilko's  genus  Tuherculatus. 

C.  castancBCB,  Buckton.  —  Godmersham  ;  beneath  leaves  of  the 
sweet  chestnut,  June  9th  and  29th,  1911.  Winged  and  wingless 
females.     Placed  in  the  genus  Myzocallis,  Passerini,  by  Schouteden. 

C.  alni,  Fabricius. — Wye  ;  common  on  alders  by  the  old  river. 
Winged  females  and  larvae,  &c.,  under  the  leaves  and  causing  little  or 
no  harm,  very  numerous  from  June  to  August.  None  seen  in  Sep- 
tember. Many  winged  females  also  occured  on  willows,  osiers,  hazel, 
and  on  water  grasses  growing  under  and  around  the  alders.  Schouteden 
now  places  this  in  Pterocallis  of  Passerini. 

G.  carpini,  Koch. — Wye,  July  14th,  1911,  a  few  apterous  females 
on  birch  leaves,  very  uncommon  in  the  neighbourhood.  Schouteden 
makes  this  the  same  as  Goetze's  coryli.  From  a  casual  examination 
so  far  it  seems  distinct. 

G.  querceus,  Kaltenbach. — Under  oak  leaves,  Wye,  July  to  Sep- 
tember. The  adult  winged  females  skip  readily,  whilst  the  apterous 
females  crawl  backwards  and  stick  tenaciously  to  the  leaves.  Not 
abundant.     Also  from  Pitlochry,  N.B.,  September  7th,  1911. 

G.  betulicolce,  Kaltenbach.* — A  single  wingless  female  and  a  nymph 
on  under  side  of  birch  leaf,  Wye  Downs,  July  30th,  1911,  the  latter 
hatched  on  August  7th.  This  species  was  also  sent  me  from 
Pitlochry,  N.B.,  in  September  by  Mr.  A.  Duffield.  Most  on  birch,  but 
a  few  winged  females  on  oak. 

G.  hetularlus,  Kaltenbach.  —  A  few  apterous  females  and  many 
larvie  under  birch  leaves.  Wye,  August  13th,  1911,  on  the  downs. 

These  last  two  should  also  come  in  Myzocallis. 

Genus  Deepanidosiphum,  Koch. 

Drepanidosiplmm  platanoides,  Schrank. — Wye  Downs,  July  30th, 
1911.  Many  winged  viviparous  females  on  maples  and  sycamores, 
beneath  the  leaves,  a  few  only  on  each  leaf,  all  of  the  green  variety. 

Genus  Aphioides,  Passerini  (Cladobius),  Koch.f 
Aphioides  {Gladobius)  populeus,  Kaltenbach. — -A  single  colony  of 

*  Kirkaldy  (1905)  places  this  in  his  genus  Eallistaphis  ;  it  certainly 
differs  from  typical  Callipterus,  in  which  genus  Buckton  places  it. 

f  Kirkaldy  (1905)  proposed  the  new  name  Aristaphis  for  this  genus, 
Schouteden  places  it  in  Buckton's  genus  Pterocovima. 


22  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

some  seventy  wingless  females  from  a  poplar,  Wye,  July  14th,  1911. 
The  insects  were  densely  packed  on  the  young  wood  near  the  top  of 
a  shoot.  After  several  days'  searching,  I  could  find  no  more  of  this 
marked  species. 

Genus  Pemphigus,  Hartig.  (Byesocrypta,  Haliday). 

Pevi2)hi(jus  ■pyriformis,  Lichtenstein. — Ulcombe  and  Bilting,  near 
Wye,  June.  Galls  full  of  winged  females,  continued  at  Bilting  mitil 
July  9th,  when  winged  females,  pupaj  and  larvas,  still  in  galls.  Also 
from  Haddenham,  Cambridgeshire,  June  27th,  1911.  • 

P.  marsupialis,  Couchet. — Bilting,  near  Wye,  July  9th,  1911. 
Galls  found  on  poplars  with  the  former,  but  scarce.  Winged  females 
and  nymphs  and  a  few  larvae. 

P.  affinis,  Kaltenbach. — Bilting,  near  Wye,  July  9th,  1911.  Very 
abundant  on  poplars  with  above,  notably  with  the  latter  on  the  pointed- 
leaved  poplars.  All  winged  females,  many  having  left  the  galled 
leaves.  Colour  of  young  galled  leaves  tinged  with  red  and  pink,  of 
older  ones  pale  yellow.     The  females  with  very  mealy  coverings. 

P.  filaginis,  Boyer. — Wye,  near  railway  station,  on  Gnaplialium 
uliginosmn,  the  marsh  cudweed  ;  September  17th,  on  a  few  roadside 
plants.  Many  apterous  females  and  one  winged.  Looks  much  like 
P.  affinis^'''  but  slightly  distinct.  Produces  a  copious  mass  of  white 
wool.  I  failed  to  find  the  host  plant  near  Bilting,  where  P.  affinis 
occurs  on  the  poplars  some  two  miles  away.  At  this  time  there  is  no 
trace  at  all  of  live  Pemphujiis  on  the  poplars,  and  it  is  quite  possible 
that  Beyer's  filaginis  is  the  migrant  form  of  the  poplar  gall  aphis  of 
Lichtenstein. 

Kaltenbach's  Gjiaphalium  appears  to  be  the  same  species. 

P.  lactucarius,  Passerini. —  On  lettuce,  July  24th,  1904,  Wye. 
Wingless  females  and  also  winged  females. 

Genus  Schizoneura,  Hartig. 
Schizoneura  corni,  Fabricius. — On   Cornus  sanguinea  near  Wye ; 
winged  females  appeared  in  abundance  beneath  the  leaves  on  Octolaer 
7th,  and  produced  living  young.     Still  breeding,  October  17th,  and 
very  numerous. 

Genus  Lachnus,  Burmeister. 
Lachnus  tomentosus,  De  Geer. — Wye  Downs,  on  Scots  fir,  August 
20th,  1911,  a  colony  of  wingless  females.     Also  sent  me  on  September 
10th,  from  Pitlochry,  N.B.,  by  Mr.  Duffield.      I  have  three  other 
Lachnus  which  I  cannot  yet  identify,  all  from  Conifers. 

Genus  Vacuna,  Heyden. 
Vacuna  dryophila,  Westwood.  —  Wye,  on  oaks,  July  4th,  1909. 
Winged  and  wingless  females. 

Genus  Ehizoicus,  Passerini  (RftizoBius  Burmeister). 
Bhizoicus    (Bhizobius)    graminis,  Buckton.  —  Eoots  of  grasses, 
Paddock  Wood,  1904,  in  winter. 

*  Lichtenstein  (1886)  places  this  as  the  type  of  his  genus  Bucktonia. 


LEPIDOPTEEA    OF     THE     SWEDISH     PEOVINCES    OF 
JEMTLAND     AND     LAPLAND. 

By  W.  G.  Sheldon,  F.E.S. 

(Continued  from  vol.  xliv.  p.  362.) 

Abisko  is  finely  situated  on  the  southern  shores  of  the 
beautiful  Torne  Traske,  at  an  elevation,  according  to  Baedeker, 
of  1296  ft.  The  lake  has  a  length  of  about  sixty  and  a 
breadth  of  eight  or  nine  kilometres,  and  is  surrounded  on  all 
sides  by  mountains,  which  rise  steeply  out  of  it  for  a  height 
of  from  2000  to  5000  feet.  The  shores  are  covered  for  some 
500  feet  above  its  level  with  forest,  composed  chiefly  of 
birch,  with,  however,  a  sprinkling  of  mountain  ash  and  here 
and  there  an  isolated  pine,  and  there  are  large  quantities  of 
sallow  of  many  species  in  the  swampy  ground.  This  forest 
consists  of  trees,  which  on  the  water's  edge  attain  a  height  of 
twenty  feet,  and  in  sheltered  positions,  especially  on  the  north 
side  of  the  lake,  thirty  and  even  forty  feet  is  reached.  The 
undergrowth  consists  chiefly  of  Vacc'mium  of  various  species ; 
here  and  there  along  the  whole  length  are  tracts  bare  of  trees, 
and  more  or  less  swampy  ;  and  it  is  in  these  spots  and  on  similar 
ones  inland  from  the  lake  that  the  butterflies  of  the  district  are 
almost  exclusively  found.  They  have  a  growth  of  Vaccinium  of 
four  species,  crowberry,  dwarf  sallow,  dwarf  birch,  and  many 
beautiful  flowers,  including  Andromeda  polifolia,  A.  tetrago?ia, 
and  the  nearly  allied  Phyllodoce  ccerulea,  Dryas  octopetala,  Trien- 
talis  europaa,  Silene  acaulis,  Astragalus  alpinus,  saxifrages  of 
several  species.  Rhododendron  lapponica,  Azalea  procumhens,  and 
many  others  ;  in  fact,  the  flora  is  for  so  high  a  latitude  a  very 
rich  one,  and  reminds  one  very  strongly  of  that  of  the  higher 
Alps,  many  species  being  common  to  both. 

Naturally  the  "national  park"  greatly  hampers  one's  proceed- 
ings— much  of  the  most  fruitful  ground,  and  the  whole  of  the 
most  convenient,  is  included  in  it — and  for  this  reason,  although 
the  district  all  round  is  a  magnificent  one,  and  would  probably, 
if  thoroughly  hunted,  produce  nearly  all  of  the  species  of  Khopa- 
locera  known  to  inhabit  the  Arctic  regions  of  Scandinavia,  I  am 
compelled  to  advise  entomologists  and  naturalists  generally  to 
give  it  a  wide  berth,  at  any  rate  for  the  present.  In  the  course 
of  time,  as  the  country  gets  more  developed,  and  there  is  a  proper 
service  of  boats  on  the  lake  that  would  enable  all  parts  of  it  to 
be  worked,  and  huts  are  built  in  the  mountains  round,  the  case 
would  be  different.  I  should  mention  that  the  surroundings  of 
the  hotels  of  the  Swedish  Touring  Club  in  other  parts  of  the 
country  have  also  been  constituted  national  parks,  and  therefore 
the  objections  to  Abisko  as  a  resort  for  naturalists  apply  to 
them  also.     In  time  no  doubt  the  drastic  nature  of  the  regula- 


24  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

tions  will  be  mitigated,  for,  judging  from  those  I  conversed  with 
on  the  subject,  they  are  exceedingly  unpopular  with  the  great 
majority  of  the  Swedes  themselves. 

I  had  a  very  bad  experience  with  the  weather  at  Abisko  during 
my  stay  from  June  16th  to  July  18th.  There  was  not  much 
rain — the  rainfall  of  Lapland  is  quite  small,  the  average  being 
only  sixteen  inches  per  annum— but  the  weather  was  cold  and 
sunless  throughout.  During  the  whole  of  the  time  there  were 
only  two  cloudless  days— June  18th  and  July  12th  ;  out  of  thirty- 
two  days,  eleven  were  absolutely  sunless,  and  on  many  of  the 
others  the  sun  was  very  fugitive,  and  one  could  do  but  little. 
Up  to  the  end  of  June  the  weather  was  passable,  but  after  that 
date  it  got  much  worse,  and  during  the  last  six  days  of  my  stay 
the  sun  did  not  appear  at  all.  The  temperature  also  was  very 
low.  There  was  a  thermometer  outside  the  hotel,  from  which, 
between  July  6th  and  July  18th,  I  took  the  temperature  daily  at 
8  am.  and  2  p.m.  The  highest  reading  was  57°-2  Fahreneit  at 
2  p.m.  on  July  12th,  and  one  day  at  that  hour  it  did  not  exceed 
42°-8.  _  The  average  at  8  a.m.  was  48°-7,  and  at  2  p.m.  50°-5. 
The  slight  difference  between  the  early  morning  and  afternoon 
temperatures  was  accounted  for  by  the  sun  being  above  the 
horizon  during  the  whole  twenty-four  hours  of  the  day.  With 
these  temperatures  one  wonders  that  butterflies  would  fly  at  all, 
but  it  did  not  seem  to  much  matter  how  cold  it  was  so  long  as 
the  sun  was  shining  :  such  as  were  out  flew  merrily.  At  the 
date  on  which  I  reached  Abisko  the  season  was  apparently  an 
early  one,  and  species  were  well  up  to  the  expected  dates ;  but 
of  course  the  cold  period  put  a  stop  to  emergence  or  greatly 
delayed  it,  and  specimens  got  fewer  every  day.  One  species 
found  by  Mr.  Eowland-Brown  I  did  not  see,  and  others  were 
evidently  just  emerging  at  the  time  of  my  departure.  I  had 
intended  staying  until  the  end  of  July,  but  the  weather  outlook 
was  so  hopeless  at  the  middle  of  the  month  that  I  decided  to  get 
away,  and  the  reports  from  other  districts  in  the  north  being 
equally  bad,  it  did  not  seem  to  be  of  use  trying  elsewhere. 

Undoubtedly,  1911  in  Arctic  Europe  was  a  very  dull  and  cold 
summer;  in  southern  Scandinavia  as  far  north  as  Stockholm 
the  weather  was  very  hot  and  dry,  but  north  of  this  hne  the 
reverse  took  place.  I  am  informed  that  it  is  often  the  case 
that  when  in  Britain  we  get  a  good  summer,  in  Lapland  it  is 
cold  and  wet;  and  when  it  is  cold  with  us  it  is  usually  a  fine 
season  in  the  north.  1910,  for  instance,  which  it  will  be  re- 
membered was  one  of  the  most  inclement  summers  we  have 
experienced  for  many  years  in  Britain  and  Central  Europe,  in 
Lapland  was  singularly  fine. 

Of  course  the  conditions  I  met  with  greatly  governed  the 
number  of  species  and  specimens  found ;  in  Jemtland  I  came 
across  twelve  species  of  Ehopalocera,  and   at  Abisko  sixteen 


LEPIDOPTERA    OF   JEMTLAND    ANf)    LAPLAND.         ;  '      ^     25 

species,  and  an  additional  one  at  Narvik  on  my  return-  liome, , 
which  journey  took  me  ten  days,  via  the  west  coast,  the  beautiful' 
Bergen  and  Christiania  Railway,  and  the  steamer  from  the  latter 
place  to  Hull. 

Of  the  species  found  by  Mr.  Eowland-Brown  at  Abisko  I 
met  with  all  except  Chrysophanus  hippotho'e  var.  steiberi.  I  am 
informed  from  German  sources  that  Melitcea  iduna  has  been 
taken  along  the  shores  of  the  Torne  Triiske  on  the  way  to 
Bjorkleiden.  I  searched  carefully  and  often  for  this  species,  but 
did  not  find  it ;  and  that  Brenthis  polaris  and  B.  frigga  are 
found  on  Nuolja,  the  mountain  immediately  at  the  back  of  the 
hotel.  I  saw  in  the  National  Collection  at  Stockholm  an  ex- 
ample of  B.  frigga  var.  improha,  which  was  taken  at  Bjorkleiden, 
near  the  waterfall.  I  learn  from  Herr  Max  Bartel  that  Colias 
liecla  var.  siditelma  is  found  not  infrequently  on  the  north  side  of 
the  lake  above  the  tree  line,  in  July.  The  best  localities  for  col- 
lecting which  I  could  find  outside  the  park  were:  (1)  the  road 
leading  through  the  forest  from  Abiskojokk  to  Bjorkleiden,  and 
in  the  mountains  round  the  latter  place ;  (2)  by  taking  the  path 
alongside  the  Abiskojokk  (right  bank)  for  a  mile  or  so  until  a 
marble  quarry  is  reached,  one  comes  to  a  series  of  swamps 
stretching  eastward ;  some  of  these  are  certainly  in  the  Park, 
some  are  just  as  certainly  not,  and  some  are  doubtfully  so ; 
(3)  probably  the  best  ground  of  all  is  reached  by  walking  along 
the  railway,  eastwards,  past  Abisko  Station,  and  then  following 
up  the  first  brook  one  comes  to,  about  a  kilometre  past  the 
station.  Along  its  course  are  some  fine  swamps,  containing 
Brenthis  pales  var.  lapponica,  B.  aphirape  var.  ossianvs,  and  B. 
freija;  higher  up,  towards  the  valley  called  the  Lapp  Porten, 
Hesperia  centaurece  was  commoner  than  I  found  it  elsewhere  in 
Lapland ;  on  the  sides  of  the  Lapp  Porten  itself,  iEneis  noma 
and  0.  bore  were  not  infrequent. 

The  birches,  at  the  date  of  my  arrival  at  Abisko,  were  quite 
brown ;  some  trees  had  the  leaves  half  developed,  but  in  many 
instances  the  buds  had  not  burst  from  the  winter  sheath.  It 
was  exceedingly  interesting  to  watch  them  develop  under  the 
influence  of  the  perpetual  light,  within  one  week  all  the  trees 
were  quite  covered  with  full  grown  leaves.  On  dull  days  I  spent 
my  time  chiefly  in  observing  the  birds  of  the  district,  which 
were  very  interesting  to  a  Britisher.  I  suppose  there  must 
have  been  several  hundreds  of  pairs  of  fieldfares  breeding  on  the 
shores  of  the  lake  between  Abiskojokk  and  Bjorkleiden,  and  of 
other  British  winter  birds,  redwings,  bramblings,  and  mealy 
redpolls  were  very  abundant  on  the  same  ground ;  quite  half 
a  dozen  pairs  of  rough-legged  buzzards  had  their  eyries  within  a 
mile  of  the  hotel.  Of  the  Scandinavian  mosquito  one  could  say 
a  good  deal :  they  were  everywhere,  both  in  Jemtland  and  Lap- 
land, and   certainly   most  abundant  in   the    former   province; 


26  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

probably  the  cold  weather  experienced  at  Abisko  prevented  many 
of  them  from  emergmg,  or  delayed  their  emergence  until  after 
my  departure.  For  protection  at  night  I  had  a  small  bell- shaped 
mosquito  curtain,  which  was  suspended  by  a  brass  hook  to  the 
wooden  ceiling  of  my  bedroom.  I  found  this  an  efficient  safe- 
guard ;  without  it  I  do  not  see  how  it  would  have  been  possible 
to  sleep,  at  any  rate  with  the  window  open.  During  the  day 
it  was  absolutely  necessary  in  warm  weather  to  wear  a  veil  and 
gloves.  In  spite  of  these  precautions  I  got  a  good  deal  bitten ; 
fortunately  the  mosquito  in  these  regions  does  not  have  much 
foul  matter  to  feed  upon,  and  so  far  as  I  was  concerned  the 
inconvenience  was  only  temporary.  I  saw,  however,  a  number 
of  people  who  were  not  so  fortunate,  and  whose  faces  and  hands 
were  greatly  swollen  from  the  effects  of  their  bites. 

The  species  I  met  with  are  as  follows  : — 

Pieris  brassiccz. — Flying  about  the  gardens  at  Mattmar;  of  average 
size,  with  very  pale  tips  to  the  front  wings. 

P.  napi  var.  bryonia. — Common  at  Abisko,  and  well  out  in  both 
sexes  at  the  time  of  my  arrival  there.  The  species  was  somewhat 
local,  its  occurrence  being  dependent  apparently  on  the  abundance  of 
its  usual  food-plant  in  Lapland,  Arabis  aljnna,  which,  except  for  a 
small  Draba  and  a  species  of  Cardamines,  was  the  only  Crucifer  I 
saw.  The  butterfly  was  most  abundant  by  the  side  of  the  road 
leading  to  Bjorkleiden.  The  females,  all  of  which  are  var.  bryonia, 
are  very  variable ;  some  have  the  spaces  between  the  veins  showing 
pronouncedly  white,  others  are  suffused  over  almost  all  the  wing 
area  with  the  grey  shading,  and  a  certain  portion  of  both  of  these 
forms  are  ab.  sulphurea.  I  had  no  difficulty  in  procuring  as  many 
ova  as  I  required,  most  of  which  I  sent  to  the  late  Mr.  A.  Harrison, 
who  specialized  in  this  species.  Others  I  brought  home  have  since 
pupated. 

Colias  nastes  var.  iverdandi. — Abundant  everywhere  on  swampy 
ground  at  Abisko,  frequenting  the  drier  parts  of  the  swamps,  and  also 
certain  banks  where  its  food-plant.  Astragalus  alpinus,  grows,  and 
extending  up  the  mountains  to  at  least  1000  ft.  above  the  lake.  The 
species  was  well  out  in  both  sexes  at  the  date  of  my  arrival,  June 
17th,  and  certain  examples  were  then  wasted.  There  is  no  doubt 
but  that  in  an  average  year  it  is  out  in  the  first  few  days  of 
June,  and  probably  at  the  end  of  May.  By  the  end  of  June  the 
majority  were  worn,  and  the  species  quite  disappeared  about  July 
7th.  The  male  flies  swiftly,  with  the  usual  Colias  flight,  searching  for 
the  female  ;  it  frequently  rests  on  the  ground,  but  rarely  on  flowers, 
the  only  flower  favoured,  so  far  as  I  saw,  was  Silene  acaulis.  The 
flight  is  so  swift,  and  the  ground  frequented  rough  and  in  places 
swampy,  it  is  better  to  lie  in  wait,  and  the  butterfly  can  then  be 
captured  freely.     The  female  flies  much  more  slowly. 

Of  this  species  I  brought  home  a  very  variable  series  of  twenty- 
eight  males  and  twenty-seven  females.  As  I  understand  the  named 
European  abei'rations,  they  are  as  follows : — 


BY    THE    WAY.  27 

(i)  A  female  form  with  ground  colour  of  the  wings  pale  sulphur, 
as  in  the  male  =  ab.  sulphurea,  Lampa. 

(ii)  A  form  of  both  sexes  with  ochre-yellow  wings  =  ab.  chris- 
tiernssoni,  Lampa. 

(iii)  A  male  form  with  the  black  band  of  fore  wings  not  pierced 
with  lighter  nervures,  and  without  the  dark  submarginal  band  =  ab. 
ivimaculata,  Lampa. 

My  series  contains  three  examples  of  ab.  sulphurea  and  four  ex- 
amples of  ab.  immaculata,  but  it  is  entirely  without  ab.  christiernssoni, 
of  which  there  is  a  long  series  in  the  National  Collection,  labelled  as 
from  Lainpa,  and  apparently  taken  at  Kvickjock. 

In  addition  to  these  forms,  my  series  contains  the  following : — 

(i)  Males  with  the  ground  colour  of  both  fore  and  hind  wings  of 
the  same  light  yellow  as  that  of  the  blotches  in  the  border  of  the  wings 
of  typical  examples  of  C.  i)hicomone  from  the  Alps  =  ab.  torneoe^isis, 
n.  ab.     I  have  three  specimens  of  this  form. 

(ii)  Males  of  very  pale  yellow,  almost  white,  of  the  tint  of  the 
typical  female  =  ab.  ijallida,  n.  ab.     I  have  two  of  this  form. 

(iii)  Females  with  the  light  blotches  in  the  dark  margin  of  the  front 
wings  forming  a  continuous  light  band,  except  that  the  dark  wing- 
nervures  pass  through  it  =  connexa,  n.  ab.  Of  this  form  I  have 
half  a  dozen  examples. 

(iv)  Females  with  the  light  sulphur  discoidal  spot  on  the  upper 
side  of  hind  wings  orange  coloured=ab.  flavopunctata,  n.  ab.  I  have 
one  example  of  this  form. 

(v)  Males  and  females  with  the  discoidal  spot  on  the  under  side 
of  the  hind  wings  wholly  chestnut-brown  and  without  the  white 
centre  that  is  found  in  the  type  =  ab.  castanea-punctata,  n.  ab.  I 
have  four  of  this  aberration. 

I  succeeded  in  obtaining  ova,  both  from  captured  females  and 
by  search,  and  despite  the  difficulties  caused  by  the  long  journey 
home  two  of  the  larvae  have  reached  the  last  stage.  The  wing 
expanse  of  my  largest  males  and  females  are  respectively  50  mm. 
and  56  mm. 

C.  valcBJW  var.  lapponica. — Herr  Sprongerts  writes  me  that  he  saw 
two  specimens  near  Abisko  station  on  July  22nd.* 
(To  be  continued.) 


BY     THE     WAY. 

"On  the  12th  of  December,  at  Holy  Trinity  Church,  Upper 
Chelsea,  by  the  Rev.  E.  M.  Vaughan,  vicar  of  Old  Basford, 
assisted  by  the  Rev.  H.  R.  Gamble,  vicar  of  the  parish,  and  the 
Rev.  E.  G.  Alderson,  vicar  of  Stopsley,  Sir  John  Robinson,  of 
Worksop  Manor,  Notts,  to  Eveline  Maude,  elder  daughter  of 
Mrs.  Alderson,  Park  House,  Worksop." — '  Morning  Post.'  We 
hasten  to  congratulate  Lady  Robinson,  who  is  so  well  known 

*  It  certainly  should  occur  here,  though  I  never  saw  an  example  in  the 
much  more  favourable  and  advanced  season  of  1906.  Its  food-plant,  Vacci- 
nium,  grows  everywhere. — (H.  R.-B.) 


28  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

amongst  us  as  a  thoroughly  good  and  practical  all-round  British 
entomologist.  We  trust  she  will  still  be  enabled  to  spare  some 
of  her  leisure  for  the  study  of  insects. 

How  far  are  the  common  or  kitchen  cockroaches  become 
naturalised  in  Britain  now  ?  A  lady  writes  in  reference  to  a 
remark  at  p.  298,  that  she  well  knows  at  least  three  truly  rural 
houses  overrun  by  the  beasts.  The  first,  in  Gloucestershire, 
stands  some  two  hundred  yards  from  any  other,  surrounded  by 
fields,  except  the  front  which  looks  over  drive  and  garden  to  a 
large  wood  with  small  field  between  ;  village  beyond  road  and 
drive— quite  too  far  for  the  insect  to  travel  from  the  other 
houses ;  village  very  scattered,  of  about  one  thousand  very  poor 
souls,  pkis  farmers.  The  second  house,  in  the  same  county, 
is  quite  shut  off  from  the  village,  has  an  entrance  drive  and 
shrubberies,  but  no  house  or  buildings  within  one  hundred 
yards.  The  third  house,  in  Lincolnshire,  is  opposite  the  village 
church,  with  farm  buildings  and  cottages  around  it;  a  population 
of  not  over  four  hundred.  No  store  or  warehouse  was  near  any 
of  the  three.  She  suggests  the  importation  in  boxes  of  dry  pro- 
visions from  London,  though  owning  none  such  occurred  to  her 
while  in  a  Yorkshire  country  house ;  and  we,  who  get  such  from 
the  Army  and  Navy  Stores,  have  no  cockroaches  in  rural  Suffolk. 

Canada  has  given  us  more  than  one  good  lead  lately,  and 
we  here  tender  her  our  sincerest  jealousy,  upon  hearing  the 
announcement  that  she  is  about  to  publish  a  detailed  Catalogue 
of  the  whole  of  her  insects.  It  has  been  our  pet  wish,  since  we 
began  to  attack  all  orders  of  British  insects — not  less  than 
twenty  years  ago,  be  it  softly  said — that  there  were  some  sort 
of  a  geueral  guide  to  the  numbers  occurring  with  us.  The 
compilation  of  such  figures  is  not  the  easy  matter  a  one-order 
entomologist  may  presume.  Who,  for  instance,  can  yet 
supplement  Denny's  obsolete  account  of  the  PhilopteridaB  or 
Anoplura;  can  Theobald  yet  count  the  Aphidida3  or  Bagnall 
our  Thrips  ?  This  was  the  principal  motive  for  our  compilation 
of  the  Chalcididae  Catalogue ;  and  the  ProctotrypidaB  have  been 
touched  only  by  Chitty  since  1873.  When  working  on  the 
Victoria  History,  we  attempted  a  general  conspectus,  which 
was  roughly  : — 

Coleoptera  3264 

Hemiptera 1233  (computing  Anoplura  at  211) 

Orthoptera   53 

Neuroptera  {s.l.)....  443 

Lepidoptera    2100  (total  hard  to  come  at!) 

Hymenoptera 4830 

Diptera  2577  (excl.  italics  in  Ver.  List) 

14500 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  29 

Two  events  of  imporfcance  to  our  knowledge  of  the  British 
fauna  will,  we  trust,  take  place  ere  long.  These  are  the  com- 
pletion of  his  very  excellent  account  of  the  Sawilies  by  the  Eev. 
F.  D.  Morice,  and  the  publication  by  our  highest  authority  upon 
Heteroptera,  E.  A.  Butler,  B.A.,  B.Sc,  of  his  close  investigations 
into  the  life-histories  and  metamorphoses  of  these  most  economi- 
cally injurious  insects,  of  which  we  are  really  very  ignorant,  con- 
sidering their  ubiquity.  Douglas  and  Scott  told  us  little  of  their 
earlier  stages,  because  little  was  known  in  1865  ;  and  Saunders 
in  1892  was  deplorably  tied  down  by  his  publishers. 

The  extent  of  sleeping-sickness  is  yet  unknown.  Bruce, 
Hamerton,  and  Bateman  have  some  interesting  observations  in 
the  Proc,  Eoyal  Soc,  and  find  that  the  water-buck,  bush-buck, 
and  reed-buck  can  easily  be  infected  with  the  human  strain  of 
this  disease,  Trypanosoma  gambiensis,  by  the  bite  of  the  fateful 
Glossina  'palpalis.  Subsequent  investigation,  however,  failed  to 
reveal  a  trace  of  the  parasites  in  the  antelopes'  blood,  yet,  even 
more  remarkably,  the  infected  animals  can  transmit  the  parasite 
to  clean  flies,  even  as  long  as  eighty-one  days  after  the  latest 
attack  upon  the  host  by  an  infected  fly.  The  previously  cle*an 
fly  is,  too,  capable  of  passing  the  virus  on  to  other  hosts,  so  that 
these  bucks,  living  in  districts  inhabited  by  Glossina,  become 
potential  reservoirs  of  sleeping-sickness.  We  anticipate  that 
Mr.  Newstead,  who  is  now  upon  the  spot,  will  find  a  large 
proportion  of  indigenous  animals  to  carry  the  disease. 

CM. 


NOTES     AND     OBSERVATIONS. 

Sphinx  convolvuli  reared  from  the  Egg. — -In  the  note  sent 
for  publication,  on  October  24th,  I  mentioned  that  I  had  reared  S.  con- 
volvuli from  ova  to  pupa  (Entom.  xliv.  p.  407).  I  have  now  to  record 
emergence  of  the  moths.  The  pupae  were  kept  in  a  temperature  of 
75°,  and  on  November  7th  one  imago  appeared,  another  emerged  on 
the  8th,  followed  by  two  imagines  on  the  19th. — G.  Nobbs  ;  North 
Lodge,  E.  Gowes,  Isle  of  Wight. 

Gucullia  umbratica  reared  in  September.  —  From  ova  ob- 
tained from  a  wild  female  of  Gucidlia  umhratica  in  June  of  this  year 
a  number  of  the  larvae  fed  up  and  pupated  in  August,  and  it  may  be 
interesting  to  record  that  two  specimens  emerged  during  September. 
The  other  pupae  are  going  over  as  is  usual. — T.  Ashton  Lopthouse  ; 
Linthorp,  Middlesbrough,  December,  1911. 

Gyaniris  argiolus  at  Reading. — This  species  was  seen  in  the 
garden  on  May  7th  last,  and  a  recently  emerged  specimen  was  found 
on  a  leaf  of  holly. — H.  L.  Dolton  ;  21,  Brunswick  Street,  Reading. 

Endromis  versicolor  in  October. — On  October  17th,  1911,  I 
found  in  my  breeding  cage  a  female  versicolor  which  had  pupated 


30  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

near  Aviemore  in  July,  1909.  For  two  winters  it  has  been  subjected 
to  a  temperature  of  90°  to  140°  F.  and  has  finally  emerged  after  ex- 
posure to  cold  air  on  frosty  nights  in  October.  This  seems  to  be 
worthy  of  record  as  an  unusual  time  of  emergence. — Charles 
Mellows  ;  Bootham  School,  York,  November  2nd,  1911. 

Formalin  a  Eemedy  for  Mould  on  Cabinet  Specimens. — 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  above  is  an  excellent  remedy  for  mould, 
but  I  would  warn  entomologists  who  may  be  tempted  to  use  it  that 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  relax  an  insect  that  has  at  any  time  been 
subjected  to  it.  I  speak  from  bitter  experience,  as  quite  half  a  large 
collection  of  Lepidoptera  brought  home  from  the  tropics  was  quite 
ruined,  in  spite  of  the  skill  and  care  exercised  by  an  experienced 
setter. — N.  Manders,  Lieut. -Colonel ;  London. 

Abnormal  Emergence  op  Pieris  rap^. — Yesterday  afternoon 
(December  19th),  when  passing  a  greengrocer's  shop  here,  I  noticed 
a  Pieris  rapce,  on  the  inside  of  the  window.  Entering  the  shop,  I 
boxed  the  specimen,  and  found  it  to  be  a  freshly  emerged  female  of 
the  spring  form. — (Eev.)  J.  E.  Tarbat  ;  Fareham,  Hants. 

Notes  on  "  Micro  "  Lepidoptera  in  South  Devon.  — In  the 
course  of  a  short  visit  to  Paignton  early  in  August,  1911,  I  took  the 
following  "  Micros"  near  Paignton : — Pyrausta  aurata,  P.  lourimralis, 
Botrijs  asinalis,  PteropJiorus  monodactylus,  Crambics  geniculeus,  Tor- 
trix  unifascia7ia,  Peronea  sponsana,  P.  schalleriana,  P.  variegana, 
E'upoecilia  angustana,  Depressaria  arenella,  D.  subpropinquella, 
D.  applana,  D.  albipunctella,  and  Bryotropha  terrella,  not  a  large 
list,  certainly,  but  the  weather  was  not  conducive  to  much  energy. 
Mr.  E.  A.  Atmore  has  kindly  helped  to  identify  doubtful  specimens. 
I  was  fortunate  in  capturing  a  good  specimen  of  Aventia  flexida, 
which  flew  out  of  a  hedge  I  was  beating. — G.  W.  Mason  ;  Barton- 
on-Humber. 

Lepidoptera  at  Burnley. — On  June  6th  I  captured  a  specimen 
of  Cidaria  silaceata,  which  is  new  to  our  local  list.  On  June  10th  I 
took  a  male  Nemeophila  plantaginis,  a  species  I  had  not  seen  here  for 
several  years.  On  August  26th  Celcena  hmoorthii  was  fairly  common 
on  the  moors,  also  a  few  Polia  chi,  but  the  season  seems  to  have 
been  a  bad  one  for  the  latter  here.  By  September  4th  both  G.  haiu- 
orthii  and  P.  chi  were  very  nearly  over,  while  Tapinostola  fulva  was 
flying  at  dusk,  and  Oporabia  filigrammaria  was  found  on  rocks  and 
walls.  According  to  previous  dates  all  these  moorland  species  were 
a  fortnight  earlier  than  usual. — W.  G.  Clutten  ;  132,  Coal  Clough 
Lane,  Burnley. 

Lepidoptera  and  Odonata  in  South  Cornwall.  —  A  list  of 
Lepidoptera  seen  or  taken  during  last  August  in  the  Penzance  district 
may  be  of  interest.  With  the  exception  of  one  dull  rainy  day,  the 
whole  period  was  fine  and  hot,  with  brilliant  sunshine  during  the  day- 
time. During  the  first  half  of  the  month  attention  was  chiefly  directed 
to  the  district  of  the  Try  Valley,  lying  midway  between  Penzance 
and  Gurnard's  Head.  Of  butterflies,  Lycana  alexis,  Chrysophamis 
phlceas  (one  nice  dark  specimen),  Epinephele  tithonus,  Pararge  egeria, 
P.  megara,  and  Satyrus  semele  were  common,  together  with  all  three 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  31 

Pierids  and  a  few  Ccenonympha  pamphilus.  A  fair  sprinkling  of 
Pyranieis  atalanta  was  noticed  on  the  flower-heads  of  Ewpatoriuvi, 
several  Vanessa  urticcB,  and  one  or  two  worn  Argynnis  paphia.  No 
varieties  of  E.  tithonus  similar  to  the  Millook  specimens  were  noted. 
At  sugar  the  following  insects  were  observed :  Axyliaputris,  Luperina 
c(E.spitis,  Leucania  pallens,  L.  lithargyria,  Acidalia  marginepunctata 
{promutata),  Riisina  tenebrosa,  L^cperina  testacea,  Charaxes  graminis 
(abundant),  Plusia  festuca,  TriphcBna  iantJmia,  Noctua  plecta  (abun- 
dant), Agrotis  saucia,  A.  segetum,  A.  suffusa,  Plusia  chrysitis, 
Gonoptera  Uhatrix,  Caradrina  cubicularis,  Noctua  c-nigrum  (common), 
Stilbia  anomala  (one  male),  Euplexia  lucipara,  Eupithecia  jasioneata 
(two  worn),  E.  virgaureata  (3),  Hydroscia  micacea,  Calymnia  affinis 
and  swarms  of  Phlogophora  meticulosa  and  Plusia  gamma.  Neuronia 
popularis  was  a  pest  at  light,  flying  punctually  at  9.30  every 
evening.  The  dragonflies  Gordulegaster  annulatus  and  C.  virgo  were 
common  along  the  course  of  the  River  Try.  One  of  the  former  species 
hovering  poised  above  the  water  was  observed  to  fly  backwards  every 
now  and  then  in  small  vertical  arcs,  having  a  versed  sine  of  about 
six  to  nine  inches.  When  performing  this  evolution  the  wings  ap- 
peared to  vibrate  much  more  rapidly  than  during  the  forward  flight ; 
this  particular  specimen  when  captured  was  engaged  in  eating  a  small 
crambid  moth  (?tristellus).  The  latter  half  of  the  month  was  devoted 
to  working  the  cliifs.  A  sprinkling  of  Polia  nigrocincta,  both  male 
and  female,  turned  up  at  sugar  between  8  p.m.  and  8.30  p.m.  One 
Bryophila  perla  and  B.  glandifera  at  rest  on  rocks.  Some  half  dozen 
larvae  of  Sesia  musciformis  (philanthiformis)  were  extracted  from  clumps 
of  thrift,  three  larvae  being  obtained  from  one  plant.  Curiously 
enough,  the  dwarf  meagre  plants  did  not  appear  to  be  tenanted,  and 
many  of  them  growing  in  chinks  of  rocks  appeared  to  have  succumbed 
to  the  heat.  Jasionc  montana  abounds  in  the  district,  and  several 
larvae  of  Eupithecia  jasioneata  were  taken  from  the  seed  heads.  By 
far  the  largest  number  was  met  with  inland,  away  from  the  cliffs. 
The  larvae  of  this  species  appear  to  move  from  one  seed  head  to  another 
in  the  evening,  commencing  about  7.30  in  August,  but  this 
migration  also  seems  to  take  place  in  the  morning  about  7,  when 
there  has  been  an  early  shower,  and  the  seed  heads  of  Jasione  have 
become  soaked.  A  tenanted  or  former  tenanted  seed  head  can  be 
instantly  detected  by  the  "  give  "  of  the  crown  when  taken  between 
the  finger  and  thumb.  The  larvae  varied  considerably  in  colouring. 
Ivy  blossom  was  all  but  out  on  August  30th.  The  temperature  each 
evening  about  8  o'clock  varied  between  the  limits  of  68°  F.  and  75°  F., 
the  average  humidity  at  the  same  time  being  59. — G.  B.  Kershaw  ; 
West  Wickham,  Kent. 

Notes  on  Lbpidoptera  in  the  Poechester  district  op 
Hants. — It  might  be  of  interest  to  record  a  few  of  the  captures 
in  this  locality  during  the  past  summer,  which  has  been  an  un- 
usually good  one  for  Hght,  though  sugar  was  completely  useless 
till  the  second  week  in  August.  At  light  the  most  prominent 
were :  Smerinthus  ocellatus,  June  3rd ;  Phragmatobia  fuUginosa, 
July  30th  ;  Drepana  hamula,  May  17th  ;  Notodonta  dictcea,  May  18th  ; 
N.  trepida,  May  27th ;  Dnjmonia  chaonia,  May  17th ;  D.  dodoncea, 


32  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

May  31st ;  Leucania  straviinea,  August  27th ;  Nonagria  gemini- 
piincta,  July  29th ;  Neuria  saponaria,  June  29th ;  Agrotis  cincrea, 
May  27th  (this  species  was  first  observed  to  occur  on  Portsdown  Hill 
by  Mr.  A.  E.  Bunas,  of  Portsmouth,  who  was  fortunate  enough  to 
capture  six  specimens  during  this  month) ;  Lujjerina  ccBsjntis,  August 
27th;  Dianthcecia  carpophaga  (the  very  pale  form),  June  13th,  and 
again  in  August ;  Cucullia  lychnitis,  May  24th ;  Plusia  iota,  June 
30th  ;  Acontia  luctuosa,  July  28th  ;  Ennomos  fuscantaria,  September 
12th ;  Geometra  vernaria,  July  7th  ;  Emmelesia  taniata,  August  5th ; 
and  Lohoplwra  viretata,  May  31st.  More  than  one  specimen  of  the 
majority  of  these  was  taken,  though  in  each  instance  the  earliest  date 
of  capture  is  given  ;  I  had  a  light  burning  in  one  of  my  upstairs 
windows  throughout  the  summer,  and  over  two  hundred  species  were 
attracted. 

During  June  the  campion  flowers  {Silene  inflata)  growing  on  the 
hillside  proved  a  prolific  hunting-ground  at  dusk,  Leucania  comma, 
Mamestra  sordida,  Agrotis  corticea,  Neuria  saponaria,  Diantlimcia 
cap)sincola,  D.  cucubali,  D.  conspersa,  Hecatera  serena,  Hadcna, 
dentina,  Cucullia  umhratica,  Plusia  chrysitis,  and  P.  iota,  all  coming 
freely,  whilst  the  large  tract  of  forest-land  around  Southwick,  on  the 
far  side  of  the  hill,  though  only  visited  twice  by  day  and  three  times 
at  dusk,  gave  amongst  others,  Argynnis  eiqjhrosyne  (including  a 
remarkable  black  suffused  variety),  Nemeobius  lucina,  Thecla  rubi, 
Nemeopliila  plantaginis,  Gomacla  scnex,  Cybosia  mesomella,  Drepana 
hamula,  D.  unguicula,  LopJiopteryx  camelina  (in  cop.  on  an  oak- 
trunk),  Cymatophora  duplaris,  Leucania  pudorina,  Erastria  fuscula, 
Toxocampa  pastinuvi,  Ellopia  prosapiaria,  Eurymene  dolobraria, 
Pericallia  syringaria,  Epione  advenaria,  Boarmia  lichenaria,  Phoro- 
desma  pustulata,  and  Hydrclia  sylvata;  also  Plusia  pulchrina  at 
flowers  of  ragged  robin  {Lychnis  flos-cuculi). 

Sugar,  as  has  before  been  stated,  was  a  complete  failure  up  till  the 
second  week  in  August,  but  between  then  and  the  first  week  in 
October  over  seventy  species  put  in  an  appearance,  including  Bryo- 
phila  muralis,  Nonagria  lutosa,  Hydrxcia  imludis,  H.  viicacea, 
Mamestra  abjecta,  Miana  litcrosa,  Caradrina  ambigua,  Dianthcecia 
cticubali,  Hadena  suasa,  Xylina  semibmnnca  (on  September  16th), 
Abrostola  tripartita,  Gatocala  nupta,  and  several  Geometers;  as  my 
"round  "  was  confined  to  the  limits  of  an  ordinary  "  villa"  garden, 
I  was  more  than  satisfied  with  the  results. 

Needless  to  say  there  was  the  usual  multitude  of  things  at  dusk 
along  the  hedgerows  during  May,  June  and  July,  but  these  cannot  be 
dealt  with  at  length.  Ghcerocampa  p)orcellus  and  Acidalia  emutaria 
were  possibly  the  surprise  captures  among  the  host  that  was  netted 
every  night.  Sphinx  convolvuli  also  made  its  appearance  at  odd 
places  in  the  village  in  September. 

The  usual  swarms  of  larvaB  of  Triphcena  fimbria,  Aplecta  nebidosa, 
Boarmia  rcpandata,  &c.,  were  to  be  beaten  at  night  from  the  sallows 
in  the  spring,  whilst  by  day  those  of  Arctia  villica  were  to  be  obtained 
by  careful  searching,  sunning  themselves  on  the  rough  herbage  below 
the  hedgerows  in  most  of  the  lanes  leading  up  on  to  the  down. 

On  the  whole  the  district  would  appear  to  be  an  exceedingly 
interesting  one,  and  one  that  would  well  repay  careful  study  of  its 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  33 

lepidopterous  fauna,  more  especially  if  more  time  than  I  have  at  my 
disposal  could  be  devoted  to  collecting  in  the  earlier  stages,  when  I 
have  no  doubt  many  more  unexpected  species  v^ould  be  brought  to 
light. — Leslie  H.  Mosse  Eobinson  ;  Margaret  Villa,  Porchester, 
Hants. 

Second  Broods  of  Agrotis  'Exclamationis,  &c. — There  are 
several  notices  in  the  '  Entomologist '  for  last  year  of  second  broods 
of  this  species,  which  some  of  the  writers  seem  to  think  is  an  unusual 
occurrence.  I  have  always  considered  it  as  a  second-brood  insect  in 
this  neighbourhood,  and  should  be  much  surprised  if  I  did  not  meet 
with  it  at  sugar  in  August  and  September.  It  is  generally  very 
abundant,  but  this  year  was  not  as  plentiful  as  usual,  though  some 
other  double-brood  species  simply  swarmed,  and  this  was  quite  a 
feature  of  the  past  abnormal  season.  The  moth  which  in  point  of 
numbers  headed  the  list  was  Leucania  pallens  ;  it  began  to  appear 
about  the  middle  of  August,  and  on  the  night  of  the  26th  every 
sugared  post  was  covered  with  them  ;  there  was  a  large  proportion 
of  the  red  variety  amongst  them,  and  a  great  many  were  remarkably 
small  examples,  one  or  two  being  the  smallest  I  have  ever  met  with, 
being  only  one  inch  in  expanse  of  wing.  The  following  were  also 
very  abundant,  in  the  order  they  are  named: — N.  c-nigrum,  N.  ruhi, 
and  A.  imta,  and  of  other  second-brood  species,  A.  segeUmi,  N.  i^lecta, 
P.  meticulosa,  H.  suasa,  H.  chenopodii,  and  T.  orhona  were  fairly 
plentiful.  T.  pronuba  was  seen  from  early  June  until  the  end  of 
September,  and  I  fancy  it  is  more  or  less  continuously  brooded 
throughout  the  summer.  I  also  noticed  a  few  each  of  H.  oleracea, 
M.  hrassiccB,  and  A.  psi,  and  on  September  7th  one  A.  rumicis. 
The  last-named  is  sometimes  numerous  in  the  autumn,  and  I  have 
seen  the  larvas  late  in  October.  Of  Geometrae  the  most  noteworthy 
was  the  abundance  of  T.  amataria.  On  July  26th  I  found  it  in  great 
numbers  among  broom  on  an  old  railway  bank  ;  this  of  course  must 
have  been  a  second  brood.  I  did  not  note  the  date  the  first  was 
captured,  but  it  was  some  day  towards  the  end  of  May.  From  August 
23rd  until  the  end  of  the  month  I  bred  about  two  dozen  from  ova 
laid  by  the  July  moths ;  this  would  be  a  third  brood,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  moths  were  swarming  in  openings  in  woods  where  there 
was  a  strong  growth  of  Ghenopodmm.  I  had  a  large  number  of  larvae 
from  three  or  four  different  females,  but  most  of  these  are  hybernating. 
A.  emarginata  was  more  numerous  than  I  have  ever  seen  it,  and  was 
most  abundant  towards  the  end  of  July,  at  which  date  they  were 
much  worn — these  I  have  no  doubt  were  a  second  brood.  Some  ova 
were  obtained,  and  the  larvae  fed  up  rapidly,  and  were  full  grown  by 
the  beginning  of  September.  The  first  moths  emerged  on  the  21st 
of  that  month,  and  the  last  on  October  17th — about  forty  were 
bred;  these  would  be  a  third  brood.  A.  dimidiata  was  also  very 
plentiful.  I  have  no  note  of  the  date  the  first  was  seen,  but  I  ob- 
tained a  few  ova  about  the  middle  of  July ;  the  first  moth  appeared 
on  August  21st,  and  the  last  September  21st ;  none  of  the  larvas 
attempted  to  hybernate.  A.  incanata  was  abundant  throughout  the 
summer.    I  fancy  there  is  always  a  succession  of  broods  of  this  little 

ENTOM. — JANUARY,    1912.  D 


34  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

species.  The  last  was  noticed  on  September  14th.  A.  emutaria  was 
very  scarce ;  it  is  much  rarer  here  than  formerly  on  account  of  the 
encroachments  of  the  sea  and  the  destruction  of  the  sea-banks  and 
contiguous  marshes.  I  netted  the  first  on  July  4th,  a  male  ;  trod  up 
a  female  on  the  8th  of  the  same  month,  and  obtained  a  small  batch 
of  ova  which  hatched  on  22nd,  aad  another  female  a  few  days  after 
I  took  the  first  one,  and  got  another  laying.  About  half  a  dozen  of 
the  larvae  fed  up  rapidly,  and  the  moths  emerged  the  end  of  August, 
but  the  bulk  of  the  larvae  are  hybernating.  Of  other  species  of 
Geometrae  the  second  broods  of  C.  ferrugata,  G.  unidentaria,  E.pumi- 
lata,  and  E.  oblongata  swarmed,  and  I  found  the  larvae  of  the  last  in 
great  abundance  upon  chamomile  when  I  was  sweeping  for  larvae  of 
C.  chamomilla  on  July  6th.— Gervase  F.  Mathew  ;  Lee  House, 
Dovercourt,  December  18th,  1911. 

Butterfly  Notes  from  Heidelberg.  —  From  July  14th  until 
August  3rd,  1911,  I  was  on  a  visit  to  Heidelberg,  and,  although  not 
systematically  working  the  district,  the  following  notes  on  the  butter- 
flies met  with  may  be  of  some  interest.  During  the  whole  period 
the  weather  was  intensely  hot ;  the  shade  temperature  in  the  town 
on  more  than  one  occasion  rose  to  over  100°  F.,  and  the  sun  shone 
brilliantly  every  day.  The  collecting  grounds  may  be  roughly  classi- 
fied thus : — (1)  The  forest-covered  hills  on  both  sides  of  the  Neckar, 
including  on  the  left  bank  the  Konigstuhl  (1865  ft.),  the  Geisberg 
(1230  ft.),  with  the  small  intervening  valley,  the  Klingenteich,  running 
down  to  the  town;  on  the  right  bank  the  Heiligenberg  (1455  ft.). 
These  hills  are  clothed  with  beech,  chestnut,  and  pine  woods,  with 
some  oak  and  other  forest  trees.  There  is  practically  no  open  land. 
On  the  lower  slopes  on  the  Heiligenberg  are  some  vineyards  and 
many  fruit  orchards.  (2)  The  lower  lying  ground  between  the  woods 
and  the  banks  of  the  Neckar,  extending  up  the  river  valley.  This 
land  is  cultivated  and  grass  land.  (3)  The  level  cultivated  land  of 
the  Ehine  plain  beyond  the  mouth  of  the  Neckar  Valley.  Arriving 
late  in  the  afternoon,  I  found  the  garden  of  the  hotel  swarming  with 
Pararge  egeria,  its  markings  being  well  defined  and  light  in  colour. 
Subsequent  experience  showed  that  this  species  far  outnumbered  any 
other  butterfly  seen.  It  was  everywhere — in  town,  woods,  gardens, 
hills,  and  valleys — and  could  not  be  got  away  from.  In  one  lane, 
where  some  fruit  had  fallen,  it  swarmed  so  much  that  the  insects 
were  jostling  one  another  to  get  at  the  rotten  fruit.  Pieris  brassiccs  was 
abundant  generally,  but  napi  was  the  predominant  white,  chiefly  of 
a  richly  marked  form.  Although  many  "whites"  were  netted  on  sus- 
picion and  released,  I  am  not  sure  that  I  actually  identified  a  single 
rapcB ;  at  any  rate,  they  were  relatively  rare.  In  the  gardens  also 
Polygonia  c-album  was  the  characteristic  Vanessid.  It  looked  very 
brilliant  in  the  sunshine,  but  evidently  a  little  passA,  as  it  was  difli- 
cult  to  get  perfect  specimens.  Goneptcryx  rhamni  occurred  generally, 
more  common  in  some  of  the  woods,  but  most  in  the  plain,  especially 
where  clover  or  veitch  was  cultivated.  An  occasional  V.  io  appeared 
in  the  garden. 

Visits  to  the  Heiligenberg  on  July  17th  and  18th  were  interesting. 
In  the  woods  at  lower  levels  a  few  E.  hyperanthus  were  met  with, 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  35 

but  was  not  common,  possibly  over.  Cyaniris  argiolus  about  some  ivy. 
ClirysopJianus  phlceas,  H.  sylvanus,  P.  egeria,  everywhere,  even  in  the 
darkness  of  the  pine  woods.  P.  c-alhum  here  and  there,  but  more 
common  within  easy  distance  of  orchards  and  gardens.  At  the  summit 
of  the  HeiHgenberg  is  the  ruin  of  St.  Michael's  basihkon,  forming  a 
small  space  in  the  otherwise  dense  woods.  This  space  formed  a  sort 
of  sun  bath  for  the  insects  from  the  surrounding  woods  to  enjoy 
themselves  in,  and  in  an  hour  or  so  spent  here  most  of  the  species 
could  be  reviewed.  Papilio  machaon  in  fresh  condition  dived  down 
from  the  tree  tops  at  one  end  and  traversed  the  open  space  low 
down,  rising  again  at  the  other  end  to  depart  over  the  ruined  tower. 
A  single  L.  sinapis  was  taken  here.  Zephyrus  quercus  came  from 
the  trees  and  flew  about  the  ruins.  P.  megcera  also  on  the  walls. 
One  or  two  Epinephele  ianira  occurred  near  here,  but  altogether 
I  saw  very  few  in  the  whole  district.  From  the  top  of  the  view 
tower  it  was  an  interesting  sight  to  watch  with  a  field  glass  the 
numerous  specimens  of  P.  maciiaon  flying  about  and  resting  on  the 
tops  of  the  chestnut  trees.  (A  fine  full  fed  larva  of  Deilephila 
euphorbicB  was  picked  up  crossing  a  forest  path.) 

A  visit  to  the  Geisberg  on  July  22nd  added  Argynnis  paphia  to 
the  list,  also  Satyrus  semde  and  Vanessa  urtica.  (Psilura  monacha 
common  on  tree-trunks  in  pine  woods.)  On  the  same  afternoon,  while 
in  the  churchyard  at  the  old  town  of  Dilsberg,  a  fine  male  Apatura 
iris  floated  in  front  of  me,  and  in  the  valley  at  Neckarsteinach  ^4 rasc/wwa 
levana  turned  up,  also  several  Theclas  and  "blues,"  but  having  no  net 
handy  I  was  unable  to  take  them  for  identification.  A  single  Golias 
liyale  was  subsequently  taken  on  the  river  bank. 

On  July  24th  I  explored  the  cultivated  land  of  the  Ehine  plain 
beyond  Neuenheim.  Here  one  had  the  rough  cart  roads  between 
the  orchards  and  patches  of  corn,  clover,  &c.  ;  also  railway  banks, 
the  banks  of  the  Neckar,  and  a  few  dyke  or  drain  sides.  Certain 
butterflies  were  very  numerous,  especially  on  the  clover  or  veitch. 
These  patches  were  alive  with,  roughly  in  order,  P.  napi,  P.  hrassicce, 
G.  rhamni,  C.  hyale,  of  which  a  good  series  was  soon  obtained  in 
perfect  condition.  An  occasional  Vanessa  urticce,  and  V.  io.  Also 
about  the  banks  and  roads  were  taken  P.  machaon,  P.  megcera,  P.  egeria, 
H.  sylvanus,  H.  linea,  L.  alexis,  and  an  occasional  G.  pamphilus.  On 
this  date  V.  antiopa  was  first  seen. 

July  26th,  over  the  Heiligenberg  to  the  valley  of  Siebernmuhlen. 
Several  V.  antiopa  in  fine  fresh  condition  were  noted,  and  V.  io  and 
V.  urticcB  getting  more  common.  In  one  spot  where  the  wood  had 
been  partially  cleared  L.  sinapis  was  found  abundant  and  fresh.  Egeria 
still  common,  but  getting  shabby.  Megcera  increasing.  Lyccena 
argiades  taken  on  a  rough  bank  by  the  roadside. 

July  27th  P.  mcera  appeared  in  the  hotel  garden,  and  was  soon 
common  in  various  locaUties,  in  company  with  the  now  abundant 
P.  megcera. 

On  July  28th,  and  other  occasions,  the  Klingenteich  valley  behind 
the  town  was  visited :  a  small,  partially  open  spot  a  little  below  the 
Molkenkur  was  found  an  excellent  hunting  ground.  Besides  many 
species  already  mentioned,  Zephyrus  betulce  was  taken,  and  several 

D  2 


36  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

A.  levana  (prorsa).  It  was  almost  pathetic  to  watch  the  insects 
trying  to  get  some  moisture  out  of  dried-up  stream  beds.  In  one 
spot  near  here  tliere  had  been  a  shght  leakage  from  a  water-pipe  by 
the  roadside,  causing  a  moist  patch  in  the  dust.  Here  assembled 
were  three  V.  antiojM,  some  other  common  butterflies,  and  possibly 
thousands  of  small  and  large  dipterous  and  other  thirsty  insects. 
V.  atalanta  appeared  on  July  29,  and  antiopa  was  now  common. 
On  the  Konigstuhl,  near  the  Kohlhof,  a  solitary  A.  latonia  was  netted, 
and  walking  thence  to  Neckargemund,  many  species  were  found 
common.  From  Neckargemund  along  the  low-lying  land  bordering 
the  Neckar  as  far  as  Schlierbach  are  several  favourable  spots  for 
collecting,  but  owing  to  the  drought  the  grass  land  was  so  scorched 
that  no  doubt  conditions  were  not  so  favourable.  A  visit  earlier  in 
the  season  would  be  more  productive  of  Lyca^nidge,  &c.  The  usual 
clover  insects  were  seen,  also  P.  machaon.  L.  dorilis  was  netted,  and 
also  P.  semiargus.  I  had  no  other  opportunity  of  returning  to  this 
rather  promising  locality.  I  find  that  my  total  list  of  butterflies 
taken  or  noted  amounts  to  thirty-two,  and  this  no  doubt  might  have 
been  extended  considerably  by  further  exploration  and  information 
as  to  localities.  My  collecting  was  limited  to  what  could  be  done 
during  morning  walks  in  the  near  neighbourhood,  and  as  it  was  almost 
my  first  experience  of  Continental  butterfly  hunting,  it  proved  of  much 
interest  to  me.  There  may  be  some  readers  of  similar  limited  ex- 
perience whom  these  rough  notes  may  interest. — E.  Octavius  Croft, 
M.D.,  F.E.S. ;  28,  Clarendon  Koad,  Leeds,  August  31st,  1911. 

Collecting  in  North  Devon  in  1909-1910. — Having  had  the 
privilege  of  spending  some  short  holidays  at  an  out-of-the-way  spot 
in  North  Devon,  some  notes  of  my  captures  may  be  of  interest.  My 
first  visit  in  1909  only  extended  over  three  days.  May  29th,  30th, 
and  31st,  but  the  weather  being  fairly  propitious,  the  following 
species  were  taken  or  noticed : — EupitJiecia  imlchcllata,  Campto- 
gramma  fiuviata  (taken  after  a  rain-storm  at  3  p.m.  at  rest  on  flowers 
of  Anthyllis  vulneraria  growing  on  the  clifi's  on  the  shore).  I  be- 
lieve this  species  is  very  seldom  found  in  the  perfect  state.  Sericoris 
littoralis  flying  amongst  Statice  armeria,  Pyrodes  rhediella  flying  in  the 
morning  sunshine  over  hawthorn,  Phalonia  {Ewpoicilia)  atricapitana 
amongst  ragwort  {Senccio  jacohcea),  Adela  fibulella  sunning  itself  on 
the  flowers  of  the  germander  speedwell  {Vero7iica  chamcBdrys),  Chryso- 
clista  aurifrontella,  Lampronia  hizella  (on  the  wing  at  11  a.m.)  and 
several  larvse  of  Lasiocampa  quercus  feeding  on  bramble  in  the  hedge- 
rows, and  also  larvse  of  Ehulea  crocealis  on  the  leaves  of  Inula  dyson- 
terica.  Quite  a  feature  of  the  said  hedgerows  were  the  flowers  of 
the  red  robin  or  campion  {Lychnis  diurna),  which  I  had  never 
previously  seen  so  brilliant  or  luxuriant.  My  second  visit  in  the 
same  year  extended  from  July  27th  until  August  Idth.  In  the 
morning  of  July  28th  on  some  rough  ground  above  the  cliffs  I  took 
Aristotelia  {Monochroa)  tenebrella,  Satyrus  semele,  Acalla  holmiana, 
and  Epiblema  trigeminana,  whilst  in  the  afternoon  in  a  typical 
Devonshire  lane  I  netted  one  Lampronia  luzella  (presumably  a 
double-brooded  species)  flying  in  the  sunshine,  and  beat  one  Lithosia 
cojnplanula  out  of  a  hawthorn  hedge.     In  the  evening  amongst  rag- 


NOTES    AND    OBSEKVATIONS.  37 

wort  on  the  sandhills,  two  worn  specimens  of  Cydia  nigromaculana 
were  taken  at  dusk.  The  next  day  my  exertions  were  rewarded  with 
Euxanthis  zagana,  Pyrcmsta  stachydcdis  (disturbed  at  mid-day  from 
a  mass  of  tangled  herbage  including  bracken,  Stachys  sylvatica,  &c., 
growing  at  the  back  of  the  sandhills),  Notarcha  ruralis,  Alucita  litho- 
clactyla  at  rest  on  a  flower  of  Inula  dysenterica  and  Becurvaria 
(Brachycrossata)  cinerella  amongst  grass  on  the  sandhills.  On  July 
30th,  in  the  lanes  near  the  sea,  Plicdonia  rwpicola  was  taken  on  the 
hedge  near  E^tpatoriiim  cannabinum;  Notocelia  rohorana  and  Epi- 
hlcma  trigeviinana  were  beaten  out ;  and  on  the  sandhills  amongst 
ragwort  I  netted  Phalonia  atrica-pitana  and  several  Coleophora 
laripennella;  amongst  heather  a  male  Plebeius  argits  (cegon),  Peronea 
aspcrsana,  and  Pseudopanthcra  obscuraria ;  and  amongst  marram 
grass  Gchchia  politella  and  G.  marmorea.  On  July  31st,  in  one  of 
the  aforesaid  lanes  bordered  with  furze  bushes  on  one  side  and  black- 
thorn on  the  other,  two  fresh  specimens  of  Phalonia  {AvgyroUpia) 
hadiana  were  boxed  as  they  sat  on  the  furze  in  the  afternoon 
between  3  and  4  p.m.  Subsequent  search  revealed  the  food-plant 
Arctia  lappa  in  an  adjoining  meadow.  Another  specimen  of 
P.  badiana  was  netted  at  8  p.m.  in  a  lane  near  by.  Other  captures 
that  day  were  Hydriomena  decolorata,  Orneodes  hexadactyla  (poly- 
dactyla),  Euxanthis  (Xanthosetia)  zoegana,  Eurliodope  {Bhodophoea) 
advenella,  Acalla  (Dictyopteryx)  hohniana,  and  Epiblcma  {EpJiippi- 
phora)  trigeminana.  The  morning  of  August  1st  was  wet,  but  the 
heavy  downpour  ceased  about  1  p.m.,  and  by  2  p.m.  the  sun  was 
struggling  to  shine  through  the  mist.  A  female  Lasiocampa  quercus, 
newly  emerged  in  a  cardboard  box  covered  with  leno,  being  placed 
in  the  window  of  a  front  room  overlooking  the  sandhills,  attracted 
several  males,  of  which  ten  were  taken  either  in  the  room  or  just  out- 
side the  window.  In  the  evening  between  9  and  10,  at  flowers  of 
ragwort,  Agrotis  tritici  (variable),  Triphana  inter jecta,  Caradrina 
alsines  and  Leucania  pallens  were  secured.  Other  species  observed 
included  Gatoptria  cana  and  Gelectria  domestica.  On  August  2nd  in 
the  lanes  about  a  mile  inland  the  beating  stick  dislodged  Hydriomena 
{Melanippe)  unangulata,  H.  dotata  {pyraliata),  P.  badiana,  Eupmcilia 
roseana,  Stigvionota  compositella,  A.  hohniana,  and  E.  trigeminana, 
and  in  the  evening,  Brachmia  gerronella  and  Idiographis  inopiana 
(flying  low  just  before  9  p.m.  amongst  Inula  dysenterica). 

August  3rd  produced  several  specimens  of  Acalla  hohniana 
(beaten  from  blackthorn  bushes  at  the  back  of  the  sandhills), 
Euchelia  jacobcsce,  Lampronia  luzella,  H.  unangulata,  Depressaria 
purpurea,  Crambus  perlellus,  Blabophanes  ferruginella,  Symmoca 
{(Ecogenia)  quadripuncta,  Goleophora  laripennella,  and  Lithocolletis 
faginella.  The  next  day  Anthrocera  filipendulos,  A.  hohniana, 
Stigmonota  compositella,  and  Gracilaria  tringipennella  amongst 
ribwort  plantain  {Plantago  lanceolata)  were  taken.  The  only  cap- 
ture of  note  on  August  5th  was  Stenia  punctalis—^\x  specimens  of 
which  were  secured  on  the  cliffs  at  sunset.  The  next  day  three 
Tinea  argent imaculella  were  taken  flying  at  about  6  p.m.  over  an  old 
wall  about  a  mile  from  the  coast,  whilst  a  little  further  on  at  the 
roadside  Goleophora  discordella  was  netted. 


38  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

August  7th  was  one  of  the  hottest  days  of  the  year,  and  a  visit 
to  the  sandhills  resulted  in  the  capture  of  Cramhus  uliginosellus  (dis- 
turbed from  the  clumps  of  tall  rushes),  C.  tristellns,  one  Anthrocera 
filipendulcs  var.  with  a  pink  hind  wing,  Peronea  aspersana,  Phalonia 
roseana,  P.  atricapitana,  Sciaphila  conspersana,  Tortrix  ictericana, 
and  Symmoca  {(Ecogenia)  quadripuncta  on  the  wall  inside  the  light- 
house. On  August  8th  in  the  evening  I  took  Sericoris  littoralis 
amongst  Statice  armcria  on  the  cliffs.  I  visited  the  sandhills  again 
on  the  9th  at  dusk  and  took  Alucita  litJiodactyla,  Cramhus  uligino- 
sellus, Phalonia  {Eupoecilia)  atricapitana,  Depressaria  alstrcemcr- 
iana,  and  Acrolcpia  granitella.  Dicrorampha  simpliciana  was  flying 
freely  amongst  Artemisia  vulgaris  at  8  p.m.  on  the  10th  and  a  good 
series  was  soon  boxed,  and  earlier  in  the  day  Ennychia  cingulalis, 
C.  nigromaculana,  and  CEcophora  lamhdella  were  the  best  species 
obtained.  The  only  new  species  noticed  on  the  11th  was  Depressaria 
suhpropinquella.  On  the  12th  a  further  visit  to  the  sandhills  only 
produced  Cramhus  genicideus  in  addition  to  those  species  already 
mentioned.  As  we  were  leaving  the  next  day,  the  13th  was  devoted 
to  setting  my  captures  and  packing  up.  After  doing  so  a  final  walk 
round  the  cliffs  added  Acidalia  marginepuncta  and  Adactylus  (Ag- 
distis)  hcnnetti  to  my  list.  The  latter  was  flying  between  8  and 
9  p.m.  amongst  the  spathulate  sea  lavender  {Statice  hinervosa).  It 
was  very  much  paler  than  specimens  from  Mr.  Ovenden,  of 
Rochester,  and  appeared  to  be  the  form  described  by  Mr.  Tutt  (vol. 
V.  p.  137)  as  (2)  "Whitish  grey  with  four  black  dots  on  the  disc  =  ab. 
grisea  typica,  n.  ab.  This  species  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
previously  recorded  for  Devon.  We  had  no  rain  after  August  1st, 
the  weather  being  brilliantly  fine  during  the  remainder  of  our  visit. 
In  1910  I  was  prevented  from  visiting  the  neighbourhood  until  July 
29th,  and  between  that  date  and  my  return  home  on  August  12th, 
the  following  species  were  taken,  in  addition  to  most  of  those  already- 
mentioned  : — Hypermecia  angustana,  Gelechia  domestica,  Butalis 
grandipennis  (on  the  road  below  a  bank  where  some  dwarf  furze 
bushes  grew),  Hedya  aceriana  (at  rest  on  white  poplar  trees  and 
fences  in  a  garden),  Argyresthia  alhistria,  Lita  maculea  (beaten  from 
hedge  in  a  lane),  Goleophora  alcyonipennella  (brought  into  the  house 
amongst  knapweed  flowers),  Eupitliecia  coronata,  Phalonia  rupicola, 
Cerostoma  vittclla,  Laverna  atra,  L.  ochraceella,  Stignionota  coniposi- 
tella,  Chrosis  alcella,  Lithosia  complanula.  Prays  curtisellus,  Argyris- 
thia  andereggiella,  Peronea  variegana,  Catoptria  ulicetana,  Litho- 
colletis  cmherizipennella,  Anerastia  lotella,  Selenia  hilunaria,  P.  ohs- 
curaria,  Euholia  hipunctaria,  Depressaria  nanatella,  D.  ap'plana, 
Homoiosoma  sinuclla,  Ochsenheimeria  hirdella  (on  bedroom  window 
curtain  at  7.30  p.m.,  a  very  unusual  time  and  place  for  this  species), 
Penthina  gcntiana  {on  the  wing  at  1  p.m.  amongst  teazle),  Orthotania 
ericetana  (in  a  clover  field  in  the  afternoon),  Miniasioptilus  hiptuncti- 
dactyla,  Miana  literosa  (at  ragwort  flowers  at  7  p.m.),  Spilonota 
incarnatana  (sitting  on  the  leaves  of  Bosa  spinosissivia  at  sunset), 
Coleophora  alhitarsella  (at  rest  on  a  fern  leaf  in  a  hedge  in  the  after- 
noon), C.  laricella,  Cramhus  inquinatellus,  Xylophasia  rurea,  Miana 
bicoloria,    Gelechia  desertella,    G.  marmorea,  Argyresthia   spiniella, 


SOCIETIES.  39 

Eucosoma  (Catoptria)  scopoliana,  E.  fulvana,  E.  expallidana,  Elac- 
hista  atricomniella,  E.  nigrella,  and  E.  subnigrella.  The  weather  was 
most  unfavourable,  rough  winds  and  rain  prevailing  most  of  the 
time.  In  fact  August  10th  was  the  only  day  during  the  fortnight 
free  from  rain :  it  was  brilliantly  fine,  and  about  the  hottest  day 
experienced  during  a  very  disappointing  summer.  In  conclusion, 
my  grateful  thanks  are  due  to  Mr.  Edward  Meyrick,  P.E.S.,  for 
his  kindness  in  identifying  many  of  the  species. — C.  Granville 
Cluttebuck,  F.E.S.  ;  Heathside,  Heathville  Eoad,  Gloucestershire, 
November  13th,  1911. 

Erratum. — Entom.  xliv.  p.  381,  18th  line  from  top,  read :  to  the 
posterior  surface  of  the  mesothorax,  instead  of  posterior  centre  of 
the  anal  segment,  in  next  line. 


SOCIETIES. 


Entomological  Society  of  London. — Wednesday,  October  18th, 
1911. — ^The  Kev.  F.  D.  Morice,  President,  in  the  chair. — The  following 
gentlemen  were  elected  Fellows  of  the  Society : — Mr.  Sidney  Howard 
Cotton,  1a,  Chesterfield  Street,  Mayfair  ;  Captain  J.  J.  Jacobs,  E.E., 
2,  Southport  Street,  Gibraltar ;  Mr.  Kunui  Khunan,  M.A.,  Assistant 
Entomologist  to  the  Government  of  Mysore,  Bangalore,  South  India ; 
Dr.  Ivan  Clarkson  Maclean,  M.D.,  B.Sc,  M.R.C.S.,  L.R.C.P.,  28,  Hill 
Street,  Knightsbridge,  S.W. ;  Mr.  Frank  Taylor,  The  Technological 
Museum,  Sydney,  New  South  Wales. — Dr.  F.  A.  Dixey  exhibited  a 
pair  of  each  of  the  following  species : — Tachyris  melania,  Fabr., 
T.  celestina  and  Gatophaga  ega,  Boisd.,  and  remarked  that  Fabricius's 
type  was  preserved  in  the  Banksian  Cabinet,  where  it  may  still  be 
seen,  and  that  Mr.  G.  A.  Waterhouse  has  now  sent  home  specimens 
which  are  undoubtedly  of  the  species  described  by  Fabricius  and 
represented  by  Donovan,  which  is  not  a  Gatophaga  allied  to  ega  ot 
paulina,  but  a  Tachyris  belonging  to  the  group  which  contains 
T.  celestina  and  T.  nero. — Mr.  W.  G.  Sheldon,  a  living  larva  of  Golias 
nastes  var.  loerdandi  which  he  had  bred  from  an  ovum  deposited  by  a 
female  captured  at  Abisko,  in  Swedish  Lapland ;  the  natural  food- 
plant  is  Astragalus  alpinus,  L.,  but  in  captivity  the  larva  fed  upon 
white  clover.  —  Mr.  W.  J.  Lucas,  two  specimens  of  Nemoptera 
hipennis,  Illig.  {kcsitanica.  Leach),  taken  by  Mr.  A.  H.  Jones;  one  in 
the  cork  woods  at  Almorima,  Spain,  on  May  5th,  1911,  and  the  other 
at  Linea,  Gibraltar,  on  the  28th  ;  also  a  specimen  of  Lertha  barhara, 
Klug.  taken  by  Mr.  H.  Powell  at  Aflou,  Oran,  Algeria,  on  June  30th, 
1911.  Mr.  Lucas  also  exhibited  a  large  specimen  of  Sirex  noctilio, 
taken  by  himself  at  Leith  Hill,  Surrey,  walking  on  the  road,  on 
September  8th,  1911. — Mr.  H.  St.  J.  Donisthorpe,  a  species  of  Coleo- 
ptera  new  to  Britain,  Lesteva  luctuosa,  Fauvel,  wlT,ich  he  had  taken 
in  moss  in  a  waterfall  on  the  high  ground  in  the  Isle  of  Eigg,  near 
Mull,  on  September  17th,  1911.— Mr.  H.  M.  Edelsten  showed  some 
bred  specimens  of  Erastria  venustula  ;  the  larvae  had  fed  readily  on 
flowers  of  Potentilla  tormentilla,  and  on  garden  forms  of  Potentilla, 


40  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

strawberry,  and  bramble  blossoms,  and  later  on  lettuce  leaves,  which 
they  seemed  to  prefer.  They  pupated  below  the  surface  of  the 
ground  in  a  strong  cocoon. — Mr.  K.  G.  Blair  exhibited  a  male  and  two 
females  of  a  "stick-insect"  (? Lonchodes  sp.),  which  is  usually  par- 
thenogenetic.  Mr.  C.  0.  Waterhouse  said  he  had  bred  three  gene- 
rations of  this  Phasmid  and  had  had  many  hundreds  of  specimens,  and 
he  congratulated  Mr.  Blair  on  having  the  only  male  he  had  ever  seen 
or  heard  of. — Dr.  K.  Jordan  exhibited  forty-six  forms  of  Delias  from 
three  mountain-ranges  of  New  Guinea.  Whereas  in  other  districts 
of  the  Oriental  Region  at  the  most  seven  or  eight  species  (generally 
four  to  six)  may  be  found  in  any  locality,  a  surprising  number  are 
met  with  in  the  mountains  of  New  Guinea  from  3000  or  4000  ft.  up- 
wards. In  suitable  localities  of  the  Owen  Stanley  Range  no  fewer 
than  twenty-four  species  have  been  obtained,  of  which  eighteen  are 
confined  to  the  higher  altitudes. — The  Rev.  A.  Miles  Moss,  the 
following  Sphingids  from  Para : — Amphimcca  walkeri,  IsognatJms 
excelsior,  Gravimodia  caicus,  with  pupa  spun  up  in  a  leaf ;  Hemero- 
planes  inuus,  Epistor  gorgon,  male  and  female ;  Pholus  phorbas, 
Xylojjhanes  nechus,  with  chrysalis,  and  X.  cosmius,  female,  the  first 
known  specimen  of  this  sex.- — The  President  mentioned  that  the 
University  of  Cambridge  had  decided  to  appoint  a  Demonstrator  in 
Medical  Entomology. 

Wednesday,  November  1st. — The  Rev.  F.  D.  Morice,  M.A.,  Presi- 
dent, announced  that  the  Council  proposed  Fr.  Eric  Wasmann,  of 
Valkenburg,  Holland,  as  Honorary  Fellow  in  the  place  of  the  late 
Herr  P.  C.  T.  Snellen,  of  Rotterdam,  and  Prof.  J.  H.  Comstock,  of 
Cornell  University,  U.S.A.,  for  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of 
Dr.  S.  H.  Scudder,  of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  both  of  whom 
were  then  elected.  The  following  gentlemen  were  elected  Fellows 
of  the  Society :— Messrs.  T.  J.  Anderson,  Teaninich,  Craig  Millar, 
Midlothian ;  Edward  Bernard  Ashby,  33,  Park  Road,  Whitton, 
Middlesex ;  W.  A.  Lambourn,  M.R.C.S.,  L.R.C.P.,  Omi  Camp,  Lagos, 
West  Africa;  J.  Jackson  Mounsey,  24,  Glencairn  Crescent,  Edin- 
burgh.— Dr.  Nicholson  showed  a  specimen  of  Aleochara  dzsciiJennis, 
Muls.  and  Rey,  taken  in  the  early  part  of  this  year  from  moss  in  a 
small  wood  at  Alphington,  Devon. — Mr.  J.  R.  le  B.  Tomlin,  a  terato- 
logical  specimen  of  the  rare  beetle  Triarthron  maerheli,  swept 
in  the  Wellington  College  district  this  summer.  It  has  the  two  last 
joints  of  left  antenna  completely  soldered  together,  making  a  two- 
jointed  instead  of  a  three-jointed  club.  Also  a  specimen  of  Longi- 
tarsus  melanoceiihaliLS  (?)  taken  by  Mr.  J.  Collins  at  Oxford,  with  legs 
and  tarsi  remarkably  thickened. — Mr.  W.  J.  Lucas,  five  specimens, 
three  males  and  two  females,  of  Panorpa  germanica,  taken  by  Col. 
Yerbury,  four  at  Dingwall  in  May  and  one  at  Lochinver  in  July.  One 
male  is  practically  immaculate,  and  the  other  two  nearly  so ;  the 
female  from  Dingwall  is  sparsely  spotted,  while  the  one  from  Loch- 
inver is  more  nearly  normal. — Mr.  C.  J.  Gahan,  a  hving  specimen  of 
Aspidomori^ha  silacea,  Boh.,  an  African  species  of  Cassididse,  which 
had.  been  sent  by  Mr.  G.  St.  John  Mildmay  from  Nyah  in  British 
East  Africa  on  October  7th,  reaching  London  on  October  28th. — 
Dr.  K.  Jordan  announced  that  the  Polyctenidse  contained  in  the  col- 
lection of  the  British  Museum,  which  are  parasitic  on  bats  in  the 


7  w/aLF 

SOCIETIES.  41 

tropics,  are  viviparous  like  the  parasitic  Ortliopteron  Hemimcrits. 
The  young  are  born  at  a  very  advanced  stage,  but  yet  differ  con- 
siderably from  the  adult.  Two  of  the  forms  {spasmce,  and  talpa) 
described  as  distinct  species,  and  lately  placed  in  two  different 
genera,  are  immature  and  adult  examples  of  the  same  species. — Mr. 
Harwood  exhibited  two  specimens  of  Micrurula  melanoccphala  taken 
near  Bishop's  Stortford  by  sweeping  in  the  evening,  which  he 
believed  to  be  var.  bnmnea,  Heer ;  also  two  specimens  of  Ocijims 
cyaneus  taken  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Harwood  at  Colchester,  one  in  May  and 
the  other  in  June  of  this  year,  the  first  specimens  taken  in  the 
district  for  nineteen  years ;  also  a  species  of  Coccinella  taken  in  a  case 
of  Tasmanian  apples  at  Colchester. — Mr.  H.  Eltringham,  specimens 
of  African  Acrteas,  to  show  that  wide  differences  of  colour  and 
pattern  may  occur  in  a  single  species,  and,  conversely,  that  certain 
species  which  can  scarcely  be  distinguished  by  their  outward  appear- 
ance are  nevertheless  very  distinct,  as  shown  by  the  structure  of  the 
male  armature.  Several  new  species  and  forms  were  also  shown,  in- 
cluding A.  lofua,  Eltr.,  male  and  female  ;  A.  grosvenori,  Eltr.,  male  ; 
A.  aureola,  Eltr.,  male;  A.  ella,  Eltr.,  male;  A.  cinerea  subsp.  alberta, 
Eltr.,  male  ;  A.  ijerii^hanes  f.  acritoides,  Eltr.,  male  ;  and  A.  astrigera  f. 
bnmnea,  Eltr.,  male  and  female.  Dr.  Jordan  remarked  on  the 
extreme  variability  of  the  genus  and  its  allies,  geographically,  indi- 
vidually, and  even  in  the  characters  of  the  genitalia. — Mr.  Bethune- 
Baker  remarked  on  the  unrehability  of  the  genitalia  in  certain 
Lycaenidge. — The  President  stated  that  the  male  genitalia  were,  as  a 
rule,  reliable  in  the  Aculeata,  but  in  the  Tenthredinidse  the  male 
genitalia  were  quite  useless  for  specific  determination,  though  the 
females  afford  excellent  characters. — The  Hon.  Walter  Rothschild 
remarked  on  the  identity  of  the  male  genitalia  in  certain  distinct 
species  of  Macroglossinas.— Com.  Walker  read  a  paper  on  "  The 
Effect  of  Temperature  on  Animal  (especially  Insect)  Life,"  by  A.  G. 
Butler,  Ph.D.,  F.L.S. — The  following  papers  were  also  communi- 
cated : — "  Parthenogenesis  in  Worker  Ants,  with  special  Reference  to 
two  Colonies  of  Lasius  niger,  Linn.,"  by  W.  C.  Crawley,  B.A. ;  "  A 
Monograph  of  the  genus  Acrcea,"  by  H.  Eltringham,  M.A.,  F.Z.S. — 
George  Wheeler,  M.A.,  Hon.  Sec. 

The  South  London  Entobiological  and  Natural  History 
Society.— Oc^ofter  12th,  1911.— Mr.  W.  J.  Kaye,  F.E.S.,  President, 
in  the  chair. — Mr.  H.  R.  Sweeting,  M.A.,  of  S.  Woodford,  was  elected 
a  member. — Mr.  W.  J.  Kaye  exhibited  bred  and  captured  series  of 
Lithosia  deplana,  in  which  some  of  the  former  were  much  darker 
than  usual. — Mr.  Barrett,  three  series,  one  taken  many  years  ago, 
one  in  1909,  and  one  this  year  ;  the  1909  were  generally  darker  in 
colour  but  not  so  dark  as  Mr.  Kaye's  bred  specimens,  although 
several  specimens  were  without  the  yellow  costa  of  the  fore  wings. — 
Mr.  Barrett,  also  a  Xylina  furcifera  (conformis)  taken  in  1904  in  the 
east  of  England,  and  an  example  bred  in  S.  Wales  in  1876,  by  Evan 
John.  The  latter  was  var.  suffusa,  Tutt. — Mr.  Sich,  specimens  of 
Gracilaria  syringella  bred  from  PhUlyrea  media,  a  food-plant  not 
hitherto  recorded. — Mr.  R.  Adkin,  an  example  of  Tortrix  podana  bred 
on  September  13th  from  a  pupa  taken  in  a  shoot  of  Euonymus  at 


42  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

Eastbourne,  and  reported  that  the  Eev.  W.  Claxton  had  reared 
several  specimens  in  mid-September. — Mr.  B.  H.  Smith,  a  specimen  of 
Sterrha  sacraria,  female,  taken  by  him  just  recently  near  the  Lizard, 
and  a  Bumicia  jMcsas  with  right  fore  wing  ab.  schmidtii. — Mr.  Dods, 
the  huge  cocoons  of  Philosamia  cecropia,  all  of  which  had  become 
dark  brown  in  colour  except  one  which  had  kept  its  pure  white 
colour. — Mr.  Main  said  that  the  grub  shown  in  the  Coquillo  nut 
exhibited  at  last  meeting  was  that  of  the  large  "  pea  weevil,"  Caryo- 
borus  nuctuoriim,  a  native  of  Brazil. — Mr.  Blair,  specimens  of  Boreas 
hiemalis  from  Stanmore  Common,  in  Essex. — Mr.  Blenkarn,  many 
species  of  Coleoptera  taken  by  him  during  the  season,  including 
Clytus  arictis,  Cicindela  sylvatica,  Dytiscus  marginalis,  Aromia 
moschata,  &c. — Mr.  Adkin  and  others  gave  their  experiences  of  the 
season. 

October  26th,  1911.— Mr.  W.  J.  Kaye,  F.E.S.,  President,  in  the 
chair.— The  Eev.  George  Wheeler,  M.A.,  E.Z.S.,  F.E.S.,  and  Mr. 
H.  B.  Wells  were  elected  members. — Mr.  Sich  exhibited  LithocoUetis 
hortella  and  L.  sylvella,  and  noted  their  specific  characters  and 
markings. — Mr.  Kussell,  a  Phryxus  Uvornica  from  Purley,  three 
autumn  bred  specimens  of  Diacrisia  sanio  (russula)  from  Grange  over 
Sands,  and  recorded  a  Bithys  qiiercus  taken  on  September  1st. — 
Mr.  E.  Adkin,  a  series  of  Eupithecia  subfidvata  bred  from  ova  laid 
by  a  female  taken  at  Chiswick. — Mr.  Moore,  a  large  Cicada  taken  on 
a  window  at  Wanstead,  and  read  notes  on  a  Silphid  beetle  from  the 
Orange  Eiver  Colony,  which  in  life  bore  an  abundant  waxy  secretion 
on  its  elytra. — Mr.  Sheldon,  a  long  and  fine  series  of  Colias  nastes 
var.  tverdandi  taken  by  him  in  Lapland. — Mr.  Newman,  a  long  and 
varied  series  of  bred  Amorpha  poyuli,  with  three  second-brood  ex- 
amples.— Mr.  Blair,  living  male  and  female  specimens  of  the  "  stick" 
insect  known  as  Dixippus  morosus,  and  imagines  of  the  rare  Dipteron 
Boreas  hiemalis. — Mr.  Baumann,  a  fine  melanic  form  of  Acidalia 
virgularia  from  Lewisham. — Mr.  Curwen,  series  of  Colias  palceno, 
C.  phicomone,  C.  hyale,  and  C.  edusa  from  the  Swiss  Alps,  and  also 
melanic  forms  of  Cidaria  immanata,  Hypsipetes  sordidata,  and  Mania 
maura. — Mr.  Blenkarn,  examples  of  three  species  of  Coleoptera 
recently  recognised  as  British,  viz.,  Haliplus  hcydcni,  H.  imviaculata, 
and  Gabrius  stipes,  from  the  Cotswolds,  Lowestoft,  and  Beckenham, 
respectively.  —  Mr.  Buckstone,  a  very  remarkable  Brcnthis  sclene 
from  Wanborough,  with  almost  all  the  usual  markings  absent  on  the 
upper  side. 

November  9th,  1911.— Mr.  W.  J.  Kaye,  F.E.S.,  President,  in  the 
chair.— Mr.  H.  Page,  F.E.S.,  of  New  Cross,  and  Mr.  W.  S.  Coxhead,  of 
Clapton,  were  elected  members. — Mr.  South,  on  behalf  of  the  Eev. 
A.  P.  Waller,  exhibited  a  series  of  Leucania  reared  from  ova  laid  by 
a  female  favicolor,  half  of  which  were  distinctly  L.  pallens,  the  rest 
agreed  with  the  parent  or  were  intermediate,  and  numerous  captured 
examples  for  comparison  ;  also  three  specimens  selected  from  thirty 
favicolor  that  were  reared  from  ova  deposited  by  a  pallens-likQ 
female. — Mr.  Newman,  a  long  series  of  Pyrameis  cardui  bred  from 
ova  and  fed  up  in  a  hothouse.  The  female  was  captured  at  Folkestone, 
on  September  2nd,  and  the  last  imago  appeared  on  October  16th. — - 
Mr.    Kaye,    bred   specimens   of   Bumicia  pihloeas,    forced  in  a  hot- 


SOCIETIES.  43 

house  from  ova.  —  Mr.  Andrews,  the  local  Diptera  Syrplms 
vittiger,  S.  lineola,  and  Scioviyza  sim])lex  from  North  Kent. — 
Mr.  Adkin,  specimens  of  Peronea  variegana  taken  in  or  reared 
from  his  own  garden,  including  a  second-brood  example  on  October 
6th. — Mr.  Tonge  and  Mr.  Colthrup,  series  and  specimens  of  Xylina 
socia  {pctrificata)  and  X  semibrunnea  for  comparison.  One  specimen 
of  the  latter  species  was  from  the  New  Forest. — Mr.  Moore,  specimens 
of  the  Tsetse  Flies  (Glossina)  from  the  Lake  Chad  area,  and  read 
notes  on  them. — Mr.  Buckstone,  series  of  Brenthis  selene  from  Surrey, 
one  small  and  dark  from  high  ground,  gravel  overlying  chalk,  mainly 
in  July,  the  other  large  and  light  on  low  marshy  ground  clay,  mainly 
in  June. — Mr.  Carr,  a  large  number  of  Lepidoptera  taken  in  Shrop- 
shire during  1910. — Mr.  Sich,  specimens  of  Lithocolletis  stettinensis 
from  Oxshott. — Mr.  Tonge,  lantern  slides  of  imagines  shortly  after 
emergence  of  species  of  the  genus  JEgeria  {Sesia),  and  also  the  ova. — 
Mr.  J.  P.  Barrett,  lantern  slides  of  collecting  grounds  around  Mount 
Etna. — Mr.  Main,  lantern  slides  showing  details  of  the  life-history 
and  economy  of  a  common  millepede. 

November  23rd. — Annual  Exhibition  of  Varieties,  &c. — The  Eev. 
F.  D.  Morice,  M.A.,  F.E.S.,  was  elected  a  member. — Mr.  South 
exhibited  an  extreme  melanic  aberration  of  Brenthis  selene,  a  dark- 
banded  Zonosoma  Uncaria,  Bumicia plilceas  var.  eleiis,  B.^hlceas  var. 
schmidtii,  a  fine  series  of  varieties  of  Leptogramma  literana,  &c. — ■ 
Mr.  R.  Adkin,  two  series  of  aberrations  of  Abraxas  grossulariata,  {a) 
from  wild  larvee,  {b)  from  inbreeding,  a  Zonosoma  orbicularia  with  the 
whole  of  the  wings  of  a  rich  red-brown,  &c. — Mr.  Blenkarn,  varied 
series  of  Amorpha  populi  and  Bupalus  piniaria,  and  a  Brenthis  selene 
almost  devoid  of  transverse  markings. — Mr.  Newman,  a  series  of 
Mellinia  ocellaris,  including  the  forms  similar  to  M.  gilvago  and  Gitria 
fulvago,  a  large  number  of  the  more  striking  varieties  from  the 
"Capper"  collection,  a  lemon-tipped  ab.  of  Euchloe  cardamines,  a 
Brenthis  euphrosyne  with  black  hind  wings,  a  Pyrameis  cardui  with 
apex  of  fore  wings  largely  black,  fine  abs.  of  Agriades  coridon,  &c. — 
Mr.  A.  Quarrington,  P.  cardui  with  conspicuous  blue  spots,  a  yellow 
Polygonia  c-album,  A.  corydon,  with  large  confluent  spots,  B.  p)hlceas 
with  almost  obsolete  marginal  bands,  &c.  —  Mr.  Bright,  a  drawer 
containing  all  the  finest  extreme  varieties  from  the  collection  of  the 
late  Mr.  J.  A.  Clarke,  and  a  drawer  of  varieties  of  Amorpha  populi, 
including  a  magnificent  gynandromorph. —  Mr.  Turner,  a  series  of 
Erebia  oithiops  from  Scotch  (var.  Caledonia)  and  many  Continental 
localities,  a  long  series  of  Luperina  nickerlii,  including  a  fine  series 
of  the  gueneei  race  from  Mr.  Baxter  (St.  Anne's-on-Sea),  a  set  of  the 
E.  Pyrenean  race  graslini  from  M.  Oberthiir,  and  the  type  form 
Bohemia,  many  forms  of  L.  testacea  kindly  sent  him  by  the  same 
gentleman,  from  France  and  Algeria,  together  with  a  number  of 
L.  dumerilii  from  the  same  localities. — Mr.  Main,  long  and  fine  series 
of  Boarmia  repandata  bred  by  the  late  Mr.  Harrison  and  himself,  the 
results  of  crossing  the  dark  and  conversaria  forms. — The  Rev.  F.  D. 
Morice,  the  smallest  known  bee,  Geratina  parvula,  and  the  largest 
bee,  Xylocopa  sp. '?  Gilbert  White's  "  Hoop-shaver  bee  "  Anthidium 
manicatum,  the  famous  "  Upholsterer  bee  "  Osmia  pajjaveris,  SuXid  & 
Mediterranean  snail-shell  inhabiting  bee,  0.  ferruyinea,  together  with 


44  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

microphotographs  of  the  "  saws  "  of  the  sawfly  genus  Dolerus.— The 
Eev.  J.  E.  Tarbat,  Gnophos  obscurata  from  many  locaUties,  including 
ochreous  and  ahnost  black  forms  from  the  same  place,  Budleigh 
Salterton. — Mr.  Barnett,  a  fine  varied  series  of  Apamca  Icucostigma 
and  var.  fibrosa  from  the  Fen  District. — Mr.  Schooling,  a  second 
brood  Arctia  caja  with  only  an  imperfect  narrow  fascia  and  a  few 
apical  and  costal  spots  of  cream  colour  on  the  fore  wings. — Mr. 
Colthrup,  a  very  long  series  of  this  year's  Colias  liyalc  from  E.  Kent. 
— Mr.  H.  B.  Smith,  a  Melanippe  montanata  almost  white,  Catocala 
nupta  with  smoky-brown  hind  wings,  three  Agrius  convolvuli  from 
Warlingham,  with  specimens  of  Phryxus  livornica,  Sterrha  sacraria, 
Laphygma  exigua,  Plmia  ni,  and  series  of  Folia  xantliomista,  and 
Bumicia  j^hlceas,  including  a  partial  var.  sclwiidtii,  all  from  S.  Corn- 
wall, in  September  last. — Mr.  Sich,  the  Gelechiid  Argyritis  pictclla, 
which  used  to  occur  on  Barnes  Common  and,  for  Mr.  Green,  Dcpres- 
saria  putridella  from  its  N.  Kent  habitat. — Mr.  W.  G.  Blair,  terato- 
logical  specimens,  Mimas  tilicB  asymmetrical,  Carabus  catenulatus, 
with  reflex  margins  of  thorax  excised,  and  Pimelia  fornicata,  right 
antenna  doubly  branched,  and,  for  Mr.  W.  N.  Blair,  examples  of  the 
Medicinal  Leech  from  the  New  Forest. —  Mr.  Tonge,  stereoscopic 
slides  of  lepidopterous  ova  in  situ  wild  laid,  with  specimens  of  the 
imagines,  genera  Trochilium  and  JEgeria,  and  also  varied  bred  series 
of  Gidaria  truncata  (russata)  and  Lobophora  viretata. — Mr.  Pratt,  an 
extreme  dark  margined  form  of  Epliyra  pendularia. — Mr.  Baumann, 
Hydriomena  furcata  (sordidata),  bred,  from  Surrey,  wdth  a  black 
series  from  Manchester,  very  pale  Dianthoecia  carpopliaga  from  the 
Sussex  coast,  &c. — Mr.  Scorer,  aberrations  of  B.  p)hlceas  long-tailed, 
spotless  under  side,  P.  machaon  heavily  banded,  Euchloii  cardammcs 
with  white  streak  through  the  orange  patch,  Porthesia  similis  with 
black  edged  costa,  Gallimorplia  dominula  with  rounded  wings,  P.  napi 
male,  heavily  spotted,  &c. — Mr.  St.  Aubyn,  two  ab.  flava  of  A.  filipen- 
dulcB  from  Coulsdon.— The  Eev.  F.  M.  B.  Carr,  a  collection  made  in 
Mid-Wales  last  June,  including  Plusia  inter rogationis,  a  fine  varied 
series,  Acidalia  fumata,  Agrotis  lucernea,  &c. — Mr.  Andrews,  dwarf 
Diptera,  Bovibytius  major,  Eristalix  pertinax,  and  CJirysochlamys 
cuprea,  and,  for  Mr.  Barraud,  a  teratological  specimen  of  Spilogaster 
nliginosav^'ith  missing  fourth  longitudinal  vein. — Mr.  Stanley  Edwards 
Papilionidaa,  P.  policcnes  and  allied  P.  lurlinus  and  P.  nyassinus  from 
Africa  compared  with  P.  ajax  and  P.  marcellus,  American. — Mr. 
Piatt  Barrett,  male  and  female  comparisons  of  British  and  Sicilian 
butterflies,  G.  rhamni  and  G.  cleopatra,  Hipparchia  semele  and  var. 
algirica,  E.  jurtina  \qx.  hispuUa  and  \d,v.  fortunata,  a  long  series  of 
Euchloe  damone,  sets  of  geographical  forms  of  Melanargia  galatlica, 
British,  Alpine,  Apennine,  Calabrian,  Sicihan,  at  various  elevations, 
&c. — Mr.  Barnett,  for  Mr.  Cannot,  a  WJieeleria  spilodactyla,  Fresh- 
water, with  no  cleft  in  fore  wings  and  one  only  in  hind  wings. — 
Mr.  Kaye,  an  unusually  large  spray  of  the  magnificent  orchid  Cattleya 
labiata,  five  flowers. — Mr.  Pickett,  results  of  breeding  Angcrona 
Ijrunaria  under  coloured  muslins,  red,  pink,  orange-yellow  and  cream 
with  green  pattern,  and  aberrational  series  of  M.  galathea,  Agriades 
corydon  {semi-syngrapha,  obsoleta,  striata,  minor),  &c. — Mr.  Sheldon, 
European  Diurni  taken  by  himself  in  the  Kiviera,  S.  Spain,  Digne, 


SOCIETIES.  45 

&c.,  including  fine  series  of  Zegris  euphevie  var.  meridionalis,  Thais 
Tumina  var.  canteneri  var.  viedicicasti,  and  ab.  honoratii,  Araschnia 
levana  var.  prorsa  and  var.  2^orima^  &c. — Mr.  Frisby,  nearly  all  the 
species  of  British  bees  in  the  genera  Andrena  and  Gilissa. — Mr.  W.  J. 
Kaye,  a  drawer  of  species  of  Syntomidae  he  had  taken  at  flowers  in 
S.  Brazil,  and  gave  notes  on  their  habits. — Hy.  J.  Turner,  Hon. 
Beport.  Sec. 

Lancashire  and  Cheshire  Entomological  Society. — Meeting 
held  at  the  Royal  Institution,  Colquitt  Street,  Liverpool,  November 
20th,  1911.— Dr.  John  Cotton  in  the  chair.— Dr.  P.  F.  Tinne  read  a 
paper  on  "  The  Application  of  the  Lumi6re  Process  of  Colour  Photo- 
graphy to  Entomology,"  and  in  the  course  of  a  most  interesting 
address  exhibited  a  number  of  colour  portraits  of  Lepidoptera  in  their 
native  haunts,  as  well  as  pictures  of  places  he  had  visited  when  in 
the  pursuit  of  insects.  It  is  quite  evident  that  there  is  a  great  future 
for  this  class  of  work  as  soon  as  coloured  prints  can  be  taken  direct 
from  the  negatives. — Mr.  Robert  Tait,  Jr.,  exhibited  a  fine  lot  of 
insects  from  Braemar,  the  results  of  his  summer  holiday  which  was 
spent  in  that  locality.  These  included  a  very  fine  series  of  Plusia 
interrogationis,  Dasydia  obfuscaria,  Ccenonympha  tiphon,  Zygana 
exulans,  Nemeophila  plantaginis,  and  var.  hospita,  the  last  being 
obtained  as  a  partial  second  brood  in  October.  Varied  but  smaller 
series  of  the  following  were  also  shown  : — Cidaria  populata,  C.  im- 
vianata,  Goremia  munitata,  Larentia  casiata,  and  Halia  brunneata  ; 
Mr.  Tait  further  contributed  an  interesting  account  of  his  holiday 
with  remarks  upon  the  variation,  &c.,  of  the  insects  captured. — 
Mr.  Wm.  Mansbridge  exhibited  a  series  of  Polia  chi,  taken  in  the 
Huddersfield  district  on  August  Bank  Holiday,  comprising  the  melanic 
forms  for  which  that  neighbourhood  is  famous. — Oscar  Whittaker 
and  Wm.  Mansbridge,  Hon.  Sees. 

The  Manchester  Entomological  Society. — The  first  meeting 
of  the  1911-12  Session  was  held  in  the  Manchester  Museum,  Owens 
College,  on  Wednesday,  October  4th,  Mr.  B.  H.  Crabtree  in  the 
chair.  The  following  exhibits  were  made : — Mr.  R.  Tait,  Jr.,  a  long 
series  of  varieties  of  Abraxas  grossulariata,  all  bred  from  some  two 
or  three  hundred  larvae  from  the  Huddersfield  district ;  beautiful 
series  of  Boarmia  repandata — a  black  form  from  North  Wales,  var. 
conversaria  and  the  type  from  South  Wales  ;  series  of  Diacrisia  sanio 
{russula),  Drepana  falcataria,  Perconia  strigillaria,  Geometra  papili- 
onaria,  Cybosia  mesomella,  from  Wyre  Forest,  June,  1911 ;  Apdecta 
advena  from  Monkswood,  A.  tincta  from  Wyre  Forest,  Boarmia 
roboraria  from  Monkswood,  &c. — Mr.  B.  H.  Crabtree,  bred  series  of 
Boarmia  repandata  from  Delamere  and  Cornwall,  Ennomos  autum- 
naria  from  Southend  stock,  Agrotis  ashwortliii  from  North  Wales, 
Mamestra  dissimilis  from  Manchester ;  also  a  series  of  Ccenonympha 
typhon  from  North  Lancashire,  Erebia  epiphron  and  Parasemia 
pilantaginis  (with  var.  hospita)  from  the  mountains  near  Helvellyn. 
— Mr.  W.  P.  Stocks,  a  large  number  of  species  taken  at  Silverdale  and 
Witherslack  during  June.  These  included,  from  Witherslack,  series 
of  Ccenonympha  typhon,  Diacrisia  sanio,  Acronycta  vienyanthidis, 
Acidalia  fumata,  Perconia   strigillaria,  &c.     From   Silverdale   were 


46  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

CharocamiM  elpenor,  Niularia  mundana,  Thyatira  batis,  XylopJiasia 
sublustris,  Mamestra  furva,  Aplecta  nebulosa  (pale  form),  Mamestra 
dissimilis,  M.  contigua,  Boarmia  repandata  (dark,  light,  and  inter- 
mediate forms),  Cucullia  uynbratica,  &c. — Mr.  C.  F.  Johnspn,  series 
of  Asteroscopus  nubeculosa  from  three-year-old  pupae  ;  Dianthoecia 
capsophila  bred  from  a  bag  of  campion-pods  from  Howth ;  Lopho- 
pteryx  camelina  from  ova  laid  on  June  10th — these  emerged  in  mid- 
August  and  had  taken  only  ten  weeks  from  ovum  to  imago. — Mr.  G. 
Storey,  the  following  from  the  breck-sand  district  of  Suffolk : — 
Dianthoecia  irregularis,  Emmelesia  trabealis  {sulphur alls),  Acidalia 
rubiginata,  Lithostege  griseata.  '  From  Wicken  Fen  :  Leucania  stra- 
viinea,  L.  impudens,  Cmnobia  rufa,  Arsilonche  albovenosa,  Bombycia 
viviinalis,  Bankia  argentula,  &c.,  and  a  dark  variety  of  Strenia 
clathrata.  From  Cambridge :  Agrotis  puta,  Mesotype  virgata,  and 
Bryopihila  glandifera  var.  impiar.  From  the  New  Forest:  Boarmia 
roboraria,  Eurymene  dolobraria,  Diacrisia  sanio,  and  Heniaris  fuci- 
formis.  He  also  showed  a  female  variety  of  Argynnis  selene  from 
Brockenhurst ;  a  blue  female  variety  of  Lyccena  corydon  from  Cam- 
bridge ;  a  yellow  male  variety  of  Cosmotriche  potatoria  from  Wicken 
Fen  ;  a  male  variety  of  Saturnia  pavonia  from  Delamere ;  and  a  fine 
Melanippe  fliictuata  var.  costovata  from  Brooklands,  Cheshire. — Mr. 
H.  Massey,  a  drawer  of  Xanthia  aurago  from  Eeading  and  Worcester. 
— Mr.  Wm.  Mansbridge,  a  fine  series  of  Silenia  bilunaria  types  and 
var.  brunnearia  from  Delamere,  and  a  series  of  Aplecta  nebulosa  bred 
from  robsoni  parents  from  Delamere ;  these  showed  intermediate 
forms. — Mr.  J.  H.  Watson,  living  larvae,  feeding  on  rose,  of  Hylesia 
muscula,  a  well-armed  Saturnid  larva  from  Brazil,  and  also  a  pair  of 
imagines.  Newly  described  forms  of  the  Saturnidas,  viz. : — Philo- 
samia  lunula  sub.  STp.fusca,  and  Actias  selene  sub.  sp.  callandra,  both 
from  the  Andaman  Islands.  Caligula  japonica  and  C.  simla  and  a 
hybrid  between  them,  to  which  the  name  of  Caligula  hybrid  salmoni 
has  been  given,  after  Mr.  Albert  Salmon,  who  obtained  the  cross.  A 
remarkable  gynandromorphous  specimen  of  Antheraa  mylitta,  hatched 
from  a  cocoon  from  Bengal.  In  this  portions  of  the  body  and 
sections  of  the  wings  are  golden  yellow  like  a  var.  silvalica,  the  rest 
of  the  insect  being  of  the  chestnut-red  male  colour.  Portions  of  each 
antenna  have  both  male  and  female  pectinations ;  the  genitalia  are 
chiefly  male,  but  not  typical. — Mr.  J.  C.  Cope,  examples  of  Canadian 
Coleoptera  of  the  following  genera : — From  Toronto :  Pterostichus, 
Harpalus,  Amara,  Hydrous,  Cybister,  Coccinella.  From  Winnipeg : 
AncJwmenus,  Bembidium,  Hister.— -Mr.  A.  W.  Boyd,  series  of  Co&no- 
nympha  typhon  from  Delamere,  Erebia  epipthron  from  Great  Gable, 
Boarmia  repandata  and  Agrotis  ashtvorthii  from  North  Wales,  Carsia 
paludata  from  South  Lancashire. 

November  1st. — Mr.  W.  Buckley,  the  President,  in  the  chair. — 
Mr.  E.  Tait,  Jr.,  gave  a  paper  on  "  An  Entomological  Trip  to 
Braemar,"  illustrating  his  remarks  with  series  of  the  insects  captured. 
These  included  very  long  series  of  Gnophos  obfiiscata  and  Plusia 
interrogaiionis  and  fine  series  of  Ccenomjmpha  typhon,  Zygcena 
exulans,  Goremia  munitata  (including  a  partial  second  brood),  Tham- 
monoma  brimneata,  Lygris  populata  (very  varied),  and  Parasemia 
plantaginis  types  and  var.  hospita,  bred  as  a  second  brood. — Mr.  W. 


RECENT    LITERATURE.  4? 

Buckley  showed  a  very  long  and  varied  series  of  Acidalia  contiguaria 
from  North  Wales  ova,  comprising  three  broods. — Mr.  A.  E.  Salmon 
remarked  that  there  had  been  great  difficulties  in  breeding  Saturnidae 
this  year,  e.  g.,  a  brood  of  larvae  was  divided  up  and  each  lot  put  into 
a  separate  room  and  fed  on  food  from  different  trees  ;  all  died  on  the 
same  night.  He  also  stated  that  there  had  been  a  second  brood  of 
Nonagria  tiJ2)h(B  this  year. 

December  6th. — Mr.  W.  Buckley,  President,  in  the  chair. — Mr. 
A.  E.  Wright  gave  a  paper  on  the  "  Macro- Lepidoptera  of  the 
Burnley  District  "  (with  the  exception  of  the  Noctuae).  His  list  was 
the  outcome  of  many  years  of  collecting,  and  possibly  its  most 
remarkable  feature  was  the  absence  of  many  common  insects.  The 
most  noticeable  feature  of  the  insects  as  a  whole  was  the  general 
tendency  to  melanism.  Fine  black  forms  of  Ematurga  atomaria  (both 
male  and  female),  Gonodontis  hidentata,  Entephria  casiata,  &c.,  were 
shown. — Mr.  J.  H.  Watson  showed  an  example  of  Saturnia  jnjretorum 
sub.  sp.  j^earsoni,  a  new  subspecies  from  Hainan. — Mr.  B.  H.  Crab- 
tree  exhibited  empty  pupae  and  living  larvae  of  Luperina  gueneei  from 
the  Lancashire  coast. — Mr.  G.  Bradburn  showed,  among  others,  a 
variety  of  Saturnia  pavonia  from  Lindow  Common,  Cheshire,  and  a 
red  form  of  Smerinthus  populi  from  Brooklands,  Cheshire.  He  also 
had  two  specimens  of  Porthesia  similis  taken  at  Brooklands  on 
October  18th  and  20th. — Mr.  C.  F.  Johnson  showed  a  series  of 
Acidalia  contiguarico  (third  and  fourth  broods) ;  a  long  series  of 
Oporahiafiligrammaria  and  series  of  Acidalia  imitaria  and  Hygrochroa 
syringaria  (second  brood). — Mr.  E.  Tait,  Jr.,  showed  a  bred  series  of 
Agrotis  agathina  from  North  Wales.— A.  W.  Boyd,  M.A.,  Hon.  Sec. 


RECENT    LITERATURE. 

Annals  of  Tropical  Medicine  and  Parasitology.  In  vol.  v.  No.  1, 
April  20th,  1911,  Liverpool,  the  papers  of  interest  to  Entomologists 
are  : — (1)  Non-ulcerating  Oriental  Sore :  the  cultural  character- 
istics of  the  parasite  as  compared  with  a  new  similar  parasite 
in  Erthesina  fullo  (Thunb.),  a  pentatomid  bug,  by  Capt.  R. 
Markham  Carter,  I.M.S.  ;  (2)  A  very  short  note  on  Glossina 
grossa,  &c.,  by  R.  Newstead,  M.Sc,  A.L.S.,  &c. 

In  vol.  v.  No.  2,  August  1st,  1911,  there  are  also  two  papers: 
— (1)  The  Papataci  Fhes  (Phlebotomus)  of  the  Maltese  Islands, 
by  R.  Newstead,  pp.  139-181,  a  full  and  well  illustrated  paper  ; 
(2)  Some  new  species  of  African  Mosquitos  {CulicidcB),  by  R. 
Newstead  and  H.  F.  Carter. 

Memorias  do  Institiito  Osiualdo  Cruz.  Rio  de  Janeiro.  The 
following  papers  may  be  of  interest  to  Entomologists.  (1) 
ErepJiopsis  auricincta,  a  Tabanid  of  the  subfamily  Pangoninae 
(April,  1909)  ;  (2)  Beitrag  zur  Kenntniss  der  Dipteren  (April, 
1909)  ;  Beitrag  zur  Kenntniss  der  brasilianischen  Simuliumarten 
(August,  1909)  ;  (4)  Ueber  eine  neue  Trypanosomiasis  des  Men- 
schen,  in  connection  with  a  bug,  Gonorhinus  megistus  (August, 
1909) ;  Cytologische  studien  ueber  "  Adelea  hartmanni,"  ein 
neues    Coccidinmaus  dem  Darme  von  Dysdercus  ruficollis  L. 


48  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

(1910)  ;    (5)   Further  account  of   Conorhimis  megistus  (1910) ; 

(6)  Zweiter  Beitrag  zur  Kenntniss  der  brasilianischen  Simul- 
iumarten  (1910) ;  (7)  Neue  Beitraege  zur  Kenntniss  der  Pangoni- 
nen  und  Chrysopinen  Brasiliens  (1911). 

3.  HoHse-Flies,  and  their  Connection  with  Disease.  Farmers'  Bulletin, 

459  ;  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture.     Washington.     1911. 

4.  A  Manual  of  Philipjnne  Silk  Culture.    By  Chas.  S.  Banks.   Bureau 

of  Science,  Manila.     1911.     Pp.  1-53,  with  18  fine  plates. 

5.  Leitz'    Catalogue    of    Prismatic   Binoculars,    9,    Oxford     Street, 

London,  W.  Entomologists  may  perhaps  be  interested  in 
examining  a  catalogue  of  these  fine  instruments. 

W.  J.  L. 


OBITUARY. 

It  is  with  deep  regret  that  we  have  to  announce  the  death 
of  Mr.  Arthur  Cottam,  who  passed  away  on  November  23rd,  1911, 
at  his  residence,  Furzebank,  Bridgwater,  in  his  seventy-fifth  year, 
after  an  illness  of  some  months'  duration. 

As  an  entomologist  he  was  perhaps  better  known  to  the  past 
generation,  as  recently,  owing  to  the  weight  of  increasing  years  and 
failing  health,  he  was  not  able  to  take  such  an  active  interest  in  the 
Lepidoptera  and  Coleoptera  as  formerly.  His  collection  of  Lepido- 
ptera,  the  second  which  he  had  amassed  during  his  lifetime,  was  sold 
at  Messrs.  Stevens's  Auction  Kooms  only  ten  days  before  his  death. 

From  his  young  days  he  had  been  an  ardent  student  not  only  of 
entomology  but  of  botany,  astronomy,  and  microscopy ;  and  in 
January,  1875,  he,  with  a  few  others,  founded  the  Hertfordshire 
Natural  History  Society  (at  first  called  the  "Watford  Natural  History 
Society),  and  was  its  first  Treasurer.  He  did  some  active  work,  and 
contributed  several  papers  to  the  Transactions. 

For  many  years  he  was  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Astronomical 
Society,  and  published  some  useful  star-maps. 

Music  and  art  also  claimed  a  good  deal  of  his  spare  time,  outdoor 
sketching  being  one  of  his  favourite  occupations  at  all  times  of  the 
year. 

In  1905  Mr.  Cottam  retired  from  the  Civil  Service  (Office  of 
Woods  and  Forests)  and  went  to  live  at  Bridgwater. 

His  love  and  all-round  knowledge  of  Nature  from  many  points  of 
view,  which  he  was  always  ready  and  anxious  to  impart  to  others, 
made  him  a  most  interesting  companion,  and  the  writer  can  recall 
many  delightful  excursions  made  in  his  company. 

He  leaves  a  widow  and  one  daughter  to  mourn  his  loss,  his  only 
son  having  died  suddenly  some  nine  months  ago,  after  an  operation. — 
P.  J.  B.  

Michael  C.  Dixon  died  December  2nd,  1911,  at  Spennymoor, 
Durham,  aged  thirty-seven  years.  He  was  attached  to  the  study  of 
Lepidoptera,  and  specially  interested  in  the  preparation  of  the  early 
stages  to  illustrate  life-histories.  His  occupation  was  that  of  a  post- 
man. He  was  a  member  of  the  Carlisle  Natural  History  Society. — 
G.  B.  R. 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST 


Vol.  XLV.]  FEBEUAEY,    1912.  [No.  585 


A  NEW  SPECIES  OF  PHASMID^  OF  THE  GENUS 
PRISOPUS,  CONSIDERED  ESPECIALLY  IN  EEF- 
ERENCE  TO  THE  SUPPOSED  AQUATIC  HABITS 
OF    THE    GENUS. 

By  C.  J.  Gahan,  M.A. 

(Published  by  Permission  of  the  Trustees  of  the  British  Museum.) 

Prisojms  is  a  genus  of  Phasmidae  which,  owing  to  the  sin- 
gularity of  its  form  and  structure,  cannot  very  well  be  described 
either  as  a  "  stick  "  insect  or  as  a  "  leaf"  insect;  but  it  is  one  of 
exceptional  interest,  inasmuch  as  it  was  believed  to  live  under 
water,  and  to  be  eminently  adapted  by  its  structure  for  that 
mode  of  life.  The  species  of  the  genus  inhabit  tropical  America, 
and  those  that  are  known  are  few  in  number  and  apparently 
rare,  very  few  specimens  having  yet  found  their  way  into 
public  or  private  collections. 

I  was  glad,  therefore,  to  be  able  to  recognize  as  a  member  of 
this  rare  and  interesting  genus  an  insect  which  was  recently 
brought  to  the  British  Museum  and  shown  to  me  by  Mr.  P.  G. 
Fisher,  who  discovered  it  at  Xapury,  a  township  on  the  River 
Acre,  in  the  Amazon  Valley.  And  I  was  still  more  pleased  when 
Mr.  Fisher  very  kindly  offered  to  present  it  for  the  Museum 
collection,  where  we  found  we  had  no  species  quite  like  it.  From 
investigations  which  I  have  since  made,  the  species  appears  to 
be  new  ;  so  I  have  ventured  to  name  it  Prisopus  fisheri  in  honour 
of  its  discoverer.  A  more  detailed  description  of  this  new  species 
is  given  below.  Here  I  wish  more  particularly  to  call  attention 
to  certain  points'  about  it  which  serve  to  throw  a  light  upon  the 
supposed  aquatic  habits  of  Prisopus ;  and  to  say  something  also 
in  reference  to  another  Phasmid  genus,  Cotylosoma,  to  which 
similar  habits  have  been  attributed. 

When  first  I  saw  the  specimen  brought  to  me  by  Mr.  Fisher, 
it  struck  me  at  once  as  being  an  extremely  good  and  very 
beautiful  example  of  protective  resemblance.  And  then,  though 
I  felt  there  was  no  need  for  the  question,  I  asked  him  where  he 
found  it.    The  answer  was  very  much  as  I  expected.    Mr.  Fisher 

ENTOM. — FEBRUARY,    1912.  E 


50  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

found  the  insect  at  rest  in  the  daytime  on  the  trunk  of  a  tree ;  a 
small  tree  or  sapling,  he  could  not  remember  which,  nor  did  he 
know  the  name  of  the  tree,  but  that  did  not  much  matter.  What 
chiefly  impressed  me  about  the  creature  was  the  great  resem- 
blance it  had  to  an  ordinary  piece  of  bark,  and  how  remarkably 
well  its  colours  seemed  adapted  in  combination  with  every  other 
feature  to  bring  about  that  resemblance.  Not  that  there  was 
anything  wonderful  in  all  that ;  resemblances  of  a  similar  kind, 
many  of  them  quite  as  perfect,  some  even  more  so,  are  quite 
familiar  to  us  ;  and  they  are  especially  abundant  amongst  the 
Phasmidae.  But  we  know  that  the  "  stick  "  insects  and  "  leaf  "  in- 
sects do  not  go  and  hide  themselves  under  water  all  day  ;  and  I 
had  a  vague  recollection  that  that  was  what  Prisopus  was  supposed 
to  do.  It  was  impossible  to  believe  this  of  the  insect  before  me  ; 
for,  in  such  case,  its  colours  and  all  the  remarkable  adaptations  of 
structure  I  noticed  could  have  no  use  and  no  signification.  So 
I  determined  to  refresh  my  memory,  and  to  find  out  what  was 
known  about  the  habits  of  the  genus. 

Turning,  first  of  all,  to  the  /  Cambridge  Natural  History ' 
where,  as  I  knew,  there  was  a  most  interesting  account  given 
of  the  Phasmidse  and  their  habits,  I  came  upon  the  following 
statement : — "  In  Brazil  a  species  of  the  genus  Prisopus  has  the 
peculiar  habit  of  seeking  shelter  under  the  stones  submerged  in 
the  mountain  streams  ;  to  enable  it  to  do  this  it  is  remarkably 
constructed,  the  under  side  of  the  body  being  hollowed,  and 
various  parts  set  with  a  dense  fringe  of  hairs  ;  the  insect  is 
supposed  to  repel  the  air  from  the  body  in  order  to  adhere  to 
the  upper  surface  of  a  stone,  where  it  sits  with  its  fore  legs 
extended  in  front  of  its  head,  which  is  directed  against  the 
current." 

That  was  a  sufficiently  startling  statement  about  a  species 
of  Phasmidae,  and  I  felt  certain  that  Dr.  Sharp  would  not  have 
made  it  except  upon  very  good  authority.  Who  or  what  was 
this  authority  I  had  now  to  find  out.  So  I  looked  up  the  genus 
Prisopus  in  the  most  recent  work  on  the  family,  an  excellent 
monograph  by  Brunner  von  Wattenwyl  and  J.  Kedtenbacher,  and 
very  soon  found  what  I  wanted.  The  authors  say  of  Prisopus 
that: — ''This  remarkable  genus  lives,  according  to  Murray,  in 
water,  where  with  their  hollowed-out  ventral  side  the  insects 
hold  on  to  stones,  with  the  body  directed  up  stream."  The 
same  story  again,  more  briefly  stated,  for  which  Murray,  it 
appeared,  was  the  authority. 

Andrew  Murray  was  a  well-known  scientific  man,  and  an 
entomologist  of  wide  experience,  who  had  written  much  about 
various  groups  of  insects,  including  the  PhasmidsB,  to  which  he 
had  given  a  very  fair  amount  of  attention.  What  he  had  to  say  on 
the  subject,  therefore,  was  bound  to  be  of  considerable  interest. 
It  is  to  be  found  in  his  paper  **  On  the  Habits  of  the  Prisopi," 


A    NEW    SPECIES    OF    PHASMID^. 


51 


which  was  published  in  the  *  Annals  and  Magazine  of  Natural 
History,'  in  the  year  1866  (Ser.  3,  vol.  xviii.  pp.  265-268).  That 
paper  is  certainly  well  worth  reading  in  full.  But  its  chief 
point  of  interest  for  the  moment  is  that  it  brings  us  to  the  fount 
and  origin  of  that  remarkable  little  story  about  Prisopus  which 
has  been  repeated,  as  we  have  seen,  by  other  writers. 

The  real  author  of  the  story,  however,  remains  so  far 
anonymous  that  he  is  only  known  to  us  as  a  "  person,"  later 
on  dignified  by  the  title  of  "  observer,"  in  whose  veracity  Mr. 
Alexander  Fry,  to  whom  he  first  related  the  story,  had  the 
fullest  confidence. 

The  story  had  reference  only  to  one  species  of  Prisopus — P. 
flabelliformis,  but,  as  Murray  very  truly  remarks  : — "  All  the 
species  are  characterized  by  the  same  peculiarities  of  structure, 
and  the  habits  of  one  will  doubtless  be  the  habits  of  all. 

"  According  to  this  observer,  then,  the  insect  was  obtained 
by  him  in  the  mountains  of  Brazil ;  and  its  habits  were  to  spend 
the  whole  of  the  day  under  water,  in  a  stream  or  rivulet,  fixed 
firmly  to  a  stone  in  the  rapid  part  of  the  stream,  but  on  the 
approach  of  dusk  to  sally  forth  into  the  night  air." 

Murray  believed  this  story ;  he  was  not  so  much  struck  by 
its  great  improbability,  as  by  the  lack  of  perception  on  the  part 
of  other  distinguished  entomologists,  who  had  not  discovered  in 
the  structure  of  the  genus  the  most  admirable  and  most  perfect 
adaptation  for  the  very  purpose  explained  by  the  "person." 
And  the  rest  of  his  paper  is  almost  wholly  taken  up  with  a  very 
detailed  description  of  the  insect,  in  which  he  proceeds  to  show 
how  every  single  detail  of  its  structure  fitted  in  with  the  story 
told  about  its  aquatic  habits. 

The  details  which  he  has  given  of  the  structure  are,  with  one 
exception,  and  apart  from  the  interpretation  he  placed  upon 
them,  very  accurate,  and  may  be  quoted  here  in  extenso,  since 
they  apply  almost  equally  as  well  to  the  species  discovered  by 
Mr.  Fisher.  The  one  exception  refers  to  his  account  of  the 
tegmina  or  wing-covers.  These  structures  do  not  reach  to  the 
end  of  the  body,  nor  do  they  completely  cover  over  the  under 
wings,  in  any  known  species  of  the  genus.  So  that  if  his 
description  is  correct,  the  species  described  could  not  have  been 
flabelliformis.  But  it  looks  to  me  as  if  Murray,  in  his  haste  to 
see  "waterproof"  structures  everywhere,  mistook  for  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  wing-covers  that  considerable  part  of  the  under 
wings  which  projects  beyond  them,  and  which  is  usually  coloured 
so  exactly  like  them  in  resemblance  to  bark.  It  is  to  be  noticed, 
too,  in  his  description  which  follows  that  not  a  word  is  said 
about  the  coloration  of  the  insect : — 

"  The  whole  underside,  even  the  head,  is  hollowed  out  like 
the  half  of  a  reed.  The  surface  of  that  side  is  flexible,  smooth, 
and  highly  polished.      The  margins  are  thinned  off,  and  the 

E  2 


52  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

segments  of  the  abdomen,  where  not  fitted  to  the  posterior  legs, 
are  provided  with  flaps  or  quasi  claspers.  All  the  legs  fit  most 
beautifully  and  closely  to  the  side  of  the  abdomen  [body  rather] . 
Their  outer  margin  is  dentate  and  provided  with  a  thick  fringe 
of  hair,  which,  like  the  feathers  of  a  duck,  repels  water.  More- 
over, at  the  knee-joint  [this  applies  only  to  the  front  legs]  where 
there  is  unavoidably  an  opening  or  unprotected  space,  it  is  pro- 
vided with  a  flap,  or  side  knee-pan— a  provision  which  occurs 
in  no  other  insect  with  which  I  am  acquainted.  This  flap  hangs 
down,  filling  up  the  opening,  and  is  furnished,  like  the  rest  of 
the  outer  margins  of  the  leg  and  body,  with  a  supply  of  hair 
impervious  to  water.  The  posture  of  the  animal  in  the  water 
is  :  fastened  to  the  upper  surface  of  a  stone,  and  with  its  head 
turned  up  stream  in  opposition  to  the  current.  It  sits  with  its 
forelegs  extended  forwards  in  front  of  the  head,  and  the  inner 
side  of  the  thighs  is  hollowed  out  exactly  to  fit  the  sides  of  the 
head,  and  the  thigh  itself  is  bent  down  so  as  to  form  a  continu- 
ation of  the  sides  of  the  long  cup  or  saucer  which  the  underside 
of  the  animal  represents.  The  antennas  fold  back  on  the  upper- 
side  of  the  head,  where  there  is  a  depression  to  receive  them. 
In  the  other  Phasmidae  the  tegmina  or  upper  wing-cases  are 
usually  short,  narrow  and  coriaceous,  and  apparently  not  fitted 
for  much  use.  Here  they  are  as  long  as  the  body,  so  as  to  cover 
the  whole  of  the  large  underwings  when  folded  up  ;  they  are 
broad  enough  to  do  so  ;  and  the  whole  are  only  of  a  semi- 
coriaceous  texture,  flexible  and  pergaminous,  but  most  so  at  the 
base,  thinning  away  at  the  termination  into  a  finer  texture, 
approaching  that  of  the  lower  wings.  The  claws  of  the  tarsi 
are  strong,  powerful,  and  well  adapted  for  clinging." 

Not  satisfied  with  the  proofs  thus  set  forth  of  its  aquatic 
habits,  Murray  next  goes  on  to  endow  the  insect  with  powers 
possessed  by  no  other  insect  known : — 

"  In  this  animal  we  seem  to  have  a  combination  of  two  plans 
of  structure  :  there  are  the  claws  and  claspers  and  flaps  for 
holding  on  by ;  there  is  the  hollow  underside  for  adhering,  by 
exhausting  the  air  between  it  and  the  stone  it  clings  to,  on  the 
principle  of  the  air  pump.  If,  when  it  settles  on  the  stone  and 
adjusts  itself,  its  tracheae  are  full  of  air,  and  it  then  expels  the 
air  and  by  muscular  power  draws  in  the  skin  of  the  abdomen 
and  underside  generally,  it  must,  of  course,  leave  a  vacuum,  and 
consequently  adhere  like  a  sucker." 

We  need  not  dwell  upon  the  extravagance  of  the  suggestions 
put  forward  here  by  Andrew  Murray.  It  is  enough  for  us  to 
know  that  there  is  an  insect,  in  all  essential  respects  exactly  like 
the  one  described  by  him,  which  has  the  habit,  not  of  clinging 
to  stones  under  water,  but  of  spending  the  day  in  clinging  by 
means  of  its  strong  claws  alone  to  the  bark  of  a  tree.  We  can 
see  how  well  this  insect  is  adapted  by  its  colours  for  concealment 


A    NEW    SPECIES    OF    PHASMIDiG.  53 

in  such  a  situation,  and  we  can  see  also  that  the  so-called 
claspers  on  the  abdomen,  the  knee-pans,  the  fringes  of  hair,  the 
dentate  margins  of  the  legs,  &c.,  are  only  so  many  further 
adaptations,  all  of  which  lend  themselves  obviously  to  the  same 
purpose  of  concealment.  The  under  side  of  the  insect's  body  is 
smooth  and  polished,  and  of  a  reddish-brown  colour  marked  a 
little  with  black ;  but  that  is  just  the  part  which,  when  the  insect 
is  at  rest,  cannot  be  seen.  That  it  should  act  like  a  sucker, 
seems  a  physical  impossibility ;  and  one  needs  only  to  examine 
the  insect  awhile  to  see  how  absurd  is  all  the  talk  about  the 
imperviousness  to  water  of  its  various  structures. 

As  evidence,  therefore,  of  the  aquatic  habits  of  Prisopus,  all 
the  wealth  of  "  corroborative  detail  "  supplied  by  Murray  must 
be  regarded  as  absolutely  valueless,  although,  no  doubt,  it  did 
succeed  in  giving  "  artistic  verisimilitude  to  a  bald  and  un- 
convincing narrative,"  and  must  have  exercised  a  strong  influence 
on  the  judgment  of  subsequent  writers,  who,  without  it,  we  may 
be  well  persuaded,  would  not  for  a  moment  have  given  credit  to 
a  story  so  highly  improbable,  so  utterly  opposed  to  everything 
known  about  the  habits  of  the  Phasmidee, 

Wood-Mason,  well  known  as  an  authority  on  the  morphology 
of  insects,  was  one  of  those  who  fully  accepted  Murray's  account 
of  the  habits  of  Prisopus  ;  and  when  his  attention  was  called 
to  another  Phasmid,  apparently  closely  related  to  that  genus 
and  distinguished  by  having  a  row  of  five  flat  oval,  fringed 
structures  attached  to  each  side  of  the  metathorax,  he  at  once 
jumped  to  the  conclusion  that  these  structures  were  tracheal 
gills,  and  he  has  described  them  as  such,  giving  to  the  insect  the 
name  of  Cotylosoma  dipneusticum.  "  This  insect,"  he  writes, 
"  is  closely  related  to  the  Prisopi,  but  is  even  more  profoundly 
modified  for  an  aquatic  life  ;  for  it  breathes,  not  only  in  the 
ordinary  fashion  amongst  insects  by  means  of  tracheae  opening 
by  stigmata  to  the  exterior  of  the  body,  but  also  by  the  structures 
known  as  tracheal  gills."  His  statement  seems  to  have  passed 
unchallenged  until,  in  1895,  both  Dr.  Sharp  and  Mr.  C.  0. 
Waterhouse  called  attention  to  it,  and  expressed  their  doubts 
about  the  function  attributed  to  the  so-called  tracheal  gills. 
The  question,  however,  as  to  the  true  nature  of  the  structures 
was  left  undecided.  Having  examined  them  lately,  I  have  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  they  cannot  possibly  be  tracheal  gills.  In 
the  first  place,  they  exhibit  no  traces  whatever  of  tracheae,  and, 
secondly,  they  are  dotted  all  over  with  dark  pigment  spots. 
They  are  to  a  certain  extent  movable,  and  they  are  in  form  and 
structure,  as  Waterhouse  has  pointed  out,  very  like  the  two  flat 
oval  appendages  at  the  base  of  the  front  tibiae  in  Prisopus,  the 
so-called  "  knee-pans  "  described  by  Murray.  And  it  appears  to 
me  that  their  purpose  is  the  same — to  effect  the  better  con- 
cealment of  a  part  which,  without  them,  would  be  somewhat  too 


54  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

easily  seen.  For  this  purpose  it  is  an  ndviintage  that  they 
should  be  movable,  since  they  could  be  adjusted  to  slope  down 
from  the  sides  of  the  body  to  the  surface  on  which  the  insect 
rests,  playing  the  same  part  for  the  metathorax  as  the  hind  legs 
do  for  the  abdomen,  and  the  middle  legs  for  the  fore  part  of  the 
body.  It  will  be  noticed  that  in  the  new  species  of  Prisopus 
there  is  a  well-marked  triangular  process  on  each  side  of  the 
metathorax,  corresponding  in  position  with  the  movable  ap- 
pendages of  Cotiilosoma  ;  and  as  to  the  meaning  of  this  process 
there  can  be  very  little  doubt. 

Apart  from  the  assumption  made  by  Wood-Mason,  there  is 
no  reason  whatever  for  believing  that  Cotylosoma  is  aquatic  in 
its  habits.  On  the  contrary,  we  have  very  good  reason  for 
believing  that  it  is  not.  Before  Wood-Mason  wrote  his  paper, 
some  years  even  before  Murray's  paper  appeared,  MacGillivray 
described  as  Prisopus  carlotue  a  species  which  really  belongs  to 
the  genus  Cotylosoma  and  which  is  very  closely  indeed  allied  to 
dipncusticum.  Concerning  this  species  he  tells  us : — "  The  colour 
is  variable  ;  it  is  either  a  dull  greyish- green,  finely  and  irregu- 
larly mottled,  or  silvery-grey,  also  mottled,  having  greenish  and 
yellowish  shades,  altogether  reminding  me  of  some  of  the 
lichens.*'  Very  unusual  colours  for  an  aquatic  insect,  but  by  no 
means  exceptional  in  an  insect  which  "is  said,"  as  MacGillivray 
further  states,  **  to  be  found  on  the  trunks  of  trees." 

Prisopus  JisJtcri,  n.  sp. 

Colour :  on  the  exposed  parts  of  the  head,  thorax,  femora,  and 
tibite  light  yellowish  brown,  with  a  more  or  less  considerable  ad- 
mixture of  ashy  white  and  greenish  white  ;  on  the  elytra,  dark  green 
at  the  base  and  over  the  basal  prominences,  dark  brown  beneath 
these  on  each  side,  yellowish  brown,  varied  with  greenish  grey  over 
the  rest  of  the  surface,  but  becoming  darker  towards  the  apex,  and 
with  two  dark  brown  spots  on  each  elytron  a  little  past  the  middle  ; 
pale  grey  on  the  upper  surface  of  the  anterior  segments  of  the  abdo- 
men, dark  brown  on  the  posterior  segments  ;  exposed  parts  of  the 
under  wings  coloured  like  the  posterior  half  of  the  elytra,  the  folded 
parts  pale  green,  mottled  irregularly  with  dark  brown ;  body  beneath 
chocolate-brown  on  the  abdomen,  pale  testaceous  on  thorax,  with 
blackish  hind  border  to  the  meso-  and  meta-sternum. 

Head  without  spines,  but  with  four  short  rows  of  small  tubercles 
above  extending  forwards  from  the  occiput,  and  with  a  crenulate 
carina,  beneath  which  is  a  dark  line,  along  each  side.  Pronotum 
without  spines,  and  bearing  only  a  few  very  inconspicuous  granules. 
Mesonotum  relatively  rather  short.  Metathorax  with  a  conspicuous 
triangular  process  on  each  side,  whose  edges  are  somewhat  dentate, 
and  with  a  few  lateral  cariniform  tubercles  placed  anteriorly.  Elytra 
furnished  each  with  a  large,  laterally  prominent,  hump  or  tubercle 
near  the  base. 


A    NEW    SPECIES    OF    PRABTHIDTR. 


65 


Length  :  of  body,  from  front  of  head  to  apex  of  abdomen,  67  mm. ; 
of  pronotum,  4^  mm. ;  of  mesonotum,  5|-  mm.  ;  of  elytra,  36  mm. 

Breadth  :  of  metathorax,  measured  below  the  elytral  prominences, 
13  mm. 

Hah.     Xapury,  on  the  River  Acre,  Amazon  Valley. 

This  species  appears,  on  the  whole,  to  be  most  nearly  allied 
to  P.  horstokkii,  de  Haan,  but  is  readily  to  be  distinguished  from 


Photo  H.  Main. 


H.  Knight  del. 

that  species  and  from  all  others  of  the  genus  by  the  strong  tri- 
angular process  on  each  side  of  the  metathorax. 

One  of  the  figures  is  from  a  drawing  made  by  Mr.  Horace 
Knight  to  show  the  insect  in  what  we  conceive  to  be  its  resting 
position,  with  the  legs  placed,  slanting  outwards,  alongside  the 
body  ;  the  other,  from  a  photograph  for  which  I  am  indebted  to 
Mr.  Hugh  Main,  represents  the  insect  just  as  it  was  received — 
the  middle  legs  hidden  through  being  tucked  in  under  the  body, 
and  the  flexible  lobes  at  the  sides  of  the  mesothorax  and  abdomen 
bent  in  more  than  would  be  quite  natural  in  the  living  insect. 


56  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

THREE     WEEKS     IN     THE     HIGH    PYRENEES. 

By  H.  Rowland-Brown,  M.A.,  F.E.S. 

(Plate  II.) 

The  summer  of  1911,  entomologically  speaking,  appears  to 
have  been  remarkable  in  the  Central  Alps  by  reason  of  the 
comparative  scarcity  of  butterfly  life.  In  the  Pyrenees  things 
were  by  no  means  so  bad  as  reported  by  our  Swiss  collectors, 
though  I  cannot  say  that  Lepidoptera  were  anything  like  as 
abundant,  with  one  or  two  notable  exceptions,  as  I  found  them 
in  the  same  localities  in  1905.  The  climate  of  the  Hautes- 
Pyr^nees  is  notoriously  uncertain  in  the  higher  ranges  ;  settled 
weather  is  scarcely  ever  experienced  for  any  length  of  time, 
and  last  July,  though  the  sun  blazed  from  a  cloudless  sky 
throughout  the  month  on  the  plains,  we  had  none  too  much  of 
his  majesty  at  Gavarnie.  The  tiresome  cross-journey  from 
Eaux  Bonnes  via  Pau,  up  to  the  last  hour  or  two  when  we  were 
well  on  the  road  from  St.  Sauveur  to  Gedre,  was  insupportably 
hot.  But  by  the  time  we  had  come  to  the  upper  valley  of  the 
Gave  de  Gavarnie  the  clouds  had  gathered  round  the  higher 
mountain  peaks,  and  it  was  raining  as  we  pulled  up  at  last 
before  the  Hotel  des  Voyageurs,  to  receive  a  most  kindly  welcome 
from  M.  and  Madame  Vergez-Bellou.  Here  we  remained  from 
the  13th  to  the  30th,  Mr.  A.  H.  Jones,  Mr.  G.  T.  Bethune  Baker, 
and,  lastly,  Mr.  C.  J.  Wainwright  swelling  the  entomologist 
population,  already  represented  by  M.  Charles  Oberthiir  and  an 
energetic  party  of  young  hunters  ;  while  from  Gedre  presently 
came  M.  Rondou,  full  of  kind  information  and  suggestions  for 
our  explorations.  I  had,  however,  already  some  knowledge  of 
the  country,  and  our  first  day  was  devoted  to  an  Erebia  hunt  in 
the  high  valley  under  the  Pic  d'Astazou  to  the  left  of  the  famous 
Cirque.  The  clouds  of  yesterday  had  now  dissolved,  and  it  was 
under  a  radiant  blue  sky  and  in  bright  sunshine  that  we  mounted 
the  steep  zigzag  which  leads  up  to  the  iris-covered  slopes  which 
six  years  before  had  provided  the  finest  collecting-ground  for 
me  in  the  Pyrenees.  Nothing  apparently  was  changed.  The 
mule-path  was  as  rough  and  broken  as  ever;  the  humming 
waters  of  the  cascades  on  either  side  made  music  in  our  ears, 
and  the  great  purple  iris  swept  in  waves  of  delicate  colour  down 
the  mountain  side  as  far  as  the  eye  could  see.  But  a  change 
there  was,  and  very  much  to  our  disadvantage  ;  for,  whereas 
these  preliminary  slopes  swarmed  with  butterflies  in  1905, 
with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  species  nothing  was  now  really 
abundant  ;  while  on  the  ground  where  I  took  so  many  lovely 
Anthrocerids,  not  a  single  one  did  I  see  either  on  this  or  on 
any  one  of  the  several  subsequent  excursions  in  this  direc- 
tion.    Indeed,   the  Burnets  were    practically    non-existent    at 


The   Entomologist,    February,   1912. 


Plate   11. 


GAVAENIE,     JULY,     1911. 


mm- '     ^'■,- ' 

T1*:J1 

pi«^ 

to 

1 

West.  Newman  proe. 


B.  C.  S.  Warren.  Fayol,  cadet.  H.  Rowland-Brown. 

P.  RoNDOu.       Charles  Oberthur.        Henri  Oberthur. 


THREE  WEEKS  IN  THE  HIGHER  PYRENEES.  57 

Gavarnie  this  year,  the  only  one  even  approaching  abundance 
being  A.  exulans,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Cirque  at  about 
7000  ft.  With  these  and  a  lonely  example  of  A.  contaminei  my 
three  weeks'  list  is  practically  complete  ! 

Arriving  at  the  top  of  the  zigzag  the  ground  opens  out  some- 
what with  steep  side  slopes,  terminating  at  the  lower  path  level 
with  beech  woods  and  occasional  firs.  The  numerous  flocks 
and  herds  hereabouts  had  grazed  the  pasture  thin,  but  still 
there  were  plenty  of  wild  flowers  and  stubby  conifers  to  attract 
the  butterflies,  it  being  noticeable,  in  this  connection,  that 
Plebeius  argus,  which  was  flying  in  hundreds,  preferred  the  shrubs 
to  the  plants  when  at  rest.  A  few  days  later,  on  the  same 
ground,  the  females  of  this  dainty  "  Blue  "  had  almost  entirely 
superseded  the  males,  and  were  equally  abundant.  Of  the 
latter  I  took  one  or  two,  and  examined  a  great  many  for 
aberrations,  but  beyond  occasional  examples  with  the  orange 
marginal  lunules  of  the  upper  side  obsolete,  I  found  little  worthy 
of  remark.  Mr.  Lowe  (Brit.  Butterflies,  Tutt,  vol.  iii.  p.  182) 
notes  this  form  in  Guernsey  apparently — "  entirely  fuscous  " — 
but  I  am  not  familiar  with  it  elsewhere,  and  it  is  curious  that 
Tutt,  who  was  singularly  fertile  of  names,  did  not  (I  think) 
consider  it  worthy  of  a  special  designation.  While  I  am  on 
this  subject,  I  may  also  mention  that  the  Gavarnie  form  of 
Agriades  corydon  is  quite  characteristic,  and  M.  Oberthiir  in 
the  first  instance  drew  my  attention  to  an  almost  constant 
variation  of  the  under  side  of  the  male.  On  the  fore  wings, 
which  are  silvery  white,  no  markings  of  any  sort  remain  except 
the  discoidal  spot  and  the  antemarginal  sickle-shaped  row, 
which  is  composed  of  abnormally  small  and  sharply  defined 
spots.  The  hind  wings  are  of  the  same  colour  as  the  fore  wings ; 
the  marginal  spots  survive,  but  the  marginal  thin  line  and  the 
orange  lunules  are  almost  imperceptible.  The  bases  are  powdered 
silvery  blue  ;  the  basal,  costal,  and  antemarginal  spots  all  with- 
out ocellation,  and  very  small.  Indeed,  were  it  not  for  the 
remaining  black  spots  on  the  marginal  row  of  the  hind  wings, 
the  whole  facies  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  under  side  of 
Poli/ommatus  meleager,  male.  Corydon  was  just  coming  out 
when  we  arrived ;  it  was  afterwards  plentiful  locally.  The 
females  showed  no  tendency  to  blue  suffusion,  as  was  also  the 
case  with  those  of  P.  argus,  but  I  took  one  of  the  pretty  form 
on  which  all  four  "  discoidals  "  are  strongly  edged  with  white 
(=  ab.  albicincta,  Tutt).  A  rather  striking  peculiarity  of  the 
"  Blues  "  this  year  in  the  Central  Pyrenees  was  what  might  be 
called  their  emergence  by  instalments,  and  it  happened  both 
with  corydon,  and  more  markedly  with  P.  pyrenaica,  that  just 
when  the  males  appeared  to  be  on  the  wane  there  would  come 
(often  in  the  same  localities)  a  fresh  supply  to  take  the  places  of 
the  forwards. 


58  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

To  resume  my  account  of  the  14th  of  July — the  lower  slopes 
yielded  little  beyond  some  bright  fine  E.  tyndarus  of  the  eyed- 
form,  for  which  it  appears  we  must  now  revert  to  the  Von 
Hochenwarth's  prior  name  (1785)  oi  cassioides  (=  dromus,  H.-S.)  : 
the  females  were  few  and  far  between ;  nor  was  there  any  pro- 
fusion of  E.  epiphron  var.  pyrenaica,  H.-S. — that  is  to  say, 
the  casaiope  form  with  broad,  bright,  macular  chestnut  bands 
and  large  spots — though  I  quite  agree  with  Mr.  H.  J.  Elwes 
(Trans.  Ent.  Soc.  1898,  p.  174)  that  these  characteristics  are 
themselves  inconstant,  and  that  the  form  hardly  deserves  a 
varietal  name,  even  in  these  days  when  it  is  the  fashion  to  over- 
load our  catalogues  with  undistinguished  Latinity.  Keeping  to 
the  left,  and  ascending  what  appear  to  be  interminable  grass 
slopes,  too  closely  cropped  to  sustain  much  lepidopterous  life,  at 
a  break  in  the  monotonous  verdure  there  is  an  outcrop  of  stone. 
Hereabouts  the  hitherto  ubiquitous  E.  stygne  (Ruhl's  var.  pyre- 
naica, and  about  as  *' inconstans "  as  the  last-mentioned 
"  variety  ")  left  us,  and  our  old  friend  E.  lappona  began  to 
appear — all  var.  sthennyo — and  just  before  attaining  the  cow- 
shelter,  which  is  beneath  a  vast  overhanging  ledge  of  rock,  I 
netted  an  Erehia  never  before  taken  by  me  at  Gavarnie — E. 
manto  var.  ccecilia,  Hb. — actually  an  "  all  black  "  butterfly  ;  and, 
oddly  enough,  though  I  afterwards  found  it  in  another  locality 
in  the  Val  d'Ossue  away  to  the  west,  I  captured  no  second 
example  at  this  spot,  and  conclude,  therefore  (it  was  in  perfect 
condition),  that  it  must  have  been  a  stray.  Higher  again,  where 
E.  gorgone  swarmed  in  1905,  and  E.  lefebvrei  also,  single  speci- 
mens alone  fell  to  my  net.  The  latter  butterfly,  at  all  events, 
was  not  out.  Round  the  "bergerie"  rocks  also  flitted  a  con- 
siderable number  of  Parnassius  mneviosyne  (also  new  to  me  at 
Gavarnie),  and  though  no  undamaged  examples  were  taken  on 
this  expedition,  quite  ten  days  later  I  picked  up  a  decent  male 
or  two  among  the  predominating  ragged  rascals. 

Here  also,  flying  at  dizzy  speed,  were  the  males  of  Hepialus 
alticola,  Obthr.,  mentioned  by  me  in  my  paper  on  Eaux-Bonnes, 
and  Mr.  Warren,  when  we  came  back  on  the  20th,  discovered  a 
specimen  of  the  extraordinary  apterous  female,  to  which  the 
males  were  assembling,  and  this  I  had  the  pleasure  of  handing 
over  to  M.  Charles  Oberthlir,  whose  collectors  were  on  the 
look-out  for  alticola,  but  apparently  had  not  struck  our  excellent 
locality. 

.During  the  whole  day  we  saw  few  other,  even  of  the  com- 
monest, Alpine  butterflies,  and  it  was  not  until  the  25th  that 
E.  gorgone  (males)  became  really  plentiful.  The  15th  was 
devoted  to  the  Val  de  Poueyespee,  the  lateral  valley  leading  to 
the  Porte  de  Gavarnie,  on  the  Spanish  frontier,  to  the  right  of 
the  Cirque  looking  south.  This  was  another  of  my  former  pet 
hunting-grounds,  and  at  almost  the  identical  spot  where  I  had 


THREE    WEEKS    IN    THE    HIGHER    PYRENEES.  59 

netted  my  first  P.  pyrenaica  six  j'ears  before  I  met  with  this 
exquisite  little  butterfly  again.  At  a  certain  spring  above  the 
long  series  of  zigzags,  and  on  flower-covered  rocks,  the  males 
were  much  in  evidence  for  a  few  days — the  black  females  very 
rare ;  I  only  took  three  in  as  many  weeks.  This  spring  also 
furnished  several  male  P.  eros,  yet  another  welcome  addition 
to  my  Gavarnie  experiences,  and  on  the  marshy  pasture  in 
which  the  stream  loses  itself  Mr.  Warren  netted  one  or  two  male 
Colias  phicomone — this  season  again  unaccountably  rare.  The 
damp  ooze  was  a  veritable  Lycsenid  and  Hesperiid  trap  ;  clouds 
of  P.  argus  mingling  with  P.  hylas,  a  few  worn  A.  thetis,  and  a 
grand  form  of  Ilesperia  alveus.  Occasional  H.  serratulce  also 
haunted  the  upper  pastures,  and  the  most  beautiful  race  of 
Pyrgiis  sao  I  ever  saw  ;  the  hind  wings  vivid  carmine  beneath, 
with  the  big  costal  white  spots  of  pearly  brilliance,  but  though 
we  were  both  keeping  a  sharp  look-out  for  H.  andromedce,  we 
saw  nothing  of  this  new-found  Pyrenean  Skipper. 

Ascending  gradually,  the  "  road  "  to  Spain  traverses  a  short 
series  of  skrees,  and  up  and  down  the  treacherous  stone  shoots, 
as  long  as  the  sun  shines  upon  them,  ascend  and  descend  an 
endless  procession  of  male  E.  lefebvrei,  never  in  clusters,  but 
singly.  The  best — in  fact,  the  only — way  to  make  sure  of  a  series 
is  to  station  oneself  on  the  mule-track,  and  strike  at  the  butterflies 
as  they  cross.  But,  in  my  experience,  the  females  never  came 
down  or  up  to  the  path,  and  the  two  or  three  brought  home  by 
me  must  have  been  secured  in  one  or  other  of  the  desperate 
rushes  I  made  after  some  particularly  fine  male,  who  probably 
left  me  seated  and  sliding  with  half  the  mountain  behind  me 
after  a  last  ineffectual  sweep  of  my  net !  The  higher  slopes  up 
to  and  underneath  the  snow  produced  nothing  this  year  except 
worn  E.  lappona,  and  some  fresh  Anthrocera  exulans ;  the  afore- 
said skrees  my  single  A.  contaminci.  And  here  I  may  offer  a 
correction,  based  on  the  unrivalled  authority  of  M.  Oberthiir  and 
my  own  far  more  limited  range  of  observation  in  the  Pyrenees, 
that,  notwithstanding  the  records  of  Struve,  d'Aubuisson,  and 
Von  Caradja,  E.  glacialis  does  not  occur  in  the  Pyrenees  at  all ; 
strange  though  it  may  seem,  the  last  two  authors,  at  all  events, 
having  mistaken  E.  manto  var.  ccecilia  for  the  ab.  alecto  of  the 
highest  flying  of  the  western  Erebias.  The  more  closely  we  con- 
sider the  mountain-butterfly  items  of  Von  Caradja's  list  for  the 
Department  of  the  Haute-Garonne,  the  more  certain  it  seems 
that  the  author  took  many  of  his  observations  at  second- 
hand. But  M.  Ptondou  is  engaged  on  a  new  edition  of  his  own 
*  Catalogue  Eaisonne  des  Lepids.  des  Pyr6n6es,'  and  in  this  no 
doubt  such  errors  will  be  rectified.  Lower  down  the  "  Coppers" 
were  this  year  decidedly  rare.  Of  Chrysophanus  hippothoii  (a 
beautiful  sight  upon  the  purple  iris)  I  took  one  or  two  females 
and  a  male,  practically  identical  with  those  I  bagged  in  1906  in 


60  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

South  Sweden.  Of  Loiveia  alciphron  var.  gordlus,  occasional 
males  only  came  my  way. 

The  Val  d'Ossue,  which  we  explored  on  the  morning  of  the 
16th,  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  village,  proved  the 
most  repaying  of  all  our  hunting-grounds,  and  on  the  19th, 
when  we  pushed  further  up  on  the  Eoute  de  Yignemalle,  we 
came  upon  the  headquarters  of  var.  ccecilia  in  a  very  "  Garden  of 
Eden  "  of  iris,  flying  with  E.  curyale,  and,  with  the  exception  of 
that  mysterious  single  ccecilia  on  the  16th,  this  was  the  only 
locality  visited  where  we  found  these  two  **  Kinglets,"  neither  of 
which  I  had  encountered  in  1905.  Euryale  is  so  common  a 
butterfly  in  the  Alps  that  one  is  apt  to  neglect  it.  But  the  range 
of  variation  in  this  single  valley  within  a  quarter  of  a  square 
mile  was  simply  astonishing.  I  hardly  seemed  to  take  two  alike, 
from  males  with  the  rusty  bands  of  the  fore  wings  broad  and 
lavishly  spotted  (but  without  white  ocellations)  to  examples  in 
which  all  trace  of  the  spots  have  disappeared,  leaving  only  the 
macular  bands  {=  ab.  euryaloides,  Tengstrom),  and  others, 
again,  in  which  the  bands  are  reduced  to  two  fulvous  spots 
centred  with  black  on  the  fore  wings,  and  two  minute  fulvous 
spots  at  the  anal  angle  of  the  hind  wings  (?  =ab.  ocellaris,  Stgr.)  ; 
while  I  have  a  vivid  recollection  of  having  smashed  on  the 
setting-board  a  male  which  appeared  to  have  lost  all  traces  of 
fulvous  on  the  upper  side  of  both  wings.  I  visited  this  place  on 
several  occasions  ;  on  the  27th,  after  Mr.  Warren's  departure, 
picking  up  a  few  of  the  much-wanted  female  E.  gorgone  on  the 
rough  ground  by  the  torrent,  and  some  exquisite  female  H. 
virgaurece,  Mr.  Warren  having  already  secured  a  grandly  marked 
example,  which  he  refers  to  ab.  lineolata,  Tutt. 

By  the  23rd,  however,  P.  pyrenaica,  which  was  common  on 
the  runnel  side  by  the  mule-path  in  the  lower  Ossue  valley,  had 
almost  disappeared,  for  the  terrific  rain  which  descended  almost 
without  intermission  from  the  afternoon  of  the  17th  to  the  night 
of  the  18th  had  wiped  out  the  species.  Meanwhile,  the  "assem- 
blies "  in  this  direction  were  even  better  attended  than  in  the 
Poueyespee  valley,  and  the  mule-droppings  especially  drew  im- 
mense numbers  of  "  Blues  "  and  Skippers,  of  which  Carcha- 
rodus  lavaterce  soon  became  common,  with  occasional,  and  always 
single,  C.  althece,  Thymelicus  actceon,  and,  among  the  grass, 
Urbicola  comma,  of  which  latter  M.  Henri  Oberthiir  took  a 
couple  of  the  interesting  aberration  described  ('Lepid.  Com- 
paree,'  fasc.  iv.  p.  361)  as  ab.  faunida,  Obthr.,  with  the  white 
spots  on  the  under  side  of  the  hind  wings  confluent,  and  form- 
ing a  single  large  white  spot  tinted  slightly  yellow  in  the  centre. 
I  spent  a  whole  morning  on  this  ground  trying  to  emulate  his 
success,  but  unsuccessfully.  On  the  19th,  however,  Satyrus 
alcyone — the  sole  Satyrid  observed  this  year  at  Gavarnie- — put  in 
an  appearance,  and  almost  simultaneously  a  fine  fresh  emerg- 


THREE  WEEKS  IN  THE  HIGHER  PYRENEES.  61 

ence  of  Pyrameis  cardui  took  place.  The  other  Vanessids  were 
scarcely  emerged,  every  nettle-patch  being  crowded  with  larvae 
of  Aglais  urtica,  and  on  the  wet  18th  we  found  a  roadside  birch 
towards  Gedre  on  which  numbers  of  the  larvae  of  Euvanessa 
antiopa  were  taking  a  shower-bath,  and  apparently  enjoying 
themselves  vastly.  Mr.  Warren  returned  next  day,  and  filled 
with  them  a  huge  tin  box  commandeered  from  Madame's  kitchen, 
and  I  believe  the  majority  of  the  brood  should  now  be  qualifying 
for  "  white-bordered  "  British  "  Camberwell  Beauties  "  this 
spring,  after  hybernation  in  the  comfortable  thatches  of  mid- 
Buckinghamshire.  I  do  not  remember  having  noted  the  species 
in  the  mountains  elsewhere  feeding  on  birch  ;  as  a  rule  it  pre- 
fers various  kinds  of  willow.  From  the  25th  onward  to  the 
30th,  when  I  left  for  Bordeaux,  the  weather  was  extremely 
unsettled,  and  nearly  all  the  butterflies  met  with  were  becoming 
worn,  after  what  was,  certainly,  in  most  cases,  a  remarkably 
short  period  of  flight.  I  may  add  also  that  the  usually  com- 
mon Pierids  were  quite  rare,  while  I  took  but  a  single  Pontia 
callidice  on  the  Astazou  side  of  the  Cirque,  Parnassius  apollo 
being  only  occasional  where  formerly  it  was  present  in  large 
numbers.  Earlier  in  the  year  a  very  fine  form  of  Anthocharis 
simplonia  haunts  the  mountains  round  Gedre  ;  M.  Eondou,  when 
I  visited  his  fine  local  collection,  most  generously  presented  to 
me  a  series  of  males  and  females.  Mr.  Warren  took  a  worn 
example  or  two  at  the  beginning  of  our  visit. 

Butterflies  observed  at  Gavarnie,  July  14th-July  30th. 

Hespkriid^. —  Carcharodiis  lavaterce,  C.  althece  ;  Hesperia 
carthami,  H.  alveus,  H.  serratidcs ;  Pyrgiis  sao  ;  Urbicola  comma  ; 
Thymelicus  actceon. 

Lycjenid^.  —  Heodes  virgaiirece,  and  var.  miegii ;  Chryso- 
phanus  hippothoe ;  Loiveia  alciphron  var.  gordius  ;  Rumicia 
phlcsas  ;  Lyccena  avion ;  Cupido  minimus ;  Nomiades  semiargus  ; 
Agriades  corydon  ;  Polyommatus  hylas,  P.  escheri  and  var. 
rondoiii*  Obthr.,  P.  ei'os,  P.  pyrenaica ;  Alicia  medon  (a  large 
form)  ;  Plebeius  argus  ;  Strymon  spini. 

Papilionid^.  —Parnassius  apollo,  P.  mnemosyne. 

•'•  As  this  form  of  escheri  has  been  only  recently  distinguished  by  M. 
Oberthlir  (Bull.  Ent.  Soc.  Fr.  1906,  pp.  57,  58,  and  Lepid.Comparee,  fasc.  iv. 
pp.  216,  217),  I  think  it  may  interest  our  collectors  to  transcribe  a  short 
description  from  the  latter  work  : — 

Male. — Smaller  than  the  type.  On  the  upper  side  the  blue,  looked  at  in 
full  dayhght,  shows  a  light  greenish  reflection ;  under  side  uniform  grey 
ground  colour,  with  the  black  spots  very  small,  and  the  triangular  white 
mark  along  the  marginal  border  of  orange-yellow  spots  on  the  hind  wing 
almost  wholly  wanting. 

Female. — Characterized  by  blue  dusting  of  the  wing  bases  on  the  upper 
side  ;  the  fringes  of  all  four  wings  entirely  white,  and  not  brown  with  white 
at  the  apex  as  invariable  in  the  type, 


62  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

PiERiD^.  —  Pieris  rapce  ;  Pontia  callidice  (one  female),  P. 
daplidice  ;  Anthocharis  simplonia  ;  Leptidia  sinapis  ;  Colias  phi- 
comone  (males  only),  C  hyale. 

Nymphalidje. — Argynnis  aglaia ;  Issoria  lathonia  ;  Brenthis 
euphrosyne,  B.  pales  (the  Gavarnie  form  is  brilliantly  coloured, 
and  more  definitely  marked  with  black  than  the  typical  p)ales  of 
the  Alps),  B.  dia  ;  Melitaa  didyma  (scarce),  M.  parthenie,  M. 
dictynna  var.  vernetensis,  Obthr. ,-  Pyrameis  cardui ;  Euvanessa 
antiopa  (larvae) ,-  Aglais  urtica. 

Satyridje.  —  Pararge  mcera  var.  adrasta  (very  fine  tawny 
females),  [P.  hiera — I  think  M.  Henri  Oberthiir  took  some  worn 
examples  in  the  Cirque,  where  it  is  known  to  occur  in  May  and 
June] ,  P.  megcera ;  Satyrus  alcyone  var.  pyrencea,  Obthr.  ; 
Epinephele  jurtina ;  Coanonympha  arcania,  C.  pamphilus  ;  Erebia 
epiphron  var.  pyrenaica,  E.  manto  var.  ccecilia,  E.  stygne,  E. 
gorgone,  E.  lefehvrei,  E.  euryale,  E.  tyndarus  var.  cassioides,  E. 
lappona  var.  sthennyo. 

Fifty-nine  species  in  all. 

Harrow  Weald  :  January,  1912. 


NOTES     ON     LEUCANIA     FAVICOLOR,    Barrett. 
By  Eichard  South. 

In  the  autumn  of  last  year  the  Eev.  A.  P.  Waller,  of 
Waldringfield,  Woodbridge,  Suffolk,  very  kindly  sent  for  exami- 
nation a  number  of  Leucanid  moths,  among  which  was  a  series 
of  twenty-five  specimens  that  he  had  reared  from  ova  deposited 
by  a  female  favicolor  taken  in  a  marsh  in  the  Woodbridge 
district.  The  eggs  were  laid  in  early  July,  1910,  and  the  moths 
emerged  from  pupae,  April  to  June,  1911.  The  majority  of  these 
specimens  were  referable  to  L.  yallens,  about  nine  to  favicolor, 
and  the  remainder  were  intermediate  in  form,  but  approached 
more  closely  to  pallens  than  io  favicolor. 

From  ova  obtained  from  a  " pallens-like  female,"  taken  June, 

1907,  in  the  marsh  previously  referred  to,  Mr.  Waller,  in  June, 

1908,  reared  twenty-three  specimens  of  favicolor  of  the  typical 
form,  and  seven  examples  of  the  yellow  form  of  favicolor — ab. 
lutea,  Tutt.  I  must  admit  that  I  could  not  distinguish  the 
female  parent  from  pallens. 

To  illustrate  the  range  of  variation  of  L.  pallens  in  his  district, 
Mr.  Waller  included  a  series  of  captured  specimens.  Among 
these  were  a  few  of  the  red  form,  including  one  good  example 
of  ab.  ectypa,  Hiibn.  Another  specimen  seemed  to  be  much 
nearer  to  tjipica}  favicolor  than  to  pallens  :  indeed,  if  that  speci- 


^OF^BR 


NOTES    ON    LEUCANIA    FAVIOOLOBC'^' "■■  "•  63 

men  alone  had  been  sent  for  identification,  I  should  have 
returned  it  as  favicolor. 

Meditating  on  the  significance  of  the  above  facts,  a  doubt 
arises  as  to  the  exact  status  of  favicolor.  Is  it  a  species,  or  a 
salt-marsh  development  of  L.  pallens  ?  The  evidence  afforded 
by  Mr.  Waller's  material  certainly  seems  to  indicate  that  favi- 
color cannot  be  a  species,  except  perhaps  in  the  Darwinian 
sense.  In  any  case,  the  insect  is  of  very  great  interest,  because, 
so  far  as  we  know,  it  is  a  purely  British  production. 

The  earliest  recorded  specimens  of  favicolor  (one  male,  three 
females)  were  taken,  among  other  Leucanid  moths,  by  Pay- 
master-in-Chief  G.  F.  Mathew,  "  on  the  coast  of  Suffolk  and 
Essex,"  in  the  summer  of  1895.  Seven  other  specimens  were 
secured  by  Mr.  Mathew  in  1896  (June  23rd  to  July  3rd).  Six 
years  later  he  captured  five  males,  and  saw  a  female,  which  flew 
off  the  sugar  when  he  tried  to  box  it.  In  recording  the  latter 
specimens  he  states  that  favicolor  "is  easily  recognized,  as  it  sits 
with  its  wings  raised,  whereas  pallens  closes  them  tight,  and  is 
much  more  quiet  "  (Ent.  Mo.  Mag.  xxxviii.  220).  At  Harwich, 
in  June,  1903,  Mr.  Mathew  obtained  a  fine  series,  which  was 
submitted  to  the  late  Mr.  C.  G.  Barrett,  who  wrote  (Ent.  Mo. 
Mag.  xl.  61) : — "  These  specimens  give  me  a  far  more  extended 
idea  of  this  pretty  species  and  its  variation  than  we  previously 
possessed.  From  the  soft,  smooth,  honey  colour  of  the  typical 
form  these  show  the  fore  wings  tinged  with  red-drab  in  a  less  or 
greater  degree,  till  a  deep  red,  almost  a  coppery-red,  is  reached, 
with  a  gloss  and  smoothness  very  different  from  the  dull  and 
plain  appearance  of  the  allied  species,  and  decidedly  so  from  the 
more  pinkish  red  appearance  of  some  forms  of  L.  pallens,  in 
which  also  are  always  closely  placed  lines  all  over  the  fore  wings. 
Moreover,  these  L.  favicolor  maintain  the  greater  breadth  of  the 
fore  wings,  and  the  decidedly  more  robust  habit  of  the  body. 
Still  more  interesting  than  these  red  specimens  are  two  or  three 
in  which  the  fore  wings  are  of  a  distinctly  light  yellow,*  almost 
the  colour  of  L.  vitellina." 

If  at  any  time  favicolor  was  restricted  to  the  Harwich  and 
Felixstowe  districts  it  would  seem  to  have  extended  its  range 
since  1903.  Mr.  Waller,  then  living  at  Henley  Kectory,  Wood- 
bridge,  secured  a  specimen  of  ab.  rufa,  Tutt,  that  was  attracted 
by  light  into  his  room  in  September,  1904 ;  and  in  the  following 
year  he  captured  four  specimens,  three  of  which  (one  lutea  and 
two  riifa)  came  to  sugared  flowers  of  dock  in  July. 

In  1906,  Lieutenant  Jacobs  recorded  red  and  yellow  forms 
from  the  salt-marshes  near  Queenborough,  Isle  of  Sheppey.  In 
1908  favicolor  was  taken  at  Benfleet,  Essex,  and  a  specimen 
"  near  ab.  Zuiea  "  in  East  Sussex.  At  a  meeting  of  the  South 
London  Entomological  and  Natural  History  Society,  November 

*  Ab.  lutea,  Tutt.— E.  S. 


64  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

25th,  1909,  Mr.  Newman  exhibited  a  Leucanid  moth,  taken  at 
Cranleigh,  Surrey,  that  had  been  identified  as  favicolor,  as 
pallens,  and  also  as  straminea.  The  specimen  had  been  examined 
by  genitalia  experts,  who  reported  that  the  specimen  was  cer- 
tainly not  straminea,  but  whether  it  should  be  referred  to  favicolor 
or  to  pallens  they  were  unable  to  say.  Mr.  Edelsten  (Entom. 
xliii.  34)  records  a  specimen  of  favicolor,  labelled  "  Hackney 
Marshes,  2.  vii,  05,"  that  he  detected  in  a  series  of  L.  pallens, 
ex  coll.  Clark. 

In  a  detailed  account  of  the  life-history  of  Leucania  favicolor 
(Ent.  Mo.  Mag.  xli.  77),  Mr.  Mathew  compares  the  larvae  of 
favicolor  with  those  of  pallens,  but  up  to  the  half-grown  stage 
found  very  little  difference  between  them,  except  that  the  former 
were  of  a  rather  "  warmer  colour,  less  attenuated,  larger,  and 
more  plump."  In  their  last  skin  the  larvae  of  favicolor  were 
"  cylindrical,  short,  and  plump,  very  slightly  attenuated  towards 
each  extremity,  and  their  general  colour  was  of  a  warm  reddish 
ochreous,  and  more  resembling  the  larvae  of  lithargyria  than 
those  of  pallens,  which  are  always  of  a  more  or  less  cold  greyish 
or  putty  colour  with  very  slight  tints  of  ochreous.  The  larvae 
of  favicolor,  moreover,  are  considerably  larger  than  those  of 
pallens,  which  are  also  much  more  attenuated,  and  more 
slender  "  (p.  106). 

Mr.  A.  W.  Bacot,  to  whom  eggs  of  favicolor  were  sent  by 
Mr.  Mathew,  states  in  the  same  paper  (p.  134)  that  he  carefully 
compared  the  larvae  oi  favicolor  with  those  of  pallens.  He  could 
find  no  trace  of  difference  in  structure,  nor  in  markings,  only 
some  divergence  in  the  general  colour  ;  but  here,  he  remarks, 
"  one  was  met  by  the  difficulty  of  discriminating  between  how 
much  was  individual  and  how  much  specific  variation,  as  there 
was  considerable  variation  in  this  respect  in  the  larvae  of  each 
batch." 

With  regard  to  the  male  sexual  organs,  important  in  questions 
affecting  specific  rank,  the  opinion  of  Mr.  F.  N.  Pierce  may  be 
quoted.  Referring  to  the  type  specimen  of  favicolor,  he  states  : 
"  I  can  see  no  difference  in  the  form  of  the  genitalia  of  this  and 
pallens,  except  that  favicolor  is  larger "  ('  Genitalia  of  the 
Noctuidae,'  p.  27). 

In  the  foregoing  notes  the  more  important  facts  connected 
Viiih.  favicolor  are  presented  in  the  hope  that  entomologists  in  a 
position  to  do  so  will  endeavour  to  ascertain  the  insect's  true 
status.  To  arrive  at  anything  definite  in  this  matter  it  would, 
of  course,  be  necessary  to  veav  favicolor  from  the  egg,  and  to 
have  knowledge  of  both  parents.  The  rearing  oi  favicolor  from 
ova  oi  pallens,  or  of  pallens  from  eggs  of  favicolor  is  strong  pre- 
sumptive evidence  of  the  male  parent  having  been  favicolor  in 
the  one  case  and  pallens  in  the  other ;  still,  it  would  be  more 
conclusive  if  the  male  was  known  in  each  case.     Mr.  Crocker, 


LEPIDOPTERA    OF    JEMTLAND    AND    LAPLAND.  65 

of  Gillingham,  Kent,  writing  to  me  in  reference  to  favicolor, 
remarks: — "In  their  habitat  it  is  quite  common  to  take  favi- 
color and  pallens  in  cop.  I  have  three  such  pairs  taken  this 
year  [1911]  ;  also  a  few  insects  which  I  am  unable  to  place 
either  with  favicolor  or  pallens."  Perhaps  other  entomologists 
may  have  also  met  with  such  cross-pairings  when  in  search  of 
favicolor ;  if  so,  it  is  very  desirable  that  the  observation  should 
be  recorded. 


LEPIDOPTEEA    OF     THE     SWEDISH     PROVINCES    OF 
JEMTLAND    AND    LAPLAND. 

By  W.  G.  Sheldon,  F.E.S. 

(Concluded  from  p.  27.) 

Callophrys  riibi. — Worn  specimens  were  frequent  at  Mattmar. 

Chrysophanus  amphidamas  var.  obscura. — Abundant  at  Mattmar ; 
some  of  the  examples  even  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  June  4th,  were 
worn,  but  there  was  a  good  percentage  of  newly  emerged  ones  ;  the 
butterfly  was  most  abundant  amongst  sallow  thickets  on  the  edge  of 
the  swamps,  flitting  about  the  bushes  with  a  very  Thecla-Yike  flight, 
and  settling  on  them  from  time  to  time.  I  found  ova  not  infre- 
quently on  the  under  side  of  the  leaves  of  Polygonum  viviparum. 

C.  phlaas  var.  hypophlceas. — I  found  a  single  perfect  example  of 
this  fine  form  at  rest  on  a  bent  of  grass,  at  Narvik,  on  July  19th. 

Plebius  argyrognomon  var.  agidion. — First  seen  at  Abisko  on  June 
29th,  after  which  date  it  became  common  on  the  banks  of  the 
tributary  of  the  Abiskojokk,  where  Mr.  Kowland-Brown  found  it  in 
1906,  and  which  is  in  the  park,  but  I  did  not  see  it  elsewhere. 

Polyommatus  optilete  var.  cyparissus. — The  first  example  was 
captured  on  June  29th  :  it  was  not  common,  but  I  did  not  work  for 
it,  and  only  brought  a  few  specimens  home. 

P.  icarus. — One  female  of  the  cceridea  form  was  taken  on  July 
16th :  probably  the  species  was  only  just  emerging  at  the  time  of  my 
departure  from  Abisko.  „ 

Aglais  urticce. — Larvae  were  very  abundant  at  Are,  a  few  of  which 
I  took  to  x\bisko ;  they  pupated  there,  and  emerged  on  my  way 
home ;  the  whole  are  very  full-coloured  specimens,  with  the  central 
spots  large,  and  one  is  distinctly  var.  (ab. '?)  polaris.  As  Abisko  was 
until  a  few  years  ago  absolutely  without  cultivation,  I  scarcely 
expected  to  see  this  species  there :  however,  a  few  days  after  my 
arrival  I  came  across  two  battered  imagos,  and  thereupon  made  a 
search  for  nettles,  a  few  patches  of  which  I  succeeded  in  finding,  in 
the  proximity  of  some  ruined  buildings ;  one  patch  in  a  sunny  corner 
was  covered  with  several  hundreds  of  larvae,  a  number  of  which  I 
brought  home.  These  produced  some  fine  var.  polaris,  which 
emerged  from  August  8th  to  August  18th. 

Brenthis  aphirape  var.  ossianus. — This  species  was  common  at 
Mattmar,  and  less  so  at  Abisko.  It  is  essentially  a  swamp  species,  and 
I  did  not  see  a  single  specimen  on  other  ground ;  one  of  my  examples 

ENTOM. — FEBRUARY,    1912.  F 


66  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

from  Abisko  is  without  silver  on  the  under  side,  and  in  this  respect 
resembles  the  type ;  but  it  has  the  bright  red  blotches  beneath  which 
characterise  var.  ossianus,  and  is  thus  intermediate  between  that  form 
and  the  type.  First  seen  at  Abisko,  on  July  12th.  Herr  Sprongerts 
informs  me  he  found  it  at  Narvik  on  July  20th. 

B.  iMles  var.  lapponica. — This  species  was  noticed  at  Abisko  on 
July  3rd,  but  was  not  common  at  the  date  on  which  I  left ;  probably 
it  was  not  then  fully  out. 

B.  freija. — A  few  worn  examples  were  seen  flying  over  the  bog  at 
Mattmar,  and  on  my  arrival  at  Abisko  the  species  was  fully  out  there 
and  in  good  condition,  and  it  remained  so  almost  until  the  time  of  my 
departure.  It  was  not  very  abundant,  but  I  usually  obtained  about 
half  a  dozen  examples  on  each  sunny  day.  This  species  is  purely  a 
bog  insect ;  the  males  frequented  at  Abisko  the  low-lying  swamps, 
probably  attracted  there  by  the  warmth  and  shelter  from  wind. 
The  females  were  chiefly  found  higher  up  the  hill-sides.  I  confined 
several  females  on  different  plants,  with  a  result  that  I  obtained  three 
ova ;  these  unfortunately  vanished  one  day  out  of  the  pill-box  I  kept 
them  in,  I  suspect  in  consequence  of  the  attentions  of  an  inquisitive 
chambermaid.  They  were  deposited  on  the  stems  of  Arctostaphylos 
uva-ursi,  which  I  give  as  a  possible  food-plant.  Almost  certainly  the 
food-plant  is  not  Viola,  the  only  species  of  which  I  saw  at  Abisko 
being  Viola  hiflora  and  V.  palustris  ;  the  latter  is  rare,  and  although 
the  former  is  locally  plentiful  in  the  birch  forest,  B.  freija  is  not 
found  there,  except  as  a  straggler ;  practically  the  only  plants  growing 
when  I  saw  most  of  the  females  were  A.  uva-ursi  and  several  species 
of  Vaccinium.  I  do  not  think  any  of  the  Scandinavian  Brenthids 
are  violet-feeders,  except  possibly  B.  tJiore  var.  borealis,  for  that 
was  the  only  species  I  saw  flying  amongst  these  plants,  or  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  ground  on  which  they  occur.  The  ova  is  of  a  dark 
straw  colour  when  newly  deposited;  it  has  a  glazed  surface,  that 
portion  held  next  the  light  being  iridescent ;  it  is  funnel-shaped, 
wider  at  one  end  than  at  the  other,  and  the  ends  are  rounded ;  the  sur- 
face is  ribbed  longitudinally,  the  ova  were  attached  by  the  narrow  ends 
to  the  stem  of  the  plant  on  which  they  were  deposited.  The  flight 
of  the  imago  is  very  irregular,  but  not  fast ;  it  does  not  appear  to 
frequent  flowers,  but  one  often  disturbs  it  from  the  ground.  It  looks 
very  dark  on  the  wing  for  a  Brenthid,  The  form  of  this  species 
occurring  at  Abisko  is  sometimes  described  as  var.  2:iallida,  Elwes. 
This  is  an  error.  Certainly  some  of  the  examples  are  rather  light, 
but  amongst  my  series  of  about  fifty  specimens  there  is  nothing 
approaching  the  types  of  the  pallida  in  the  British  Museum  Collec- 
tion, which  were  taken  in  the  Altai  Mountains  by  Mr.  Elwes.  The 
only  striking  variation  in  my  series  is  that  one  male  has  the  space 
between  the  central  black  transvei'se  line,  and  that  nearer  the  base 
of  the  front  wings,  almost  filled  in  with  black ;  this  is  evidently  a 
recurrent  form,  for  I  saw  other  specimens,  and  might  thus  be  called 
ab.  fasciata  n.  ab. 

B-  frigga. — This  handsome  species  frequents  the  bog  at  Mattmar, 
where  I  found  it  not  uncommonly;  in  three  days  of  intermittent  sun 
I  netted  thirteen  fine  examples,  including  three  females.  It  has 
much  the  same  habits  as  the  preceding  species,  but  has  a  much 


LEPIDOPTERA    OF   JEMTLAND    AND    LAPLAND.  67 

steadier  flight,  and  looks  larger  and  brighter-coloured  on  the  wing. 
Tutt  says  ('  British  Lepidoptera,'  vol.  ix.  p.  30)  that  "  this  species  is 
only  recorded  as  feeding  on  Bubus  chamcemorus,"  a  very  abundant 
plant  at  Mattmar. 

B.  eujjhrosyne. — Very  abundant  at  Mattmar — in  fact,  the  most 
abundant  butterfly  there — and  a  few  examples  were  netted  at  Abisko. 
At  Mattmar  it  frequented  the  rising  ground  at  the  edge  of  the 
swamps.  The  great  majority  of  the  specimens  seen  were  certainly 
not  var.  fingal,  though  they  were  slightly  darker  than  the  type, 
and  one  or  two  were  so  clouded  with  dusky  scales  that  they 
approached  the  variety,  but  they  were  not  so  dark  as  examples  of  it 
I  saw  in  the  National  Collection  at  Stockholm  and  in  the  British 
Museum  Collection.  The  Abisko  specimens  were  quite  typical.  I 
also  captured  one  female  at  Narvik  on  July  19th. 

B.  thore  var.  borealis — This  species,  which  Mr.  Eowland-Brown 
found  abundant  at  Abisko,  was  this  year  quite  rare ;  probably  it  was 
not  out  at  the  date  of  my  departure.  It  was  first  observed — a 
single  specimen — on  July  10th.  I  obtained  a  pair  on  July  16th, 
and  I  believe  my  German  friends  accounted  for  half  a  dozen 
examples  on  July  12th.  o 

Erebia  lappona. — Common  at  Are,  and  equally  so  at  Abisko, 
where  it  was  certainly  the  most  widely  distributed  and  abundant 
butterfly.  The  forms  from  both  localities  are  similar.  On  the  under 
side  of  the  hind  wings  some  of  the  specimens  have  a  strong  tendency 
to  lose  the  transverse  lines  =  ab.  polhix,  though  none  of  them  quite 
do  so.  On  the  other  hand,  one  of  the  females  has  the  space  between 
these  lines  filled  in  with  dark  coloration.  The  upper  sides  closely 
resemble  my  Swiss  specimens,  except  that  in  the  majority  of  cases 
the  hind  wings  are  entirely  without  ocelli,  though  in  one  or  two 
instances  these  are  well  developed. 

E.  ligea  var.  adyte. — A  few  examples  were  seen  up  the  valley  of 
the  Abiskojokk,  from  July  10th  onwards;  the  ocelli  in  these  examples 
are  very  small,  and  the  red  bands  in  which  they  are  placed  narrow. 
A  specimen  netted  at  Narvik,  on  July  19th,  has  the  ocelli  very  large 
on  both  fore  and  hind  wings,  and  the  red  bands  broad ;  it  is  quite  the 
brightest  banded  example  I  possess  from  any  locality.  Both  this 
and  the  Abisko  specimens  are  small,  expanding  only  44  mm. 

E.  embla. — This  species  is  said  by  Scandinavian  entomologists  to 
be  only  found  commonly  every  alternate  year,  occurring  freely  in  the 
even  years,  I  was  therefore  not  sanguine  of  meeting  with  many 
specimens.  In  this  apprehension  events  proved  that  I  was  right,  for 
I  saw  at  Mattmar  two  examples  only,  one  of  which,  a  male  in  fair 
condition,  I  captured.  E.  emblof  is,  I  believe,  in  an  average  season, 
to  be  found  during  the  last  few  days  of  May. 

CEneis  jutta. — I  was  unfortunate  in  only  seeing  one  example  of 
this  species,  which  rose  heavily  out  of  the  grass  at  my  feet  in  the 
Mattmar  Bog  on  June  5th ;  it  was  a  female  of  large  size,  expanding 
62  mm.,  freshly  emerged,  but  slightly  crippled.  I  searched  carefully 
and  widely  for  further  specimens,  but  without  success,  and  can  only 
suppose  that  the  species  was  not  fully  out,  though  it  should  have 
been  according  to  the  records  of  previous  observers. 


bS  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

G^.  noma. — I  obtained  in  all  thirteen  examples  of  this  species ; 
the  first,  a  male,  on  June  25th,  another  male  on  June  29th,  and  a 
female  on  July  3rd.  These  were  obtained  on  the  rough  ground 
fringing  the  swamps  east  of  the  Abiskojokk.  On  July  7thi,  at  Orto- 
jokk,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Torne  Traske,  I  found  the  species 
common,  and  obtained  eight  examples  during  a  short  period  of  sun. 
They  were  flying  over  some  grassy  slopes,  which  had  a  plentiful  out- 
crop of  rock,  just  above  the  tree  line.  On  July  12th  I  obtained  two 
specimens  on  the  west  side  of  the  Lapp  Porten,  on  similar  ground 
to  that  on  which  I  found  the  species  at  Ortojokk. 

There  are  several  forms  amongst  this  series  which  can  perhaps 
be  best  described  as  follows : — 

(a)  Two  males  and  two  females.  Bases  of  all  wings  dark  brown, 
with  tawny  hind  marginal  band,  two  ocelli  on  each  front  wing,  one 
on  each  hind  wing  ^  noma,  Thnb. 

(6)  One  male  and  one  female,  with  ocelli  as  type,  but  with  bases 
of  wings  in  male  pale  brown  with  greyish  tinge  and  hind  marginal 
band  pale  buff ;  in  the  female  the  brown  is  almost  lost,  and  the 
buff  tint  is  consequently  spread  over  the  whole  wing  area  =  ab. 
'pallida,  n.  ab. 

(c)  Two  males  as  type,  but  with,  one  ocellus  on  each  of  front  and 
hind  wings  =  ab.  hilda,  Quens. 

{d)  One  female  with  one  ocellus  on  each  wing,  and  with  the 
coloration  of  {h)  =  ab.  hilda  pallida,  n.  ab. 

(e)  One  male  and  one  female  with  the  coloration  of  the  type, 
and  with  two  ocelli  on  front  wings,  hind  wings  being  without  ocelli 
=  hiimpillata,  n.  ab. 

(/)  One  male  with  the  coloration  of  the  type,  and  with  one 
ocellus  only  on  each  of  the  front  wings,  hind  wings  being  without 
ocelli  =  unipupillata,  n.  ab. 

(g)  One  male  with  the  coloration  of  the  type,  all  wings  being 
entirely  without  ocelli  =  obsoleta,  n.  ab. 

CE.  bore. — Flying  with  CE.  noma  on  the  slopes  of  the  Lapp 
Porten.  I  captured  one  male  and  one  female  of  an  CEneis  which 
compare  exactly  with  description  of  this  species  by  Kane  and  Lang, 
and  which  are  identical  with  specimens  of  it  in  the  National  Col- 
lection at  the  British  Museum  labelled  "  Sydvaranger."  Bearing 
in  mind  that  specimens  of  this  and  the  preceding  species  occur  on 
the  same  ground  at  Abisko — and  that  CE.  bore  is  superficially  simply 
a  grey  Arctic  form  without  ocelli  of  OE.  noma,  which  varies  greatly 
in  the  number  and  measurement  of  ocelli,  and  has  at  Abisko  grey 
forms,  those  from  the  south  having  the  greatest  number  of  ocelli, 
which  gradually  decrease  in  number  as  one  goes  north — I  should  be 
inclined  to  suggest  that  the  two  form  one  species.  But  I  am  con- 
fronted with  the  statement  by  Mr.  Elwes  in  the  Entomological 
Society's  '  Transactions,'  1893,  that  the  claspers  are  quite  distinct. 
The  matter  must,  I  think,  remain  undecided  until  both  species  or 
forms  have  been  bred  from  ova. 

Hesperia  centaurece. — I  disturbed  one  fine  example  of  this  species 
from  the  bog  at  Mattmar  on  June  6th,  and  obtained  half  a  dozen 
others  at  Abisko ;  these  were  taken  on  the  grassy  drier  portions  of 
some  swamps  on  the  east  side  of  the  Abiskojokk,  about  two  kilo- 


NEW    SPECIES    OF   BOARMIIN^    FROM   FORMOSA.  69 

metres  back  from  the  lake,  and  on  the  rising  ground  (beyond  the 
forest)  on  the  way  to  the  Lapp  Porten.  The  first  specimens  were 
taken  on  June  25th,  and  the  last  on  June  30th. 

H.  andromedcB. — A  "Skipper"  netted  on  the  swamp  between 
Abiskojokk  and  Bjorkleiden  on  June  23rd,  and  supposed  at  the  time 
to  be  H.  centaurea,  and  two  others  taken  with  specimens  of  that 
species  on  June  30th,  near  the  Lapp  Porten,  turn  out  to  be  un- 
doubted examples  of  this  species. 

Augiades  comma  var.  catena. — This  species  was  common  on  the 
steep  right  bank  of  the  Abiskojokk  and  on  the  banks  of  the  tributary 
flowing  into  it  on  the  west  side,  which  was  worked  by  Mr.  Eowland- 
Brown  in  1906.  It  was  first  seen  on  July  2nd.  This  brook,  on  the 
banks  of  which  are  found  certainly  more  butterflies  than  on  any 
other  spot  near  Abiskojokk,  is  the  first  one  on  the  left  bank  above 
the  railway  bridge ;  it  can  be  seen  from  the  hotel,  high  up  in  its 
course  as  a  waterfall. 

Amongst  the  Heterocera  not  a  great  number  of  species  were  seen 
at  x\bisko.  There  were  a  good  many  Geometrse,  chiefly  Acidalia 
fumata,  Larentia  casiata,  Goremia  minutata,  and  Emmelesia  albulata. 
Of  night-flying  Noctuae  I  did  not  see  a  single  specimen  ;  but  amongst 
the  day-fliers  the  beautiful  little  Anarta  melaleuca  was  to  be  startled 
off  rocks  commonly,  A.  cordigera  and  A.  melanopa  also  occurred,  and 
Plusia  hochemvarthi  was  not  uncommon  on  the  banks  of  the  tribu- 
tary of  the  Abiskojokk.  On  July  12th  I  found  Zygana  exulans  var. 
vanadis,  a  fine  form,  abundant  on  the  high  ground  approaching  the 
Lapp  Porten. 

Addendum. — Since  writing  the  above  my  attention  has  been 
drawn  to  the  fact  that,  in  addition  to  the  articles  on  Scandinavian 
Lepidoptera  enumerated  on  pp.357  and  358,  vol.  xliv.,  there  is  one 
in  Ent.  Mo.  Mag.  xxxvii.  p.  24,  by  K.  J.  Morton,  F.E.S.,  entitled 
"  Trichoptera,  Neuroptera,  Planipennia,  Odonata,  and  Rhopalo- 
cera,  collected  in  Norway  in  the  summer  of  1900." 

Youlgreave,  South  Croydon  :  August  21st,  1911. 


NEW     SPECIES    OF    BOARMIIN^    FROM    FORMOSA. 

By  a.  E.  Wileman,  F.E.S. 

Ectropis  brevifasciata,  sp.  n. 
<?  .  Pale  brown  finely  sprinkled  with  darker,  a  large  purplish 
brown  patch  or  short  band  on  each  wing.  Fore  wings  with  four 
transverse  lines,  the  first  preceded  by  a  purplish  brown  cloud  towards 
dorsum,  and  the  third  indicated  by  black  dots  on  the  veins ;  the 
second  line  purplish  brown,  indistinct ;  the  fourth  line  (subterminal) 
pale,  wavy,  edged  with  purphsh  brown  below  the  costa,  above  the 
middle  and  towards  dorsum  ;  lower  half  of  space  between  third  and 
fourth  lines  almost  entirely  filled  in  with  purplish  brown.  Hind 
wings  with  three  transverse  lines,  the  first  dark  brown,  indistinct ; 
the  second  dark  brown,  dentate  except  towards  costa  where  it  is 


70  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

represented  by  dots  on  the  veins ;  third  line  (subterminal)  pale, 
wavy,  indistinct  towards  costa,  edged  with  dark  brown  towards 
dorsum ;  lower  half  of  space  between  second  and  third  lines  partly 
filled  in  with  purplish  brown.  Under  sides  paler,  the  purplish  brown 
patches  of  upper  side  indicated  in  fuscous. 

Expanse,  40  millim. 

Collection  number,  1590. 

A  male  specimen  from  Kanshirei,  July,  1908. 

Ectropis  trilineata,  sp.  n. 

Fore  wings  pale  brown,  mottled  and  suffused  with  darker ;  ante- 
medial  line  black,  sinuous  ;  discoidal  mark  black ;  medial  line  black, 
deeply  excurved  beyond  cell,  obtusely  angled  above  dorsum ;  post- 
medial  line  black,  slightly  angled  below  costa  and  elbowed  opposite 
cell ;  space  between  medial  and  postmedial  lines  pale  ;  subterminal 
line  pale,  wavy,  indistinct,  inwardly  edged  with  blackish  on  the 
costa,  followed  by  a  blackish  cloud  about  middle ;  terminal  line 
black,  interrupted ;  fringes  ochreous  brown,  marked  with  blackish. 
Hind  wings  whitish,  powdered  with  brownish  ;  discoidal  dot  brownish ; 
ante-  and  postmedial  lines  brownish,  only  distinct  on  the  dorsal 
area ;  terminal  line  blackish,  interrupted ;  fringes  pale  brown.  Under 
side  rather  paler ;  basal  area  of  fore  wings  up  to  medial  line  suffused 
with  fuscous  ;  postmedial  line  of  hind  wings  more  distinct. 

Expanse  32  millim. 

Collection  number,  810. 

A  male  specimen  from  Arizan  (7300  ft.),  September,  1908. 

Near  E.  nigrilinearia.  Leech,  from  Western  China. 

Aids  pleheia,  sp.  n. 

(?  .  Fore  wings  pale  greyish,  finely  powdered  with  black,  basal 
and  medial  areas  slightly  tinged  with  ochreous  ;  costa  paler,  striated 
and  spotted  with  black ;  antemedial  line  blackish,  originating  in  first 
black  spot,  angled  below  costa,  marked  with  black  on  median 
nervure ;  medial  line  black  towards  costa,  uniting  the  discoidal  mark 
with  second  costal  spot;  postmedial  line,  fi'om  third  costal  spot, 
blackish,  serrate,  outwardly  edged  with  clear  ground  colour,  indistinct 
towards  dorsum  ;  subterminal  line  whitish,  crenulate,  bent  inwards 
at  vein  four,  inwardly  shaded  and  clouded  with  blackish  ;  terminal 
line  indicated  by  black  dots  between  the  veins ;  fringes  whitish, 
marked  with  dark  grey  at  the  ends  of  the  veins.  Hind  wings  agree 
in  colour  with  fore  wings,  but  the  ochreous  tinge  is  fainter  and  con- 
fined to  medial  area  only ;  three  blackish  transverse  lines,  the  second 
more  distinct  towards  dorsum,  the  thii'd  corresponding  with  the  sub- 
terminal  of  fore  wings  ;  terminal  line  black,  crenulate ;  fringes  dark 
grey,  paler  tipped.  Under  side  whitish,  the  margins,  especially  of 
fore  wings,  clouded  with  blackish :  all  wings  with  black  discoidal 
dot  and  blackish  postmedial  line,  the  latter  dotted  with  black  on  the 
veins. 

Expanse,  42  millim. 

Collection  number,  1589  a. 


NEW    SPECIES    OF    BOARMIIN^.    FROM    FORMOSA.  71 

One  male  from  Arizan  (7300  ft.),  July,  1908,  and  another  (the 
type)  from  Kantaizan  (7500  ft.),  May,  1909.  In  the  Arizan 
specimen  the  fore  wings  are  less  powdered  and  clouded  with 
black  than  the  type. 

Aids  formosana,  sp.  n. 

Fore  wings  pale  brown,  powdered  and  striated  with  darker 
brown  ;  costa  striated  with  dark  brown  ;  antemedial  and  medial  lines 
black  at  extremities,  but  indistinct  between  ;  postmedial  line  black, 
dentate,  outwardly  edged  with  ochreous  ;  subterminal  line  pale, 
wavy,  edged  inwardly  with  black  at  costa  above  middle  and  towards 
dorsum  ;  two  series  of  black  dots  beyond,  one  of  which  is  on  the 
termen ;  the  dorsum  is  tinged  with  ochreous,  and  there  are  faint 
streaks  of  the  same  colour  on  or  between  the  veins  from  postmedial 
line  to  termen.  Hind  wings  whitish  brown,  basal  third  thickly 
sprinkled  with  dark  brown,  except  on  costal  area ;  antemedial  line 
blackish,  rather  broad ;  medial  hne  blackish,  dentate,  outwardly 
edged  with  ochreous ;  postmedial  line  blackish,  wavy,  outwardly 
edged  with  the  ground  colour ;  area  beyond  medial  line  heavily 
sprinkled  with  dark  brown ;  double  series  of  black  dots  as  on  fore 
wings.  Under  side  pale  brown  suffused  with  fuscous,  costa  striated 
with  dark  brown ;  all  the  wings  have  a  black  discal  spot,  that  on  the 
fore  wings  rather  large  ;  postmedial  line  on  fore  wings  represented 
by  black  marks  on  the  veins ;  a  blackish  cloud- like  subterminal 
band  ;  medial  line  on  hind  wings  blackish,  dotted  with  black  towards 
costa. 

Expanse,  64  mm. 

Collection  number,  1537. 

A  male  specimen  from  Arizan  (7300  ft.),  August,  1908. 

Allied  to  A.  roboraria,  Schiff. 

Aids  obliquisigna,  sp,  n. 

(J  .  Fore  wings  whitish,  rather  silky,  powdered  and  clouded  with 
brown,  especially  on  basal  and  terminal  thirds ;  antemedial  hne 
black,  only  distinct  on  costa,  median  nervure,  and  towards  dorsum, 
where  it  joins  an  oblique  black  streak  ;  postmedial  hne  black,  dentate 
from  costa  to  vein  five,  thence  undulate  to  dorsum,  where  it  termi- 
nates in  a  black  quadrate  spot ;  subterminal  line  dusky,  indistinct. 
Hind  wings  agree  in  colour  with  fore  wings ;  three  transverse  lines,  the 
first  and  third  brown,  diffuse ;  the  second  black,  very  narrow  towards 
costa,  broadened  on  dorsum,  followed  by  a  brown  shade-hke  band. 
Under  side  pale  fuscous,  silky;  blackish  discoidal  mark  and  post- 
medial  line  on  all  the  wings. 

Expanse,  54  millim. 

Collection  number,  795. 

A  male  specimen  from  Rantaizan  (7500  ft.).  May,  1909. 

Allied  to  A.  roboraria,  Schiff. 

Aids  nigronotata,  sp.  n. 
^ .     Fore   wings   grey-brown  with   slight   reddish  tinge ;   basal 
band   black,    interrupted   at   vein   one ;    antemedial    line    blackish, 


72  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

marked  with  black  on  costa  and  median  nervm*e,  connected  with  a 
quadrate  black  spot  on  dorsum  ;  discoidal  mark  black,  linear,  black 
dot  above  it  on  the  costa ;  postmedial  line  blackish,  sinuous,  marked 
with  black  on  the  veins  ;  subterminal  line  pale  but  indistinct,  a  con- 
spicuous black  spot  on  inner  edge  at  vein  five,  and  some  smaller 
black  marks  towards  costa ;  black  lunules  on  termen  connected  by 
thin  black  line.  Hind  wings  whitish,  terminal  third  suffused  with 
brownish ;  discoidal  spot  black ;  postmedial  line  indicated  by  black 
dots  on  the  veins  ;  tornal  half  of  dorsum  greyish  marked  with  black. 
Under  side  whitish,  slightly  ochreous  tinged,  except  on  dorsal  area  of 
the  fore  wings  ;  markings  similar  to  those  of  upper  side  on  the  hind 
wings ;  on  the  fore  wings  the  terminal  area  is  blackish  from  costa  to 
vein  two,  enclosing  a  spot  of  ground  colour  between  veins  three  and 
four,  the  postmedial  line  represented  by  black  bars  on  the  veins. 
Expanse,  40-44  millim. 

Collection  number,  792. 

One  male  specimen  from  Arizan  (7300  ft.),  September,  1906, 
and  one  from  Eantaizan  (7500  ft.).  May,  1909. 

The  species  closely  approaches  A.  semialba,  Moore. 

Aids  (?)  costhnacula,  sp.  n. 

Head,  thorax,  and  abdomen  dark  purplish  brown ;  abdomen 
slightly  ochreous  between  segments ;  anal  tuft  ochreous.  Fore 
wings  dark  purplish  brown,  slightly  freckled  with  ochreous  on  costal 
area  of  basal  two-thirds  ;  ante-  and  postmedial  lines  indistinct,  the 
latter  indicated  by  a  large  ochreous  spot  on  the  costa,  and  a  smaller 
one  on  dorsum ;  subterminal  line  ochreous,  most  distinct  on  costa 
and  dorsum  ;  discoidal  mark  black  ;  fringes  ochreous,  marked  with 
dark  purplish  towards  tornus.  Hind  wings  dark  purplish  brown  ; 
basal  third  flecked  with  ochreous  ;  medial  third  ochreous,  flecked  and 
mottled  with  purplish  brown,  especially  towards  the  costa  ;  trans- 
verse lines  indistinct ;  discoidal  mark  blackish  ;  fringes  flecked  with 
ochreous  towards  tornus.  Under  side  similar  to  the  upper  side,  but 
the  abdomen  is  pale  ochreous,  ringed  with  purplish  brown. 

Expanse,  40  millim. 

Collection  number,  1591. 

A  male  specimen  from  Sui  sha  (2000  ft.),  July,  1903. 

Apophyga  nigrofusa,  sp.  n. 
Fore  wings  whitish,  suffused  with  blackish  on  basal  two-thirds, 
sprinkled  and  mottled  with  brown  and  ochreous  brown  on  outer 
third  ;  subbasal  and  antemedial  lines  darker,  but  not  clearly  de- 
fined ;  postmedial  line  black,  incurved  from  costa  to  vein  six,  where 
it  is  angled,  thence  oblique  to  dorsum,  above  which  it  is  bent  in- 
wards ;  space  between  postmedial  and  dark  basal  area  of  the  ground 
colour  finely  flecked  with  brown  ;  subterminal  line  black,  irregularly 
waved  and  edged  with  white  ;  a  blackish  cloud  on  termen  below 
apex,  and  one  on  the  inner  edge  of  subterminal  line  about  middle. 
Hind  wings  whitish,  fuscous  tinged,  sparingly  powdered  with 
brownish  ;  discoidal  spot  and  postmedial  line  blackish,  the  latter 
most  distinct  on  the  dorsal  area ;  traces  of  a  dusky  subterminal  line  ; 


RHYACIONIA    (RBTINIa)    PURDEYI    AND    R.    LOG^A.  73 

fringes  ochreous  brown,  preceded  by  interrupted  black  line.  Under 
side  paler,  markings  of  upper  side  faintly  shown  on  fore  wings. 

Expanse,  56  millim. 

Collection  number,  806  b. 

One  example  of  each  sex  from  Arizan,  August,  1908. 

The  female  has  the  basal  area  of  fore  wings  almost  devoid  of 
scales.  On  the  hind  wings  the  discoidal  spot  and  postmedial 
line  are  indistinct,  but  there  is  a  dusky  spot  on  terminal  area 
between  veins  four  and  six. 

Arichanna  (?)  nigrifasciata,  sp.  n. 

Fore  wings  pale  ochreous,  suffused  with  olive  ;  veins  flecked  with 
white ;  antemedial  line  black,  interrupted  above  and  below  median 
nervure,  outwardly  edged  with  white,  and  followed  by  a  black  band 
which  is  broadest  on  dorsum  ;  postmedial  line  black  edged  with 
white,  broad  on  costa,  and  represented  by  dots  on  veins  three  to  five ; 
subterminal  line  white,  wavy,  interrupted,  black  spots  on  inner  edge 
at  each  extremity  and  between  veins  four  and  six  ;  termen  clouded 
with  black  towards  apex  and  tornus.  Hind  wings  pale  ochreous, 
finely  flecked  with  black,  inclining  to  greyish  on  basal  area  ;  discoidal 
spot  and  medial  line  blackish,  the  latter  dotted  with  black  on  the 
veins,  and  faintly  edged  with  whitish  ;  subterminal  band  indicated 
by  a  black  mark  on  costa,  a  large  black  spot  between  veins  six  and 
four,  and  a  black  curved  streak  from  vein  three  to  dorsum  near 
tornus  ;  black  dots  on  termen  between  the  veins.  Under  side  similar 
but  paler. 

Expanse,  39  millim. 

Collection  number,  804. 

A  female  specimen  from  Arizan  (7300  ft.),  August,  1908. 

Gnophos  punctivenaria  taiwana,  var.  nov. 

Formosan  specimens  are  rather  darker  in  marking  than  those 
from  Western  China.  The  space  between  ante-  and  postmedial  lines 
is  whiter,  especially  towards  the  costa  ;  subterminal  line  whiter  and 
more  distinct. 

Collection  number,  1589. 

Two  male  specimens  from  Rantaizan  (7500  ft.),  May,  1909. 


RHYACIONIA     (RETINIA)     PURDEYI,    Durrant,    and 

R.    LOOMA,    Durrant. 

By  Richard  South. 

In  the  *  Entomologist's  Monthly  Magazine  '  for  November, 
1911  (vol.  xlvii.  p.  252),  Mr.  H.  Durrant  describes  two  new 
species  of  Rhyacionia,  Hiibn.  {Retinia,  Guen,).  The  specimens 
of  R.  purdeyi,  eight  in  number,  were  submitted  for  identification 
by  the  Hon.  N.  Charles  Rothschild.     They  were  taken  at  Folke^ 


74  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

stone  in  July,  1911,  by  Mr.  W.  Purdey,  who  has  very  kindly  pre- 
sented four  specimens,  including  the  type,  to  the  British  Museum. 
This  novelty,  we  are  told,  rests  among  needles  of  the  Scots  fir 
{Piniis  sylvestris)  in  the  daytime,  but  about  dusk  it  flies  from 
branch  to  branch. 

The  Rhyacionia  described  as  logcBa  is  the  species  from  Scot- 
land that  has  long  been  doing  duty  for  "  Betinia"  duplana, 
Hiibn.,  in  our  collections,  and  of  these  so-called  "  duplana  " 
Mr.  Durrant  has  examined  some  fifty  examples.  Curiously, 
the  specimen  figured  as  duplana  (Barrett,  *  British  Lepidoptera,' 
xi.  p.  40,  pi.  476,  fig.  2)  has  now  become  the  type  of  logcea, 
Durrant. 

In  general  appearance  it  is  not  unlike  a  small  R.  sylvestrana, 
but  "  the  ferruginous  apex  of  the  wing  and  the  slightly  different 
direction  of  the  fascise  "  distinguish  it  from  that  species. 

In  connection  with  the  change  in  generic  name  introduced  by 
Mr.  Durrant  in  his  paper,  the  following  extracts  and  remarks 
may  be  permissible  : — 

On  the  opening  page  of  vol.  iv.  of  *  Illustrations  of  British 
Entomology,  Haustellata'  (1834r),  Stephens  remarks,  in  a  foot- 
note : — "  I  propose  to  give  at  the  end  of  this  volume  a  synopsis 
of  the  indigenous  Lepidoptera,  agreeably  to  the  arrangement 
and  nomenclature  of  Hiibner  in  his  *  Verzeichniss  bekanter 
Schmetterlinge,'  1816,  whose  arrangement,  however,  appears  to 
be  less  dependent  upon  structure  than  upon  the  variations  of 
marking  and  colour  :  his  groups  are  therefore  in  many  instances 
very  artificial :  nevertheless  as  his  work  has  hitherto  only  been 
occasionally,  and  not  in  all  cases  correctly,  referred  to,  I  conceive 
an  abstract  of  its  contents,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  British 
species,  as  divided  and  named,  nearly  twenty  years  since,  may 
be  useful." 

In  his  treatment  of  the  Tortricidae,  &c.,  Stephens  used  most 
of  the  '  Verzeichniss '  names,  in  a  subgeneric  sense,  but  the 
result  was  not  always  happy,  and  sometimes  misleading,  as  the 
following  critical  remarks  by  Fernald  concerning  the  genus 
Rhyacionia,  Hiibn.,  will  illustrate  : — 

''Rhyacionia,  Hb.,  p.  379  [Verz.  bek.  Schm.] ,  with  five  species 
under  it  {hastana  Hb.  (non  L.);  buoliana  Schiff. ;  gemmana  Hb. ; 
turionana  Hb. ;  and  ministrana  L.).  On  page  392  in  the  same  work, 
Hiibner  established  the  genus  Eulia,  ^^ith  ministrana  L.  the  only 
species  and  type,  thus  eliminating  this  species  from  Rhyacionia 
Hb.  The  second  and  third  names,  buoliana  and  gemmana, 
represent  one  species,  so  that  there  are  only  three  species  left 
from  which  to  select  the  type.  Stephens,  in  his  '  Illustrations,' 
page  178,  adopted  Rhyacionia  for  a  subdivision  of  the  genus 
Ortlwtcenia,  with  turionana  {buoliana  Schiff.),  gemmana  Hb.,  and 
bentleyana  Don.  under  it,  but  on  page  180  he  adopted  Rhy- 
acionia Hb.  as  a  genus,  with  hastianah,  the  only  species  under  it. 


RHYACIONIA    (RETINIA)    PURDEYI    AND    R.    LOG^A.  75 

111  accordance  with  Mertoii  Rule  No.  48,  we  should  accept  this 
last.  This,  however,  is  impossible,  as  the  hastiana  of  Stephens 
is  neither  the  true  Linngean  species  of  that  name  nor  hastana 
Hb.,  but  is  ulmana  Hb.  (see  Stephens's  List,  p.  48).*  Hlibner 
supposed  his  hastana  was  the  Linneean  hastiana,  as  shown  in  his 
'  Verzeichniss,'  p.  379,  and  also  in  his  *  Systematisch-alpha- 
betisches  Verzeichniss,'  page  61,  1822.  As  he  spelled  his 
hastana  different  from  the  way  that  Linnaeus  spelled  his  hastiana, 
the  two  names  have  been  retained  for  these  two  species.  We  are 
obliged  therefore,  as  the  Stephens  type  of  Ehyacionia,  on 
page  180,  is  a  species  not  given  originally  under  Rhyacionia,  to 
reject  this  and  take  the  restriction  on  page  178,  where  turionana 
Steph.  (non  Hb.)  huoliana  Schiff.  ;  gemmana  Hb.  (a  synonym  of 
the  same),  and  hentleyana  Don.  {schultziana  F.)  are  the  only 
species  given,  and  as  the  last  was  not  given  by  Hiibner,  huoliana 
Schiff.  becomes  the  type  of  the  genus.  Lord  Walsingham  names 
this  same  species  as  the  t3^pe  in  the  '  Annals  and  Magazine  of 
Natural  History'  (7),  vol.  v.  page  124,  1900"  (Fernald,  'The 
Genera  of  the  Tortricidse  and  their  Types,'  pp.  9-10). 

Buoliana,  Schiff.,  has  been  generally  accepted  as  the  type  of 
Retinia,  Guen^e  (1845) ;  the  latter  name,  however,  will  have  to 
be  merged  in  Rhyacionia,  Hiibn.  Meyrick  (*  Handbook  of 
British  Lepidoptera,'  p.  471)  places  buoliana  and  its  allies  in 
Evetria,  Hiibn.,  but  previous  authors,  by  removing  to  other 
genera  four  of  the  five  species  standing  under  this  generic  name 
in  the  '  Verzeichniss,'  left  only  tedella,  Clerck,  and  this  species 
therefore  became,  automatically,  the  type  of  Evetria,  Hiibn. 
According  to  Fernald,  Evetria  -^  Eucosma,  Hiibn.,  the  type  of 
which  is  circulana,  Hiibn.,  a  North  American  species  con- 
generic with  tedella,  Clerck.  The  last-named  species,  it  may  be 
mentioned,  is  referred  by  Meyrick  to  Ejnblema,  Hiibn.,  the  type 
of  which  was  fixed  by  Stephens  as  foenella,  L.,  but  as  this  also 
appears  to  be  congeneric  with  circidana,  Hiibn.,  Epiblema  will  be 
a  synonym  of  Eucosma. 

Type  fixing  by  elimination,  as  exemplified  in  the  cases  of 
Rhyacionia  and  Evetria  referred  to  above,  is  a  process  resorted  to 
when  the  type  of  a  genus  has  not  been  indicated  by  the  original 
author.  As  we  have  seen,  this  method  of  ascertaining  a  type  is 
not  so  simple  as  it  may  look. 

Frequent  name  changing,  whether  generic  or  specific,  is  of 
course  troublesome,  not  to  say  perplexing,  but  it  appears  to  be 
inevitable.  The  modern  trend  of  entomological  action  has  been 
not  only  to  uphold  priority  but  to  enforce  it,  so  that  in  the 
present  day  the  "law"  is  almost  universally  recognized  by  syste- 
matists.  Some  there  are,  certainly,  who  advocate  exceptions 
and  restrictions,  but  if  we  are  ever  to  have  anything  approaching 

*  '  List  of  the  Specimens  of  British  Animals  in  the  Collection  of  the 
British  Museum.'     Part  x.  Lepidoptera  (1852). — R.  S. 


76  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

finality  in  nomenclature,  strict  priority,  without  any  qualification 
whatever,  must  prevail.  There  can  be  no  question  that  the  only 
method  of  securing  even  approximate  stability  is  to  ascertain  with 
certainty  not  only  the  earliest  legitimate  names  of  species,  but  the 
true  generic  position  of  species  in  classification.  Thanks  to  the 
untiring  investigations  of  many  able  specialists,  the  time  is 
probably  not  very  far  distant  when  we  may  be  able  to  feel  con- 
fident that,  in  the  majority  of  cases  at  least,  the  last  word  has 
been  written  or  said  on  both  these  important  points,  and  that 
rock-bottom  in  such  matters  has  been  reached. 


BY    THE     WAY. 

"  Hengistbury  Head,  as  I  have  known  it  and  cared  for  it,  is 
at  an  end.  .  .  .  Hengistbury  Head  and  the  bit  of  wild  and  wet 
ground  between  the  estuary  of  the  river  and  the  strange  bastions 
and  embankments  of  the  great  mass  on  the  land  side  have  been 
sold.  ...  It  is  to  be  developed  and  improved.  I  foresee  a  row 
of  new  bungalows  ...  a  golf  links  .  .  .  the  Head  itself  crowned 
by  a  great  hotel  .  .  .  Hengistbury  will  so  soon  be  harnessed  to 
civilization  that  the  wild  life  of  it  is  no  more  a  thing  to  be 
secretive  about.  Its  Natural  History  period  is  over  .  .  .  There 
is  no  other  spot  from  the  Old  Harry  Kocks  to  Hayling  so  alluring 
to  those  who  value  wild  life  in  a  wild  scene  as  the  great  *  ham  ' 
immediately  under  the  headland,  and  the  flats  and  swamps 
there — the  tract  that  belongs  half  to  the  land  and  half  to  the 
water."  "  I  have  never  been  to  this  place  without  seeing  some- 
thing worth  remembering,"  says  Mr.  George  Dewar  in  the 
'Morning  Post,'  on  the  6th  ult.,  nor  have  we;  and  we  shall 
deplore  its  loss  to  us,  "  when  the  new  age  begins  there  this  year 
or  next."  All  the  Christchurch  records  of  the  fine  maritime 
earwig,  Labidura  riparia,  come  from  the  base  of  this  bluff,  where 
we  passed  a  lovely  afternoon  last  June.  Latterly  it  seems  to 
occur  in  greater  numbers  further  west. 


The  social  supper  given  by  "  The  President  of  the  Entomo- 
logical Society  and  other  entomologists,"  at  the  Holborn 
Eestaurant  on  the  16th,  was  a  brilliant  success.  The  one  point 
to  be  aimed  at  was  to  perpetuate  the  delightful  annual  gatherings 
of  entomologists  of  every  class,  exactly  on  the  lines  adopted  for 
nearly  thirty  years  by  Mr.  G.  H.  Verrall  ;  whether  this  were 
achieved  by  a  single  individual,  by  a  few  persons  inviting  the 
rest,  or  by  ticket,  was  entirely  immaterial,  and  the  middle  course 
has  been  adopted  for  the  first  year.  The  accident  of  Mr.  Morice 
taking  the  chair  forms  no  precedent  for  future  Presidents  of  the 
Society,  with  which  and  the  Entomological  Club  the  present 
arrangement  has  no  official  connection. 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  77 

At  a  representative  gathering  of  subscribers  on  January  3rd, 
ways  and  means  were  discussed,  and  it  was  found  that  the  funds 
ah-eady  amounted  to  sufficient  to  entertain  fully  the  usual 
number  of  guests  ;  and,  in  fact,  a  hundred  and  twenty  could  be 
seated.  It  was  admitted  that  further  subscriptions  would  come 
in  when  the  movement  became  more  widely  known ;  those  present 
were  Kev.  F.  D.  Morice  (Chair),  Collin,  Waterhouse,  Champion, 
Sich,  Col.  Yerbury,  Gibbs,  Kowland-Brown,  Jones,  Prof.  Image, 
Morley,  Rev.  G.  Wheeler,  Adkin,  Dr.  Jordan  and  Turner. 
Neither  a  suggestion  for  forming  a  new  social  society  for  the 
perpetuation  of  the  function,  nor  another  for  the  extension  of 
the  Club  limits,  met  with  any  support.  It  might  be  pointed  out 
that  special  care  should  in  future  be  taken  to  invite  foreign 
and  colonial  entomologists  temporarily  residing  in  England. 
We  failed  to  see  either  Maxwell  Lefroy  or  N.  B.  Kinnear 
among  the  nearly  one  hundred  who  assembled  on  the  16th 
to  drink  standing  and  in  silence  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  G.  H. 
Verrall.  

The  acting  Government  Entomologist,  Mr.  C.  French,  gave 
us  an  interesting  account  and  plate  of  the  "  Parasitic  Wasp," 
Megalyra  fasciipennis,  in  the  December  number  of  the  '  Journal 
of  Agriculture  of  Victoria,'  pp.  818-9.  He  says  they  prey  upon 
Longicorn  Beetles  and  Buprestids,  and  the  figured  cross-section 
of  damaged  timber  shows  how  destructive  these  insects  are. 
Megalyra  is  not  a  true  Ichneumonid,  and  the  genus  is  now  con- 
sidered as  a  distinct  family,  well  represented  in  the  British 
Museum  by  three  or  four  of  the  few  known  kinds  from  Queens- 
land, Victoria,  South  Australia,  and  Tasmania.  Mr.  W.  W. 
Froggatt  has  well  monographed  this  small  family  in  the  Trans. 
Linn.  Soc.  N.  S.  Wales  for  1906. 


NOTES    AND     OBSERVATIONS. 

Hespeeia  melotis,  Dup.  (Hypoleucos,  Led.). — Being  at  the 
moment  engaged  in  an  attempt  to  arrange  the  Western  Palaearctic 
Hesperiids,  I  have  on  many  occasions  availed  myself  of  the  exhaus- 
tive accounts  of  the  British  species  of  this  difficult  group  given  in 
the  late  J.  W.  Tutt's  '  Natural  History  of  British  Butterflies.'  To 
the  short  article  announcing  Dr.  Reverdin's  discoveries  relative  to 
H.  inalvcB  and  H.  malvoides,  I  added  {antea,  p.  7)  that  he  had  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  H.  melotis,  Dup.,  and  H.  hypoleucos,  Led., 
were  one  and  the  same  true  species— a  conclusion  which  I  should 
have  had  no  doubt  whatever  about  accepting,  had  not  Tutt  described 
them  separately  (Op.  cit.  vol.  i.  pp.  229-230)  as  varieties  of  malvce. 
The  notice  of  melotis  ends  :  "It  occurs  in  May  in  the  Tyrol  and  in 
Switzerland,"  and  the  author  proceeds:  "  We  are  inclined  to  refer  to 
Duponchel's  variety  {sic)  only  those  dark  examples  from  the  eastern 


78  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

Alps  (the  most  brilliantly  marked  form  of  the  species  found  in  Central 
Europe) ;  S07ne  of  the  finest  of  these  that  ive  have  seen  came  from 
Locarno  .  .  .  ."  Now  melotis,  or  hyj^oleucos,  occurs  in  Andalusia, 
where  Rambur  found  and  described  it  (Cat.  Lepid.  And.  p.  76,  1858), 
and  in  the  island  of  Milo,  probably  other  islands  of  the  eastern  Archi- 
pelago, and  in  Syria ;  and  I  was  vainly  endeavouring  to  reconcile  with 
it  Tutt's  var.  (et  ab.)  melotis  "  from  the  Tyrol  and  Switzerland 
(Duponchel)"  when  I  received  an  unexpected  and  surprising  solution 
of  the  problem  from  Dr.  Reverdin,  to  whom  I  am  indeed  greatly 
indebted  for  the  information.  The  translator  of  the  original  descrip- 
tion faithfully  transcribed  the  notice  of  melotis  in  Duponchel's 
"  Hist.  Nat."  Supp.  i.  p.  257,  down  to  the  bottom  of  that  particular 
page.  He  then  inadvertently  turned  over  the  following  two  pages, 
with  the  intervening  plate  xlii.,  and  copied — "  It  occurs  in  May  in 
the  Tyrol  and  Switzerland "  from  the  concluding  sentence  of  an 
account  of  H.  alveus !  I  can  only  suppose  that  Tutt  himself  never 
examined  Duponchel's  figure  of  the  species,  or  the  series  of  H. 
melotis  {hypoleucos) — some  of  the  specimens  Lederer's  own — in  the 
South  Kensington  collection  ;  perhaps  even  they  were  not  available 
when  he  wrote  his  article  on  malvce  and  its  vars.  However,  Dr. 
Blachier,  of  Geneva,  sometime  since  detected  this  remarkable  over- 
sight, and  it  would  now  appear  necessary,  therefore,  not  only  to 
strike  out  var.  malvoides,  Blw.  and  Ed. ;  var.  aljnna,  Tutt ;  and  var.jj^re- 
naica,  Tutt,  as  varieties  of  malvce,  but  to  dissociate  melotis,  Dup.,  and 
hypoleucos,  Led.  from  any  such  immediate  connection  with  our  one 
British  Hesiieria.  Further,  allowing  for  the  wide  separation  of 
Duponchel's  (and  Lederer's)  melotis  in  the  Greek  Archipelago,  and 
Rambur's  hypoleucos  in  Southern  Spain  ;  a  break  of  continuity  para- 
lelled  in  the  case  of  Zegris  eup)heme,  South  Russia,  and  (var.  meridio- 
nalis)  Andalusia ;  and  Hippiarchia  hippolyte,  Sierra  Nevada  and  the 
Urals  ;  the  slight  differences  in  the  descriptions  of  melotis  and  hypo- 
leucos by  their  respective  authors  amount  to  no  more  than  might  be 
expected  of  regional  forms  of  the  same  species  occurring  in  such 
widely  distant  localities.  How  Tutt  squared  his  Locarno  examples 
with  Duponchel's  melotis  I  do  not  know  ;  at  all  events  Duponchel's 
types  were  not  derived  from  North  Italy  or  Switzerland — that  is 
clear. — H.  Rowland-Brown  ;  Harrow-Weald,  January  15th,  1912. 

Metopius  dentatus.  Fab.,  and  Sphinctus  serotinus,  Grav. 
(Bred). — Thanks  to  Mr.  Claude  Morley's  newly  published  volume  of 
Ichneumons,  I  have  identified  these  scarce  ones  amongst  others  bred 
at  various  times,  now  in  my  collection.  When  collecting  at  Roman 
Bridge,  North  Wales,  during  August,  1902,  I  came  upon  a  number 
of  full  grown  larvae  of  Lasiocampa  quercus.  These  soon  pupated 
after  my  return  home,  and  in  the  following  spring  five  male  specimens 
of  Metopius  dentatus  and  three  Sphinctus  serotinus  emerged  from  the 
cocoons  ?  As  it  seemed  odd  to  rear  such  different  looking  ichneu- 
mons, I  fortunately  kept  them,  not  knowing  what  they  were.  Since 
reading  Mr.  Morley's  account  of  their  habits,  I  begin  to  doubt  my 
notes  and  to  think  it  possible  some  cocoons  of  Limacodcs  testudo  may 
have  been  in  the  same  breeding  cage,  as  I  find  I  took  some  larvae  at 
Westerham  in  1902.     As  these  ichneumons  all  emerged  within  a  few 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  79 

days,  I  certainly  then  thought  that  they  all  came  from  L.  quercus 
cocoons,  but  I  may  have  been  mistaken.  One  specimen  of  serotinus 
has  the  base  of  segments  of  abdomen  black,  with  apices  only  yellow. 
— E.  B.  Nevinson  ;  Moorland,  Cobham. 

[Only  seven  specimens  of  Splimctus  were  known  as  British,  and 
such  records  as  Mr.  Nevinson's  go  to  show  how  little  incentive  is 
necessary  to  induce  our  entomological  observers  to  record  species 
hitherto  considered  of  the  greatest  rarity,  with  the  result  that 
knowledge  of  the  neglected  groups  is  instantly  broadened.  No 
doubt  can,  I  think,  be  entertained  that  the  above  examples  emerged 
from  Limacodes,  its  only  known  host;  Sphinctus  is  a  solitary  parasite, 
and  L.  quercus  seems  too  large  a  host  for  its  comfort. — C.  M.] 

Sphinx  convolvuli  and  Acherontia  atropos  at  Eastbourne 
IN  1911. — Sphinx  convolvnli  appears  to  have  been  fairly  common  at 
Eastbourne  during  September  of  last  'year ;  my  own  acquaintance 
with  the  species  consisted  in  finding  a  very  worn  specimen  at  rest 
on  a  fence  near  the  sea  on  the  morning  of  the  18th,  but  my  friend, 
Mr.  Sharp,  informs  me  that  two  were  found  at  rest  on  the  beach  by 
the  bathing  machine  proprietor  and  brought  to  him  ;  one  was  taken 
flying  over  flowers  of  tobacco  plant,  and  another  from  a  street  lamp 
near  his  house.  Of  six  that  fell  to  the  lot  of  another  collector,  three 
were  taken  at  rest  about  the  roadways,  and  one  from  a  sheet  hung 
out  on  a  clothes  line  to  dry  ;  while  yet  another  half  dozen  are 
accounted  for  by  Mr.  Chartris,  most  of  them  taken  at  rest  in  various 
parts  of  the  town  ;  he  also  took  two  larvse,  the  first  found  crawling 
in  the  roadway,  and  the  other  by  searching  the  food-plant  in  the 
vicinity,  which  was  found  to  be  much  eaten  ;  one  of  them  went  to 
earth  but  failed  to  pupate,  the  other  was  given  by  him  to  a  friend, 
but  how  it  fared  is  not  known.  An  example  of  Acherontia  atropos 
was  found  among  some  boards  in  the  town  in  October  last  while 
they  were  being  removed,  and  another  was  reared  from  a  pupa  found 
at  Wannock, — E.  Adkin  ;  Lewisham,  January,  1912. 

Second  brood  op  Apatura  iris,  &c. — Last  September,  when 
moving  a  sleeve  containing  thirteen  larvse  of  A.  iris  (from  the  wild), 
I  noticed  that  one  had  outgrown  the  hybernating  size.  This  one 
continued  to  feed  up  slowly.  About  the  middle  of  October,  owing  to 
the  cold  weather  and  condition  of  the  foliage,  I  brought  it  indoors. 
On  November  4th  it  pupated,  and  a  rather  small  female  emerged  on 
November  29th.  Other  species  bred  as  a  second  brood,  all  reared 
under  natural  conditions,  were  Argynnis  selene,  Boarmia  consortaria, 
Tephrosia  crepuscularia,  ab.  delavierensis,  Angerona  p)'^"^^'>^<^'^icb  (two 
only  out  of  a  large  number,  both  very  small  females),  Acidalia 
aversata,  and  A.  subsericeata. — Edward  Goodwin  ;  Canon  Court, 
Wateringbury,  January  13th,  1912. 

CoLiAS  HYALE  IN  Hants,  1911. — Though  rather  late  in  the  day,  it 
may  be  of  interest  to  mention  that  my  son  caught  a  female  G.  hyale, 
on  August  14th  last  in  the  New  Forest,  near  Lyndhurst.  I  should 
be  glad  to  know  if  many  of  this  species  were  taken  during  last 
summer. — (Captain)  W.  G.  Manley;  62,  Albert  Hall  Mansions,  S.W., 
January  10th,  1912. 


80  THE   ENTOMOLOGIST. 

End  of  August,  near  Lyndhurst,  New  Forest,  I  took  two  males 
and  saw  a  female  caught  by  a  boy  of  G.  hyale  all  in  good  condition. — 
(Colonel)  K.  H.  Eattkay  ;  Tonbridge,  Kent. 

Aegynnis  SELENE  IN  AuGUST. — I  caught  a  specimen  of  A.  selene 
on  August  17th  in  fine  condition  and  evidently  of  the  second  brood. 
—(Captain)  W.  G.  Manley. 

Xanthorhoe  (Melanippe)  fluctuata  in  Decembee.  —  On 
December  27th  last  I  took  on  a  fence  in  Southfields  a  perfectly  fresh 
specimen  of  X.  fluctuata,  the  weather  at  the  time  being  abnormally 
mild. — A.  E.  Hodge;  14,  Astonville  Street,  Southfields,  S.W.,  January 
2nd,  1912. 

Phigalia  pbdaria  noted  feom  Beading. — This  species  was  out 
here  on  January  7th  ;  my  earliest  previous  dates  were  January  20th, 
1895,  and  January  21st,  1887. — W.  E.  Butler  ;  Hayling  House, 
Oxford  Eoad,  Beading,  January  13th,  1912. 

Lepidopteea  in  the  Tonbridge  District,  1911. — The  past 
year  has  been  a  very  good  one  for  moths  around  Tonbridge,  Kent. 
Sugar  was  useless  till  after  the  middle  of  July.  I  caught  the 
following  moths  around  the  electric  lamps  :  A230cheima  hispidaria, 
Tceniocampa  popuUti,  Notodonta  trepida,  Pygara  curtula,  Pheosia 
tremula,  P.  dictceoides,  Acronycta  leporina,  Mamestra  genista,  and 
Centra  fiircula ;  specimens  of  the  last-named  species  were  taken  on 
August  1st,  4th,  and  6th,  and  were  undoubtedly  a  second  brood. 
On  September  26th  a  fine  specimen  of  Acherontia  atropos  was  taken 
about  8  p.m.  flying  round  a  lamp,  and  on  October  7th  two  pupae  of 
the  same  species  were  brought  in  to  me  by  potato  diggers  ;  these 
emerged  on  October  17th  and  22rd.  Flying  in  garden  after  dusk  I 
caught  Plusia  iota,  P.  pulckrina  and  five  specimens  of  P.  moneta, 
Geometra  p)apilionaria,  and  Epione  apiciaria  (these  latter  were  quite 
common).  A  few  Semiothisa  notata,  many  S.  liturata,  and  a  few 
Boarmia  consortaria  and  B.  roboraria  were  beaten  out  of  trees  and 
bushes.  At  sugar  towards  the  end  of  July  I  took  Apamea  ophio- 
gramma  (3),  Caradrina  morpheas,  Triphcena  inter jecta,  Plastenis 
suhtusa,  P.  retusa  (2).  During  September  and  October  also  at  sugar 
I  took  a  long  series  of  Orrhodia  vaccinii,  0.  ligula,  and  Eupsilia 
satellitia,  Aporophyla  lutidenta  (4),  Lithophane  semibrunnea  (2). 
Amathes  lota,  and  Miselia  oxyacanthce  w^ere  particularly  common 
throughout  the  autumn. — (Colonel)  B.  H.  Batteay  ;  68,  Dry  Hill 
Pack  Boad,  Tonbridge,  Kent. 

A  Book  Sale. — It  is  not  often  that  a  more  interesting  collection 
of  entomological  books  has  been  brought  together  than  was  the  case 
on  Tuesday,  January  9th,  when  the  libraries  formed  by  Mr.  C.  H. 
Schill,  the  late  Mr.  B.  G.  Nevinson,  and  the  late  Mr.  T.  Vernon 
Wollaston  were  offered  at  auction  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Stevens  at  his  King 
Street  rooms.  The  highest  price  realized  for  any  one  lot  was  £37 
for  a  complete  set  of  the  'Transactions'  of  the  Entomological  Society 
of  London,  from  the  commencement  in  1834  to  1901,  49  vols,  in  all ; 
while  another  set  commencing  with  1836  to  1877  in  20  vols.,  and 
some  unbound  parts,  brought  £19.     A  set  of   the  '  Annales  de  la 


SOCIETIES.  81 

Soci6t6  Entomologique  de  Belgique,'  vols,  i-xli,  1857-97,  sold  for  £6 ; 
'  HoriB  Societatis  Bntomologicae  Rossicae,'  vols,  i-xxvii,  1861-93,  £11 ; 
and  two  incomplete  sets  of  the  '  Annales  de  la  Society  Entomologique 
de  France,'  the  one  of  35  vols,  commencing  with  vol.  iv.  of  the  first 
series  and  covering  the  years  1835-6  and  1843-76,  £6  15/-,  and  the 
other  of  46  vols.,  1870-1901,  1903  and  1905,  £2.  A  set  of  58  vols, 
and  some  parts  of  the  (Stettiner)  '  Bntomologische  Zeitung,'  1840- 
1911,  realized  £6  6/-  ;  the  '  Entomologist,'  vols,  i.-v.,  1840-71  and 
some  mibound  parts,  £2  15/-  ;  the  'Zoological  Record,'  vols,  i.-xii., 
1864-75,  £2  10/-,  and  'Novitates  Zoologicse,'  vols,  i.-vi.  in  parts 
1894-9,  £2  7/6.  There  was  a  good  assortment  of  works  on 
Coleoptera,  among  them  Lacordaire's  '  Genera  des  Col^opteres,'  12 
vols,  and  atlas  of  plates,  1854-76,  13  vols,  in  all,  brought  £3  10/-, 
and  another  copy,  £5  15/-.  Bestimmung's  '  Tabellen  der  Europse- 
ischen  Coleopteren,'  heft  1-64  (heft  12  and  23  missing),  1879-1908, 
£5;  Gemminger  et  Harold,  '  Catalogus  Coleopterorum  synonymicus 
et  systematicus,'  1868-76,  12  vols.,  £3  5/-;  Gravenhorst's  '  Coleoptera 
Microptera,'  1802,  with  others,  £3  12/6;  '  Biologia  Centrah- 
Americana,'  Insecta,  Coleoptera,  vol.  ii.,  part  2,  £2  17/6,  and  another 
copy,  £3  ;  vol.  ih.,  part  1,  £2  17/6,  and  vol.  vii.,  £2  10/-.  The  only 
important  work  on  Diptera,  Meigen's  '  Systematische  Beschreibung 
der  Europjsischen,'  Zweifliigeligen  Insekten,  7  vols.,  1822-51,  was 
knocked  down  at  £3.  Two  copies  of  Westwood's  '  Arcana  Entomo- 
logica,'  1841-5,  2  vols.,  brought  £2  2/-  and  £2  4/-  respectively,  and 
his  '  Thesaurus  Entomologicus  Oxoniensis,'  1874,  £3  15/-.  Linnaeus's 
'  Systema  Naturae,'  ed.  xii.,  1766-7,  2  vols,  in  3,  reahzed  £1  17/6  ; 
Eabricius's  'Entomologia  Systematica,'  4  vols,  and  Supplement,  1792 
-8,  £1  1/- ;  Rambur's  '  Lepidopteres  de  I'Andalousie,'  1858,  £2  ; 
Boisduval's  '  Monographic  des  Zygenides,  1829,  with  Staudinger's 
1871  Catalogue,  8/-;  and  Gerhard's  '  Monographie  der  Europgeischen 
Lycaenidse,'  1853,  £2  2/-.  The  '  Lepidoptera  of  Ceylon,'  a  large  folio 
volume  of  coloured  drawings  of  butterflies  and  moths  and  their 
larvae  on  seventy  plates,  brought  £6  10/-,  and  among  some  of  our  more 
familiar  books  may  be  mentioned  Stephens's  '  Illustrations  of  British 
Entomology,'  1828-46, 11  vols,  and  Supplement,  which  sold  for  £2  4/-; 
Wood's  '  Index  Entomologicus,'  1854,  £1  12/6 ;  and  Kirby's  Synony- 
mic '  Catalogue  of  Diurnal  Lepidoptera,'  1871,  with  Supplement  1877, 
£1  17/6.  The  sale  was  well  attended,  but  we  noticed  very  few  of 
our  entomological  friends  in  the  room,  who,  had  they  been  present, 
might  have  picked  up  many  a  useful  volume  at  the  cost  of  a  very 
few  shillings  from  among  the  three  hundred  and  fifty-five  lots  that 
were  offered. — R.  A. 


SOCIETIES. 


Entomological  Society  of  London.  —  Wednesday,  November 
15th,  1911.— The  Rev.  P.  D.  Morice,  M.A.,  President,  in  the  chair.— 
The  Rev.  Samuel  Proudfoot,  6,  Lyme  Grove,  Altrincham,  Cheshire, 
was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Society. — Commander  Walker  exhibited 

ENTOM. — FEBRUARY,   1912.  G 


82  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

three  specimens  of  PhcBclrophilus  o'coimori,  Broun,  a  large  and  hand- 
some weevil  from  Mount  Quoin,  Kaitoke,  New  Zealand,  South 
Island.  The  specimens  were  taken  by  Mr.  G.  V.  Hudson,  F.E.S.,  of 
Wellington,  New  Zealand,  at  an  elevation  of  3900  ft.,  in  December, 
1910.  Commander  Walker  also  exhibited  a  specimen  of  the  rax'e 
Tortrix,  Phalonia  {EupcBcilia)  wipUcitana,  Wocke,  taken  by  Mr.  H.  G. 
Champion  at  Shoreham,  Sussex,  August,  1911. — Mr.  W.  C.  Crawley, 
a  female  and  a  worker  of  Leptothorax  tuberum,  Fabr.,  subspecies 
corticalis,  Schenk,  new  to  Britain,  found  with  two  larvae  in  an 
empty  beech-nut  at  Pangbourne,  Berks,  April  21th,  1904.  It  was 
named  by  Forel  as  a  var.  with  long  spines. — Mr.  N.  S.  Sennett,  some 
Coccinellids  {Chiloconcs  bipustulatus)  as  found  on  Mimosa  trees  at 
Mont'  Estoril  in  Portugal,  the  small  exudations  of  gum  presenting 
what  appeared  to  be  a  remarkable  though  hitherto  unrecorded  case 
of  protective  mimicry. — Mr.  L.  W.  Newman,  a  long  series  of  Pyrameis 
cardui,  bred  from  females  captured  at  Folkestone  on  September  2nd 
last.  Ova  were  laid  at  once  and  placed  in  a  hothouse  kept  at  about 
eighty  degrees  ;  they  hatched  on  September  7th,  and  larvae  fed  up 
very  rapidly  on  stinging  nettle,  the  first  pupating  on  September  30th. 
Imagines  started  to  emerge  about  a  week  later,  and  all  were  out  by 
October  16th — some  five  hundred  in  all.  Considerable  variation 
occurred,  but  the  majority  of  the  brood  were  normal. — Mr.  H.  W. 
Andrews,  two  rare  species  of  Diptera  from  North  Kent,  viz.,  Syrphus 
lineola,  Ztt.,  a  male,  taken  at  Bexley  on  July  8th ;  and  Sciomyza 
simplex,  Fin.,  both  sexes,  taken  in  the  Thames  marshes  on  June  23rd 
and  July  1st,  all  in  the  present  year.  Mr.  J.  E.  CoUin  remarked  that 
he  had  only  taken  the  latter  species  at  Ringwood  and  in  Suffolk. — 
Mr.  E.  A.  Cockayne,  a  Geometer  taken  at  Tongue,  Sutherland,  July 
5th,  1906,  probably  Gidaria  (Dysstroma)  concinnata,  Steph.,  speci- 
mens of  which  were  placed  below  for  comparison. — Mr.  J.  Piatt 
Barrett,  a  drawer  of  Melanargia  galatea  containing :  EngHsh  speci- 
mens, altitude  under  500  ft.,  with  one  aberration.  Specimens  from 
the  Alps,  (1)  Brigue,  2000  to  3000  ft.,  paler  than  (2)  and  probably  larger; 
(2)  Berisal,  over  5000  ft.,  dark.  From  the  Apennines,  (3)  Pracchia, 
near  Pistoja,  3000  ft.,  the  smallest  form,  dark.  From  Calabria,  (4) 
Gioja  Tauro,  Plain  of  Radicena,  near  sea-level,  large  and  very  dark ; 
(5)  Palmi,  Monte  Elia,  1000  ft.,  very  dark ;  (6)  Aspromonte,  above 
Scylla,  over  2000  ft.,  very  dark.  From  Sicily,  (7)  Mount  Etna,  over 
3000  ft.,  moderate  size,  paler ;  (8)  Monte  Cicci  (near  Messina), 
2000  ft.,  large  and  dark ;  (9)  Monte  Scuderi,  1000  ft.,  very  large  and 
rather  pale  ;  (10)  Messina  (Gravitelli),  500  to  800  ft.,  large  and  dark 
(var.  procida) ;  (11)  Megara  Hybloea,  sea-level  nearly,  large  and  pale ; 
(12)  Syracuse,  sea-level  nearly  (var.  syracusana,  Zell.). — Mr.  A.  E. 
Tonge,  a  gigantic  spider  {Mygale)  from  California. — Mr.  J.  R.  le  B. 
Tomlin,  a  specimen  which  he  said  was  not  strictly  an  entomological 
exhibit,  but  from  its  curious  resemblance  to  a  caterpillar  might  be  of 
momentary  interest  to  Fellows.  It  was  in  reality  a  species  of  West 
Indian  oyster  (Ostrea  frons,  L.)  which  attaches  itself  to  twigs. 
Professor  Poulton  remarked  that  both  this  and  the  Coccinellid 
exhibited  by  Mr.  Sennett  were  probably  cases  of  accidental  resem- 
blance.— Professor  E.  B.  Poulton,  the  following  specimens  sent  to 


SOCIETIES.  83 

him  by  Mr.  C.  F.  M.  Swynnerton,  all  of  which  had  been  captured  on 
the  outskirts  (3800  ft.)  of  Chirinda  Forest,  Gazaland,  South-east 
Ehodesia  : — (1)  The  female  form  hippocoon  of  Papilio  dardamis  cenea, 
Stoll,  rescued,  September  8th,  1911,  by  one  of  his  native  collectors 
from  a  M'lange  Bulbul  (Phyllostrojjhus  viilanjensis).  The  head  was 
wanting,  and  there  were  symmetrical  injuries  at  the  anal  angle  of 
the  hind  wings  similar  to  those  so  often  seen  in  living  butterflies. 
(2)  Two  wings  of  Precis  archesia,  Cr.,  0,  and  the  fragments  of 
a  Blattid,  probably  of  the  genus  Deropeltis,  taken  June  25th,  1911, 
from  a  spider's  web.  Professor  Poulton  also  exhibited  specimens 
sent  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Moulton  from  Sarawak,  showing  instances  of 
mimicry,  and  read  Mr.  Moulton's  account  of  them.  Mr.  C.  J. 
Gahan  had  described  one  new  species  of  Daphisia  (D.  ehjtoides). — 
Professor  Poulton,  six  male  examples  of  a  remarkable  Lyesenid,  all 
captured,  November  22nd,  1910,  in  the  Uhehe  District  (3000-3500  ft.) 
of  German  East  Africa,  by  Mr.  S.  A.  Neave,  F.E.S.  The  pattern  and 
brilliant  colours,  which  were  extraordinary  in  a  Lycsenid,  strongly 
suggested  on  both  upper  and  under  surface  the  appearance,  although 
on  a  smaller  scale,  of  an  AcrcBa  of  the  type  of  A.  anemosa. — Mr. 
Stanley  Edwards,  a  specimen  of  Oxynop)tenis  audouini,  a  beetle  from 
Borneo,  with  abnormal  antennae,  apparently  gynandromorphous,  and 
explained  that  Mr.  Gahan  had  dissected  it  and  found  the  genitalia  to 
be  entirely  female. — Mr.  H.  C.  Dollman,  the  following  species  of  Coleo- 
ptera : — Philonthus  intermedins,  Bois.  ab.  donisthorpei,  Dollman, 
described  in  the  Ent.  Eec,  December,  1910  ;  Stemis  formicetorum, 
Mann.,  introduced  as  British  in  the  Ent.  Eec,  April,  1911 ;  Bevi- 
bidium  qiiadnpusUdatum,  Dj.,  an  example  from  Ditchling,  Sussex, 
August  17th,  1911 ;  Hypophlaus  linearis,  F.  retaken  at  Oxshott,  in 
July  of  last  year,  a  species  hitherto  taken  in  Great  Britain 
only  in  Surrey,  at  Oxshott  and  Woking ;  Mycetoporus  forticornis, 
Fauv.  (one  specimen  from  the  New  Forest),  wdth  31.  clavicornis 
Steph.,  for  comparison;  Philonthus  corruscus,  G.,  taken  from  a 
dead  rabbit  at  Ditchling ;  Stenus  viorio,  Gr.,  from  Ditchling,  taken  in 
October,  1910. — Mr.  H.  Eltringham,  a  bred  series  of  Acraa  orestia, 
Hew.,  containing  the  typical  form  and  also  the  A.  humilis  of  Miss  E.  M, 
Sharpe,  thus  demonstrating  the  truth  of  the  conclusion  at  which  he 
had  previously  arrived  as  to  the  specific  identity  of  these  two  forms. 
He  also  showed  three  male  black  and  yellow  Acrseas,  one  of  which 
was  the  A.  circeis  of  Drury,  from  Sierra  Leone.  The  other  two,  while 
differing  in  appearanee  from  A.  circeis,  were  themselves  exactly 
alike,  but  for  the  fact  that  the  two  tarsal  claws  of  the  second  and  third 
pairs  of  feet  were  equal  and  similar  in  one  specimen  and  unequal  and 
dissimilar  in  the  other.  A  long  and  interesting  discussion  followed, 
on  the  question  of  the  importance  of  the  tarsal  claws  as  a  means  of 
specific  distinction,  and  on  the  possible  correlation  of  uneven  claws 
in  the  male,  and  the  abdominal  sac  in  the  female. — Mr.  Champion 
called  attention  to  a  paper  by  M.  Eoger  Verity,  in  the  '  Bulletin  de  la 
Soci^te  Entomologique  de  France,'  Stance  du  11  Octobre,  1911, 
on  new  Scottish  races  of  Erebia  cethiops,  Esp.  (race  Caledonia), 
Satyrus  semele  (race  scota)  and  Pararge  megara  (race  Caledonia). 
The  following  papers  were  communicated:—"  Descriptions  of  South 


84  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

American  Micro-Lepidoptera,"  by  E.  Meyrick,  B.A.,  F.E.S.  "New 
Species  of  Hawaiian  Hymenoptera,  with  Notes  on  some  previously 
described,"  by  E.  C.  L.  Perkins,  D.Sc,  M.A.,  F.E.S.  "  Notes  on 
Hawaiian  Hemiptera,  with  Descriptions  of  New  Species,"  by  R.  C.  L. 
Perkins,  D.Sc,  M.A.,  F.E.S.  "Experiments  in  the  Formation  of 
Colonies  by  Lasim  fuliginosus,  females,"  by  Horace  Donisthorpe, 
F.Z.S,  and  W.  C.  Crawley,  F.E.S. 

Lancashire  and  Cheshire  Entomological  Society.  —  The 
Annual  Meeting  was  held  at  the  Royal  Institution,  Colquitt  Street, 
Liverpool,  on  December  18th,  1911. — Mr.  Wm.  Webster  in  the  chair. 
— As  Mr.  W.  J.  Lucas,  the  retiring  Vice-President,  was  unable  to  be 
present  to  read  his  address  "  On  the  Present  State  of  our  Knowledge 
of  the  Pre-imaginal  Stages  of  the  British  Dragonfiies,"  this  was  done 
by  the  Secretary. — Mr.  Lucas  dealt  lucidly  and  in  detail  with  the 
various  methods  of  oviposition  obtaining  in  the  Odonata,  drawing 
particular  attention  to  the  habit  Ischimra  elegans  possesses  of  de- 
scending beneath  the  surface  of  the  water  for  this  purpose,  and  to 
the  two  types  of  dragonfly  eggs — the  elongate,  cylindrical  type  such 
as  is  met  with  in  ^scJma,  and  the  more  or  less  oval  or  pear-shaped 
type  found  in  Sympetrum  and  Libellula.  The  development  of  the 
nymphs,  their  form,  habits,  and  food,  the  duration  of  the  nymphal 
existence,  and  otlier  features  of  dragonfly  binomics  were  then  dealt 
with  in  an  equally  interesting  and  exhaustive  manner ;  the  fact  being 
emphasized  that,  although  of  recent  years  a  considerable  amount  of 
work  had  been  done,  and  our  knowledge  of  the  life-history  of  these 
beautiful  creatures  had  been  greatly  increased,  there  yet  remained  a 
vast  amount  to  be  done  in  the  future.  The  latter  part  of  the  address 
consisted  of  a  review  of  the  progress  of  our  knowledge  of  the  earlier 
stages  of  dragonfly  existence,  commencing  with  Thomas  Mouffett's 
'  Insectorum  Theatrum,'  and  bringing  the  subject  down  to  the 
present  day.  The  address  and  the  excellent  lantern  slides  with 
which  it  was  illustrated  were  greatly  appreciated  by  all  who  were 
present. — Mr.  C.  B.  Williams  exhibited  a  box  of  Lepidoptera  collected 
during  the  past  season  in  various  localities,  and  including  the  fol- 
lowing : — TcBiiiocampa  munda,  Xylina  socia,  X.  ornitJwpus,  Xylocampa 
areo/a,  and  Oporina  croceago,  from  the  Conway  Valley;  Argynnis  selenc, 
Carterocephakis  palcemon,  and  Nemeobius  lucina,  from  Northampton- 
shire ;  Boarmia  roboraria,  Gnophria  rubricollis,  Nemeophila  russula, 
Macroglossa  fuciformis,  Lycana  cegon,  and  Argynnis  euphrosyne  from 
the  New  Forest. — Oscar  Whittaker  and  Wm.  Mansbridge,  Hon. 
Sees. 


Obituary. — With  great  regret  we  have  to  announce  that  Mr. 
Samuel  James  Capper,  of  Huyton,  Liverpool,  passed  away  on 
January  22nd  last.  A  biographical  notice  will  appear  in  the 
'  Entomologist '  for  March. 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST 


Vol.  XLV.l 


MAECH,    1912. 


[No.  586 


THE   EARLY  STAGES  OF   EUSTROMA   RETICULATA. 
By  Frank  Littlewood. 


Fig.  2. 


Fig.  1. 

Assuming  Mr.  Prout  to  be  correct  in  his  belief  that  my 
observations  of  the  early  stages  of  Eustroma  reticulata  will  be  of 
general  interest,  I  have  pleasure  in  placing  the  same  before  the 
readers  of  the  'Entomologist.' 

Seeing,  however,  that  several  years  have  elapsed  since  these 
notes  were  penned,  and  that  I  have  found  neither  time  nor 
opportunity  for  renewing  my  acquaintance  with  the  species,  it 
is  necessary,  perhaps,  to  state  that  the  descriptions  of  both 
larvae  and  pupae  were  written  down  in  my  diary  at  the  time,  for  in 
matters  of  this  kind,  where  details  are  essentials,  I  have  found 
one's  memory  to  be,  generally,  delusive  and  unreliable.  So  that, 
whilst  not  pretending  to  scientific  terminology,  the  following  de- 
scriptions may  be  accepted  as  being,  so  far  as  they  go,  accurate. 

Descriptions  of  Larvce. — The  smallest  larva,  taken  on  August 
20th,  1905,  and  apparently  only  a  few  days  old,  was  4  mm.,  or 
five  thirty-seconds  of  an  inch  in  length.    The  majority,  however, 

ENTOM. — MARCH,    1912.  H 


86 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 


were  somewhat  larger,  and  as  they  appeared  to  be  only  a  further 
development  of  the  same  stage,  one  description  will  suffice. 
Length,  8  mm.,  or  ten  thirty-seconds  of  an  inch.  The  natural 
colour  of  the  body  is  a  peculiarly  transparent  glossy  white,  and 
the  texture  of  the  skin  reminds  one  more  of  a  beetle-grub  than 
of  a  lepidopterous  larva.  There  are  no  markings  on  the  body. 
Head  and  legs  also  of  the  same  transparent  white.  On  either 
side  of  the  head  is  a  group  of  six  dark-coloured  spots  (ocelli),  i.  e., 
an  upper  series  of  four  and  a  lower  series  of  two  spots.  Very 
fine  hairs  scattered  over  body  and  head  (visible  only  under 
pocket-lens).  Owing  to  the  transparency  of  the  skin,  however, 
the  actual  colour  of  the  body  is  determined  by  the  food  that  is 
passing  through  the  larva.  If  feeding  on  the  leaves,  the  anterior 
segments  appear  pale  green;  if  on  the  flower-petals,  reddish 
yellow ;  if  on  the  seeds,  opaque  white.  The  posterior  segments 
are  darker  in  colour,  the  effect  of  the  digested  food,  and  on 
looking  at  the  larva  against  the  light  at  least  two  separate 
pieces  of  frass  are  clearly  discernible  close  to  the  anal  extremity. 
A  varied  diet  gives  to  the  larva  a  somewhat  striking  appearance, 
and  several,  in  confinement,  where  a  variety  of  food  was  within 
their  reach,  exhibited  a  range  of  four  distinct  colours — the  first 
IDortion  of  the  body  opaque  white  (seed) ;  the  next,  yellow  (petal) ; 
the  next,  green  (leaf)  ;  the  remainder,  black  (frass).  The  order 
of  the  colours  varied  according  to  the  taste  of  the  larva,  and 
although  this  sort  of  thing  would  not  happen  in  a  state  of 
nature,  being  simply  the  result  of  having  the  different  kinds  of 
food  mixed  up  in  the  tin  in  which  the  larvae  were  kept,  still  it 
is  an  interesting  illustration  of  the  lack  of  natural  colouring 
pigment  in  the  skin. 

The  largest  larva,  taken  on  the  same  day,  August  20th,  was 
13  mm.  or  seventeen  thirty-seconds  of  an  inch  in  length.  (This 
is  the  stage  succeeding  that  already  described.)  Head  and  legs 
pale  brown.  Group  of  dark  spots  on  head  as  before.  General 
colour  of  body  pale  green.  No  trace  of  a  medio-dorsal  line. 
A  faint  white  subdorsal  line.  Spiracles  white  and  joined  by 
a  faint,  hair-like  white  line.  The  incisions  of  the  segments  are 
white.  Fine  short  hairs  protrude  from  small  black  warts,  dis- 
tributed sparsely  but  regularly  over  the  body.  The  spots  on  the 
head  also  each  emit  a  dark  hair. 

The  full-grown  larva  (described  September  7th,  1905)  is 
25  mm.,  or  one  inch  in  length.  Head  and  legs  pale  brownish 
green.  The  groups  of  spots  on  the  head  now  show  prominently 
and  are  quite  visible  without  the  aid  of  a  lens.  The  body  is 
thickest  at  the  eleventh  segment  and  tapers  towards  the  head, 
which  is  narrow  and  flat.  Natural  colour  of  body  pale  trans- 
parent green  and  the  skin  not  now  glossy.  There  is  an  inter- 
rupted dull  red  medio-dorsal  line,  somewhat  irregular  in  out- 
line.    This,  starting  behind  the  head,  continues  unbroken  to  the 


THE    EARLY    STAGES    OF    EUSTROMA   RETICULATA.  87 

end  of  the  fourth  segment,  afterwards  being  visible  only  at  the 
segmental  divisions,  where  it  appears  as  an  elongated  spot.  At 
the  anal  end  two  such  spots  join  to  form  a  conspicuous  red  blotch. 
The  amount  of  this  coloured  line  varies  greatly  in  different 
individuals.  There  is  not  the  slightest  trace  of  red  on 
the  sides  of  the  larva.  The  fairly  broad  white  subdorsal 
lines  join  below  the  anal  aperture.  Two  broad  white  lines, 
continuations  of  the  subdorsal  lines,  extend  down  the  outside 
of  the  wide-spread  anal  claspers.  Spiracles  dull  yellow,  con- 
nected by  a  delicate  hair-like  white  line.  Body  sparsely  sprinkled 
over  with  minute  black  warts,  each  emitting  a  short  black  hair. 
These  warts  are  arranged  in  circular  series  around  the  middle  of 
each  segment.  Down  the  middle  of  the  ventral  surface  is  a 
narrow  white  line,  broken  at  each  segmental  incision.  In  the 
full-grown  larva  the  white  segmental  divisions  are  not  so  con- 
spicuous. Colour  of  body  still  dependent  to  a  great  degree  on 
the  food,  although  the  anterior  portion  of  the  body  is  now 
almost  always  opaque  white,  due  to  the  full-grown  larva's  un- 
doubted preference  for  the  seeds. 

Habits  of  the  Larva. — The  young  larvae  are  found  usually 
resting  in  various  positions  on  the  under  sides  of  the  leaves  of 
Impatiens  noli-me-tangere,  and  their  presence  on  a  plant  is 
denoted  by  numerous  circular  holes  in  the  leaves.  The  majority 
appear  to  affect  the  midrib  as  a  resting-place  in  the  daytime, 
especially  when  "  lying  up  "  for  a  change  of  skin,  and  in  this 
position  are  extremely  like  the  narrow  unripe  seed-pods,  which 
themselves  lie  along  the  midrib  on  the  under  side  of  the  leaf. 
Several  young  larvae,  however,  were  found  stretched  at  full 
length  along  the  upper  stems  and  amongst  the  flower-buds. 

In  confinement,  where  a  variety  of  food  was  provided,  the 
young  larvae  fed  indiscriminately  on  leaves,  flower-petals,  and 
flower-buds,  but  seemed  to  like  the  latter,  which  they  hollowed 
out  completely.  The  habit  of  drilling  round  holes  in  the  food 
appears  to  be  the  natural  instinct  of  the  larva,  and  points,  I  think, 
to  the  fact  of  the  seed  being  the  proper  food.  I  never  observed  a 
leaf  eaten  at  the  edge  in  the  usual  manner  of  leaf-eating  larvae. 

In  the  last  stage  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  unripe  seeds 
form  the  exclusive  food  of  the  larva,  and  I  doubt  much  whether 
in  confinement  they  can  be  brought  to  normal  size  if  this  diet  is 
not  provided  for  them.  On  several  occasions,  when  my  stock  of 
seed-pods  got  low,  I  noticed  the  larvae  wandering  about  in  a 
restless  manner  in  search  of  food,  and  although  fresh  leaves 
were  introduced,  they  refused  to  touch  them,  and  consoled 
themselves  with  nibbling  the  curled-up  pods  from  which  the 
seeds  had  been  expelled.  The  ripe  pods  burst  at  the  slightest 
touch,  and  the  loose  seeds  lying  on  the  box-bottom  were  eaten 
readily.  In  a  state  of  nature  the  full-grown  larva  has  a  very 
characteristic  habit  of  resting  in  the  daytime  with  the  claspers 

H  2 


88  THK    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

attached  to  the  midrih  of  the  under  side  of  a  leaf,  about  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  from  the  base  of  the  leaf,  and  the  bodj' 
stretched  downwards  towards  the  main  stem  on  which  the  fore 
legs  rest.  The  main  stem,  the  leaf-stem,  and  the  larva  thus 
form  an  obtuse-angled  triangle,  of  which  the  larva  is  the  longest 
and  lowest  side. 

Occasional  specimens  are  found  attacking  the  pods  during 
the  day  but  the  majorit}^  rest  perfectly  quiet  till  evening,  when 
they  wake  up  and  exhibit  considerable  activity  in  their  search 
for  food.  They  eat  voraciously  and  increase  rapidly  in  size,  the 
duration  of  the  larval  life  being  about  a  mouth.  The  larva  loses 
its  hold  readily  on  being  disturbed,  and  falls  curled  up  with  the 
head  tucked  in  tightly. 

At  the  cessation  of  feeding,  the  larva  shrunk  very  con- 
siderably, and  moved  about  in  an  apparently  aimless  manner, 
seeking  a  place  for  pupation.  In  confinement  the  majority 
spun  a  tough  cocoon  of  sand  and  silk,  attached  to  the  moss 
which  was  laid  on  the  surface  of  the  sand.  Several  larvie 
wrapped  themselves  tightly  in  the  withered  leaves  of  the  balsam. 
Damp,  and  plenty  of  it,  seems  essential  at  this  period  to  enable 
the  larva  to  make  a  satisfactory  change  to  the  pupal  state.  A 
number  of  newly  formed  cocoons,  which  I  removed  to  a  dry  tin 
on  account  of  the  decayed  and  mouldy  state  of  the  balsam, 
when  opened  contained  crippled  pupae,  the  larval  skin  not  having 
been  completely  shed.  All  those  left  in  the  original  tin,  amongst 
the  wet  food  and  moss,  changed  perfectly  to  fine  pupre. 

Full-fed  and  .young  larvie  were  obtainable  together  on 
September  10th,  1905,  but  as  the  earliest  appearance  of  larvte 
that  year  would  be  about  August  12th,  and  the  last  of  my  larvse 
to  spin  up  did  so  on  September  30th,  it  appears  that  there  is  a 
period  of  something  like  seven  weeks  during  which  it  is  possible 
to  find  the  larvne.  This  period  would  probably  fall  later  in  a 
cold  and  backward  season  {vide  "  Notes  on  E.  reticulata,"  by  the 
Rev.  A.  M.  Moss,  in  Ent.  Mo.  Mag.,  May,  1897). 

Description  of  Pupa.  September  16th,  1905.  —  Average 
length  9  mm.,  or  rather  over  eleven  thirty-seconds  of  an  inch. 
Some,  probably  females,  were  nearly  10  mm.  in  length.  The 
pupa  is  remarkably  stout,  so  that  its  general  appearance  is  short 
and  stumpy.  The  surface  is  smooth  and  glossy.  Anterior 
portion,  enclosing  head,  thorax,  antennre,  legs,  and  wings,  bright 
transparent  green.  Abdominal  portion  light  golden  brown,  the 
incisions  of  the  segments  being  darker  brown.  Green  medio- 
dorsal  line  and,  in  some  pupfe,  traces  of  the  red  larval  spots  are 
visible  at  the  segmental  divisions.  Between  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth  segments  a  dull  red-brown  spot  (corresponding  to  the  red 
larval  blotch)  is  distinct  in  all  the  pupae. 

Perfect  Insect.  —The  perfect  insect  appears  to  extend  over  a 
period  of  at  least  four  weeks,  and,  judging  from  the  behaviour  of 


ON    THK    GENERIC    NAME    RHYACIONIA.  89 

a  number  of  pupae  left  in  my  care  that  year,  1905  (from  larvae 
collected  by  Mr.  Moss  in  1904)  and  from  observation  of  the 
insect  itself  in  its  natural  haunts,  I  should  say  that  even  where 
it  does  occur  it  will  never  be  very  plentiful  at  any  one  time. 
Those  I  had,  emerged  in  a  desultory  fashion  from  July  1st  to 
30th,  one  or  two  each  day,  and  never  more  than  five  on  one  day. 
Outside,  on  July  IGth,  Mr.  Geo.  Holmes  and  myself,  after  four 
hours'  hard  work,  secured  only  nine  specimens  (four  fresh,  five 
worn).  We  missed  five,  but  may  possibly  have  captured  some 
of  these  again  later  in  the  day,  so  that  the  insect  was  certainly 
not  common  on  that  day.  But  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt 
that,  had  wo  visited  the  localities  from  day  to  day,  we  might 
have  taken  fresh  reticulata  up  to  the  first  week  in  August.  We 
were  rewarded,  however,  for  sparing  the  perfect  insect  in  July  by 
the  discovery  of  the  larvae  in  fair  number  throughout  August 
and  September. 

The  flight  of  E.  reticulata  is  quick  and  jerky,  not  of  long 
duration,  for  they  soon  seek  shelter  among  the  leaves  of  the 
surrounding  trees.  The  extremely  rough  nature  of  the  ground, 
remarked  upon  by  Mr.  Moss  in  his  former  paper,  makes  their 
capture  something  of  a  feat.  The  rich  colour  of  the  fore  wings 
is  most  distinct,  even  when  the  moth  is  flying,  and  notwithstand- 
ing the  excitement  which  always  accompanies  the  pursuit  of  a 
rare  insect,  it  is  impossible  to  mistake  it  for  anything  else. 

I  regret  that  I  did  not  find  it  possible  to  photograph  the 
larvae  in  situ.  The  figures,  however,  show  the  general  form  of 
the  larva  and  its  usual  resting  postures  during  the  daytime. 
Fig.  2  had  to  be  coaxed  into  position  for  the  camera,  though,  as 
stated  before,  the  attitude  depicted  is  a  common  and  charac- 
teristic one  of  the  full-(jroivn  larva  in  a  state  of  nature. 


ON     THE     GENERIC     NAME     RHYACIONIA,  Hb. 

By  Edward  Meyrick,  B.A.,  F.R.S.,  &c. 

I  SHOULD  be  sorry  if  Mr.  South's  commendation  of  the  sub- 
stitution of  this  name  for  lietinia  should  attract  others  into  a 
deceptive  morass.  An  inspection  of  the  facts  as  recited  by  Prof. 
Fernald  will  show  that  the  supposed  fixation  of  types  by  Stephens 
is  accidental  only ;  I  (and  others)  hold  that  his  restrictions  are 
not  valid  unless  intentional.  As  the  true  hastana  is  not  British, 
Stephens  did  not,  by  merely  failing  to  mention  it,  exclude  it  from 
either  of  his  two  uses  of  the  name.  Further,  by  using  the  same 
name  for  a  subgenus  and  genus  within  three  pages,  he  evidently 
did  not  regard  the  first  use  as  conflicting  with  the  second,  and 
therefore  the  first  use  was  not  intended  to  be  generic,  and  there- 
fore was  not.      Again,  in  the  generic  use,  though  he  misapplied 


90  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

a  specific  name,  yet  his  intention  was  clearly  to  base  the  genus 
on  Hiibner's  species,  and  not  to  introduce  a  different  one. 

Finally,  the  name  Rhyacionia  has  sixty-two  years'  established 
use  as  based  on  the  type  hastana,  which  is  after  all  in  accordance 
with  Hiibner's  specification,  and  Stephens'  intention,  as  ex- 
plained above.  It  might  be  deemed  incredible  that  anyone 
would  offer  to  cause  so  much  confusion  on  such  flimsy  grounds. 
Even  if  the  change  were  made,  the  discovery  of  a  casual  mention 
of  Rhyacionia  hastana  in  any  publication  of  earlier  date  would 
suffice  to  reverse  the  whole  procedure. 

Thornhanger,  Marlborough:  Feb.  9th,  1912. 


NEW     SPECIES    OF    BOARMIIN.^    FKOM    FORMOSA. 

By  a.  E.  Wileman,  F.E.S. 

(Continued  from  p.  73.) 

Alois  (?)  conjuncta,  sp.  n. 

^  .  Fore  wings  whitish,  suffused  and  clouded  with  ochreous  and 
speckled  with  blackish;  antemedial  line  blackish,  diffuse;  postmedial 
line  blackish,  dentate ;  discoidal  spot  black,  placed  on  a  blackish 
band  from  costa  which  connects  the  antemedial  and  postmedial  lines 
on  dorsal  area  ;  subterminal  area  blackish,  interrupted  by  the  ground 
colour  at  apex  and  at  middle,  and  traversed  by  a  paler  wavy  line. 
Hind  wings  ochreous,  merging  into  whitish  on  the  costal  area, 
speckled  with  blackish  ;  discoidal  spot  black,  with  traces  of  a  trans- 
verse line  just  beyond ;  some  large  blackish  freckles  about  middle  of 
terminal  area  and  at  tornus.  Fringes  of  all  the  wings  ochreous, 
marked  with  blackish.     Under  side  whitish  markings  faint. 

5  .  Similar  to  the  male,  but  on  the  under  side  the  markings  are 
almost  as  distinct  as  on  the  upper  side. 

Expanse  28  millim. 

Collection  number,  1638. 

One  example  of  each  sex  from  Arizan  (730J  ft.),  August, 
1908. 

Aids  (?)  virgata,  sp.  n. 

(?  .  Fore  wings  white,  yellowish  suffused  and  striated  with  black 
on  outer  area,  dusted  with  blackish  on  basal  area  ;  antemedial  line 
blackish,  diffuse,  indistinct ;  postmedial  line  black,  only  indicated  by 
dots  below  costa,  joined  below  cell  by  a  black  band  from  middle  of 
costa ;  terminal  area  black,  patch  with  yellowish  at  apex  and  about 
middle.  Hind  wings  white  striated  with  black  ;  terminal  area  yellow 
tinged,  black  striae  thicker  towards  costa,  some  black  dots  on  dorsum 
towards  tornus.  Under  side  rather  paler  than  above,  otherwise 
similar. 

Expanse,  26  millim. 

Collection  number,  1644. 

A  male  specimen  from  Kanshirei,  July,  1908. 


NEW    SPECIES    OP    BOARMIIN^    FROM    FORMOSA.  91 

Alcis  semiclarata  nebulosa. 

5  .  Fore  wings  blackish  brown  clouded  with  black  especially  on 
the  median  third  ;  antemedial  line  black,  curved  ;  postmedial  line 
black,  angled  at  veins  five  and  two. 

Expanse,  36  millim. 

Two  female  specimens  from  Arizan  (7500  ft.),  August,  1908. 

Alcis  semiclarata  divisa. 

c? .  Basal  half  of  fore  wings  blackish  limited  by  a  black,  angu- 
lated,  diffuse  line.  Hind  wings  ochreous  lightly  sprinkled  with 
blackish. 

Expanse,  30  millim. 

Collection  number,  1675. 

One  male  specimen  from  Arizan  (7500  ft.),  August,  1908. 

Except  that  they  are  smaller  in  size,  I  cannot  find  that  these 
specimens  from  Formosa  are  specifically  separable  from  Indian 
semiclarata,  Moore,  and  I  therefore  describe  them  as  forms  of 
that  species. 

Alcis  macularia,  sp.  n. 

(? .  Fore  wings  ochreous,  reddish  tinged,  striated  and  freckled 
with  black,  striae  most  distinct  on  the  costa  ;  antemedial  line  black, 
diffuse,  curved,  not  very  distinct ;  postmedial  line  represented  by 
black  marks  on  the  costa,  veins,  and  dorsum  ;  subterminal  line  pale 
ochreous,  wavy,  shaded  with  blackish  except  on  the  [^costal  area  ; 
discoidal  mark  black,  linear,  surrounded  with  blackish,  a  black  spot 
above  it  on  costa  ;  fringes  ochreous  marked  with  brownish  between 
the  veins,  preceded  by  black  lunules.  Hind  wings  ochreous  faintly 
striated  with  blackish  ;  discoidal  spot  black,  small ;  fringes  as  on  the 
fore  wings  but  hardly  marked  with  brownish.  Under  side  ochreous 
faintly  striated  with  blackish  ;  terminal  area  of  fore  wings  clouded 
with  blackish. 

Expanse,  36  millim. 

Collection  number,  807. 

A  male  specimen  from  Arizan  (7500  ft.),  September  13tb, 
1907. 

This  species  appears  to  be  near  A.  megaspilaria,  Swinhoe, 
from  Sikhim. 

Alcis  basinotata,  n.n. 

Alcis  nigronotata,  Wileman,  Entom.  xlv.  71  (1912). 

Ectropis  (?)  rusticaria,  sp.  n. 
<?  .  Fore  wings  greyish  brown,  costal  area  striated  with  ochreous 
and  blackish  ;  antemedial  line  represented  by  black  spots  on  costa, 
median  nervure,  and  dorsum ;  postmedial  fine  blackish,  dotted  with 
black,  angled  at  vein  six,  incurved  before  dorsum ;  subterminal  line 
pale,  wavy,  inwardly  edged  with  blackish  ;  discoidal  mark  black,  black 
spots  above  and  below  it.  Hind  wings  greyish  brown  ;  subterminal 
line  pale,  inwardly  shaded  with  blackish.  Fringes  of  all  the  wings 
pale  brown.     Under  side  grey  freckled  with  darker,  costa  of  for© 


92  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

wings  ochreous ;  terminal  area  of  fore  wings  blackish,  enclosing  a 
grey  quadrate  spot  below  midclle ;  all  the  wings  with  black  discoidal 
spot  and  black  dotted  postmedial  line. 

2  .     Rather  paler,  transverse  lines  less  distinct. 

Expanse,  <?  40  miUim.,   ?   42  millim. 

Collection  number,  808. 

One  example  of  each  sex  from  Koannania ;  the  male  captured 
in  March,  1908,  and  the  female  in  April,  1906. 

Ectropis  imlveraria,  sp.  n. 

3' .  Fore  wings  grey  brown,  sprinkled  with  blackish ;  antemedial 
line  black,  curved  ;  postmedial  line  black,  elbowed  below  cell,  incurved 
before  dorsum  ;  subterminal  line  whitish,  irregularly  serrated,  in- 
wardly clouded  with  black  towards  costa  and  dorsum  ;  discoidal  mark 
black,  elongate.  Hind  wings  rather  browner ;  antemedial  line  blackish, 
indistinct ;  postmedial  line  black,  curved  and  recurved  ;  subterminal 
line  pale,  irregularly  serrated,  inwardly  shaded  with  blackish ;  dis- 
coidal mark  blackish,  minute.  Under  side  whitish  brown,  freckled 
with  darker  ;  subterminal  area  of  fore  wings  blackish,  except  at  apex  ; 
subterminal  area  of  hind  wings  clouded  with  blackish  ;  all  the  wings 
have  a  blackish  discoidal  spot. 

2  .  Similar  to  the  male  above  ;on  the  under  side  the  outer  third 
of  all  the  wings  is  blackish,  except  towards  termen  of  hind  wings. 

Expanse,  32  millim. 

Collection  number,  628  a. 

A  male  specimen  from  Kanshirei  (7300  ft.),  April,  1908 ;  a 
female  from  Koannania,  May,  1907. 


THREE     NEW    CULICID^     FROM    THE     TRANSVAAL. 

By  Fred  V.  Theobald,  M.A.,  F.E.S.,  &c. 

Pseudohowardina  lineata,  nov.  sp. 
3  and  5  .  Head  deep  brown,  with  a  median  white  line  and  a 
thin  white  line  around  the  eyes ;  proboscis  deep  brown,  with  a  line 
of  white  scales  on  the  basal  half.  Thorax  deep  brown,  with  three 
thin  pale  yellow  lines,  the  median  one  forked  around  the  bare  space 
before  the  scutellum,  a  thin  white  line  on  each  side  ;  two  broken 
white  lines  on  the  pleurae  and  spots.  Abdomen  deep  brown,  with 
traces  of  apical  white  bands  and  apical  spots.  Legs  deep  brown,  un- 
handed, femora  with  a  white  hne  beneath,  and  in  certain  lights  the 
tibiae  pale  below.  Male  palpi  acuminate,  no  hair  tufts,  brown. 
Length,  j  3-5  to  4-5,  <?  4  mm. 

Habitat. — Onderstepoort,  Transvaal. 

Time  of  Capture. — August  8th  and  11th,  1910. 

Observations. — Described  from  three  females  and  one  male. 
A  very  marked  species,  easily  identified  by  the  thoracic  orna- 
mentation. 

Types  in  the  writer's  collection. 


NEMOURA    DUBITANS    AS    A    BRITISH    SPECIES.  93 

Grahhamia  cahalla,  no  v.  sp. 

2  •  Head  and  thorax  with  rich  deep  golden  scales,  a  dark  patch 
on  each  side  of  the  head.  Thorax  showing  traces  of  linear  markings, 
and  with  golden  chaetae.  Palpi  and  proboscis  deep  brown  :  antennae 
brown.  Abdomen  deep  brown,  with  basal  creamy  bands  which  spread 
out  to  form  large  lateral  spots,  and  also  send  out  median  processes 
which  in  some  specitpens  form  a  dorsal  line.  Legs  brown,  mottled 
with  creamy  scales,  and  with  prominent  basal  pale  bands;  ungues 
all  equal  and  uniserrate.  Wings  with  brown  and  creamy  scales. 
Length  4  to  5  mm. 

Habitat. — Onderstepoort,  TransvaaL 

Time  of  Capture. — November,  December,  and  January. 

Observations.  —  Described  from  twelve  females.  It  comes 
near  G.  durbanensis,  Theob.,  but  can  be  told  by  the  hind  ungues 
being  uniserrate. 

Type  in  the  writer's  collection. 

Uranotcenia  nivipous,  nov.  sp. 

?  .  Head  deep  brown,  with  golden  forked  scales ;  palpi  and 
proboscis  deep  brown.  Thorax  rich  brown,  with  long  dark  chaetae  ; 
pleurae  pale  ochreous  ;  scutellum  dusky  brown,  with  dark  border 
bristles.  Abdomen  black,  with  apical  creamy  median  areas  ;  venter 
pale  creamy  white.  Legs  deep  brown,  pale  at  the  base,  last  two 
hind  tarsi  and  most  of  the  third  creamy  white ;  the  last  tarsals  of  the 
other  legs  show  pale  reflections.  Wings  with  normal  venation,  but 
in  certain  lights  subcostal,  second,  and  fourth  veins  show  brilliant 
violet  reflections  under  the  microscope.     Length  4  mm. 

Habitat. — Onderstepoort,  Transvaal. 

Observations. — Described  from  a  single  perfect  female  sent 
me  by  Dr.  Theiler.  It  comes  nearest  Uranotcenia  apicotceniata, 
Theob.,  but  can  at  once  be  told  by  the  dark  scaled  head  and  the 
absence  of  pale  apical  bands  on  the  first,  second,  and  third  hind 
tarsals,  and  on  the  second  tarsals  of  the  fore  and  mid  legs. 

Type  in  the  writer's  collection. 

Wye  Court,  Wye  :  January  3rd,  1912. 


NEMOURA    DUBITANS    (Morton)   as  a   British   Species. 

By  Lieut.-Colonel  C.  G.  Nurse. 

Although  I  devote  myself,  in  my  entomological  studies, 
chiefly  to  Lepidoptera  and  Hymenoptera,  I  have  been  for  some 
years  in  the  habit  of  taking  such  specimens  of  Neuroptera  as  I 
may  come  across  casually.  Last  year  I  sent  a  number  of  speci- 
mens of  the  latter  order  to  Mr.  K.  J.  Morton  for  determination, 
and  among  them  he  found  a  single  example  of  Nemoura  dubitans, 
which  species  had  not  previously  been  recorded  from  Britain. 


94  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

The  capture  of  the  above  specimen  was  recorded  by  Mr.  Morton 
in  the  'Entomologist '  for  1911  (vol.  xliv.  p.  134).  My  knowledge 
of  the  Neuroptera  is  of  the  slightest,  but  I  determined  to  make 
an  effort  to  obtain  more  specimens  of  this  species,  and  knowing 
from  the  label  on  the  first  the  exact  date  and  place  where  it 
should  be  looked  for,  I  visited  the  locality  on  April  12th,  1911. 
The  place  in  question,  which  is  about  a  mile  from  the  village  of 
West  Stow,  is  an  ideal  collecting  ground,  and  I  have  taken  there 
several  more  or  less  local  or  rare  species  of  other  orders.  A 
marshy  spot,  covered  with  reeds  and  rushes,  and  studded  with 
trees  and  bushes  of  various  kinds,  it  runs  down  to  the  river 
Lark,  here  only  a  few  yards  broad,  and  the  whole  place  looks  as 
if  it  had  never  been  cultivated.  Walking  slowly  along  the  bank 
of  the  stream,  I  soon  detected  a  Nemoura  strugghng  along,  half 
swimming  and  half  flying,  on  the  surface  of  the  water.  With 
the  help  of  a  long  reed  I  captured  and  boxed  him,  and  during  the 
course  of  the  morning  I  obtained  a  couple  of  dozen  or  so,  most 
of  them  in  a  similar  way.     They  were  probably  just  emerging. 

A  few  days  later  I  again  visited  the  locality,  and  on  this 
occasion  I  found  Nemouras  in  large  numbers.  A  few  were  flying, 
but  most  of  the  specimens  were  sitting  on  branches  of  alders  and 
the  stems  of  some  large  beeches,  where  they  were  easily  detected. 
I  took  as  many  as  I  required,  in  fact,  had  I  been  so  inclined,  I 
could  have  taken  scores.  Nearly  all,  on  examination  by  Mr.  Mor- 
ton, proved  to  be  N.  duhitans,  a  few  only  being  N.  inconspicua. 

During  the  remainder  of  the  summer  I  took  every  Nemoura 
that  I  came  across  in  other  localities  in  the  neighbourhood,  with 
a  view  to  ascertaining  the  distribution  of  N.  duhitans  in  West 
Suffolk.  However,  all  those  taken  elsewhere  proved  to  be  either 
N.  inconspicua  or  N.  variegata;  it  seems,  therefore,  probable  that 
duhitans  is  very  local,  though  it  is  almost  certain  to  occur  in 
other  places  along  the  river  Lark. 

I  have  to  thank  Mr.  Morton  for  his  help  in  determination, 
which  is  not  at  all  easy  unless  one  has  made  a  special  study  of 
the  smaller  Neuroptera. 


ON     TWO     PECULIAR     FORMS    OF     BOARMIA 
REP  AND  AT  A. 

By  William  Mansbridge,  F.E.S. 

Nigro-pallida,  var.  nov. 
For  several  years  prior  to  1909  I  had  captured  odd  specimens 
of  a  peculiar  pearly  grey  form  of  B.  repandata  of  the  nigra 
variety.  These  specimens  being  all  more  or  less  worn  were 
regarded  as  weather-bleached  insects  and  were  not  thought  of 
much  interest. 


TWO  PECULIAR  FORMS  OF  BOARMIA  REPANDATA.        95 

In  June,  1909,  however,  I  bred  about  one  hundred  moths 
from  a  captured  wild  female,  and  a  good  proportion — twenty-five 
per  cent. — of  these  had  larger  or  smaller  median  areas  of  pearly 
grey  scales  on  both  fore  and  hind  wings.  In  extreme  examples 
the  grey  area  occupies  the  whole  of  the  central  part  of  the 
wings,  and  in  others  only  a  small  part  of  the  alar  surface.  All 
the  insects  are  symmetrical,  and  where  the  subterminal  lines 
c-ross  the  pale  blotches  they  are  somewhat  lighter  in  colour  and 
can  be  clearly  seen.  The  remainder  of  the  wings,  except  the 
scapulars,  which  are  dull  ochreous,  are  of  a  deep  velvety  black. 

The  remaining  part  of  the  brood  were  var.  7iigm  of  an 
unusually  intense  black,  varying  in  the  development  of  the 
subterminal  lines,  from  specimens  in  which  these  are  brilliant 
and  complete  to  examples  in  which  they  are  almost  absent, 
giving,  as  an  extreme,  an  almost  entirely  black  moth. 

Under  the  microscope  the  grey  areas  are  seen  to  be  fully 
scaled,  not,  as  one  finds  to  be  the  case  with  the  transparent 
forms  of  Odontopera  bidentata  var.  7iigra,  thinly  scaled  or  with 
the  scales  absent.  The  appearance  of  the  insect  is  more 
suggestive  of  the  xanthism  found  in  so-called  bleached 
Epinephelc  ianira,  and  the  varying  size  and  amount  of  the  pale 
area  further  point  to  a  case  of  parallelism. 

The  peculiarity  of  these  forms  is  not  due  to  injury,  as  I  have 
examples  showing  undoubted  injury  which  has  resulted  in  a 
clear,  white,  local  patch  which  is  not  repeated  on  the  other 
wings,  and,  therefore,  is  not  symmetrical. 

These  xanthic  varieties,  if  I  may  so  call  them,  are  fully  up 
to  the  average  in  size  and  development,  in  some  cases  above  it, 
and  the  true  nigra  forms,  when  very  much  dwarfed  through  the 
race  running  out,  do  not  show  the  peculiarity  referred  to  in  a 
single  instance. 

Cross  pairings  were  obtained  from  black  specimens  of  the 
1909  brood,  with  the  result  that  from  a  larger  number  of  imagines 
in  June,  1910,  only  a  few  —  some  half  dozen  in  all  —  of  the 
xanthic  form  were  produced. 

It  may  be  concluded,  therefore,  that  as  this  variety  is  per- 
manent and  recurrent  and  found  in  a  wild  state,  it  is  worthy  a 
varietal  name,  and  I  propose  that  of  nigro-pallida  to  distinguish 
it.  The  types,  male  and  female,  are  in  my  collection.  This 
variety  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  melanic  white  blotched 
form,  taken  rarely  in  North  Wales  and  Yorkshire,  which  has 
large  pale  markings  in  the  subterminal  region  on  the  fore  wings 
only,  as  normally  occurs  in  typical  specimens,  and  in  which 
there  is  a  general  pale  irroration  more  or  leas  pronounced. 

Ochro-nigra,  var.  nov. 
In  July,  1910,  I  made  various  experimental  crossings  with 
the  object  of  discovering  the  possible  parentage  of  var.  nigro- 


96  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

pallida,  but  without  success.  As  the  result,  however,  of  pairmg 
a  Knowsley  type  with  var.  nigra  from  the  same  locality,  I 
obtained  a  form  with  the  terminal  and  subterminal  lines  very 
distinct,  of  a  deep  glossy  black  ground  without  irroration,  but 
having  the  usual  pale  patches  on  the  subterminal  line  of  the 
fore  wings  of  a  clear  ochreous  colour  instead  of  white  ;  otherwise 
as  in  var.  nigra. 

This  variety  is  a  very  striking  and  beautiful  insect,  and  I 
propose  to  distinguish  it  by  the  name — ochro-nigra.  The 
original  parents  were  from  Knowsley,  Lancashire,  and  the 
types  are  in  my  collection. 

4,  Norwich  Road,  Wavertree,  Liverpool. 


BUTTERFLIES   AT   DIGNE. 

By   Gerard   H.   Gurney,   F.E.S. 

The  following  list  of  butterflies  comprises  all  those  species 
which  I  took  during  July  and  the  first  few  days  of  August  last 
summer  at  Digne,  with  a  few  notes  on  the  more  interesting 
species.  In  spite  of  the  abnormally  hot  summer  it  was  not  an 
early  season,  neither  were  insects  so  plentiful  as  might  have 
been  expected.  Certain  well-known  places  and  localities  which 
previously  I  had  found  teeming  with  butterfly-life  were,  for 
some  unaccountable  reason,  often  productive  of  only  the  com- 
monest and  fewest  species;  for  instance,  the  well-known  gorge 
beyond  the  Baths  was  on  many  days  a  great  disappointment ; 
however,  certain  rare  and  interesting  things  were  taken,  and  I  was 
specially  glad  to  obtain  a  nice  series  of  the  somewhat  elusive 
Erebia  scipio.  I  was  struck  by  the  extremely  small  size  of  many 
of  the  different  forms;  this  may  have  been  due  to  the  want  of  rain 
and  to  the  drought.  Towards  the  end  of  July  vegetation  generally 
began  to'  be  much  burnt  up,  though  constant  rain  showers  in 
the  mountains  kept  the  streams  and  rivers  from  becoming  dry, 
and  in  the  orchards  and  gardens  adjoining  the  Eaux  Chaudes 
the  second  crops  of  hay  and  clover  were  luxuriant.  The  heat 
was  excessive  all  the  time,  and  the  thunderstorms  and  short 
deluges  of  rain  which  came  on  frequently  in  the  evenings  did 
not  last  long  enough  to  cool  the  air.  The  inhabitants  all  told 
me  it  was  an  exceptionally  hot  summer.  I  was  at  Digne  from 
July  19th  until  August  2nd. 

Erynnis  lavaterce.  Somewhat  scarce ;  the  few  specimens  taken 
were  fresh  but  very  small. — E.  alcea. — Hesperia  carlmce,  var.  cirsii. 
Common. — H.  carthami. — Pyrgus  sao. — Nisoniades  tages. — Attgiades 
sylvamis.  Very  abundant  and  fine. — Thymelicus  actceon.  —  Adopaa 
flava. — A.  lineola. 

Heodes  virgaurecB.     Males  were  locally  frequent  after  July  25th  ; 


BUTTF.RFIilES    AT    DIGNE.  97 

females  scarce. — Loiveia  alciphron  var.  gordius.      Much  worn. — L. 
dorilis.     Males  very  common  and  fresh. — Rumicia  phlceas. 

Lyccena  arion.  Only  two  or  three  worn  ones  noted. — Cupido 
osiris  (sebms).  I  did  not  note  this  species;  it  was  common  at 
Digne  when  I  was  last  there  in  June,  1907. — Cyaniris  semiargus. — 
Polyommatus  damon.  Generally  common,  especially  round  Villars, 
all  of  them  much  smaller  than  specimens  from  the  Ehone  Valley. — 
P.  admetiis  var.  rippertii.  Generally  distrihuted  ;  in  a  few  places 
abundant ;  quite  fresh  on  July  20th.  A  long  series  shows  much 
variation  in  the  size  of  the  spots  under  side  of  the  hind  wings.  In 
several  of  my  specimens  the  lower  line  of  spots  is  reduced  to  the 
merest  dots ;  in  one  there  are  only  three  very  minute  specks,  in 
another  the  two  lowest  spots  are  joined  together. — P.  meleager.  Males 
were  quite  common  and  very  fine;  the  beautifully  coloured  females, 
all  of  the  type,  were  rather  scarce. — P.  hylas. — P.  escheri.  Not  very 
common. — P.  icarus.  Varying  enormously  in  size,  many  being  mere 
pygmies;  the  females  generally  were  very  bhie. — Agriades  thetis. — 
A.  corydon. — Aricia  medon. — Plebeius  arg^is  {cegon).  I  do  not  think 
I  noted  this  species.  —  P.  argyrognomon.  Quite  fresh  and  rather 
common. — Everes  argiades.  Eare;  the  few  I  caught  were  all  of  the 
type  ;  when  at  Digne  in  June,  1907,  E.  coretas  was  common. — 
Celastrina  argiolus.  Fine  fresh  specimens  of  the  second  brood  were 
frequently  noted  flying  round  the  tops  of  willow  trees. — Lampides 
teiicanus.  I  caught  a  perfectly  fresh  female  in  a  field  of  lucerne  on 
July  28th  ;  it  is  rare  at  Digne. 

Zephyrus  quercus.  Common  near  the  Baths,  sitting  on  the  leaves 
of  the  cherry  trees  ;  very  large,  fine  specimens,  and  quite  fresh. 

Strymon  spini. — S.  acacice.  A  few  rather  worn  ones  near  Villars 
on  July  28th. — S.  ilicis.     Type  and  var.  cerri. 

Pphiclides  podalirius.  Very  common  ;  larvae  were  noted  on  sloe, 
almond,  and  apricot  trees. 

Papilio  alexanor.  Frequently  seen,  but  in  rags  on  July  20th  ; 
very  small  larvae  were  common,  and  females  were  seen  depositing 
ova  on  the  medium-sized  plants  of  Sesili  inontanum,  but  never  on 
one  which  was  already  occupied,  no  two  larvae  ever  being  seen  on 
two  plants  anywhere  near  each  other.  I  have  seen  it  stated  that  the 
larvae  of  P.  alexanor  cannot  be  reared  on  ordinary  garden  carrot.  I 
found,  however,  that  the  few  larvae  I  brought  home  fed  up  freely  on 
this  food,  and  turned  into  large  full-sized  pupae. — P.  machaon. 

Parnassius  apollo.  Very  common  and  quite  fresh,  half-way  up 
the  Dourbs  on  July  28th. — Aporia  cratmji. — Pieris  hrassiccB. — P. 
rapa. — P.  manni.  I  brought  home  a  large  number  of  unset  P.  rapa, 
amongst  which  I  shall  probably  find  P.  manni. — P.  napi. — Pontia 
daplidice.  Not  common. — Leptosia  sinapis. — L.  duponcheli.  The 
remains  of  the  first  brood  were  still  lingering,  but  no  signs  of  a  second 
brood. — Colias  hyale. — C.  edusa. — Gonep)teryx  rhamni. — G.  cleopatra. 

Dryas  paphia.  Common.^ — Argynnis  aglaia. — A.  adippe.  Type 
and  var.  cleodoxa  both  equally  common. — Issoria  lathonia. — Brenthis 
daphne.  Much  worn. — B.  dia.  A  few  freshly  emerged  specimens 
were  taken. 

(To  be  continued.) 


98  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 


BY     THE     WAY. 


Bequest  to  the  National  Trust. — Mr.  George  Henry  Ver- 
rall,  of  Sussex  Lodge,  Exning,  Newmarket,  formerly  Conservative 
M.P.  for  East  Cambridgeshire,  one  of  the  leading  racing  officials, 
and  a  partner  in  the  firm  of  Messrs.  Pratt  and  Co.,  a  former 
President  of  the  Eoyal  Entomological  Society,  who  died  on  Sep- 
tember 16th,  aged  sixty-three,  left  estate  of  the  gross  value  of 
£58,268,  of  which  the  net  personalty  has  been  sworn  at  £40,778. 
He  left  his  collection  of  British  Diptera  and  the  cabinets  in 
which  it  is  contained  to  his  nephew,  James  Edward  Collin,  con- 
ditional upon  his  offering  to  the  Natural  History  Museum,  South 
Kensington,  three  pairs  of  each  species  of  which  he  possessed  a 
full  series  (six  pairs  constitute  a  full  series),  and  at  least  one 
pair  of  each  species  of  which  he  possessed  more  than  one  pair ; 
and  all  his  real  and  personal  estate  in  the  parish  of  Wicken, 
Cambs.,  to  the  National  Trust  for  Places  of  Historic  Interest  or 
Natural  Beauty.—'  The  Times,'  February  14th,  1912. 


The  second  meeting  of  the  General  Malaria  Committee,  held 
in  Bombay  last  November,  gives  one  a  capital  idea  of  the  vigorous 
steps  being  taken  by  the  Indian  Government  to  combat  the 
mosquito  scourge.  The  presidential  address  of  Sir  C.  P.  Lukis, 
the  Director  General  and  Acting  Sanitary  Commissioner,  among 
a  mass  of  practical  information  (ably  summarized  in  the  'British 
Medical  Journal'  of  January  6th  last),  expresses  the  hope  that, 
with  the  aid  of  the  new  Indian  Eesearch  fund,  malariometric  in- 
vestigations would  now  be  possible,  and  the  bionomics  oi  Anopheles 
further  elucidated.  It  refers  to  Dr.  Bentley's  report  on  the  recent 
malarial  outbreak  in  Bombay,  which  confirms  earlier  observations 
upon  Neocellia  stephensi  as  the  local  culprit.  It  recounts  Major 
Christopher's  discovery  that  another  gnat,  A.  ludlowi,  causes 
havoc  in  the  Andaman  Islands,  but  only  within  half-a-mile  of 
the  coast,  no  case  of  malaiia  at  all  being  found  inland,  since 
this  species  breeds  only  in  salt  and  brackish  swamps.  A.  ludloivi 
is  hardly  to  be  distinguished  from  A.  rossi,  "  yet  the  existence 
of  two  distinct  species  is  the  explanation  why  the  proximity  of 
rice  lands  and  swamps  is  innocuous,  provided  that  these  are  at  a 
distance  from  the  sea."  A  bright  season  is  anticipated,  owing 
to  the  deficient  rainfall  of  the  last  year ;  no  epidemic  of  malaria 
is  imminent,  and  the  investigators  should  now  have  ample  leisure 
to  prepare  for  a  future  campaign. 


That  Mecca  of  general  Nature  lovers,  the  thriving  Selborne 
Society,  held  its  annual  Conversazione  on  February  16th  last,  in 
the  rooms  of  the  Civil  Service  Commission,  with  Lord  Montagu 
of  Beaulieu,  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents,  in  the  chair.     A  good 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  99 

many  entomologists  were  present,  and  the  exhibits  were  keenly 
appreciated.  Microscopists  were  well  provided  for,  since  a  num- 
ber of  unusually  interesting  slides  were  on  view.  The  display  » 
of  Old  English  Folk  Dances  was  a  step  in  the  right  direction, 
and  the  exhibition  of  the  hundred  editions  to  which  Gilbert 
White's  '  Natural  History  '  has  now  run,  together  with  that  of 
the  original  MS.,  afforded  much  pleasure  to  the  very  numerous 
members  and  guests  assembled. 

Would  that  the  Rev.  T.  A.  Marshall  or  Mr.  Joe  Dunning  were 
yet  amongst  us  to  do  an  essay  upon  the  work  recently  published 
by  the  American  Ent.  Soc,  of  which  Mr.  Meyrick  has  given  us 
so  lucid  and  masterly  an  account  in  a  current  contemporary  ! 
If  a  Society's  scientific  status  is  gauged  by  the  quality  of  its 
Transactions,  vol.  xxxiii.  of  that  quoted  will  stand  as  an  inerasible 
blot  and  detract  very  seriously  from  its  prestige.  We  do  not  know 
Mr.  Kearfott ;  but  he  has  stirred  up  more  animation  in  this 
country  than  we  have  seen  displayed  for  a  long  time.  The 
greatest  motive  power  among  us  is  still  discussion  upon  priority; 
the  word  is  instinct  with  electricity  in  every  study  and  museum. 
"  Th€  earliest  name  shall  stand,"  cries  one.  "  Let  us  at  least 
have  common  sense,  of  which  science  is  the  essence,"  protests  a 
second.  "  Eucosma  kokana,  lolana,  nomana,  nonana,"  another 
quotes,  and  so  ad  nauseam.  t  .  -^.   El'^TY  OF" 

7    p,  M^ffcALF 

NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS. 

Labidura  riparia. — In  "By  the  Way"  {antea,  p.  76)  we  are  told 
that  all  the  Christchurch  records  of  Lahiclura  7-iparia  come  from  the 
base  of  Hengistbury  Head.  Whether  the  records  do  or  not  I  cannot 
say,  but  I  think  it  is  doubtful  if  the  earwig  itself  did.  In  the  two 
haunts  (possibly  out  of  a  larger  number)  near  Bournemouth  its 
habits  suggest  that  the  soil  of  the  "  bluff "  is  unsuitable  for  it,  and  I 
have  never  been  able  to  find  a  specimen  there,  although  it  is  easy 
enough  to  find  them  in  the  other  two  spots.  I  invariably  get  them 
on  a  certain  kind  of  sandy  cliff,  of  which  there  seems  to  be  none 
similar  at  Hengistbury.  It  appears  to  me  more  likely  that  "  Christ- 
church  "  referred  to  any  part  of  that  coast,  while  it  was  the  chief 
town  in  the  district,  Bournemouth  being  non-existent,  or  practically 
so. — W.  J.  Lucas. 

New  British  Proctotrypid^. — It  seems  advisable  to  publish 
the  following  list  of  new  Proctotrypidae  which  I  have  taken  in  Britain 
at  various  times,  and  have  given  to  Dr.  Kieffer: — Paragryon  algicola, 
Kief.,  n.  s..  Boll.  Lab.  Zool.  Portici.  iv.  (1910)  p.  343.  Males  and 
females  taken  under  seaweed  at  Fishbourne,  Isle  of  Wight,  in  com- 
pany with  Actinopteryx  fucicola,  Actidium  coarctation,  and  other 
Coleoptera. — Loxotroija pedisequa,  Kief.,  n.  s.    "  Angleterre  (H.  Donis- 


100  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

thorpe)."  Andre,  x.  (1911)  p.  925. — Paramesius  spinosus,  Kief.,  v. 
atriventris,  Kief.,  n.  v.  "Angleterre  (H.  Donisthorpe)."  Andre,  x. 
(1911)  p.  753. — Sinlomicrus  liemipterus.  Marsh.,  v.  iiedissequus.  Kief., 
n.  V.  "Angleterre  (H.  Donisthorpe)."  Andre,  x.  (1911),  p.  774. — 
Spilomicrus  hasalyformis,  Marsh.,  v.  pilosiis,  Kief.,  n.  v.  "Angleterre 
(H.  Donisthorpe)."  Andre,  x.  (1911)  p.  791.  —  Galesus  fiUcornis, 
Kief.,  V.  ohscuripes,  Kief.,  n.  v.  "Angleterre:  Oxford  en  automne 
(H.  Donisthorpe)."    Andre,  x.  (1911)  p.  857.— Horace  Donisthorpe. 

Herr  Sprongerts  has  kindly  sent  me  the  following  list  of 
Heterocera  taken  by  himself  (in  addition  to  the  species  enumerated 
by  me  in  '  Entomologist,'  xlv.  p.  69)  at  Abisko  in  Swedish  Lapland: — 
"  Agrotis  speciosa  var.  arctica,  A.  _2jri?yi?<./<:g  var.  confliia,  Anarta 
staudingeri,  Herminia  tentacularia  var.  modestalis,  Lygris  i^opulata, 
Larentia  fluctuata  var.  incanata,  L.  incursata,  L.  montanata  var. 
lapponica,  L.  ferrugata  var.  spadicearia,  L.  polata,  L.  hastata  var. 
subhastata  and  var.  mcBstata,  L.  affinitata  var.  turbaria,  L.  minorata, 
Gnophos  sordaria,  Psodos  coracina,  PygmcBna  fiisca,  Fidonia  carbo- 
naria  ya,i\  roscidaria,  a,nd  Phragmatobia  fjUigmosa  var.  borealis." — 
W.  G.  Sheldon  ;  February  10th,  1912. 

ACHERONTIA     ATROPOS    AND     SpHINX    CONVOLVULI  IN    LANCASHIRE, 

1911. — I  wish  to  record  the  occurrence  of  a  specimen  each  of 
A.  atropos  and  S.  convolvuli  at  St.  Anne's  last  autumn.  Both 
specimens  were  reared,  by  a  young  collector,  from  larvae  found  in 
a  garden. — J.  M.  Muirhead;  Norwood,  Headroom  Gate  Road, 
St.  Anne's-on-Sea. 

Early  Appearances  of  Lepidoptera.  —  On  January  15th  a 
female  Selenia  lunaria  emerged  from  a  pupa  which  had  been  kept 
with  others  in  my  dressing-room  where  there  had  been  no  fire.  This 
afternoon  (February  15th)  one  of  my  colleagues,  the  Rev.  E.  A. 
Hopkins,  took  a  specimen  of  Tephrosia  bistortata. — (Rev.)  J.  E. 
Tare  AT ;  Fareham. 

Phryxus  livornica  in  Devon. — I  had  the  good  fortune  to  have 
brought  to  me  a  living  male  specimen  of  Phryxus  {Deilephila)  livor- 
nica on  January  19th  ;  it  was  caught  on  a  shrub  in  a  garden.  As 
I  can  find  no  record  of  the  capture  of  this  rare  insect  at  this  time 
of  the  year,  I  thought  it  would  be  well  to  record  it. — G.  J.  Enogk  ; 
Tavistock,  February  15th,  1912. 

Phigalia  pedaria  in  December. — I  see  in  the  '  Entomologist ' 
(antea,  p.  80)  that  P.  p)e,dciria  was  out  in  the  Reading  district  on 
January  7th.  I  thought  it  would  be  interesting  to  record  that  I 
took  a  perfect  specimen  on  an  arc  lamp  outside  Messrs.  John  Barnes's 
premises  in  the  Finchley  Road,  N.W.,  on  December  30th,  1911, 
about  7  p.m. — L.  E.  Dunster;  44,  St.  John's  Wood  Terrace,  N.W., 
February  20th,  1912. 

Note  on  Vanessa  io. — On  February  7th  a  friend  brought  me 
three  live  females  of  Vanessa  io  taken  in  his  house  at  Greenhithe. 
Altogether  nearly  a  dozen  have  been  taken  by  him  in  the  house 
during  the  last  four  weeks.      On  further  inquiry,  he  tells  me  that 


SOCIETIES.  101 

they  were  all  captured  in  a  room  facing  north,  occurring  on  any  fine 
day,  some  even  during  the  few  extreme  cold  days,  and  as  he  has  two 
old  sheds  in  the  garden,  possihly  they  may  have  been  hybernating 
there.  I  might  further  mention  as  to  their  remarkable  vitality  that 
on  transferring  the  three  he  gave  me  from  one  box  to  another  one  of 
the  specimens  escaped  so  quickly  that  I  was  unable  to  recapture  it. 
It  struck  me  that  one  does  not  often  hear  of  V.  io  so  plentifully 
in  January.  —  Stanley  A.  Blenkarn  ;  Norham,  Cromwell  Eoad, 
Beckenham,  February  11th,  1912. 

Gloucestershire  Lepidoptera.  —  I  am  now  able  to  add  the 
following  to  our  local  list  :—Plusia  moneta,  taken  at  flowers  of  honey- 
suckle on  July  9th,  1909,  near  this  city,  and  at  light  in  Gloucester 
on  July  12th,  1909,  by  the  Eev.  G.  M.  Smith,  who  also  found  the 
larvae  here  on  Ddlphinmm  in  the  following  season,  on  June  1st,  1910  ; 
Lobesia  permixtana  (reliquana),  taken  in  the  Forest  of  Dean  on 
June  15th,  1911;  Hemimene  {Dichrora7n2Jha)  tanaceti  [lierhosana) , 
taken  on  our  hills  flying  low  amongst  mixed  herbage  between  4  and 
6  p.m.  on  August  31st,  1911;  Lithocolletis  sorbi,  bred  on  July  7th, 
1911,  from  mined  leaves  of  Pyms  aucuparia  collected  in  the  forest 
on  June  29th  preceding ;  and  Nepticula  fulgens,  taken  on  the  wing 
amongst  beech  on  our  hills  at  2  p.m.  on  May  11th,  1911. — ■ 
Mr.  Meyrick  kindly  identified  the  Micros  for  me.^ — C.  Granville 
Clutterbuck  ;  Heathside,  Heathville  Eoad,  Gloucester,  February 
4th,  1912. 


SOCIETIES. 


Entomological  Society  op  London.  —  Wednesday,  December 
6th,  1911.— The  Eev.  F.  D.  Morice,  M.A.,  President,  in  the  chair.— 
The  follov/ing  gentlemen  were  elected  Fellows  of  the  Society : — 
Dr.  Beckwith  Whitehouse,  52,  Newhall  Street,  Birmingham  ;  Messrs. 
F.  W.  Edwards,  Kingswear,  Cornwall  Eoad,  Harrow ;  Douglas  Pearson, 
Chilwell  House,  Chilwell,  Notts;  B.  H.  Smith,  B.A.,  Edgehill,  War- 
lingham,  Surrey ;  C.  F.  M.  Swynnerton,  Mount  Chirinda,  Melsetter, 
South  Ehodesia. — Mr.  C.  J.  Gahan  exhibited  an  insect  recently 
brought  to  the  British  Museum,  and  recognized  by  him  as  belonging 
to  Pnsojms,  a  remarkable  and  specially  interesting  genus  of  Phas- 
midae.  The  species  of  Prisopiis  inhabit  Tropical  America,  and 
appear  to  be  very  rare.  The  one  now  exhibited  was  new,  and  he  pro- 
posed to  name  it  Prisopus  fisheri,  in  honour  of  its  discoverer. — Mr. 
South,  a  drawer  of  Leucania  pallens  and  L.  favicolor,  captured  and 
reared  by  the  Eev.  W.  P.  Waller  in  the  Woodbridge  district  of 
Suffolk.  He  observed  that,  seeing  that  Mr.  Waller  had  reared 
favicolor  from  eggs  laid  by  a  pallens-like  female,  and  obtained  pallens 
from  the  ova  of  a  female  favicolor,  the  obvious  inference  was  that 
there  was  cross-pairing  in  each  case.  Mr.  South  added  that  he 
understood  that  favicolor  cannot  be  separated  from  pallens  by  any 
difference  in  the  genitalia,  and  was  informed  that  cross-pairings 
of  pallens  and  favicolor  are  not   uncommon  in  the  habitat  of   the 

bntom. — march,  1912.  i 


102  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

latter.  He  was,  therefore,  inclined  to  suppose  that  favicolor  is  a 
salt-marsh  development  of  liallens. — Mr.  Donisthorpe,  a  specimen  of 
Eryx  fairmairei,  Eeiche,  a  species  of  Coleoptera  new  to  Britain, 
taken  by  him  in  Sherwood  Forest,  on  July  11th,  1908.  He  also 
showed  a  French  specimen  of  the  same  species,  and  examples  of  Eryx 
atra,  F.,  the  other  known  British  species,  for  comparison. — Mr.  W.  G. 
Sheldon,  a  collection  of  Ehopalocera  made  by  him  in  Jemtland  and 
Swedish  Lapland,  in  June  and  July,  1911. — Mr.  Henry  J.  Turner,  a 
large  number  of  specimens  of  Liiperina  nickerlii,  of  which  the  British 
form  or  race  has  been  hitherto  known  as  Luperina  gueneei,  together 
with  series  of  other  races  from  the  Continent.  Mr.  Turner  also 
exhibited  a  long  series  of  Erebia  (Bthiops  from  many  Continental 
localities  and  also  from  Aviemore,  Scotland.  He  made  the  exhibit  at 
the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Chapman,  with  reference  to  an  article  in  the 
Bull.  Soc.  Ent.  France,  No.  51 ,  1911,  by  M.  Koger  Verity,  in  which  the 
Scotch  (Galashiels)  race  of  this  species  was  named  var.  Caledonia. — 
Prof.  Poulton,  a  series  of  specimens  tending  to  refute  the  view,  again 
recently  advanced,  that  changes  of  colour  and  pattern  in  allied  forms 
are  due  to  climate,  and  especially  to  moisture.  Also  a  set  of  the 
mimetic  Pseudacraeas  and  their  models,  collected  by  Mr.  C.  A. 
Wiggins,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Entebbe,  which  contrasted  re- 
markably with  a  set  of  seventeen  Pseudacraeas  collected  by  Dr. 
G.  D.  H.  Carpenter  on  Damba  Island,  on  the  equator,  in  the  Victoria 
Nyanza,  about  twenty  miles  south-east  of  Entebbe.  Also  four  males 
and  one  female  of  Planema  alcinoe,  captured  iVugust  10th,  1911,  in 
the  forest,  one  mile  east  of  Omi,  near  Lagos,  by  Mr.  W.  A.  Lamborn, 
"in  a  confused  mass."  Prof.  Poulton  also  exhibited  the  cocoon  of 
Norasuma  kolga,  together  with  the  moth  which  had  emerged  from  it. 
The  compact  cocoon  itself  was  reddish,  with  an  outer  imperfect  cover- 
ing of  yellow  silk.  In  some  cocoons,  including  the  one  exhibited, 
the  silk  of  this  loose  and  open  network  formed  dense  little  masses  here 
and  there  which,  being  bright  yellow  in  colour,  much  resembled  the 
cocoons  of  Braconid  parasites.  He  said  that  he  had  been  shown  by 
Mr.  J.  H.  Durrant  similar  spherical  bodies  scattered  over  the  cocoon 
of  the  Tineid  moth,  Marmara  salictella.  He  also  exhibited  five 
specimens  of  Amauris  psyttalea,  Plotz,  being  all  that  Mr.  W.  A. 
Lamborn  "  obtained  from  twenty-five  pupae,  the  rest  being  parasi- 
tized by  Tachinidifi."  Seventeen  dead  pupae  from  the  same  company, 
twelve  of  the  Tachinid  flies,  and  a  number  of  their  puparia  were  also 
exhibited.  He  also  exhibited  specimens  and  gave  an  account  of 
observations  sent  by  Mr.  Lamborn,  which  threw  further  light  on  the 
letter  written  January,  1891,  by  the  Rev.  A.  C.  Good,  Ph.D.,  from 
"West  Africa,  from  which  Dr.  W.  J.  Holland  had  inferred  that  the 
larvae  of  S.  lemolea  are  aphidivorous ;  extracts  from  Mr.  Lamborn's 
letters,  together  with  an  investigation  of  his  material,  indicate  that 
their  food  consists  of  Coccidae. — Mr.  W.  J.  Kaye,  a  drawer  full  of  Synto- 
midae  that  had  been  collected  by  himself  in  South  Brazil,  in  the  early 
part  of  1910.  The  following  papers  were  read: — "  On  the  Nictitans 
Group  of  the  Genus  Hydroecia,  Gn.,"  by  the  Rev.  C.  R.  N.  Burrows. 
"  On  the  Dates  of  the  PubHcations  of  the  Entomological  Society," 
by  the  Rev.  G.  Wheeler,  M.A.,  F.Z.S.— Geoege  Wheeler,  M.A., 
Hon.  Secretary. 


SOCIETIES. 


103 


The  South  London  Entomological  and  Natural  History 
Society.— December  Uth,  1911.— Mr.  W.  J.  Kaye,  F.E.S.,  President, 
in  the  chair. — Special  Meeting. — It  was  agreed  unanimously  at  an 
unusually  large  meeting  to  increase  the  annual  subscription  to  ten 
shillings  and  the  life  subscription  to  six  guineas. — Ordinary  Meeting. 
—Mr.  K.  G.  Todd,  of  Barnet,  Mr.  G.  E.  H.  Peskett,  of  Ilford,  Mr. 
Mr.  A.  Quarrington,  of  Norwood,  and  Mr.  E.  A.  Stowell,_  B.A.,  of 
Kingston,  were  elected  members. — There  was  a  special  exhibition  of 
Bumicia  jMceas  and  its  alHes.  Mr.  Tonge,  series  from  the  south-east 
counties,  and  bred  Continental  specimens  ;  Mr.  Newman,  on  behalf 
of  Mr.  Quarrington,  ab.  schmidtii  and  striated  forms  ;  the  Eev.  G. 
Wheeler,  series  from  England,  S.  France,  and  S.  Switzerland,  in- 
cluding suffused  examples,  ab.  caruleoiyunctata,  ab.  hiimnctata,  ab. 
unipunctata,  &c. ;  Mr.  E.  Adkin,  representative  series  from  Eastbourne 
this  year,  and  analysed  the  variation  occurring  there  ;  Mr.  A.  E. 
Gibbs,  series  from  England,  North-east  France,  East  Pyrenees, 
Corsica,  Algeria,  Turkistan,  and  Japan,  together  with  many  closely 
allied  species  from  the  Paltearctic  and  Nearctic  regions ;  Mr.  Turner, 
series  including  ab.  alba  from  Brasted;  Mr.  E.  South,  a  selection 
illustrating  the  ordinary  variation,  including  ab.  schmidtii,  and  pointed 
out  how  the  variation  of  the  American  representative  hypophlaas 
had  almost  parallel  variation  ;  Mr.  Cowham,  ab.  schmidtii  from 
Oxshott ;  Mr.  Frohawk,  a  long  bred  series  of  C.  dispar  var.  rutilus 
from  Continental  ova ;  Mr.  C.  P.  Pickett,  long  and  varied  series  of 
four  broods  in  1911,  and  many  aberrations  taken  during  the  past  ten 
years ;  Mr.  Edwards,  closely  allied  Central  and  East  Asian  forms  ; 
Mr.  Kaye,  bred  specimens.  In  the  subsequent  remarks  it  was  noted 
that  the  species  had  appeared  in  great  abundance  even  in  gardens 
and  streets,  that  there  were  extremely  few  striking  aberrations,  that 
the  later  broods  were  generally  darker,  that  the  larvae  hybernated 
in  any  instar,  and  that  the  species  was  by  no  means  common  in 
Switzerland. — Mr.  West  (Greenwich)  exhibited  a  drawer  of  the 
Society's  cabinet  in  which  he  had  arranged  the  British  Hymenoptera 
recently  presented  to  the  Society. — Mr.  Ashdown,  a  collection  oi 
Lepidoptera  taken  by  him  in  Switzerland  and  near  Chamonix  in 
June  and  July  last.  —  Mr.  Newman,  a  number  of  well-marked 
aberrations  from  the  collection  of  Mr.  Hills,  of  Folkestone.— Mr. 
Quarrington,  a  fine  blue  female  of  Polyommatus  icarus.  —  Mr. 
Buckstone,  a  series  of  variations  of  Emat^irga  atomaria. — Mr.  South, 
a  long  series  of  three  generations  of  Acidalia  virgularia  reared  in 
1911,  from  a  female  taken  at  Bishop  Auckland  in  1910.— Mr.  Joy, 
two  autumn  bred  specimens  of  Apatura  iris,  the  rest  of  the  brood 
going  over  as  larvee  as  usual. — Mr.  Blenkarn,  light  and  dark  examples 
of  Lithosia  deplana,  and  a  specimen  of  the  cockroach  Periplaneta 
australasicB  taken  from  a  case  of  oranges  from  Jamaica. — Mr.  Edwards, 
the  remarkably  sexually  dimorphic  species  Euripus  halitherses,  of 
which  the  female  mimics  a  Euplcea. — Mr.  Pickett,  a  very  richly 
marked  aberration  of  Hipparchia  semele. 

January  llth,  1912.  — Mr.  A.  Sich,  F.S.E.,  Vice-President,  in 
the  chair. -Mr.  C.  G.  Gahan,  M.A.,  F.E.S.,  of  the  British  Museum 
(Natui^al  History),  and  Mr.  N.  S.  Sennett,  F.E.S,  of  South  Kensington, 


104  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

were  elected  members. — Mr.  A.  W.  Buckstone  exhibited  series  of 
Hybernia  defoliaria  from  several  localities,  and  stated  that  variation 
had  considerably  increased  in  the  last  thirty  years,  and  that  around 
London  the  type  form  was  much  less  frequent. — Mr.  H.  Moore,  a 
huge  tree-cricket,  Eumegalodon  blancliardi,  from  Borneo,  whose  teg- 
mina  resemble  leaves.— Mr.  E.  Adkin  gave  additional  notes  on  the 
"  Lepidoptera  of  a  London  Garden,"  exhibiting  Pliisia  moneta, 
Monopis  rusticella,  Gracilaria  syringella,  Argyresthia  gcedartclla, 
and  Gelechia  vialvella. — Mr.  A.  E.  Gibbs,  an  aberration  of  Pyrameis 
atalanta  bred  from  Vizzavona,  Corsica,  in  which  the  diagonal  red 
bands  of  the  fore  wings,  and  the  marginal  band  of  the  hind  wings 
are  more  or  less  pink,  and  some  areas  very  much  paler  than  usual. — 
Mr.  Blenkarn,  five  specimens  of  Anthrocera  trifolii  var.  confluens 
from  Withycombe  and  Horsley,  and  various  species  of  Coleoptera, 
including  Bledius  sccerdendus,  recently  announced  as  new  to  Britain 
by  Dr.  Joy. — Mr.  H.  Main,  larvae  of  the  glow-worm  reared  from  eggs, 
and  also  a  larva  of  Ocypus  olens. — The  Reports  of  the  Society's  Field 
Meetings  during  the  past  year  were  communicated  by  Messrs. 
Edwards,  Gibbs,  Kaye,  Priske,  Tonge,  and  Turner. — Hy.  J.  Tueneb, 
Hon.  Beport.  Sec. 

The  City  op  London  Entomological  Society. — December  19th, 
1911. — Rev.  C.  E.  N.  Burrows  exhibited  Manduca  atropos,  female 
taken  at  Mucking,  Essex,  June  9th,  1911,  with  some  of  the  unlaid 
ova  of  which  he  had  abstracted  two  hundred  and  eighteen — only  one 
ovum  was  laid  and  this  was  reared.— Mr.  H.  B.  Williams  exhibited 
EucUoe  card  amines,  a  male  specimen,  from  Abridge,  Essex,  with  the 
black  apical  blotch  continued  as  a  narrow  line  along  the  outer  margin. 
—Messrs.  V.  E.  Shaw,  J.  Douglas,  and  B.  S.  WiUiams  exhibited  their 
series  of  Anchocelis  xyistacina  arranged  to  show  its  great  variation ; 
the  vars.  were  serina,  obsoleta,  ferrea,  lineola,  rubetra,  brunnea, 
tmicolor-brunnea,  venosa,  pialUda,  canaria,  and  spharidatina,  the 
latter  being  much  commoner  than  the  type  and  canaria  the  rarest ; 
the  specimens  shown  being  from  Finchley,  Bexley,  Epping  Forest, 
New  Forest,  and  Hunstanton. — Mr.  B.  S.  Williams,  Agrotis  nigricans, 
var.  marshallana  from  Wicken,  July,  1911.— Mr.  H.  M.  Edelsten, 
pupge  and  cocoons  of  Tapinostola  kellmanni  and  T.  concolor,  and 
photographs  of  anal  appendages  of  females  of  these  species  to  illus- 
trate the  notes  read  thereon. 

January  2nd,  1912.  —  Messrs.  James  Douglas  and  F.  H. 
Southgate  were  elected  members  of  the  Society. — The  evening 
was  devoted  to  the  exhibition  and  discussion  of  liumicia  plilaas. 
-—Mr.  A.  J.  Willsdon,  specimens  from  Deal,  September,  1911, 
including  two  ab.  obsoleta,  and  ab.  cceruleoyunctata. — Mr.  W.  E. 
King,  ab.  alba,  ab.  sclimidtii,  ab.  obliterata,  ab.  infra-extensa,  and  an 
aberration  combining  abs.  obsoleta,  cceruleojmnctata,  and  magnipunc- 
tata,  all  from  Chingford  district  where  he  had  noticed  a  partial  fifth 
brood  last  season  and  found  some  numbers  of  the  larvae  in  October.  Mr. 
H.  B.  Williams,  some  one  hundred  and  seventy-one  specimens  from 
Missenden  and  district,  including  abs.  alba,  cleiis,  addenda,  caudata, 
suffusa,  caruleopunctata,  parvijmncta,  magnipuncta,  basilipnncta,  ma- 
jor, radiata,  infra-extensa.    He  stated  that  in  comparing  results  of  the 


SOCIETIES.  105 

record  1911  season  with  other  years,  he  was  struck  with  the  numbers 
of  tailed  and  suffused  forms  which  he  attributed  to  the  heat — of  one 
hundred  and  twenty-three  specimens  taken  in  1911,  twenty-four  had 
pronounced  tails,  and  most  of  those  captured  in  August  showed  a 
trace  of  tails,  the  September  specimens  being  less  remarkable.  As 
to  suffusion,  only  one  specimen  slightly  suli'used  from  September 
captures,  and  twenty-three  among  the  August,  of  which  twenty  are 
ab.  initia. — Mr.  A.  W.  Mera,  twenty-four  specimens  taken  at  Three 
Bridges,  Sussex,  early  in  August,  all  of  a  somewhat  dull  colour  ap- 
proaching ab.  initia. — Mr.  V.  E.  Shaw,  ab.  obsoleta,  from  Darenth,  ab. 
radiata,  Finchley,  ab.  eleiis,  sujfiisa,  and  carideoyunctata,  from  Bexley. 
— Mr.  C.  Nicholson,  three  larvae  reared  from  ova  of  an  ab.  caruleoimnc- 
tata,  and  mentioned  how  easily  females  were  induced  to  oviposit,  in 
confinement,  by  placing  them  in  a  large  glass  cyhnder  over  growing 
food-plant,  covering  top  with  mosquito  netting.  The  showy  stonecrop 
Seclum  specfahile  he  had  found  very  attractive  to  B.  plilcEcis,  he  noticing 
on  one  occasion  nine  specimens  on  one  plant  in  his  garden  at  Hale  End. 
January  16th,  1912. — Mr.  A.  L.  Mera  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  Society. — Annual  "Pocket-box"  exhibition. — Mr.  L.  B.  Prout, 
specimens  of  a  dark  race  of  Eubolia  hipunctaria  from  north  Devon, 
taken  on  a  dark  soil  and  approaching  the  Continental  var.  gachtaria, 
Frr.,  also  a  female  from  Sandown,  Isle  of  Wight,  with  the  bands 
edging  the  central  area  strongly  darkened.  Mr.  G.  H.  Heath,  a 
specimen  of  Anosia  erippus,  var.  archippus,  found  dead  in  the  grass 
at  Sandown,  Isle  of  Wight,  on  the  night  of  September  13th,  1908 ; 
Xylomiges  conspicillaris  var.  melaleuca,  bred  from  a  pupa  dug  in 
Worcestershire,  September,  1897;  Acidalia  incanaria  var.  hischo- 
ffaria,  taken  at  Brockley,  September,  23rd,  1911,  the  first  recorded 
specimen  of  this  melanic  form  taken  in  this  country. — Mr.  Charles  H. 
Williams,  A.  grossulariata,  abs.,  including  varleyata,  nigrosparsata, 
and  lacticolor. — Mr.  V.  E.  Shaw  drew  attention  to  the  fact  that  this 
latter  aberration  should  be  known  as  ab.  deleta,  it  having  been 
named  so  by  Mr.  Cockerell  in  1889  (see  '  Entomologist,'  vol.  xxii.,  p. 
99).  This  is  the  first  ab.  figured  in  Edward  Newman's  '  British 
Moths,'  p.  99.- — Mr.  A.  J.  Willsdon,  a  fine  series  of  Tapinostola  bondii 
collected  at  Folkestone  in  the  grass  and  in  fine  condition,  equal  to 
bred  specimens  ;  Melitcea  aurinia  from  Ireland — two  specimens  of  a 
brick-red  ground  colour,  the  usual  straw-coloured  area  being  absent 
on  the  upper  sides,  and  on  under  sides  the  usual  pale  spots  also 
absent. — Dr.  J.  S.  Sequeira,  living  stick  insects,  also  Vanessa  antiopa 
taken  in  1803,  from  Donovan's  collection. — Mr.  James  Douglas,  Nola 
cucullatella,  bred  from  Chingford,  some  showing  a  tendency  to 
melanism. — Mr.  T.  H.  L.  Grosvenor,  Pieris  napi  from  first  brood, 
showing  following  variation :  (1)  Male  with  female  marking ;  (2) 
gynandromorph  ;   (3)  male   with  entire  absence  of  black  markings ; 

(4)  neural  markings  at  base  forming  a  green  margin  to  secondaries ; 

(5)  female  with  failure  of  black  pigment,  and  a  female  specimen 
from  second  brood  with  black  discal  spot  in  secondaries.  P.  rapoi,  a 
male  absolutely  white,  female  of  yellow  coloration,  female  with  black 
spots  connected  with  black  markings,  and  two  females  with  black  spots 
only  just  discernible ;  Argynnis  cwphrosyne,  a  black  banded  female, 
a  female  under  side  with  pearl  spots  much  enlarged,  a  male  vv'ith 


106  THE   ENTOMOLOGIST. 

pearl  spots  greatly  reduced. — Mr.  A.  W.  Mera,  Splosoma  lubricipcda 
ab.  radiala  and  intermediate  forms  from  Yorkshire,  specimens  of 
type  and  var.  radiata  from  larvae  collected  on  Lincolnshire  coast, 
and  specimens  from  London  district  taken  over  a  nmnber  of  years, 
some  but  lightly  marked,  others  approaching  var.  fasciata. — Mr.  F. 
H.  Stallman,  Dicranura  bifida  taken  at  light,  Beulah  Hill,  S.E.,  July 
4th,  1911;  Golias  Jnjale,  female,  Margate,  August  10th,  1911; 
Cyaniris  argiolus,  a  male  specimen  having  a  row  of  well-marked 
spots  on  the  under  side  margins  of  all  four  wings,  from  Holmwood ; 
.  S.  convolvuli  found  at  rest  near  North  Foreland  lighthouse,  August  23rd, 
1911. — Mr.  W.  Crocker,  a  variable  series  of  Leucania  favicolor  from 
North  Kent  marshes,  also  a  pair  of  dwarf  L.  favicolor  he  had  reared 
from  ova  in  October,  1909,  the  remaining  larvtfi  dying  after  hyber- 
nation ;  Anthrocera  filipendiila,  specimens  with  a  dark  vein  inter- 
secting the  upper  median  and  sixth  spots,  and  fairly  broad  borders  to 
hind  wings,  also  two  yellow  aberrations,  and  a  specimen  having  an 
under  wing  on  left  side  in  place  of  usual  upper  wing,  the  right  side 
being  normal,  bred  July,  1910. — Mr.  V.  E.  Shaw,  pupae  of  Eiipithecia 
extensaria  from  larvaB  found  on  Norfolk  coast ;  a  series  of  Emmelesia 
albulata,  and  its  var.  tJmles  bred  from  Unst  pupae,  1911,  more  than 
half  the  pupae  going  over  another  winter. — V.  E.  Shaw,  Ho7i.  Bep. 
Secretary. 


REGENT    LITERATURE . 

The  Annals  of  Scottish  Natural  History.     1911.     Edinburgh. 

Not  many  articles  in  connection  with  entomology  are  to  be  found 
in  the  volume  just  completed  ;  perhaps  when  the  '  Annals  '  appear  in 
1912  under  a  new  form  this  may  be  remedied.  There  are  two  papers 
of  considerable  importance  : —  "  Scottish  Dragonflies  ;  some  further 
Records  and  Table  of  Distribution,"  by  W.  Evans  ;  and  "  The  Aquatic 
Coleoptera  of  the  North  Ebudes,"  by  F.  Balfour-Browne,  M.A. 
Shorter  papers  are : — "On  some  New  and  Rare  Scottish  Diptera," 
by  A.  E.  J.  Carter  ;  and  the  Scottish  species  of  Oxyura  (Proctotrypidae), 
pt.  vi.,  by  P.  Cameron.  Short  notes  on  "  Labia  minor  (Orthoptera) 
in  Haddingtonshire,"  by  W.  Evans;  Acherontia  atropos  (Lepidoptera) 
in  Caithness,"  by  W.  Evans  ;  and  "  Northern  Records  of  Diptera," 
by  Col.  J.  W.  Yerbury,  complete  the  list.  W  J  L 

Social  Life  in  the  Bisect  World.     By  J.  H.  Fabee.     Translated  by 

Bernard  Miall.    With  Fourteen  Illustrations.    Fisher  Unwin. 

London,  1912.     Price  10s.  6d.  net. 

The  lover  of  insect  life  who  has  not  yet  read  any  of  the  delightful 

essays  written,  under  the  title  of  "  Souvenirs  Entomologiques,"  by 

J.  H.  Fabre,  would  be  well  advised  to  begin  reading  them  at  once. 

Darwin  used  no  words  of  flattery  when,  in  writing  to  the  author 

soon  after  the  publication  of  his  first  volume,  he  said :  "  Never  have 

the  wonderful  habits  of  insects  been  more  vividly  described,  and  it 

is  almost  as  good  to  read  about  them  as  to  see  them."     Nothing 

could  be  truer.     Fabre  was  not  only  a  great  and  accurate  observer, 


RECENT    LITERATURE.  107 

but  possessed  to  an  exceptional  degree  the  gift  of  enabling  others  to 
see  the  things  that  he  himself  had  seen.  Many  of  his  essays  are  now 
to  be  had  in  EngUsh  translations.  The  volume  under  notice  contains 
fifteen  of  them,  all  of  absorbing  interest,  and  rendered  in  a  style  that 
has  lost  little  of  the  lucidity  and  charm  which  characterize  the 
originals.  Instead,  however,  of  the  ants,  bees  or  wasps,  which  the 
title  of  the  volume  suggests,  the  insects  treated  of  are  mostly 
creatures  of  quite  different  habits  and  character — cicadas  and 
crickets,  the  grey  locust,  the  golden  Carabus  and  beetles  of  other 
kinds,  the  praying  mantis,  the  great  peacock  or  emperor  moth,  and 
the  oak-egger,  with  a  few  more  insects  whose  habits  of  life  are  not 
usually  described  as  social. 

If  the  names  just  mentioned  are  not  all  to  be  found  within  the 
pages  of  the  book,  it  is  the  translator's  fault,  not  ours.  His  work  on 
the  whole  would  have  deserved  nothing  but  praise,  had  he  not 
shown  too  great  a  want  of  care  where  the  names  of  insects  are  con- 
cerned, turning  as  he  does,  on  every  possible  occasion,  a  Carabus  into 
a  ScarabcBUs,  a  locust  into  a  cricket,  or  a  moth  into  a  butterfly. 
Transformations  of  that  striking  character  are  merely  disconcerting 
to  the  reader,  and  do  not  in  the  least  add  to  the  attractiveness  of 
the  volume.  f   T  f 

IcJmeumonologia  Britannica.     The  Ichneumons  of  Great  Britain ;  a 
DescrijJtive  Account  of  the  Families,  Genera,  and  Si^ecies  indi- 
genous  to  the  British  Isles,  together  toith  Notes  as  to  Classifica- 
tion, Localities,  Habitats,  Hosts,  c§c.      Tryphoninse,    iv.     By 
Claude  Morley,  F.Z.S.,  F.E.S.     Pp.  i.-xvi.  1-341.     H.  &  W. 
Brown,  20,  Fulham  Road,  London,  S.W.     1911. 
To  the  student  of  Ichneumonidae  these  volumes  should  be  a  boon. 
The  present  one  is  not  only  of  the  same  high  standard  as  those 
preceding  it,  but  its  general  usefulness  is,  perhaps,   even   greater 
because  of  the  excellent  illustrations  in  the  text.      These  figures, 
reproduced  from  enlarged  engravings  by  Mr.  Rupert  Stenton,  re- 
present one  species  of  almost  every  genus  treated  in  the  volume. 

In  1901  the  number  of  British  species  of  Ichneumons  referred  to 
the  subfamily  Tryphoninae  appears  to  have  been  something  over  four 
hundred.  Under  our  author's  revision  the  total  now  barely  exceeds 
three  hundred  and  thirty.  These  are  treated  under  five  tribal  head- 
ings as  follows  : — 

Genera.      Species. 

Tribe  Metopiides 1  5 

,,      Sphinctides    1  1 

„      Exochides  10  75 

,,      Bassides 6  48 

„      Tryphonides  32         205 

50        334 

So  far  as  known,  the  Metopiides  prey  upon  larvae  of  moths,  chiefly 
species  of  the  so-called  "  Bombycidae."  Sphinctus  serotinus,  ap- 
parently the  only  Palaearctic  member  of  the  tribe  Sphinctides,  is 
parasitic  on  Limacodes  testudo.      Species  belonging  to  Exochides 


108  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

also  attack  lepidopterous  larvse,  largely  those  of  the  Tortricioa  and 
Tineina.  The  Bassides,  owing  to  their  penchant  for  larvffi  of  Syr- 
phidse  which  draw  their  sustenance  from  Aphidte,  may  be  regarded 
as  injurious  insects.  The  Tryphonides  destroy  sawfiies,  and  for  this 
reason,  considered  from  an  economic  point  of  view,  are  useful  mem- 
bers of  the  insect  world. 


United  States  Department  of  Agriculture — Bureau  of  Entomology  : — 

Bulletins  : — 
No.  96.     Parts  i-iv.     "  Papers  on  Insects  affecting   Stored  Pro- 
ducts."    By  F.  H.  Chittenden.     (March-October,  1911.) 
No.  97.      Parts  i-v.      "  Papers  on  Deciduous  Fruit  Insects  and 

Insecticides."      By  F.  Johnson,  S.  W.  Foster,  Dudley  Moulton, 

&  E.'  A.  Cushman.     (March-November,  1911.) 
No.  99.     Part  i.     "  The  Orange  Thrips  {Euthrips  citri)."     By  P. 

R.  Jones  &  J.  R.  Horton.     (March,  1911.) 
No.  104.     "The  Fig  Moth."    By  F.  H.  Chittenden,  Sc.D.    "Report 

of  the  Fig  Moth  in  Smyrna."    By  E.  G.  Smyth.   (November,  1911.) 
No.  105.    "The  Rocky  Mountain  Spotted  Fever  Tick.    With  Special 

Reference  to  the  Problems  of  its  Control."     By  W.  D.  Hunter 

&  F.  C.  Bishopp.     (November,  1911.) 
No.  109.     Parts  i  &  ii.     "Papers  on  Insects  affecting  Vegetables." 

By  H.  0.  Marsh  &  F.  H.  Chittenden,  Sc.D.     (November,  1911.) 
Technical  series  : — 

No.  16.     Part  iv.     "  Catalogue  of  Recently  Described  Coccidae." — 

iii.     By  E.  R.  Sasscer.     (June,  1911.) 
No.  19.      Part  iii.     "  Investigations  into  the  Habits  of  Certain 

SarcophagidaB."     By  T.  L.  Patterson.     (March,  1911.) 
No.  20.     Parts  i-iv.     "  Technical  Papers  on  Miscellaneous  Forest 

Insects."     By  A.  D.  Hopkins,  Ph.D.  &  S.  A.  Rohwer.     (January 

-May,  1911.) 

The  current  "Transactions"  of  the  Norfolk  Society  is  a  little 
disappointing  entomologically,  and  contains  but  a  single  note  on  the 
occurrence  at  Carrow  of  the  latest  indigenous  specimen  of  Xylophasia 
zollikoferi,  under  a  large  electric  lamp.  Five  British  examples  are 
known  from  Deal  to  Yorks,  and  the  species  has  a  wide  distribution 
from  Germany  to  Central  Asia,  though  always  taken  singly.  We 
shall  hope  to  find  Rev.  E.  N.  Bloomfield's  important  Catalogue  of  the 
Norfolk  and  Suffolk  Diptera  in  next  year's  account  of  this  thriving 
Society.  The  Ipswich  Field  Club  is  beginning  to  assert  itself,  early 
for  so  young  an  institution,  and  prints  in  its  current  Journal  a  capital 
list  of  Lepidoptera,  taken  in  its  vicinity  by  the  Rev.  A.  P.  Waller,  B.A., 
who  has,  however,  confined  himself  to  the  eastern  side  of  the  town, 
especially  about  Waldringfield,  of  which  he  is  Rector.  The  most 
interesting  note  is  anent  Leucania  favicolor,  which  he  anticipates 
will  be  found  nothing  but  a  local  form  of  L. 


Wb  much  regret  that  we  have  to  postpone  publication  of  the 
biographical  notice  of  the  late  Mr.  S.  J.  Capper  until  next  issue. 


The   Entomologist,  April,   1912. 


Plate 


NEAR    PUERTO    DE    LA    LOSILLO,    SIERRA    ALBARRACIN. 


Photo  Dr.  Fr.  Ris.  in    THE    CAMARGUE,    NEAR    LES   SAINTES    MARIES. 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST 


Vol.  XLV.]  APEIL.    1912.  [No.  587 

A    COLLECTING     TKIP    TO     THE     CAMAKGUE     AND 
THE    SIERRA   ALBARRACIN. 

By    Kenneth    J.    Morton,    F.E.S. 

(Plate  III.) 

On  July  2nd  last  I  joined  my  friend  Dr.  Ris,  of  Rheinau, 
at  Lyons,  our  destination  being  Aries,  in  the  Bouches  du  Rhone, 
which  we  reached  early  on  the  same  day.  In  selecting  Aries  as 
the  starting-point  of  a  collecting  trip  which  we  had  long  planned, 
we  had  the  belief  that  the  Rhone  delta  would  prove  an  excellent 
locality  for  Odonata,  while  we  had  also  the  idea  that  the  chain 
of  les  Alpines  might  yield  us  a  good  Ascalaphid  or  two.  We 
had  even  a  faint  hope  that  Macromia  splendens,  one  of  the  least 
known,  and  accordingly  one  of  the  most  interesting,  of  our 
European  dragonflies,  which  apparently  has  not  been  taken  at 
all  in  quite  recent  times,  might  be  met  with.  Of  these  beliefs 
and  hopes  only  the  first  was  realized.  The  waters  around  Aries 
proved  most  productive  of  Odonata,  but  we  did  not  see  Macromia 
splendens  at  all,  nor  are  we  able  to  explain  why  we  did  not  do 
so.  Whether  we  were  too  far  east,  the  character  of  the  waters 
was  unsuitable,  or  the  season  still  too  early,  we  are  unable  to 
say.  The  two  recorded  localities  are  Montpellier,  in  the  not 
far-off  Department  of  the  Herault,  and  Jarnac,  in  the  Charente  ; 
and  probably  we  should  have  fared  better  had  we  tried  one  of 
these  known  localities.  But  my  own  feeling  is  that  we  were 
perhaps  too  early,  as  Williamson,  in  his  excellent  paper  on  the 
North  American  species  of  Macromia,  states  that  on  the  Wabash 
River  these  magnificent  insects  appear  on  the  hot  days  at  the 
end  of  July  and  early  August,  when  most  of  the  other  species  of 
summer  dragonflies  have  passed  away — a  state  of  things  which, 
as  the  list  that  follows  will  show,  had  not  yet  come  to  pass  at 
the  time  of  our  visit  to  Aries. 

Our  first  attempt  at  collecting  was  made  at  the  canal  just 
outside  of  the  town,  and  on  most  of  the  days  that  followed  we 
spent  a  few  of  the  morning  hours  profitably  in  the  same  place. 
Here  we  met  with  some  of  the  most  interesting  small  species  in 

ENTOM. — APRIL,    1912.  K 


110  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

plenty,  such  as  the  two  species  of  Platycnemis — acutipennis  and 
latipes — the  latter  an  especially  delicate  ivory-white  species  with 
a  peculiar,  weak,  jerky  flight.  P.  jjcmiipes  w^as  not  present  at 
all.  Agrio7i  lindenii  was  also  common  here.  Of  the  Gomphinte, 
Gomphus  pulchelhis  was  common,  simUUmus  much  rarer,  while  a 
single  male  of  G.  flavipes  was  quite  a  distinguished  capture. 
Anax  imperator  here  and  there  patrolled  the  canal,  hut,  as 
de  Selys  naively  remarks,  "  cet  insecte  est  d'une  prudence 
remarquable."  A.  p)CLrthenope  was  also  seen  more  rarely,  and 
Dr.  Piis  picked  up  the  esuvite  of  this  species.  JEschna  offinis 
occurred  occasionally  with  an  odd  specimen  or  two  of  Oxygastra 
curtisii.  Of  the  Libellulinse,  Libelhda  fidva  and  Orthetrum  can- 
cellatum  were  perhaps  the  most  conspicuously  common  here, 
while  0.  hrimneum,  0.  coerulesce?is,  and  Crocothcmis  erythrcea 
occurred  more  sparingly.  At  this  very  convenient  locality, 
towards  the  end  of  our  stay  at  Aries,  Dr.  Ris  made  an  interesting 
discovery  in  the  shape  of  Erythromma  viridulum.  It  was  found 
settling  in  some  numbers  amongst  poplar-shoots  which  grew  in 
a  clump  at  one  point  of  the  canal-bank,  and  it  might  very  easily 
have  been  overlooked.  Later  it  was  seen  flying  in  its  more 
normal  fashion  over  the  water,  and  settling  on  water-lily  leaves. 
Another  insect  particularly  common  at  one  of  the  canal-locks 
was  Calopteryx  splendens,  of  an  interesting  form,  similar  to  that 
which  is  found  at  Digne,  somewhat  intermediate  between  the 
type  and  the  form  xanthostoma. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  2nd  we  went  further  into  the  Camargue 
at  Albaron,  a  station  on  the  railway  which  goes  to  les  Saintes 
Maries.  All  the  way  down  we  saw  from  the  train  many  examples 
of  what  was  doubtless  Msclina  affinis  flying  about,  and  at  Albaron 
itself  this  species  was  in  the  greatest  abundance.  It  is  diflicult 
to  imagine  one  of  the  iEschninae  existing  in  greater  numbers  in 
any  locality.  Both  sexes  were  represented.  The  other  dragon - 
flies  noticed  were  not  of  great  importance,  but  a  single  Asca- 
laphus  ictericus  was  an  interesting  addition  to  our  list  for 
the  day. 

Another  part  of  the  district  which  we  visited  frequently  was 
that  lying  around  the  station  named  Mas  de  la  Ville,  on  the 
Saint  Louis  line.  Here  there  were  to  be  found,  in  addition  to 
the  canal,  smaller  ditches  of  diverse  character,  more  or  less 
overgrown  with  aquatic  vegetation,  and  producing  some  species 
which  did  not  occur  nearer  the  town.  At  one  of  the  minor 
ditches  a  few  Agrion  mercuriale  and  Pyrrhosoma  tenellum  were 
taken,  while  at  another  one  or  two  Calopteryx  h amor r hoi dalis 
put  in  an  appearance.  A  shaded  pathway  running  parallel  to 
one  of  the  greater  ditches  was  a  favoured  haunt  of  the  Lestes 
group.  Here  L.  viridis,  harhara,  and  S.  fnsca  were  common. 
Along  the  same  pathway  0.  curtisii  was  found,  but  this  species 
was   disappointingly  scarce.      It  is   common   in  West  Central 


A    COLLECTING    TRIP    TO    THE    CAMARGUE,    ETC.  Ill 

France  (Indre  and  no  doubt  elsewhere),  and  it  appears  to  be 
more  especially  an  occidental  species,  although  it  is  also  recorded 
from  Italy  and  Southern  Spain.  jE.  isosceles  was  a  somewhat 
unexpected  capture,  some  of  the  males  being  still  in  perfect 
condition.  Looking  to  the  time  of  its  appearance  in  more 
northerly  localities,  its  occurrence  here  in  July  was  a  little 
puzzling,  and  one  or  two  other  species,  such  as  L.  fidva  and 
L.  quadrimacidata,  were  equally  a  surprise  to  us  at  this  date. 
The  last-named  occurred  frequently  in  this  district,  and  Croco- 
theniis  erijthnea  was  very  common.  Anyone  who  has  never 
before  seen  Crocothemis  alive  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  by  the 
beauty  of  the  mature  males  of  this  tropical-looking  insect. 
S.  sanguineiun  was  also  a  common  insect  in  this  quarter,  in 
which  the  only  Gomphine  taken  was  G,  imlchellus  in  great 
abundance. 

We  devoted  one  day  to  a  visit  to  les  Alpines.  We  took  train 
to  Fontvieille,  and  explored  the  hills  lying  between  that  place 
and  Paradou.  At  the  foot  of  the  hills  many  ^schnse  were 
flying  about,  probably  affinis  and  mixta.  The  butterfly-hunter 
would  no  doubt  have  found  this  a  good  locality  (and  very  likely 
better  still  a  little  earlier  in  the  season).  I  was  sorry  that  we 
neglected  butterflies,  as  our  efforts  to  collect  Neuroptera  did  not 
result  in  much.  Flying  in  grassy  places  near  olive-trees  a 
small  series  of  Ascalaphus  longicornis  was  taken,  and  in  one 
place  we  noticed  a  number  of  Cordidegaster  annulatus,  specimens 
secured  proving  to  be  of  the  var.  immacidifrons,  quite  similar 
to  those  I  have  taken  at  Digne.  ^E.  mixta  (female)  was  taken  in 
the  hills. 

An  excursion  to  les  Saintes  Maries,  on  the  Mediterranean, 
which  enabled  us  to  see  something  more  of  the  great  wastes  of 
the  Camargue,  was  of  little  consequence  from  a  collecting  point 
of  view.  But  even  in  this  region,  where  arid  tracts  sparkling 
with  saline  efiiorescence  are  the  most  conspicuous  feature, 
dragonflies  were  not  altogether  absent,  such  species  as  Anax 
imperator,  Orthetriim  cancellatum,  and  Lestes  harhara  having  been 
observed. 

The  following  is  a  full  list  of  Odonata  seen  and  with  one 
exception  {Anax  partlienope)  taken  in  the  Bouches  du  Rhone 
between  July  2nd  and  10th  : — Caltrpteryx  splendens,  Harris  ; 
hcemorrhoidalis,  V.  d.  Lind.  Lestes  viridis,  V.  d.  Lind.  ;  sponsa, 
Hansen! ;  harhara,  Fab.  Sympycna  fusca,  V.  d.  Lind.  Platy- 
cnemis  acutipennis,  Selys  ;  latipes,  Ramb.  Agrion  lindenii,  Selys  ; 
pnella,  L.:  pidchellum,  V.  d.  Lind.  (one  female)  ;  mercuriale, 
Cbarp.  Erythromma  virididum,  Charp.  Pyrrhosoma  tenellum, 
Devillars.  Ischnura  elegans,  V.  d.  Lind.  Cordidegaster  annida- 
tus,  Lat.  Gomphus  simillimus,  Selys  ;  pidchellus,  Selys  ;  flavipes, 
Charp.  JEschna  affinis,  V.  d.  Lind.  ;  mixta,  Lat. ;  isosceles, 
Miill.      Anax  imperator,  Leach  ;  parthenope,  Selys.      Oxygastra 

k2 


112  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

curtisii,  Dale.  Orthetrum  cancellatum,  L. ;  brunneum,  Fonscol.  ; 
ccerulescens,  Fab.  Libellula  fulva,  Miill. ;  quadrimaculata,  L. 
Crocothemis  erythraa,  Brull^.  Sympetrum  sanguineum,  Miill.  ; 
meridionale,  Selys  ;  fonscolombii,  Selys. 

Of  four  L.  quadrimaculata,  two  are  ah.prcEiiubila  ;  another  has 
the  nodal  spot  just  indicated,  while  the  fourth  has  this  spot  very 
large,  extending  to  7  mm.  in  the  hind  wings. 

Leaving  Aries  on  the  evening  of  July  10th,  we  proceeded  to 
Albarracin,  in  the  province  of  Teruel,  by  way  of  Cerbere, 
Barcelona,  Sagunto,  and  Teruel.  At  ornamental  waters  in 
public  gardens  at  Barcelona,  dragonflies  were  about  in  some 
numbers,  mc]udmg  Aiiax  iinperato?-,  Orthetrum  cancellatum,  Sym- 
petrum fonscolojiiUi,  and,  I  believe,  one  or  two  other  species. 
We  arrived  at  Albarracin  on  the  14th,  and  remained  there  until 
the  25th.  This  beautiful  district  has  already  been  much  written 
about  by  English  entomologists,  and  its  productions,  especially 
in  the  way  of  butterflies,  are  well  known.  The  Neuropteroid 
insects  are  also  fairly  well  known,  and  quite  a  strong  representa- 
tion of  these  already  existed  in  my  collection,  taken  by  Dr. 
Chapman,  Miss  Fountaine  (through  whose  kindness  I  received 
a  rather  large  collection),  and  Father  Navas.  In  fact,  we 
hardly  added  anything  at  all  to  what  we  previously  knew  of  the 
"Neuroptera"  of  the  district,  and  I  fear  we  did  not  work  so 
strenuously  for  these  things  as  we  ought  to  have  done ;  they 
were  not  numerous  (with  a  few  exceptions),  and  the  butterflies 
proved  a  counter-attraction  at  times  irresistible. 

On  the  way  to  Albarracin  we  had  an  afternoon  at  Teruel,  and 
there  we  found  three  dragonflies  in  abundance,  viz.  Calopteryx 
splendens  (race  xanthostoma) ,  C.  hcemorrhoidalis,  and  Onycho- 
c/omjjhus  uncatus.  In  the  valley  of  Guadalaviar,  near  Albarracin, 
C.  splendens  and  O.  uncatus  were  also  common.  Members  of 
the  genus  Sympetrum,  including  striolatum,  meridionale,  fons- 
colombii, and  Jlaveolum,  striolatum  preponderating,  swarmed ; 
and  multitudes  of  these  might  be  seen  settled  on  the  telegraph- 
wires,  basking  in  the  very  early  morning  sunshine.  Other  species 
seen  in  the  valley  were  Lesies  Wtara,  Sympycna  fusca,  Orthetrum 
brunnewn,  and  Libellula  depressa.  Examples  of  Mschna  were 
occasionally  seen,  probably  mixta  and  cyanea  (the  latter  was 
taken  by  Miss  Fountaine). 

On  the  way  to  the  Puerto  de  la  Losillo  we  saw  more  than  once 
Cordulegaster  annidatus,  but  did  not  take  any  (the  var.  immacidi- 
frons  was  received  from  Miss  Fountaine),  and  at  springs  in  an 
open  grassy  place  amongst  the  pines,  Agrion  puella,  Ischnura 
graellsi,  Sympycna  fusca,  and  Lestes  dryas  were  found.  Mschna 
7nixta  (male)  was  also  taken  in  an  open  part  of  the  pine-woods. 

The  insects  which  interested  us  perhaps  as  much  as  any 
were  the  two  species  of  Ascalaphus — longicornis  and  boeticus. 
They  were  seen  in  many  different  places,  but  in  some  rough 


A    COLLECTING    TRIP   TO    THE    CAMARGUE,    ETC.  113 

overgrown  spots  near  the  river  a  few  miles  below  Albarracin 
they  existed  in  great  numbers.  They  were  given  to  occasional 
long  soaring  flights,  beautiful  manifestations  of  activity  and  life. 
When  on  the  wing  they  were  by  no  means  easy  of  capture,  but 
my  observant  friend,  who  always  seemed  to  achieve  maximum 
results  with  a  minimum  of  exertion,  found  out  another  way. 
Settling  quietly  after  a  flight,  they  rest  on  stems  for  a  brief 
space  with  fully  outstretched  wings.  They  are  then  conspicuous 
and  easy  to  take  until  the  wings  are  gradually  closed  over  the 
back,  when  they  become  more  difficult  to  see.  One  large  example 
of  A.  longicornis  was  captured  in  the  grip  of  an  Asilid  fly. 

The  following  other  Neuroptera  were  token:— ChrijsojM  pra- 
sina,  lineolata,  and  vulgaris;  Hemerohius  humidi,  H.  stigma;  one 
example  of  Dilai'  (taken  by  Dr.  Kis),  probably  meridionalis ; 
Macronemurus  appendiculatm  and  Creagris  plumbeus. 

Plecoptera  were  represented  by  Perla  marginata  and  Chloro- 
perla  grammatica  at  the  Guadalaviar,  while  a  good  series  of 
Nemoura  falviceps  was  found  at  a  small  stream  on  the  way  to 
Puerto  de  la  Losillo. 

Probably  the  Guadalaviar  produces  more  species  of  Tricho- 
ptera  earlier  in  the  season.  Hydropsyche  lepida  and  Metalype 
fragilis  were  common,  and  flew  to  the  lights  in  the  Posada. 
Other  species  were  Hydropsyche  instabilis  and  guttata,  and  Seri- 
costoma  vittatum,  the  last-named  being  common  at  the  small 
stream  above  mentioned.  The  only  example  of  Hydroptilidse 
taken  was  unfortunately  lost. 

Going  over  ground  that  has  been  so  well  worked  by  experi- 
enced lepidopterists,  little  that  is  novel  can  be  expected  in  the 
record  of  our  doings  amongst  the  butterflies.  No  doubt  we 
overlooked  much  and  made  some  mistakes.  Amongst  many 
specimens  of  Melanargia  lachesis,  I  find  but  one  pair  of  M. 
japygia.  Of  course,  the  latter  may  not  have  been  fully  out.  On 
the  other  hand,  M.  ines  was  found  here  and  there,  mostly  in 
rather  chipped  condition,  it  is  true,  but  the  species  appears  to 
have  been  missed  altogether  by  most  of  our  predecessors.  A 
single  specimen  of  Coenonympha  iphioides  occurred  in  a  meadow- 
like opening  in  the  woods  near  the  Puerto  de  la  Losillo.  We 
appear  to  have  expended  a  tremendous  amount  of  energy  on 
Satyr  us  briseis,  the  result  being  a  long  and  fine  series,  while  of 
the  much-desired  S.  prieuri  my  total  catch  amounts  to  only 
three  males,  and  my  colleague  reports  that  his  is  about  the  same. 
On  the  whole,  however,  we  seem  to  have  met  with  most  of  the 
species  that  were  to  be  looked  for  at  the  time  of  our  visit. 

On  our  way  back  from  Albarracin  we  spent  part  of  a  day  at 
Narbonne.  Neither  of  us  was  particularly  fit,  and  it  began  to 
dawn  upon  us  that  there  might  be  something  in  the  remarks 
that  we  had  been  hearing  about  the  heat !  We  had  practically 
no  collecting,  but  it   was  interesting    to  see  Sympetrum  fons- 


114  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

colojiibii,  both  sexes,  in  abundance  here.  Other  species  which 
were  common  were  Calopteryx  splendens  (the  southern  form, 
different  from  that  found  at  Aries),  Agrion  lindenii,  and 
Platycnemis  latipes. 


BRITISH    ORTHOPTERA    IN    1911. 

By  W.  J.  Lucas,  B.A.,  F.E.S. 

(Plate  IV.) 

Though  nothing  of  special  importance  occurred  during  the 
year  just  passed  in  connection  with  the  British  Orthoptera,  yet  a 
few  facts  which  have  come  to  my  knowledge  should,  I  think,  be 
put  on  record ;  for  it  is  only  by  persistent  observations,  each 
one  of  little  consequence  perhaps  in  itself,  that  we  shall  ever 
become  well  acquainted  with  the  distribution  and  habits  of  the 
British  examples  of  this  important  Order  of  insects. 

Forficulodea.— On  July  16th  Mr.  J.  R.  le  B.  Tomlin  sent  me 
some  specimens  of  the  little  earwig  {Labia  minor),  which  he  said 
were  then  common  in  his  garden  at  Reading.  Of  the  common 
earwig  {Forficula  auricularia) ,  Col.  J.  W.  Yerbury  brought  me  a 
few  examples  from  the  North  of  Scotland.  One  fine  large  male 
was  taken  at  Spey  Bridge  on  July  31st.  Large  specimens  of  the 
\Q,i'.forcipata  are  not  infrequent,  but  this  is,  I  think,  the  finest 
example  of  the  normal  form  that  I  have  seen.  Its  total  length 
is  20*5  millimetres,  5*5  of  them  being  due  to  the  callipers, 
which  are  of  the  ordinary  circular  shape.  There  were  also  two 
nymphs  of  the  same  species,  "  swept  in  a  damp  shady  spot  "  at 
Lochinver  on  July  11th,  and  two  other  nymphs  "found  under 
stones  and  cow-dung  near  Glencanisp  Lodge,"  Lochinver,  on 
June  21st.  On  October  14th  I  took  a  female  of  this  species 
on  ivy-blossom  in  a  garden  at  Eltbam,  in  Kent.  Mr.  Burr  tells 
me  that  he  took  Apterygida  alhipennis  in  1911,  at  Beachborough, 
behind  Folkestone,  in  Kent. 

Blattodea. — During  1911  the  cockroaches  have  not  been  to 
the  fore,  and  I  have  but  a  single  note.  Mr.  Burr,  writing  early 
in  February,  1911,  told  me  that,  on  January  31st,  when  the 
•'  country  was  iron-bound  in  a  black  frost,"  he  found  Blattella 
germanica  and  Blatta  orientalis  swarming  within  a  rubbish- 
heap  in  a  brick-yard  near  Cheriton,  Kent.  Though  the  weather 
was  very  cold,  the  fermentation  in  the  large  heap  of  ashes  and 
refuse  produced  much  heat.  In  this  case,  of  course,  the  con- 
genial warmth  accounts  for  the  presence  of  these  cockroaches 
out-of-doors.  To  find  such  insects,  which  are  not  indigenous 
with  us,  under  these  conditions  at  any  time  is  very  unusual,  and 
much  less  do  we  expect  to  meet  with  them  abroad  in  the  winter. 


BRITISH    ORTHOPTERA    IN    1911.  115 

Gryllodea. — Gryllotalpa  gryllotalpa,  the  mole  cricket,  appears 
to  be  seldom  noticed  in  Britain,  though  it  is  possibly  not  so 
scarce  as  this  would  imply.  Like  its  namesake  with  the  velvet 
fur,  it  is  an  underground  animal,  and  may  therefore  very  easily 
escape  notice.  I  know  of  but  one  locality  where  it  is  per- 
manently established.  At  a  spot  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Eamnor,  in  the  New  Forest,  one  of  the  keepers  seems  at  any 
time  to  be  able  to  obtain  specimens  by  digging  for  them  in  the 
clayey  soil.  It  is  from  this  source  that  Mr.  A.  J.  Scollick 
obtained  a  nice  specimen  in  July  last,  whose  extreme  length  was 
about  50  millimetres,  while  the  expanse  of  its  wings  was  about 
66*5.  Perhaps  other  entomologists  may  know  where  this — one 
of  the  finest  of  British  insects — has  permanent  colonies.  Mr. 
J.  G.  Dalgliesh  is  accustomed  to  receive  living  examples  from 
Guernsey.  Figures  are  given  to  enable  anyone  unacquainted 
with  the  insect  to  identify  it.  On  November  i2th  last  I  received 
from  Mr.  G.  T.  Lyle  a  male  specimen  of  the  little  "wood- 
cricket"  {Nemobius  sylvestris),  which  he  found  hopping  about 
amidst  fallen  leaves,  on  the  5th  of  the  month,  in  Pignall  Wood 
in  the  New  Forest.  It  seems  quite  likely  that  this  insect  may, 
to  some  extent  at  least,  hybernate  as  an  imago,  for  Mr.  Lyle 
also  found,  in  the  New  Forest,  on  February  12th,  1910,  a  female 
imago,  which  he  fowarded  to  me  alive  {vide  Entom.  vol.  xliii. 
p.  98).  On  August  nights  in  the  Forest,  when  scarcely  a  living 
thing  betrays  its  presence  by  sound,  a  quiet  chirping  is  occa- 
sionally heard,  which  I  presume  is  due  to  this  little  cricket. 

LoGustodea. — Writing  from  the  New  Forest  on  October  19th, 
Mr.  Lyle  told  me  that,  while  sugaring  that  evening  at  6.45,  he 
noticed  a  grasshopper,  Meconema  thalassinum  (  =  varium), 
ovipositing  in  the  chinks  of  the  bark  of  an  oak-tree.  The 
ovipositor  was  inserted  to  half  its  length.  A  second  insect  was 
also  noticed  in  a  similar  position  on  a  neighbouring  tree.  I 
suggested  that,  since  it  was  not  possible  to  obtain  a  photograph 
at  night,  Mr.  Lyle  should  make  an  accurate  sketch  of  the 
insect  as  it  was  probing  the  bark,  and,  having  mounted  a  speci- 
men in  exactly  the  same  position,  photograph  it  at  home.  This 
he  had  no  difficulty  in  doing,  for  on  visiting  Holland's  Wood  a 
night  or  two  afterwards,  the  grasshopper  could  be  found  ovi- 
positing on  every  fifth  or  sixth  tree.  This  plenty  continued  till 
October  27th,  but  when  Mr.  Lyle  paid  another  visit  on  November 
14th  he  could  not  detect  a  single  individual.  Writing  on  July 
15th,  Mr.  H.  Campion  reported  to  me  a  case  of  cannibalism  in 
a  Locustid  grasshopper.  Two  specimens  of  Mctrioptera  hrachy- 
ptera  were  taken  by  Mr.  South  at  Oxshott,  on  July  1st.  One 
cast  its  skin  in  a  glass-bottomed  box  and  later  made  a  meal  of 
the  skin.  For  some  days  the  two  specimens  of  M.  brachyptera 
were  kept  in  a  fish-globe  with  a  Gomphocerus  maculatus,  also 
from   Oxshott.      One   night   the    G.    maculatus  looked   a   little 


116  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

sluggish.  The  next  morning  it  was  dead,  and  one  of  the 
Locustids  was  feeding  on  it  (vide  Entom.  vol.  xliv.  p.  275).  In 
August  Mr.  South  took  a  single  specimen  of  the  very  scarce 
Metrioptera  roeselii  at  Leigh,  in  Essex. 

Acridiodea. —  Short-"  horned  "  grasshoppers  are  usually 
more  in  evidence  than  those  with  the  long  antennae,  and  fresh 
references  to  the  former  have  therefore  been  the  more  numerous 
during  the  past  year.  Mr.  S.  E.  Brock  records  Gomphocerus 
maculatus  from  Linlithgowshire,  at  Craigton  (plentifully),  at 
Priestwich,  and  at  Linlithgow ;  and  notes  that  it  was  already 
stridulating  on  June  25th.  Personally,  I  did  not  notice  it 
m,ature  till  July  10th,  when  it  was  found  just  outside  the  '  Hand 
and  Spear  '  at  Weybridge,  on  the  evening  of  the  Entomological 
Club  Supper  at  that  well-laiown  hotel.  Mr.  W.  Evans  took  the 
female*  at  Aberdour,  in  Fife,  on  August  15th.  Colonel  J.  W. 
Yerbury  sent  me  eighteen  specimens  from  Nethy  Bridge — a 
male  and  female  taken  on  August  9th ;  iBve  males  and  seven 
females  on  August  11th ;  and  two  males  and  two  females  on  the 
18th.  I  received  a  female  from  Mr.  K.  J.  Morton,  taken  at 
Llanfaethlu,  in  Anglesey,  August  lst-7th,  1911.  Kev.  F.  C.  R. 
Jourdain  took  a  female  in  the-  late  summer,  at  Dovedale,  in 
Derbyshire.  Omocestiis  viridulus  is  reported  by  Mr.  Brock  from 
Drumshoreland,  in  Linlithgowslure,  and  from  Craigton  in  the 
same  county  plentifully.  Mr.  Evans  took  both  male  and  female 
at  Aberdour,  in  Fife,  on  August  15th.  Colonel  Yerbury  sent 
me,  from  Nethy  Bridge,  a  male  taken  July  30th ;  a  male, 
August  9th ;  a  male  and  four  females,  August  11th.  Mr. 
Jourdain  took  a  female  in  Dovedale.  Of  Stauroderus  bicolor 
Mr.  Evans  took  the  female,  at  Port  Seton,  in  Haddingtonshire, 
on  August  11th,  and  both  male  and  female  at  Waughton,  in  the 
same  county,  on  October  14th  (his  latest  date  for  the  species). 
Colonel  Yerbury  gave  me  three  specimens,  two  males  and  a 
female,  of  a  dull  reddish  brown  tint,  taken  October  13th,  in 
Cornwall,  at  Downderry,  which  is  on  the  shore  of  Whitesand 
Bay,  between  Plymouth  and  Looe.  Mr.  Morton  sent  me  a  male 
taken  at  Llanfaethlu,  in  Anglesey,  August  lst-7th.  A  male  was 
taken  in  late  summer  by  Mr.  Jourdain  at  Dovedale.  Mr.  Brock 
says  that  Cjiorthipphus  parallelus  was  in  considerable  numbers  at 
Drumshoreland,  in  Linlithgow,  being  in  full  "song"  on  July 
10th.  Colonel  Yerbury  sent  four  nymphs,  taken  at  Lochinver 
on  July  1st,  4th,  12th,  and  22nd,  all  of  which  must  no  doubt  be 
referred  to  this  species.  Mecostethus  grossus  seemed  to  be 
mature  in  the  New  Forest  somewhat  earlier  than  usual,  as,  of 
course,  was  to  be  expected.  Several  females  of  Tetrix  hipunc- 
tatus  were  secured   in  West   Perthshire,  at  Lochard,   by  Mr. 

*  In  this  and  similar  cases,  unless  it  is  expressly  so  stated,  it  must  not 
be  supposed  that  only  the  individuals  mentioned  were  in  evidence,  or  that 
the  sex  not  mentioned  veas  absent  from  the  spot  at  the  time. 


The   Entomologist,  April,   1912. 


Plate   IV. 


*%tf^.'iit^:us. 


4'-     '^*7 


W.  J.  Lucas  ) 

H.  Main  r  photo 

G.  T.  Ly]e      ) 


West,  Newman  proc. 


1.  Gryllotalpa  gryllotalpa  (Mole  Cricket),  wings  spread. 

2.  G.  GRYLLOTALPA,  wings  folded. 

3.  Meconema  THALASSiNUM,  ovjpositing.  All  nat.  size. 


BRITISH    OCCURRENCES    OF    METRIOPTERA    ROESELII.  117 

Evans,  on  May  27th,  while  Colonel  Yerbury  sent  me  a  specimen 
with  broad  yellowish  stripe  along  the  middle  of  the  pronotum, 
taken  at  Lochinver  on  Jmie  20th ;  and  one  very  dark  example 
with  pronotum  extending  a  little  beyond  the  hind  knees,  taken 
at  Nethy  Bridge  on  August  9th.  This  latter  looked  as  if  it  might 
be  T.faligbiosiis,  but  the  announcement  of  this  insect  as  British 
is  not  yet  to  be. 

In  the  hot  sunshine  of  July  11th,  on  the  downs  near  Clandon 
(Surrey),  and  again  in  the  New  Forest,  when  the  sun  on  August 
7th  was  very  bright  and  very  hot,  especially  in  sheltered  places, 
I  particularly  noticed  that  grasshoppers  were  chirping  merrily; 
yet  Tennyson  writes  : — 

"  For  now  the  noonday  quiet  holds  the  hill 
The  grasshopper  is  silent  in  the  grass  "  ; 

while  another  author,  speaking  of  "  autumn  calm,"  says  : — 

"  Scarce  a  chirping  grasshopper  is  heard 
Thro'  the  dumb  mead." 

On  the  other  hand,  Keats  writes  : — 

"  When  all  the  birds  are  faint  with  the  hot  sun, 
And  hide  in  cooling  trees,  a  voice  will  run 
From  hedge  to  hedge  about  the  new-mown  mead 
It  is  the  grasshopper's  ..." 

Can  these  three  statements  be  reconciled  ? 


Description  of  Plate  IV. 

Gryllotaljja  gryllotalpa,  with  wings  spread. 
,,  ,,  with  wings  closed. 

Meconema  thalassinmn  ovipositing. 


Kingston-on-Thames :  February,  1912. 


NOTES  ON  BEITISH  OCCUERENCES  OF  METRIOPTERA 
(PLATYCLEIS)    ROESELII,  Hagenb.  (Orthoptera). 

By  Herbert  Campion. 

On  August  1st,  1911,  Mr.  R.  South  was  fortunate  enough  to 
take  a  fine  male  of  this  scarce  British  Locustid  near  Leigh, 
Essex.  It  was  found  amongst  long  dry  grass  at  the  foot  of  one 
of  the  ramparts  which  serve  as  sea-walls  on  that  part  of  the 
coast.  A  few  days  later — August  10th — he  revisited  the  locality, 
and  spent  a  considerable  time  in  searching  for  further  speci- 
mens, but  without  success.  Mr.  South  very  generously  gave 
me  his  single  example,  which  I  received  alive.  I  fed  it  upon 
fresh  grass,  and  it  was  still  quite  active  when  I  killed  and  set 
it  on  August  21st. 

As  this  species  is  so  little  known  to  British  entomologists  as 
a  living  insect,  and  in  view  also  of  the  fugitive  character  of  its 


118  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

coloration,  it  may  be  useful  to  place  on  record  the  colour- 
characters  of  the  Essex  male,  which  were  as  follows  : — 

Head  ash-colour.  Palpi  brownish.  Ej^es  brownish  black, 
with  a  horizontal  black  streak  above  each,  partially  bordered 
below  with  yellow.  Antennse  light  brown.  Pronotum  pale 
brown  ;  side-flaps  black,  edged  all  round  with  bright  yellow. 
Elytra  lightly  tinged  with  brown  ;  principal  longitudinal  nervures 
black.  A  pair  of  bright  yellow  spots  on  each  side  of  the  thorax. 
Legs  light  brown  ;  black  lines  on  hind  femora  ;  inferior  surface 
of  tibise  of  fore  and  mid  legs  greenish.  Abdomen  dorsally  and 
superior  appendages  dull  brown;  ventral  surface  and  inferior 
appendages  deep  yellow ;  a  row  of  light  yellow  markings  along 
each  side  of  the  abdomen. 

Leigh  can  now  be  added  to  the  very  few  British  localities 
hitherto  recorded  for  M.  roeselii,  which  seems  to  show  a  pre- 
ference for  the  East  Coast.  It  is  not  to  be  assumed,  however, 
that  this  distribution  is  due  to  immigration  from  the  Continent, 
as  that  supposition  appears  to  be  excluded  by  the  ill-developed 
condition  of  the  wings  in  this  Decticine. 

From  Trusthorpe,  Lincolnshire,  Mr.  Eland  Shaw  received 
specimens  taken  in  August,  1888  (Ent.  Mo.  Mag.  s.  i,  p.  96, 
1890). 

At  Heme  Bay,  Kent,  the  species  has  been  met  with  by  more 
than  one  collector.  Mr.  E.  Saunders  took  a  specimen  in 
August,  1886  (Ent.  Mo.  Mag.  loc.cit.),  and  a  male  contained  in 
Mr.  Guermonprez's  collection  is  recorded  in  Entom.  xxx.  p.  28, 
1897.  Another  isolated  specimen,  a  female,  was  obtained  by  myself 
on  September  13th,  1907  (Entom.  xl.  p.  255,  1907),  although  I 
have  never  been  able  to  re-discover  the  species  in  or  about  the 
locality  where  I  took  it  in  that  year.  Mr.  Charles  0.  Water- 
house,  however,  appears  to  have  found  the  insect  in  some  num- 
bers, for  the  British  Museum  cabinet  of  British  Orthoptera  con- 
tains seven  examples  (five  males  and  two  females)  of  roeselii  from 
its  Kentish  haunt.  These  formed  part  of  a  collection  of  eighty 
insects  of  various  kinds  made  by  him  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Heme  Bay  at  the  end  of  July  and  the  beginning  of  August. 
The  collection  is  registered  as  having  been  presented  to  the 
Museum  in  1887,  and  Mr.  Waterhouse  tells  me  it  is  almost 
certain  that  his  specimens  were  taken  in  that  j^ear,  the  great 
majority  of  them  in  the  month  of  July.  A  female  pupa,  taken 
on  the  same  occasion,  is  now,  through  the  kindness  of  Mr. 
Waterhouse,  in  my  own  collection. 

With  Mr,  Waterhouse's  specimens  are  placed  a  pair  derived 
from  Stephens'  collection.  As  was  to  be  expected,  they  are 
without  data,  but  the  male  carries  the  printed  name  "  Eoeselii, 
Hage."  Dr.  Malcolm  Burr  has  been  good  enough  to  examine 
the  specimens  for  me,  and  has  pronounced  both  of  them  to  be 
correctly   identified  as  roeselii.     All  that  is  discoverable   con- 


BEES  OF  THE  GENUS  NOMIA  FROM  AUSTRALIA.       119 

cerning  their  history  is  contained  in  the  following  passage  from 
Stephens : — "  This  species  appears  to  be  very  rare  in  this 
country.  I  have  hitherto  seen,  so  far  as  I  remember,  two 
examples  only,  which  are  in  my  own  collection,  and  were  found 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  Metropolis  in  the  autumn,  I  believe  at 
Hampstead"  (Illus.  Brit.  Ent.  Mandib.  vi.  p.  13,  1835). 

In  1850,  J.  C.  Dale  presented  to  the  British  Museum, 
among  other  insects,  a  pair  of  Metrioptera  from  Parley  Heath, 
Hants,  which  were  believed  to  be  "  Acrida  hi-evipemiis,"  Charp. 
( =  M.  roeselii,  Hagenb.),  and  were  referred  to  under  that 
specific  name  in  Walker's  Cat.  Derm.  Salt,  in  B.  M.,  part  ii., 
p.  256  (1869).  In  the  Museum  collection,  however,  the  speci- 
mens stand  over  the  name  hracliyptera,  Linn.,  and  Dr.  Burr  has 
kindly  informed  me  that  they  are  correctly  placed. 

Assuming  that  Mr.  Waterhouse's  specimens  were  taken  in 
July,  it  follows  that  the  ascertained  seasonal  range  of  roeselii  in 
this  country  extends  from  the  latter  part  of  that  month  to 
September  13th,  the  date  noted  by  myself.  Judging  by  analogy 
with  allied  species,  however,  our  insect  might  be  expected  to 
survive  until  about  October. 

58,  Eanelagh  Road,  Ealing :  March  2nd,  1912. 


SOME     BEES     OF     THE     GENUS     NOMIA     FEOM 
AUSTEALIA. 

By  T.  D.  a.  Cockerell. 

Nomia  flavoviridis,  Cockerell. 

I  HAve  before  me  a  series  of  eight  males  and  seventeen  females 
collected  by  Turner  at  Mackay,  Queensland  ;  some  of  the  females 
from  flowers  of  Cassia  and  Xanthorrhoea.  I  have  also  eight 
males  from  Cooktown,  October,  1902  (Turner),  four  males  from 
Townsville  (Dodd),  and  a  female  collected  at  Cheltenham,  Vic- 
toria, by  French  (Froggatt  collection,  96).  The  abdominal 
bands  vary  in  colour  from  pale  yellowish  to  white  in  the  males, 
and  in  the  females  are  frequently  orange.  Both  sexes  are 
occasionally  only  rather  feebly  metallic.  So  far  as  can  be 
gathered  from  Smith's  brief  account  of  male  N.  cenea  from  Port 
Essington,  the  only  conspicuous  and  constant  difference  between 
that  species  and  N.  flavoviridis  is  found  in  the  hind  femora, 
which  in  cenea  are  more  slender  than  in  male  flavoviridis,  and 
have  the  apical  part  much  more  narrowed  and  elongated. 

The  great  variability  of  N.  flavoviridis  makes  the  classification 
of  the  varieties  difficult.  None  of  the  specimens  now  before  me 
are  var.  adelaidella,  Ckll.  The  tyTpical  flavoviridis  is  represented 
only  by  two  males  and  a  female  from  Mackay,  characterised  by 


120  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

the  clear  rufo-fulvous  or  apricot  colour  of  the  tegulae,  and  in 
the  male  by  the  red  tibiae  (wholly  red  or  stained  with  metallic 
greenish)  and  tarsi.  The  female  has  pale  orange  hair-bands.  The 
other  specimens  all  have  darker  tegulae,  and  the  legs  show  more 
dark  colour,  being  better  described  as  dark  stained  with  reddish. 
The  colour  of  the  body  seems  quite  inconstant,  the  Mackay  males 
varying  from  green  to  deep  blue.  It  therefore  seems  impracti- 
cable to  maintain  the  variety  doddii,  Ckll.,  unless  it  is  considered 
to  include  all  of  the  Queensland  material  excepting  the  three 
typical  flavoviridis  cited  above.  The  female  from  Victoria  is 
olive  green,  and  has  the  face  narrower  than  usual.  Three 
females  from  North-west  Australia  (French)  have  very  broad 
faces  ;  they  perhaps  represent  a  distinct  race. 

Nomia  frenchi,  sp.  n. 

^ .  Length  about  7^  mm.,  expanse  nearly  18  ;  black,  densely 
punctured,  with  dull  white  and  black  hair ;  antennae  very  long, 
entirely  black  ;  clypeus  black,  somewhat  bigibbous,  shining,  with 
elongate  punctures  ;  labrum  and  mandibles  ferruginous,  the  latter 
black  at  tip ;  tongue  narrow,  moderately  long  ;  hair  of  face  white, 
strongly  plumose,  of  vertex  fuscous,  of  occiput  white  ;  mesothorax 
uniformly  densely  punctured,  witla  a  thin  short  mouse-coloured 
tomentum,  and  longer  black  or  dark  fuscous  hair;  scutellum  with 
long  dark  hair ;  other  parts  of  thorax  with  pale  hair ;  basal  trans- 
verse canal  of  metathorax  quite  broad,  shining,  very  finely  fluted ; 
apical  triangular  part  of  enclosure  smooth  and  shining ;  tegulae 
rather  large,  bright  ferruginous,  pointed  behind  ;  wings  dusky  trans- 
lucent, nervures  and  stigma  ferruginous  ;  first  r.  n.  entering  apical 
corner  of  the  narrow  second  s.  m. ;  femora  black,  tibiffi  and  tarsi 
ferruginous,  the  middle  and  anterior  tibiae  suffused  with  dusky  ;  hind 
femora  thickened,  smooth,  flattened  and  longitudinally  concave  be- 
neath ;  hind  tibiae  thickened,  trigonal,  the  lower  margin  obtusely 
angled  about  the  middle ;  abdomen  black,  densely  punctured,  the 
hind  margins  of  the  second  and  following  segments  smooth,  the 
fourth  and  fifth  becoming  brownish  ;  fourth  ventral  segment  emar- 
ginate  ;  no  ventral  tubercles  or  teeth. 

Hah.  Woodend,  Victoria,  1909  (French).  Froggatt  col- 
lection, 92.  ^  A  distinct  species,  readily  separated  from  A''. 
generosa,  Smith,  by  the  enlarged  hind  femora  and  tibiae,  and  the 
dark  hair  on  the  thorax  above  ;  and  from  N.  argentifrons,  Smith, 
by  the  black  flagellum,  the  red  tibiae  and  tarsi,  &c.  The 
abdomen  has  greyish-white  hair-bands  on  the  second  and  fol- 
lowing segments,  that  on  the  second  broadly  interrupted,  but  the 
basal  parts  of  the  third  and  following  segments  have  long  coarse 
black  or  dark  fuscous  hair. 

Nomia  satelles,  sp.  n. 
^  .     Length  about  8h  mm. ;  black,  finely  and  closely  punctured  ; 
hair  on  face  dense,  shining,  with  a  yellowish-grey  tint,  on  thorax 
above  of  the  same  colour,  with  scattered  dark  hairs  intermixed,  on 


BEES  OF  THE  GENUS  NOMIA  FROM  AUSTRALIA.        121 

pleura  and  sides  of  metathorax  thin  and  white ;  tongue  elongate  dagger- 
shaped  ;  lower  half  of  clypeus,  and  mandibles  except  at  base,  honey- 
colour  ;  vertex  and  cheeks  very  narrow  ;  antennse  long,  the  flagellum 
entirely  ferruginous,  but  darker  above  ;  mesothorax  shining  between 
the  close  small  punctures  ;  basal  transverse  channel  of  metathorax 
shining,  crossed  by  numerous  strong  ridges  ;  apical  triangle  of  en- 
closure small,  smooth  ;  tegulae  rather  large,  apricot  colour,  the  margin 
paler;  wings  hyaline,  faintly  dusky;  nervures  and  stigma  ferruginous, 
first  r.  n.  joining  apical  corner  of  second  s.  m. ;  legs  with  coarse  white 
hair ;  knees  and  tarsi  clear  ferruginous,  tibiae  ferruginous  at  each  end, 
as  also  anterior  pair  in  front,  and  hind  ones  largely  behind ;  hind 
femora  swollen,  shining  ;  hind  tibige  swollen,  trigonal,  but  wholly 
without  the  median  tooth  or  tubercle  found  in  N.  smithella,  Gribodo  ; 
abdomen  finely  but  very  distinctly  punctured,  with  very  broad  pale 
orange  hair-bands  on  the  hind  margins  of  the  segments  except  the 
first,  which  has  only  an  elongate  patch  on  each  side ;  venter  without 
teeth  or  tubercles,  hind  margin  of  fourth  ventral  segment  concave. 

$  .  Length  about  9|  or  10  mm. ;  similar  to  the  male  except  for 
the  usual  sexuft,!  differences ;  hair  on  last  two  abdominal  segments 
pale  purplish-sooty,  but  the  orange  bands  on  the  other  segments  as 
in  the  male ;  mesothorax  with  very  minute  punctures,  and  scattered 
large  ones  ;  mandibles  dark ;  flagellum  dark  above,  clear  furruginous 
beneath  ;  hair  on  inner  side  of  basitarsi  fulvous. 

Hab.  Type  (male)  from  Eutherglen,  Victoria,  1909  (French) ; 
Froggatt  collection,  84.  Female  from  Mittagong,  New  South 
Wales,  January  10th,  1902  (Froggatt,  73).  This  species  re- 
sembles A^.  australica,  Smith,  from  which  it  is  easily  known  by 
the  smaller  size  and  black  colour.  The  first  abdominal  segment 
of  the  female  is  closely  and  finely  punctured  on  the  disc  as  in 
typical  australica  from  New  South  Wales. 

Nomia  kurandina,  Ckll. 

I  have  a  male  from  Kuranda,  Cairns,  March,  1902  (Turner), 
and  two  females  from  Mackay,  Queensland,  November,  1891,  and 
May,  1900  (Turner,  1078).  The  female,  not  before  known,  is 
exactly  like  the  male  except  for  the  usual  sexual  differences,  and 
the  more  dilute  dark  apices  of  the  wings.  The  clypeus  and 
supraclypeal  area  show  a  strong  median  ridge.  The  meso- 
thorax has  very  fine  punctures,  with  scattered  larger  ones. 

Nomia  semiaurea,  Ckll. 

Mr.  Turner  collected  females  in  Queensland,  at  Mackay, 
March,  1900,  and  at  Cairns  (Kuranda),  April,  1902.  At 
Kuranda,  February,  1902,  he  collected  a  male  N.  rufocognita, 
Ckll.  When  describing  N.  semiaurea  I  suggested  that  it  might 
possibly  be  the  female  of  rufocognita,  and  I  am  now  of  the 
opinion  that  this  is  really  the  case,  though  actual  proof  is 
wanting. 


122  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

Nomia  halictella,  Ckll. 

The  male,  hitherto  undescribed,  was  taken  at  Mackay, 
January  and  March,  1900  (Turner,  314).  It  has  a  subclavate 
abdomen,  and  resembles  N.  yseudoceratma,  Ckll.,  but  is  smaller 
(length  about  or  hardly  8  mm.),  with  the  first  abdominal  seg- 
ment only  about  as  long  as  broad  ;  hind  knees  and  base  of 
their  tibiae  ferruginous ;  hind  femora  and  tibiae  quite  simple. 

University  of  Colorado,  Boulder  : 
January  18th,  1912. 


NOTES  ON  THE  LIFE-HISTORY  OF  COLIAS  NASTES 
VAR.  WEKDANDI,  WITH  DESCEIPTION  OF  OVA 
AND    LARVA. 

By  W.  G.  Sheldon,  F.E.S. 

Whilst  staying  in  Swedish  Lapland  last  summer  I  searched 
for  and  succeeded  in  finding  ova  of  this  species.  The  first  ova, 
ten  in  number,  were  found  on  June  23rd  in  a  sheltered  spot  on 
the  shores  of  the  Torne  Triiske,  where  its  food-plant,  the  handsome 
Astragalus  alpimis,  grew  abundantly.  Most  of  the  ova  were 
found  on  the  leaflets  of  the  Astragalus,  some  on  the  upper  and 
some  on  the  lower  surfaces,  but  in  two  cases  they  were  attached 
to  a  leaf  of  Vaccinium  myrtillus,  which  was  an  inch  or  two  away 
from  the  food-plant.  I  did  not  search  further  for  ova  for  some 
days,  the  supply  obtained  appearing  sufficient  for  the  time  being, 
but  in  early  July  I  sleeved  several  females,  which  deposited 
sparingly  on  the  food-plant.  I  commenced  to  search  again  on 
July  10th,  but  by  this  date  the  bulk  of  the  larvae  had  apparently 
emerged,  for  several  hours'  search  only  revealed  five  ova,  all  of 
which  hatched  during  the  next  day  or  two. 

The  ova  is  of  a  pale  straw-colour  when  deposited,  gradu- 
ally changing  to  deep  orange  in  a  few  days,  and  shortly 
prior  to  emergence  to  dark  leaden  tint.  It  is  upright,  and  of  the 
usual  Colias  shape  and  character.  The  vertical  and  horizontal 
diameters  are  1*25  millim.  and  '65  millim.  respectively;  it  has 
a  number  of  vertical  ribs,  the  distance  these  are  apart  is  about 
•05  millim. ;  numerous  transverse  ribs  connect  the  vertical  ones. 
The  diameter  of  the  apex  of  the  ova  is  '15  millim.  The  micro- 
pylar  area  consists  of  a  number  of  very  shallow  cells  ;  it  is 
not  perceptibly  depressed.  The  surface  of  the  ova  is  highly 
glazed  ;  that  portion  which  from  the  position  in  which  it  is  held 
reflects  the  light  is  tinged  with  mother-of-pearl. 

This  stage  appears  to  last  about  twelve  days,  for  one  ova 
I  had  continuously  under  observation  was,  when  found  on  June 


NOTES   ON   THE    LIFE-HISTORY    OF    COLIAS    NASTES.  123 

23rd,  of  a  pale  straw-colour,  and  had  evidently  only  just  been 
deposited  ;  the  larva  emerged  on  July  5th. 

The  newly  emerged  larva  is  barely  a  millimetre  in  length ;  it 
is  of  brownish  green  colour,  with  head  black  and  shining.  _  It 
is  covered  with  tubercles,  each  tubercle  emitting  a  white  spine. 
I  at  once  placed  it  upon  a  leaf  of  Astragalus,  on  which  it  com- 
menced to  feed,  forming  a  small  semicircular  notch  on  the  edge, 
and  then  stretched  itself  out  at  full  length  on  the  upper  surface 
of  the  midrib  of  the  leaflet. 

On  July  6th  the  larva  had  fed  during  the  preceding  night, 
which,  it  must  be  remembered,  was  as  light  as  at  noon;  it 
remained  during  the  day  stretched  out  as  before. 

On  July  7th  the  larva  had  not  fed  or  moved,  but  after  this 
day,  until  July  12tb,  it  fed  slowly,  eating  round  holes  in  the 
leaflet,  always  from  the  upper  side  ;  when  moved  to  change  the 
food,  which  had  to  be  done  daily,  the  larva  invariably  stretched 
itself  on  the  upper  side  of  the  midrib  of  a  leaflet.  From 
July  12th  to  the  16th  it  remained  quiescent ;  on  the  latter  day 
the  change  into  the  second  instar  occurred.  It  was_  during 
this  stage  of  practically  the  same  appearance  as  during  the 
previous  instar,  except  that  on  the  16th  its  length  had  increased 
to  2  millim. 

From  July  18th  to  28th  I  was  travelling  to  England,  and 
could  thus  only  imperfectly  observe  the  progress.  By  the  time 
I  had  reached  Christiania,  on  July  24th,  the  plants  of  Astragalus 
I  had  brought  from  Abisko  were  yellow  and  unfit  for  food.  I  was 
therefore  forced  to  attempt  to  discover  a  substitute.  The  only 
leguminous  plant  I  could  find  was  the  common  white  clover, 
Trifolium  repens,  which  fortunately  the  larva  took  to  quite 
naturally,  and  upon  which  it  fed  freely  thereafter. 

On  July  31st  the  larva  changed  into  the  third  instar.  On 
August  2nd  it  was  5  millim.  long ;  the  head  was  light  yellowish 
green,  thickly  studded  with  tubercles,  each  of  which  emitted  a 
black  spine;  the  remainder  of  the  segments  were  dull  green, 
with  faint  darker  dorsal  and  subdorsal  lines  and  light  spiracular 
stripes.  The  whole  of  this  area  was  thickly  covered  with  white 
tubercles,  each  emitting  a  short  spine.  The  ventral  area  was 
of  the  same  tone  of  green  as  the  dorsal.  During  this  stage 
the  larva  fed  chiefly  on  the  upper  epidermis  of  the  clover- 
leaves,  and  hung  by  a  thread  when  shook  off. 

On  August  5th  it  ceased  feeding,  and  prepared  to  change  into 
the  next  stage.  On  the  morning  of  August  6th  I  found  it  had 
changed  during  the  night  into  the  fourth  instar.  It  was  then 
6  millim.  long,  of  a  decidedly  darker  colour  than  in  the  preceding 
instars,  with  the  dark  dorsal  line  not  so  apparent ;  the  sub- 
dorsal lines  were  now  light  coloured,  almost  as  light  as  the 
spiracular  line,  which  itself  was  much  lighter  than  in  the  pre- 
ceding stages ;  the  head  was  light  green,  as  in  the  last  stage ; 


124  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

both  head  and  general  area  were  thickly  covered  with  tubercles 
and  spines,  the  tubercles  in  the  general  area  being  white  in 
colour.  The  dorsal  area  between  the  subdorsal  stripes  was 
slightly  narrower  towards  the  head,  and  considerably  more  so 
towards  the  anus.     The  light  spiracular  line  was  narrow. 

In  this  stage  the  larva  ate  the  whole  of  the  clover-leaf  away, 
leaving  the  midrib  only.  On  August  11th  it  ceased  feeding  pre- 
paratory for  the  next  change  ;  it  was  then  13  millim.  in  length, 
and  stout  for  its  length.  The  spiracular  line  was  now  much 
more  prominent,  white,  and  tinged  towards  the  anal  extremity 
with  orange ;  the  spiracles  were  brown,  the  subdorsal  lines 
cream-colour ;  the  general  area  green,  of  the  colour  of  a  clover- 
leaf ;  the  head  was  lighter  and  duller  green,  the  spines  on  it 
were  black. 

The  larva  changed  into  the  fifth  and  last  instar  on  August 
12th  ;  immediately  this  occurred  it  was  13  millim.  in  length  ;  the 
head  was  now  of  the  same  green  colour  as  the  clover-leaves ;  the 
remainder  of  the  segments  were  very  dark  moss-green,  with  the 
white  spiracular  and  light  yellow  subdorsal  stripes  showing 
much  more  prominently  than  in  the  previous  stages  ;  it  was 
thickly  covered  with  white  tubercles  emitting  black  spines.  The 
spiracles  were  now  light  crimson,  especially  those  nearest  the 
anal  extremity.  During  this  stage  the  subdorsal  stripes  were 
red  on  the  upper  sides,  except  for  a  few  segments  next  the  head, 
on  which  they  were  yellow ;  these  tints  were  caused  by  the 
tubercles  in  the  upper  portion  of  the  stripes  being  red  or  yellow 
respectively.  The  spiracular  stripe  was  tinged  with  light  crimson 
on  the  lower  border  from  end  to  end  ;  neither  subdorsal  or  spi- 
racular stripes  extended  through  the  anal  segment;  the  spiracles 
were  brown. 

In  this  stage  the  larva  grew  with  great  rapidity,  and  on 
August  15th  it  had  increased  in  length  to  23  millim. ;  the  width 
was  then  4  millim.  The  colour  was  still  moss-green,  but  of  not 
so  dark  a  tint  as  when  last  described.  The  subdorsal  stripes 
were  now  red  on  the  upper  borders  for  the  whole  length. 

On  August  17th  the  larva  had  attained  a  length  of  26  millim., 
and  was  then  apparently  full-grown.  On  this  day  it  ceased  to 
feed,  and  remained  stretched  out  at  full  length  upon  its  food, 
evidently  being  prepared  to  hybernate,  had  its  natural  conditions 
been  obtained.  Unfortunately,  I  could  not  manage  to  bury  it 
for  the  succeeding  nine  months  under  several  feet  of  snow,  and 
keep  the  surrounding  temperature  many  degrees  below  freezing- 
point.  The  best  I  could  do  was  to  place  it  on  a  piece  of  muslin 
in  an  airy  cage  and  keep  this  in  a  cool  cellar.  Under  these 
conditions  the  larva  remained  quite  quiescent,  and  gradually 
decreased  in  size,  until  at  the  end  of  September  it  was  only 
13  millim.  in  length. 

On  December  18th  it  was  apparently  healthy,  and  had  not 


NOTES    ON    THE    LIFE-HISTORY    OF    COLIAS    NASTES.  125 

decreased  further  in  size,  but  by  December  25th,  when  my  next 
inspection  took  place,  it  was  dead. 

The  only  other  larva  that  reached  the  hybernating  stage  was 
similar  in  all  respects  to  the  one  above  described,  except  that  it 
was  entirely  devoid  of  the  light  yellow  subdorsal  stripes  ;  in 
place  of  these  in  all  stages  it  had  the  dark  subdorsal  lines  that 
characterized  the  third  instar  of  the  first  larva. 

From  the  above  observations  it  appears  evident  that  the 
larva  of  this  species  hybernates  as  a  full-fed  larva.  Assuming 
that  it  must  hybernate  as  a  larva  at  all — and  all  the  Colias 
species  I  am  acquainted  with  do  pass  the  winter  in  this  stage — 
then  the  reason  is  evident,  for  the  whole  of  its  habitat  is  covered 
with  snow  several  feet  deep  from  September  until  May,  and  the 
winter  frosts  are  so  intense  that  every  herbaceous  plant  is  cut 
down  and  killed  to  the  ground  ;  therefore,  on  the  snow  melting 
in  the  spring,  there  would  be  nothing  for  the  larva  to  feed 
upon. 

It  has  been  stated  in  a  German  magazine  that  the  food-plant 
of  Colias  var.  loerdandi  is  Oxytropis  lapponica.  This  is  certainly 
an  error,  for  two  extremely  competent  Swedish  botanists  who 
were  at  Abisko  in  July  last  not  only  identified  it  as  Astragalus 
alpinus,  but  informed  me  that  0.  lapponica  is  not  found  in 
Swedish  Lapland,  nor  is  it  mentioned  in  the  *  Flora  Lapponica  ' 
of  Linne.  A.  alpinus  is  an  exceedingly  abundant  plant  at 
Abisko,  and  is  the  only  leguminous  plant  I  saw  there. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Province  of  Tornea  Lapp- 
mark,  which  appears  to  be  the  chief  habitat  of  Colias  var. 
icerdandi,  is  practically  without  cultivation,  anything  in  the 
nature  of  a  meadow  being  unknown,  except  perhaps  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  few  small  towns  or  villages,  everything  elsewhere 
being  entirely  mountain,  moor,  swamp,  or  forest,  and  from  all 
these  the  leguminous  plants  of  cultivation  are  entirely  absent. 
In  the  *  Flora  Lapponica '  of  Linne  only  nine  species  of  this 
order  are  mentioned. 

The  above  observations  on  the  life-history  of  this  species 
throw  some  light  on  a  problem  on  which  there  has  been  con- 
siderable spe3ulation  amongst  lepidopterists,  i.  e.  how  do  the 
larvae  find  time  to  complete  all  their  stages  during  the  very  short 
Arctic  summer  ?  It  has  been  suggested  as  a  way  out  of  the 
difficulty  that  many,  if  not  all,  of  them  may  feed  for  two  seasons. 
My  observations  on  Colias  var.  werdandi  seem  to  show,  however, 
that  some,  if  not  the  bulk,  of  the  species  feed  rapidly  whilst  they 
have  a  chance,  and  pass  the  winter  as  full-fed  larvae  or  as 
pupae.  I  hope,  however,  to  throw  further  light  on  this  question 
at  a  future  date. 

Youlgreave,  South  Croydon :  February  10th,  1912. 

BNTOM. — APRIL,    1912.  L 


126  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

NEW     FOREST     NOTES,     1913. 
By  G.  T.  Lyle. 

In  spite  of  there  being  some  people  who,  after  a  visit  lasting 
a  week  or  so,  return  to  their  homes  saying  that  the  Forest  is 
"  played  out,"  that  insects  are  exterminated,  &c,,  &c.,  it  remains 
a  fact  that,  year  after  year,  entomologists  and  collectors  flock  to 
this  favoured  neighbourhood,  and,  if  they  "  know  the  ropes," 
generally  leave  well  satisfied  with  the  results  of  their  labours. 

The  locality  is  so  well  known  to  many  of  j^our  readers  that, 
possibly,  a  few  notes  by  a  resident  may  be  of  interest. 

As  regards  the  oft-repeated  statement  that  many  of  our 
insects,  once  common,  have  disappeared,  I  can  think  of  three 
only  of  which  this  may  be  true ;  these  are  Aporia  cratagi, 
Leucophasia  sinapis,  and  Melanargia  galatea.  The  first  of  these 
can  scarcely  be  considered  properly  indigenous  to  this  country, 
although,  undoubtedly,  it  often  breeds  here.  It  seems  probable 
that  some  time  in  the  last  century  migratory  specimens  reached 
the  Forest  from  the  Continent,  and,  under  specially  favourable 
climatic  conditions,  succeeded  in  establishing  a  colony,  but  that 
the  first  exceptionally  cold,  or  more  probably  exceptionally  wet, 
winter  killed  off  the  settlers. 

Why  L.  sinapis  should  have  disappeared  is  a  mystery.  We 
can  scarcely  blame  the  collector  ;  more  probably  hymenopterous 
parasites  were  the  culprits.  It  would  seem  that  some  thirty 
years  have  elapsed  since  a  specimen  was  captured ;  but  it  may 
turn  up  again.    Who  knows  ?    Stranger  things  have  happened. 

If  we  cannot  understand  the  disappearance  of  L.  sinapis,  it 
is  equally  hard  to  understand  why  M.  galatea  should  ever  have 
occurred  in  the  Forest ;  a  more  unlikely  spot  for  this  chalk  hill- 
loving  species  would  be  hard  to  find. 

As  in  other  parts  of  England,  mackintoshes  and  umbrellas 
were  at  a  discount  during  the  summer  of  1911,  for,  with  the 
exception  of  Coronation  Week,  scarcely  any  rain  fell  from 
mid- April  to  mid- October.  Such  a  very  warm  and  dry  summer 
accounts,  no  doubt,  for  so  many  insects  having  produced  an 
additional  brood,  or  partial  brood.  The  following  instances 
have  come  to  my  notice  : — 

Pararge  egeria.  —  There  appear  to  have  been  four  emer- 
gences, the  last  in  late  September  and  early  October. 

Porthesia  similis. — I  took  a  fresh  male  from  a  street-lamp  on 
the  evening  of  October  19th. 

Cerura  furcula. — This  species  would  seem  to  be  frequently 
double-brooded,  or  partially  so,  in  the  Forest,  but  this  has  never 
been  more  noticeable  than  in  1911,  for  during  September  the 
larv8B  could  be  taken  in  numbers  from  sallow. 

Triphcena  pronuha. — Two  fresh  female  specimens  were  taken 


NEW    FOREST    NOTES.  127 

at  ivy-bloom  on  October  19fch  ;  one  of  these  laid  some  four 
hundred  ova  on  October  28th,  which  all  hatched  on  November 
29th. 

Agrotis  puta. — On  October  21st  I  took  a  specimen  at  ivy,  in 
very  good  condition. 

Phyrxus  (Deilephila)  livornica. — The  capture  of  a  very  fresh 
specimen  on  August  28th  has  already  been  recorded  (Entom. 
vol.  xliv.  p.  365). 

The  following  emergences  occurred  in  captivity.  In  no  case 
were  the  larvae  forced  in  any  way. 

Nemeohius  lucina. — Three  bred  in  late  July  ;  ova  obtained  in 
May. 

Mamestra  contigua. — A  single  specimen  emerged  early  in 
September,  one  of  a  brood  of  seven  reared  from  ova  laid  in  June. 

Hygrochroa  syringaria. — As  was  to  be  expected,  this  species 
produced  a  second  brood  in  captivity. 

Ephyra  annulata.  —  On  October  10th  a  single  specimen 
emerged. 

Semiothisa  alternata. — Several  bred  in  August. 

Acidalia  straminata. — A  second  brood  emerged  at  the  end  of 
August. 

Bapta  temerata.  —  Several  bred  in  early  August  from  wild 
larvae  taken  a  month  previously.  I  think  this  must  have  had  a 
partial  second  brood  in  a  wild  state,  as  I  beat  a  larva  on 
September  3rd. 

The  records  of  a  second  emergence  of  Limenitis  sibylla 
(Entom.  vol.  xliv.  pp.  363  and  328)  particularly  interested  me, 
as  I  had  been  keeping  careful  watch  for  a  second  brood  in  the 
Forest.  We  were  not  favoured,  however.  Two  or  three  larvae 
found  in  September  were  no  larger  than  is  usual  at  that  time  of 
the  year. 

On  September  4th  I  beat  from  oak  a  half-grown  larva  of 
Nola  strigula,  from  which  I  certainly  expected  to  obtain  an 
autumn  imago.  Unfortunately,  although  it  fed  in  captivity  for 
some  three  weeks,  it  did  not  appear  to  increase  in  size,  and 
eventually  died.  I  have  never  before  taken  a  larva  of  this 
species  in  the  autumn ;  when  beaten  in  early  May  they  are 
usually  almost  microscopic. 

In  October  and  November  larvae  of  Noctua  hrunnea,  Triphcena 
fimbria,  Aplecta  {Mamestra)  nehulosa,  Metrocampa  {Euclalimia) 
margaritaria,  Boarmia  repandata,  and  several  others,  were 
noticed  to  have  attained  a  very  considerably  larger  size  than  is 
usual  in  the  autumn.  Several  of  these  overgrown  larvae  of 
M.  {E.)  margaritaria  were  kept,  and  produced  in  every  case  one 
or  more  parasites.  The  parasites  have  not  yet  emerged  from 
their  cocoons,  but  judging  from  these  they  are  a  species  of 
Apanteles. 

During  the  whole  year  the  prevalence  of  parasites  was  quite 

l2 


128  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

a  feature.  Of  twenty-five  larvae  of  Agrotis  strigula,  picked  up 
one  wet  night  in  March,  twenty-three  produced  a  specimen  each 
of  the  Braconid  Meteorus  pulchricornis,  while  quite  fifty  per  cent, 
of  the  larvse  of  Hygrochroa  syringavia,  taken  in  April  and  May, 
succumbed  to  the  attacks  of  another  Meteorid — a  black  insect 
with  yellow  legs,  which  appears  to  be  nondescript. 

Although  I  cannot  hear  of  any  great  rarities  having  been 
taken  at  sallow,  the  number  of  beautiful  forms  of  Taniocampa 
munda  that  were  captured  amply  repaid  the  collector,  to  say 
nothing  of  hybernated  Lithophajie  socia,  which  were  rather 
abundant.  Sugaring  in  June  and  July  was  quite  a  failure.  This 
was  no  doubt  owing  to  the  prevalence  of  honeydew,  and  to  there 
not  being  sufficient  rain  to  wash  it  off  the  leaves.  In  August, 
however,  Catocala  sponsa  and  C.  promissa  turned  up  in  fair 
numbers,  and  in  the  autumn  the  usual  things  were  plentiful, 
although  Lithophane  socia  was  scarcely  seen.  We  were  glad  to 
welcome  back  Eumichtis  protea  after  an  absence  of  several 
years. 

It  j.8  my  opinion  that  Apatura  iris  was  more  common  in  1911 
than  it  has  been  for  a  long  time.  I  have  heard  of  twenty-seven 
specimens  having  been  captured  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Brockenhurst  alone.  The  larvae  were  correspondingly  plentiful 
in  the  autumn,  and  probably  quite  a  hundred  were  taken 
locally. 

It  is  very  pleasant  to  find  that,  in  spite  of  the  hordes  of 
collectors  who  yearly  thrash  our  sallow  bushes  for  the  larvae,  this 
fine  butterfly  is  still  holding  its  own.  Perhaps  it  would  be  an 
exaggeration  to  describe  1911  as  a  "butterfly  year,"  but  in 
addition  to  Apatura  iris  several  species  were  more  than  usually 
abundant,  the  most  noticeable  being  Pararge  egeria,  Argynnis 
paphia  and  its  var.  valesina,  Zephyrus  hetulce,  Cyaniris  argiolus, 
and  Chrysophanus  phlceas. 

As  there  still  seems  to  be  some  little  doubt  as  to  the  winter 
quarters  chosen  by  Gonepteryx  rhamni,  it  may  be  of  interest  to 
note  that,  on  the  evening  of  November  14th,  when  collecting 
with  Mr.  E.  Morris  (whom  I  must  thank  for  much  informa- 
tion which  is  embodied  in  this  article),  a  specimen  of  this 
butterfly  was  discovered  resting  under  an  ivy-leaf  some  ten  feet 
from  the  ground.*  The  insect  was  still  in  the  same  position  on  the 
night  of  November  28th,  and  was  very  easily  seen  by  the  light 
of  an  acetylene  lamp,  the  wings  appearing  to  reflect  the  light 
and  to  make  the  butterfly  stand  out  very  plainly.  Finding  it  in 
the  daytime,  however,  was  a  very  difficult  matter,  so  great  was 
its  resemblance  in  colour  and  shape  to  its  surroundings. 

On  November  28th  Mr.  C.  W.  Colthrup  discovered,  while  in 
my  company,  another  hybernating  G.  rhamni  in  a  similar  posi- 

--  On  February  14tli  this  butterfly  was  still  in  the  position  noted,  but  on 
March  4th  it  had  disappeared.— G.  T.  L.,  March  24th,  1912. 


NEW    FOREST    NOTES. 


129 


tion,  but  in  this  instance  the  insect  was  not  more  than  three  feet 
above  the  ground. 

During  the  early  spring  Hyheriiia  leucopJuearia  appeared  in 
great  numbers,  and  larvse  of  Boarmia  repandata  were  par- 
ticularly plentiful  at  night.  In  the  late  spring  many  species 
of  oak-feeding  larvae  were  not  nearly  so  numerous  as  usual. 
This  was  again  noticeable  in  the  summer  and  autumn,  when  the 
larvfe  of  such  species  as  Sttiuropusfagi,  Acronyctaalni,  Cochlidion 
{Meter ogetiea)  limacodes,  and  Heterogenea  asella,  were  almost 
entirely  absent.  Luckily,  larvae  of  Boarmia  rohoraria  and  Hglo- 
phila  bicolorana  were  plentiful.  Keferring  to  the  larvae  of  the 
latter  species,  it  is,  of  course,  well  known  that  when  hatched,  and 
for  some  time  afterwards,  the  young  larvae  are  green,  and  that 
they  change  to  a  brown  colour  before  hybernation,  so  as  to  harmo- 
nize with  their  winter  surroundings.  It  is  generally  imagined 
that  this  change  of  colour  takes  place  at  the  last  autumnal 
ecdysis,  but  I  now  find  that  it  is  not  so,  for  the  larvae  are  quite 
as  green  after  changing  their  skius  as  before.  Very  gradually 
the  caterpillars  cease  feeding,  become  lethargic,  and  their  green 
colour  slowly  fades,  until  they  present  a  very  washed-out  appear- 
ance; then  the  brown  pigment  is  "  turned  on,"  and  the  winter 
coloration  assumed.  The  same  thing  may  be  noticed,  though 
in  a  much  less  degree,  with  the  larvae  of  Apatura  iris. 

Although  oak-beating  in  September  was  poor,  birch  and 
sallow  yielded  good  results,  larvae  of  Drepana  falcataria, 
D.  lacertinaria,  Notodonta  dromedarius,  Ephyra  pendularia,  N. 
ziczac,  and  Cenorafarcida  being  abundant. 

At  the  very  spot  where  my  friend,  Mr.  Bernard  Piffard,  took 
Zygana  meliloti  some  fifty-two  or  fifty-three  years  ago,  I  found, 
on  May  28th,  a  dozen  or  more  full-fed  larvae  of  this  very  local 
Burnet.  The  cocoons  are  difficult  to  see,  for,  unlike  those  of  its 
near  relative,  Z.  Jilipendalce,  they  are  placed  low  down  in  the 
herbage,  the  two  or  three  that  I  have  discovered  having  been 
attached  to  broad,  flat,  dead  blades  of  grass.  This  spot,  thirty 
yards  square,  seems  to  be  the  metropolis  of  the  species,  although 
it  would  appear  that  at  various  times  colonists  have  been  sent  out 
or  wandered  away,  and  have  for  a  time  established  themselves 
elsewhere  in  the  neighbourhood.  At  any  rate,  it  is  the  only 
place  where  Z.  meliloti  may  be  regularly  expected  to  turn  up. 

Rumour  has  it  that,  some  few  years  ago,  a  certain  profes- 
sional collector  transplanted  our  Burnet  to  other  parts  of  the 
Forest.  If  this  be  so,  I  am  unaware  as  to  the  amount  of  success 
that  attended  the  experiment.  It  may,  perhaps,  be  well  to 
record  it,  in  case  some  wandering  entomologist  stumbles  across 
these  "  private  "  colonies. 

Regarding  insects  of  other  orders,  I  fear  I  have  little  to 
record,  but  it  may  be  worth  mentioning  that  the  pine  sawfly 
{Lophyriis  pini)  produced    an    additional    brood.      This   insect 


130  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

would  seem  to  be  generally  double-brooded  here,  the  first  brood 
appearmg  in  April  and  May,  and  the  second  in  July  and  August. 
The  larvae  resulting  from  the  second  brood,  as  a  rule,  remain  in 
their  cocoons  until  the  following  spring,  when  they  pupate  some 
fortnight  or  so  before  the  imagines  emerge.  During  last  Octo- 
ber, however,  numbers  of  the  imagines  of  both  sexes  might  be 
beaten  from  Piniis  sylvestris,  even  up  to  the  end  of  the  month. 

In  August  Mr.  W.  J.  Lucas  was  fortunate  enough  to  capture 
several  male  and  female  specimens  of  the  rare  dragonfly,  Sym- 
petrum  fonscolomhii. 

That  weird-looking  "  beastie,"  Centrotiis  cornutus,  turned  up 
in  greater  numbers  than  I  have  ever  known  before,  Cixius 
2nlosus  being  also  very  common.  The  Typhlocybse  were  not 
nearly  so  abundant  as  in  1910.  Undoubtedly,  the  insects  that 
were  more  noticed  than  any  others  in  1911  were  the  common 
wasps,  Vespa  vulgaris  and  V.  germanica,  which  literally  swarmed. 
A  worker  was  observed  on  the  wing  as  late  as  November  19th, 
while  a  queen,  which  had  flown  into  a  neighbouring  cottage,  was 
brought  to  me  on  December  30th.  This  abundance  seems 
rather  remarkable,  as  1910  was  particularly  noticeable  for  the 
scarcity  of  wasps  here,  as  in  other  places. 

Brockenhurst :  January  30th,  1912. 


NEW    SPECIES    OP    NOCTUID^   FEOM   FORMOSA. 
By  A.  E.  WiLEMAN,  F.E.S. 

Agrotis  arenosa,  sp.  n. 

Fore  wings  pale  ochreous  brown  mottled  with  darker  ochreous ; 
antemedial  line  dusky,  irregular,  and  indistinct ;  postmedial  line  in- 
dicated by  brown  dots  on  the  veins,  preceded  and  followed  by  dusky 
marks  between  the  veins ;  blackish  dots  between  the  veins  on 
termen ;  a  dark  brown  quadrate  spot  representing  the  reniform 
stigma ;  fringes  pale,  traversed  by  a  darker  line.  Hind  wings 
fuscous,  glossy,  fringes  pale.  Under  side  whitish,  ochreous  tinged, 
discal  area  of  fore  wings  suffused  with  blackish ;  all  the  wings  have 
a  black  discal  dot  and  a  dusky,  curved,  postmedial  line. 

Expanse,  36  millim. 

Collection  number,  945. 

A  male  specimen  from  Arizan  (7500  ft.),  September  11th,  1906. 

Near  A.  rubicilia,  Moore. 

Epilecta  Jiaviiinea,  sp.  n. 

Fore  wings  dark  brown,  thickly  powdered  with  grey  on  basal  and 

costal  areas  ;  antemedial  and  postmedial  lines  yellow,  edged  on  each 

side  with  black,  the  former  outwardly  oblique  and  the  latter  almost 

parallel  with  termen  ;  space  between  postmedial  and  the  ochreous 


NEW    SPECIES    OF    NOCTUID^    FROM    FORMOSA.  131 

subterminal  line  rather  darker  brown ;  area  beyond  the  subterminal 
line  slightly  tinged  with  reddish ;  black  marks  towards  base  of  the 
wing,  on  the  costa,  and  on  each  side  of  the  orbicular  ;  a  short  black 
dash  from  inner  edge  of  subterminal  line  near  costa.  Hind  wings 
yellow,  termen  bordered  with  blackish  except  towards  tornus.  Under 
surface  of  fore  wings  blackish,  costa  and  terminal  area  yellow  flecked 
with  blackish  ;  hind  wings  as  above. 
Expanse,  $  36  milhm.,  ?  40  millim. 

Collection  number,  1685. 

One  example  of  each  sex  from  Arizan  (7500  ft.),  September, 
1908. 

Allied  to  E.  accipiter,  Feld. 

Hermonassa  inconstans,  sp.  n 

S' .  Fore  wings  ochreous  brown,  Hghtly  freckled  with  brownish, 
outer  third  brown  ;  subbasal  line  double,  blackish,  not  continued  to 
dorsum ;  antemedial  line  double,  blackish,  indented  below  costa ; 
postmedial  line  double,  blackish,  wavy,  curved  beyond  cell,  indented 
below  costa  and  above  dorsum;  subterminal  line  blackish,  wavy; 
terminal  dots  black  ;  reniform,  orbicular,  and  claviform  black,  out- 
lined in  ochreous,  reniform  enclosing  an  ochreous  line.  Hind  wings 
fuscous  brown.  Under  side  whitish  suffused  with  fuscous,  especially 
on  fore  wings ;  all  the  wings  have  blackish  discal  mark  and  post- 
medial  line,  the  latter  on  hind  wings  indistinct  towards  dorsum. 

Expanse,  28-32  millim. 

Collection  number,  946. 

Two  male  specimens  from  Arizan  (7500  ft.) ;  one,  the  type, 
taken  August  8th,  1908;  the  other  captured  September  21st, 
1906.  In  the  latter  specimen  the  outer  third  of  fore  wings  is 
concolorous  with  the  rest  of  the  wing,  and  the  subterminal  line 
is  more  distinct. 

Allied  to  H.  incisa,  Moore,  from  Sikkim. 

Hermonassa  sinuosa,  sp.  n. 

(?  .  Fore  wings  whitish,  faintly  suffused  with  pale  brown,  basal 
third  greyish ;  basal  line  black,  interrupted  at  median  nervure,  not 
continued  to  dorsum ;  antemedial  line  blackish,  sinuous,  followed  by 
a  black  spot  on  the  costa  and  a  black  sinus  about  middle ;  postmedial 
line  blackish,  wavy,  excurved  below  costa,  incurved  above  dorsum, 
preceded  by  a  black  spot  on  costa  ;  subterminal  line  blackish,  indis- 
tinct, originating  in  a  large  black  spot  on  costa  ;  reniform  and  orbicu- 
lar paler  than  ground  colour,  outlined  and  centred  with  brownish. 
Hind  wings  fuscous,  shghtly  paler  towards  base  ;  a  blackish  discal 
dot  and  indications  of  a  dusky  postmedial  line  beyond.  Fringes  of 
the  ground  colour  traversed  by  a  pinkish  brown  line.  Under  side 
pale  fuscous,  brownish  on  costal  area  of  hind  wings  ;  rather  glossy  ; 
markings  on  fore  wings  indistinct ;  hind  wings  have  a  black  discal 
mark  and  black  postmedial  line ;  the  latter  is  sinuous  and  diffuse 
towards  the  dorsum. 


132  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

?  .     Similar  to  the  male,  but  in  addition  to  the  other  markings 
it  has  a  blackish  central  line,  which  is  bidentate  towards  costa. 
Expanse,  30  millim. 

Collection  number,  1748. 

One  example  of  each  sex  from  Rantaizan,  Maj',  1906. 
Allied  to  Hermonassa  {Graphiphora)  pallidula,  Leech,  from 
Western  China. 

Cirphis  taiwana,  sp.  n. 

?  .  Fore  wings  pale  ochreous  brown,  clouded  and  striated  with 
reddish  brown  on  the  discal  area ;  costa  dotted  with  blackish  ; 
orbicular  stigma  brown,  reniform  blackish,  both  pale  outlined,  a 
whitish  L-mark  at  lower  end  of  reniform,  and  blackish  diffuse  spot 
beyond  it;  antemedial  line  blackish,  with  black  dots  upon  it,  out- 
wardly oblique  to  just  below  vein  two,  thence  inwardly  oblique  and 
indistinct  to  dorsum  ;  postmedial  line  formed  of  black  dots,  which 
are  connected  by  a  wavy  blackish  line  towards  costa,  almost  parallel 
with  termen,  but  the  spot  between  veins  one  and  two  elongate 
placed  inwards,  and  out  of  line  with  the  others  ;  fringes  checkered 
with  brown,  preceded  by  black  dots  on  termen.  Hind  wings  dark 
fuscous,  fringes  pale  ochreous  brown  ;  discoidal  mark  blackish.  Under 
side  pale  ochreous  brown,  clouded  with  blackish  on  discal  area  of  fore 
wings ;  all  the  wings  have  black  discoidal  spot  and  postmedial  line, 
and  black  dots  on  termen. 

Expanse,  42  millim. 

Collection  number,  146  «. 
Two  female  specimens  from  Rantaizan. 
Near  C.  yGuiosigma,  Hampson,  from  Ceylon  ;  also  C.  dharma, 
Moore,  from  Sikkim. 

Daseoch(Eta  pidclira,  sp.  n. 

(?  .  Fore  wings  green,  longitudinally  streaked  with  brown  at  the 
base  and  beyond  middle  of  the  wing  ;  basal  and  antemedial  lines 
black,  both  interrupted  below  costa,  the  latter  expanded  on  dorsal 
area,  and  outwardly  edged  with  white  ;  postmedial  line  black,  inter- 
rupted below  costa  and  again  by  the  lower  brown  streak,  edged  with 
white  towards  dorsum  ;  subterminal  line  whitish  sinuous,  inwardly 
edged  with  blackish  ;  costa  dotted  with  black,  a  black  mark  between 
the  stigmata,  and  two  smaller  ones  below  ;  fringes  green  checkered 
with  darker,  black  dots  at  their  base  and  tips.  Hind  wings  pale  fus- 
cous, discoidal  mark  and  postmedial  line  dusky;  fringes  pale  greenish. 
Under  side  pale  greenish  ;  basal  three-fourths  of  fore  wings  suffused 
with  blackish ;  a  blackish  spot  on  middle  of  costa  and  a  blackish 
clouded  postmedial  line  on  all  the  wings ;  a  black  dot  in  the  cell, 
and  a  larger  one  at  end  of  cell  of  hind  wings. 

Expanse,  32  millim. 

Collection  number,  924. 

A  male  specimen  from  Arizan,  September  25th,  1906. 

Near  D.  discibrunnea,  Moore. 


BUTTERFLIES    AT    DIGNE.  133 

Perigea  albigutta,  sp.  n. 

2  .  Fore  wings  dark  chocolate-brown,  costa  dotted  with  white  ; 
antemedial  and  postmedial  lines  indicated  by  white  points,  the  latter 
irregular,  double  ;  subterminal  line  represented  by  white  dots,  three 
above  the  middle  and  one  near  dorsum  larger  than  the  others ;  a 
series  of  white  dots  on  termen  ;  reniform  and  orbicular  stigmata 
represented  by  clusters  of  white  dots ;  fringes  marked  with  white  at 
ends  of  the  veins.  Hind  wings  fuscous,  inclining  to  black  on  outer 
area.  Under  side  whitish,  freckled  and  suffused  with  fuscous ; 
blackish  discoidal  mark  and  postmedial  line  on  all  the  wings ;  outer 
fourth  blackish,  traversed  by  a  pale  subterminal  line  on  fore  wings. 

Expanse,  39  millim. 

Collection  number,  942. 

A  female  specimen  from  Kanshirei  (1000  ft.),  July  28th,  1906. 

Near  P.  stellata,  Moore. 


BUTTERFLIES   AT   DIGNE. 
By   Gerard   H.   Gurney,   F.E.S. 

(Concluded  from  p.  97.) 

MelitcBa  aurinia  var.  provincialis. — M.  ijho&he.  Not  very  common ; 
those  I  took  all  tended  to  var.  cinxioicles. — M.  didyma. — M.  cinxia. 
A  fresh  brood  began  to  appear  about  July  20th. — M.  deione.  A  very 
few  worn  ones  were  noted. — M.  parthenie.  I  took  a  magnificent 
aberration  of  this  species  on  July  18th ;  in  Oberthiir's  '  Lepidopterologie 
Comparee,'  it  is  figured  as  ah.  rhoio ;  on  the  upper  side  there  are 
no  black  markings  on  the  fore  wings  at  all,  except  the  outer  margin 
and  a  suffused  patch  at  the  base.  On  the  lower  wings  all  orange 
colouring  is  absent,  leaving  the  wings  entirely  brown  :  the  under 
sides  of  the  hind  wings  are  pure  white,  except  a  greenish  brown  patch 
at  the  base  containing  a  large  black  discoidal  spot.— M.  athalia. 

Pyrameis  cardiii. — P.  atalanta. — Euvanessa  antiopa.  Only  one 
or  two  seen. — Vanessa  io. — Aglais  urticce. — Eugonia  polychloros. — 
Polygonia  egea.   Scarce ;  not  more  than  two  or  three  seen. — P.  c-alhum. 

Limenitis  Camilla.      Small  males  of  a  second  brood  were  common. 

Parage  mcera. — P.  megcera. — P.  egeria. 

Satynis  hermione.  Very  abundant,  and  in  magnificent  condition 
on  July  18th ;  the  females  are  very  large. — S.  alcyone.  This  species 
is  perfectly  distinct  from  hermione  at  Digne,  being  found  at  a  higher 
level  and  always  resting  on  the  ground,  never  on  trees ;  it  is  very 
constant  in  size,  it  also  emerges  later  than  hermione  :  on  July  23rd, 
in  places  where  hermione  was  beginning  to  get  much  \NOYn,  alcyone  was 
quite  fresh. — S.  circe.  Plentiful  in  orchards  and  hayfields,  and  quite 
fresh  on  July  18th ;  very  large  and  fine,  some  of  the  females  being 
enormous;  many  have  a  second  spot  on  the  fore  wing. — S.  cordula. 
Abundant  everywhere,  but  beginning  to  go  over  by  July  21st.  The 
females  show  considerable  variation  in  the  colouring  of  the  light  band 
on  the  upper  side  of  the  hind  wing ;   in  some  specimens  it  is  very 


134  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

light  orange  brown,  in  others  there  is  hardly  any  trace  of  a  band,  the 
whole  wing  being  a  uniform  dark  brown ;  all  the  specimens  are 
extremely  dark  compared  with  those  from  the  Rhone  Valley. — S. 
actcea.  In  beautifully  fresh  condition  and  very  common  in  places, 
but  not  found  everywhere  round  Digne  ;  it  did  not  emerge  until 
July  22nd. 

Ennodia  dry  as.  I  only  took  this  species  on  one  or  two  banks 
on  the  road  to  Les  Dourbs  ;  the  females  are  very  large. 

Hipimrchia  statilinus.  Just  beginning  to  emerge  as  I  left. — H. 
fldia.  This  fine  species  was  common  after  July  19th,  and  amongst 
the  series  of  twenty  which  I  took  are  some  magnificent  specimens ; 
it  was  very  fond  of  settling  on  the  white  flowers  of  the  wild  clematis 
and  was  then  much  more  easily  captured  than  when  sitting  on  rocks 
or  on  the  road. — H.  briseis.  Emerging  on  July  18th,  this  species 
quickly  became  very  common  on  dry,  stony  ground,  though  I  appeared 
to  take  the  great  big  females  more  often  flying  along  the  edges  of  hay- 
fields. —  H.  semele.  Very  common,  but  not  an  exceptionally  fine 
form. — H.  arethusa  var.  dentata.  Males  were  common  on  August  1st, 
and  all  I  took  were  of  this  variety.     I  was  too  early  for  the  females. 

Epinephele  ianira. — E.  lycaon.  Very  common  every  where ;  many 
of  the  males  have  a  second  spot  towards  the  anal  angle,  upper  side  of 
the  fore  wing. — E.  tithonus.  Abundant;  the  females  were  large  and 
brilliantly  coloured. 

Cmnonympha  arcania.  I  found  a  few  fresh  ones,  presumably  of 
a  second  brood,  considerably  smaller  than  those  I  had  previously 
taken  at  Digne  in  June. — C.  dorus.  Extremely  abundant  everywhere, 
quite  fresh  and  showing  a  good  deal  of  variation. — C.  iMinphilus. 

Erebia  melavqms.  By  no  means  uncommon  high  up  on  the 
Dourbs  on  July  31st,  but  a  good  deal  worn. — E.  stygne.  Near  Digne 
and  also  on  the  Dourbs. — E.  scijno.  I  found  scipio  quite  common  on 
the  one  slope  on  which  this  species  flies  on  the  Dourbs  on  July  31st, 
but  on  this  date  no  females  were  seen,  they  were  all  males  and  gene- 
rally quite  fresh.  In  the  hot  sun  they  fly  very  swiftly  up  and  down 
the  flower-covered  precipice,  on  which,  owing  to  its  steepness  and 
the  loose  rolHng  stones,  it  is  a  very  difiticult  matter  to  catch  them  ; 
directly  the  sun  becomes  overcast  they  cease  flying  and  drop  down 
amongst  the  stones,  often  with  outspread  wings.  I  strongly  suspect 
that  if  properly  searched  for  this  species  would  be  found  on  other 
parts  of  the  Dourbs.  The  series  of  twenty-two  which  I  took  show  a 
good  deal  of  variation  in  the  number  of  spots  on  upper  side  of  the  hind 
wing ;  three  appears  to  be  the  usual  number,  but  I  took  specimens 
with  two  and  one  spot  on  each  wing,  and  eight  of  my  series  have  no 
spots  whatever  ;  on  the  upper  wings  the  proportion  of  insects  having 
two  spots  and  four  seems  to  be  equally  divided. — E.  ligea.  Kather 
plentiful  in  the  beech  forest  half-way  up  the  Dourbs. — E.  neoridas. 
I  saw  the  first  on  July  25th,  and  it  was  beginning  to  get  very  com- 
mon when  I  left  Digne  on  August  1st. — E.  goante.  Common  in  one 
place  on  the  Dourbs,  just  above  the  slope  on  which  I  took  scipio, 
they  were  quite  fresh. — E.  tyndarus  var.  cassiodes.  Flying  with  the 
last  species,  but  rather  more  widely  distributed.  It  was  common  and 
in  good  condition  ;  all  I  took  were  of  this  variety. 
Melanargia  galathea. 


135 


NOTES    FEOM    AN    ESSEX    LEPIDOPTERIST'S    DIARY 
FOR    1911. 

By  Paymaster-in-Chief  Gervase  F.Mathew,  R.N.,  F.E.S.,  &c. 

May  was  mainly  a  fine  bright  month,  and  some  of  the  days 
were  very  hot ;  there  was  scarcely  any  rain,  except  a  few 
showers  on  the  2nd  and  3rd,  rather  wet  on  the  14th,  and  a 
shower  or  two  on  the  30th.  From  the  18th  to  the  21st  the 
weather  was  very  dull,  with  keen  north-easterly  wind.  There 
was  a  good  deal  of  wind  during  the  month.  On  the  1st  Catoptria 
ulicetana  was  noticed  flying  about  furze-bushes,  in  the  hot  sun- 
shine, in  great  numbers  ;  and  at  night  some  larvae  of  TripJmna 
orhona,  T.  ianthina,  Noctua  triangidum  and  Boarmia  repandata, 
were  beaten  from  hawthorn— mostly  full  grown.  The  first 
P.  napi  was  noticed  on  the  3rd,  and  a  beautiful  red  variety  of 
Tcsniocampa  gracilis  was  bred  from  New  Forest  larvse.  On  the 
4th  a  boy  brought  me  a  male  Dicranura  vinula,  which  had  been 
attracted  by  the  electric  lights  at  Parkeston,  and  in  the  evening 
I  visited  the  woods  and  beat  some  larvae  of  T.  fimbria,  N.  baja, 
&c.  ;  it  was  a  warm  night  with  gentle  south-westerly  breeze,  but 
I  did  not  see  a  moth  on  the  wing.  The  first  Pieris  brassicce 
was  observed  on  the  6th,  two  Cyaniris  argiolus  were  taken,  and 
Asthena  luteata  bred.  On  the  8th  Amphidasys  betidaria  ab. 
doubledayaria  was  reared  from  the  only  larva  taken  last  year, 
and  F'umea  radiella,  male,  was  captured  flying  among  coarse 
grass  on  the  sea-bank.  The  9th  was  gloriously  bright  and 
warm,  and  in  the  evening  I  tried  beating  hedges  near  the 
salterns  and  obtained  a  few  larvse  of  Lasiocampa  quercus, 
T.  interjecta,  N.  augur,  Crocallis  elinguaria,  &c.  It  was  a  windy 
night,  with  a  bright  moon  and  heavy  dew,  and  the  only  moths 
noticed  were  a  few  E.  pumilata  and  one  Xanthorrhoe  Jiuctuata. 
Euchloe  cardamines  was  bred  on  the  10th,  and  on  this  day  I  saw 
the  first  swifts.  Four  Eupithecia  dodoneata  were  taken  on 
trunks  of  Ilex,  and  one  Lycia  hirtaria  (which  is  a  rare  moth  in 
this  neighbourhood)  from  a  paling.  On  the  12th,  a  bright 
morning,  I  took  a  female  S.  carpini,  bred  on  the  11th,  placed  her 
on  a  hedge  in  a  likely-looking  spot,  and  waited  for  nearly  two 
hours,  but  no  male  was  attracted — perhaps  they  were  not  yet 
out.  The  13th  was  fine  and  hot,  with  thunder-clouds  about, 
and  distant  thunder.  I  went  to  the  woods  in  the  forenoon  ; 
A.  cardamines  was  just  appearing,  there  were  plenty  of  P.  rapes 
and  P.  napi,  and  from  the  bushes  I  beat  Numeria  pidveraria, 
L.  petraria,  V.  maculata,  C.  ferrugata,  C.  unidentaria,  Phoxop- 
teryx  lundana  and  P.  Icetana,  and  one  small  larva  of  Limenitis 
Sibylla  was  noticed.  Before  I  left  home  in  the  morning  I 
placed  the  S.  carpini  female,  bred  on  the  11th,  in  a  box  with 
lid  slightly  open,  in  my  garden,  and  when  I  returned  at  1  p.m. 


136  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

she  was  still  resting  quietly,  but  at  2.30  I  noticed  slie  was 
"  calling."  I  then  went  out  for  a  couple  of  hours,  and  when  I 
returned  at  4.30  found  her  wedded  to  a  very  fine  male  ;  at  5.15 
the  pairing  was  over,  and  I  killed  the  male.  At  7.30  I  found  the 
female  had  laid  a  large  number  of  eggs.  On  the  15th  several 
larvae  of  Pseudoterpna  pridnata  {cytisaria),  nearly  full-grown, 
was  beaten  from  broom,  and  plenty  of  larvae  of  Chesias  spartiata 
were  seen.  In  the  evening,  which  was  warm  and  muggy, 
Perizoma  affinitata  was  netted,  and  four  larvae  of  T.  iiiterjecta 
were  picked  off  nettles.  A  large  female  Smerinthus  popidi  was 
noticed,  just  emerged,  on  a  poplar  in  the  garden.  16th.  Many 
N.  pulveraria  bred  about  this  time.  The  17th  was  fine  and 
bright,  with  a  keen  north-easterly  breeze,  and  I  went  to  the 
distant  woods,  where  I  found  Argynnis  euphrosyne  just  coming 
out,  and  captured  and  examined  sixteen  of  them,  hoping  for 
varieties,  but  they  were  all  typical,  fifteen  males  and  one  female. 
One  Nemeobiiis  lucina  was  seen  ;  this  is  getting  very  scarce,  and 
I  fear  will  soon  cease  to  exist  in  this  locality.  Beating  was  very 
unproductive ;  I  think  the  cold  wind  kept  the  insects  from 
moving.  I  only  saw  one  Lomaspilis  marginata,  one  Acidalia 
remiitata,  and  three  Lohophora  hexapterata ;  the  latter  were 
sitting  on  tree-trunks  near  aspens ;  they  are  very  crafty,  and 
often  dodge  behind  the  trees  when  one  tries  to  box  or  net  them. 
The  18th  was  cool  and  overcast,  with  a  north-easterly  wind.  I 
tried  sweeping  nettles,  &c.,  after  dark,  and  obtained  nine  larvae 
of  T.  iiiterjecta  and  several  Leucania  lithargyria,  &c.  ;  half- 
grown  larvae  of  Cosmotridie  potatoria  were  numerous,  and  full- 
grown  Hypena  proboscidalis  abundant.  The  22nd  being  bright 
and  warm,  I  went  to  the  woods  to  beat  for  larvae,  but  found 
them  very  scarce  indeed,  and  only  saw  a  few  each  of  P.  pilosaria, 
H.  defoliaria,  &c.,  species  which  ought  to  have  been  swarming 
now.  On  honeysuckle  I  noticed  half  a  dozen  larvae  of  L.  sibylla 
and  two  of  P.  sijringaria.  Pararge  megcera  was  seen  for  the  first 
time.  This  butterfly  had  almost  disappeared  from  this  neigh- 
bourhood, but  last  autumn  I  turned  down  about  sixty,  which  I 
bred  from  ova  received  from  the  South  of  Ireland.  The  23rd 
was  fine  and  warm — C.  pamphilus  was  out  in  large  numbers,  and 
H.  arbiiti  and  A.  ochrearia  were  flying  over  rough  ground  among 
rushes  and  mouse-ear.  The  24th  was  another  warm  day,  and  in 
the  evening  I  sugared  in  the  woods ;  it  was  (apparently)  a  very 
favourable  night,  but  only  two  moths  visited  the  bait :  one  Pa- 
limpsestis  or,  and  one  hybernated  Scoliopteryx  libatrix.  Geometrae 
and  Tortrices  were  flying  in  some  numbers  just  before  sunset, 
but  the  flight  did  not  last,  as  a  slight  dew  and  cool  north- 
westerly wind  appeared  to  send  them  into  shelter. 

(To  be  continued.) 


137 


NOTES    AND     OBSERVATIONS. 

Depressaria  putridella  in  the  Harwich  District.  —  Many 
years  ago  I  used  to  notice  towards  the  end  of  May  and  beginning  of 
June  that  the  young  plants  of  the  very  local  hog's-fennel  {Peucedanum 
officinale),  which  is  not  uncommon  in  certain  localities  in  this  neigh- 
bourhood, were  infested  by  the  larvae  of  some  species  of  Depressaria, 
but,  not  being  very  keen  about  the  Tineinae,  I  did  not  pay  much 
attention  to  them,  though  I  know  it  now  and  then  occurred  to  me 
that,  as  the  plant  was  so  local  the  chances  were  that  these  larvae 
might  also  be  something  of  a  rarity  ;  and  so  the  years  rolled  on  until 
1909,  when  Mr.  Sich's  record  of  the  discovery  of  D.  imtridella  in 
Kent  made  me  think  that  the  larvae  I  had  noticed  so  often  on  hog's- 
fennel  and  treated  of  so  little  account  might  probably  be  that  species  ; 
and  so  the  next  year  (1910),  the  larvse  being  as  plentiful  as  usual,  I 
took  some  of  them  with  their  food-plant,  and  placed  it  in  a  wide- 
mouthed  bottle  in  a  large  flower-pot,  with  muslin  hood  over,  and  in 
a  few  weeks  bred  a  couple  of  dozen  D.  imtridella. — Gervase  F. 
Mathew  ;  Dovercourt,  March  8th,  1912. 

CffiNONYMPHA  TYPHON.  —  I  shall  be  Very  much  obliged  if  any 
collector  can  furnish  me  with  two  pairs  of  Irish  GcBnonytn-pha  typhon 
in  first-rate  condition.  They  are  required  for  figuring  in  a  future 
number  of  M.  C.  Oberthiir's  '  Lepidopterologie  Compar^e,'  to  which 
I  am  contributing  a  short  account  of  the  British  and  Irish  forms. 
Also  wanted  "  furthest  north "  Scots  forms.  I  shall  be  pleased  to 
exchange. — H.  Eowland-Brown  ;  Harrow  Weald. 

Early  Emergences.  —  Phigalia  pedaria  (pilosaria)  on  lamps  in 
suburbs,  January  1st,  2nd,  and  5th.  A.  flavicornis  on  palings  at 
Sutton  Park,  March  1st,  and  H.  progemmaria  (type  and  melanic), 
March  5th.  Out  of  three  hundred  bred  pupge  of  Odontopera  biden- 
tata,  although  kept  in  cold  room  till  January  1st,  and  since  then 
out  of  doors,  forty-three  (type  and  black  forms)  have  emerged  up  to 
date.  The  first  one  emerged  December  22nd,  eighteen  in  January, 
nineteen  in  February.  Thermometer  in  breeding-cage,  33°  F.  at 
moment  of  emergence  of  several.  Three  pairings  have  been  obtained, 
and  ova  deposited. — W.  Bowater  ;  Russell  Road,  Moseley,  Birming- 
ham, March  11th,  1912. 

Nyssia  hispidaria  in  Norfolk.  —  I  captured,  on  Wednesday, 
February  14th,  in  Northrepps  Woods,  near  Cromer,  one  male  Nyssia 
hispidaria  resting  on  an  oak-trunk  by  day. — A.  C.  Morris  ;  Roughton 
Rectory,  Norwich,  February  23rd,  1912. 

Hesperia  onopordi  in  the  Pyrenees.  —  While  staying  at 
Gavarnie  last  July  I  took  a  fine  series  of  H.  alveus,  which  was  very 
common  there.  A  short  time  ago,  when  taking  the  specimens  off 
the  setting-boards,  I  found  among  them  three  H.  onopordi,  all  males, 
and  in  perfect  condition.  Two  were  captured  in  the  Val  d'Ossue, 
one  on  July  16th,  the  other  on  the  20th,  the  third  coming  from  the 
Val  d'Astazou  on  the  14th.     Mr.  Rowland-Brown  informs  me  that 


138  THE   ENTOMOLOGIST. 

M.  Eondou,  of  Gedre,  has  recorded  Gar  du  Pau  as  the  only  locality 
in  the  Pyrenees  for  H.  onoporcli  so  far.  Gavarnie  is,  of  course,  very 
much  higher.  —  B.  C.  S.  Warben;  Innis,  Claygate,  March  21st, 
1912. 

Note  on  Aporophyla  nigra.  —  Tutt's  '  Lepidopterist's  Hand- 
book '  gives  ova  of  A])orophyla  nigra  as  hatching  six  weeks  after 
deposition  {i.  e.  end  of  October),  and  elsewhere  I  have  seen  the  larval 
period  described  as  extending  from  October  to  May.  That  such  is 
not  always  the  case  I  am  in  a  position  to  prove.  Two  batches  of  ova 
were  obtained  from  female  A.  nigra,  taken  on  sugar  about  the  middle 
of  September  last  year.  The  egg  when  laid  was  a  uniform  orange- 
yellow.  At  the  time  they  ought  (?)  to  have  hatched,  the  apical  half 
was  marbled  with  a  mixture  of  reddish  and  whitish,  the  basal  half 
still  keeping  the  original  tint.  Later,  about  Christmas,  the  reddish 
marbling  had  extended  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  egg.  A  fort- 
night ago  I  brought  them  indoors  on  account  of  the  fungoid  growth 
which  had  attacked  the  damp  cardboard  pill-box,  and  which  I  feared 
might  eventually  kill  the  ova.  On  examining  them  I  found  they  had 
assumed  the  dark  slaty  tint  of  eggs  about  to  hatch.  Kept  in  a  cold 
upstairs  room,  they  began  to  hatch  on  February  14th,  and  had  all  left 
the  egg  by  the  17th.  The  greyish,  bristly  young  larv£e  refused  dock, 
plantain,  dandelion,  and  a  coarse-leaved  grass  which  grows  in  their 
locality,  and  which  I  had  suspected  would  prove  to  be  their  true  food, 
but  took  readily  the  hair- grass  {Aira  ccesiiitosa),  which  also  thrives  on 
our  upland  limestone  pastures.  They  are  growing  somewhat  slowly, 
but  seem  quite  healthy.  Though  now  two  weeks  old,  they  have  not 
lost  their  early  "  looping"  habit,  and  when  resting  on  the  grass- stems 
they  frequently  assume  a  striking  Spliinx-Yike  attitude.  The  ground 
colour  of  the  body  is  now  a  deep  grass-green,  and  they  have  lost  that 
bristly  appearance  which  characterized  the  newly  hatched  larvge. — 
Frank  Litllewood  ;  10,  Aynam  Eoad,  Kendal. 

Pyrameis  atalanta  in  Early  Spring. — Whether  P.  atalanta 
does  or  does  not  hybernate  in  this  country  I  do  not  know,  but  it 
may  be  of  interest  to  note  that  this  morning  (March  24th)  I  saw  a 
specimen  flying  in  a  ride  of  Iron  Hill  Enclosure  near  here.  I  watched 
the  insect  for  some  ten  minutes  or  so,  and  several  times  it  settled  on 
the  fallen  leaves  within  a  yard  or  two  of  me.  It  was  in  good  con- 
dition but  perhaps  rather  faded.  I  may  mention  that  I  noticed  a 
good  many  P.  atalanta  in  the  neighbourhood  last  autumn. — G.  T. 
Lyle  ;  Bank  House,  Brockenhurst. 

The  Entomological  Club. —  Meetings  were  held  on  February 
27th,  1912,  at  58,  Kensington  Mansions,  South  Kensington,  Mr. 
Horace  St.  John  K.  Donisthorpe  in  the  chair ;  and  on  March  12th, 
1912,  at  Wellfield,  4,  Lingards  Road,  Lewisham,  Mr.  Robert  Adkin  in 
the  chair.  At  the  former  meeting  Mr.  Alfred  Sich  was  elected  a 
Member  of  the  Club,  and  Dr.  Malcolm  Burr  an  Honorary  Member. 
At  the  latter  meeting  Mr.  J.  E.  Collin  was  elected  an  Honorary 
Member  of  the  Club. — Richard  South,  Hon.  Sec. 


139 


SOCIETIES. 

The  South  London  Entomological  and  Natural  History 
Society. — Annual  General  Meeting. — January  25th,  1912. — Mr.  W.  J. 
Kaye,  F.E.S.,  President,  in  the  chair. — The  Eeports  of  the  Council  and 
Officers  for  the  past  year  were  received  and  adopted.  The  following 
is  the  list  of  Council  and  Officers  elected  for  the  ensuing  year  : — 
President :  A.  E.  Tonge,  F.E.S. ;  Vice-Presidents  :  W.  J.  Kaye,  F.E.S., 
and  B.  H.  Smith,  B.A.,  F.E.S. ;  Treasurer:  T.  W.  Hall,  F.E.S. ; 
Librarian :  A.  W.  Dods ;  Curator :  W.  West  (Greenwich)  ;  Hon. 
Secretaries:  Stanley  Edwards,  F.L.S.,  F.Z.S.,  F.E.S.,  and  H.  J. 
Turner,  F.E.S.;  Council:  C.  W.  Colthrup,  F.  W.  Cowham,  A.  E. 
Gibbs,  F.L.S.,  F.E.S.,  E.  A.  E.  Priske,  F.E.S.,  A.  Eussell,  F.E.S., 
A.  Sich,  F.E.S.,  and  E.  Step,  F.L.S.— Mr.  W.  J.  Kaye  read  the 
Annual  Address. — Votes  of  thanks  were  passed  to  the  Treasurer, 
Secretaries,  and  other  officers.  —  Ordinary  Meeting.  —  Mr.  A.  E. 
Tonge,  F.E.S.,  President,  took  the  chair. — Mr.  A.  C.  Morris,  of  Upper 
Norwood,  and  Mr.  F.  W.  Frohawk,  of  Wallington,  were  elected  mem- 
bers.—  Mr.  Edwards  exhibited  the  so-called  "silver  fish,"  Lepisma 
saccharina. — Mr.  Main,  a  narcissus  bulb,  sent  him  by  Mr.  Winkworth, 
which  had  been  attacked  by  the  larva  of  the  Dipteron,  Merodon 
equestris,  which  was  often  extremely  injurious  in  nurseries.  Mr. 
Adkin,  a  Tinea  pallescentella  taken  on  Christmas  Day,  apparently 
just  emerged. — Mr.  Moore,  a  number  of  butterflies  from  the  interior 
of  Borneo,  including  Papilio  evemon  var.  P.  itamputi,  Terias  gradiens, 
Hestia  iogani  var.  virgo,  Danisepa  loioii,  and  Terias  tilaha.  They 
were  sent  home  to  him  packed  in  fragments  of  the  flannel  shirt  of  his 
friend  who  collected  them,  a  successful  method  of  combatting  the 
excessive  superabundance  of  moisture  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  local- 
ity.— Hy.  J.  Turner,  Hon.  Report.  Sec. 

Lancashire  and  Cheshire  Entomological  Society.  —  The 
fourth  meeting  of  the  session  was  held  in  the  Eoyal  Institution, 
Colquitt  Street,  Liverpool,  on  January  15th,  1912. — A  large  number  of 
interesting  lantern  shdes  were  exhibited  by  Dr.  Cotton,  Dr.  Tinne, 
and  Mr.  O.  Whittaker.  Dr.  Tinne's  slides  included  many  beautiful 
coloured  examples  taken  by  the  Lumiere  and  other  colour  processes. 
— Mr.  Mansbridge  exhibited  a  series  of  Folia  chi,  showing  the  usual 
range  of  melanic  variation,  from  the  Huddersfield  district,  and,  also, 
on  behalf  of  Mr.  A.  W.  Boyd,  a  case  of  Micro-Lepidoptera  from 
various  localities  in  Cheshire,  among  them  being  Mixodia  schulziana, 
Sciaphila  liyhridana,  Sophronia  parenthesella,  Ghelaria  hubnerella, 
Argyresthia  pygmceella,  Peronea  comariana,  etc. — Oscar  Whittaker 
and  Wm.  Mansbridge,  Hon.  Sees. 


OBITUARY. 

Samuel  James  Capper,  F.E.S.,  F.L.S.,   &c. 

Mr.  Capper,  of  Hazle  View,  Huyton  Park,  Huyton,  whose  death 
we  announced  in  our  February  issue,  was  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary 


140  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

Capper  {nee  Camthorne),  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  was 
born  at  Highbury  Place,  London,  N.,  April  28th,  1825.  The  family 
pedigree  dates  as  far  back  as  1590  to  a  William  Capper,  copyholder, 
who  lived  near  Rugeley,  Staffordshire,  and  who  died  February  2nd  of 
that  year.  The  earliest  mention  of  the  family  becoming  members  of 
the  Society  of  Friends  is  found  in  a  record  of  the  marriage  of  Jasper 
Capper  to  Anne,  daughter  of  John  Fry,  on  April  21st,  1778. 

From  early  childhood  Mr.  Capper  evinced  keen  interest  in  Natural 
History  objects,  and  when  about  twelve  years  old  he  was  sent  to  a 
school  at  Epping,  where  his  taste  for  Nature  Study  was  greatly 
encouraged  and  developed.  On  half-holidays  the  boys  were  taken 
to  the  Forest,  and  permitted  to  I'oam  therein  at  their  leisure  until 
a  bugle-call  warned  them  to  reassemble.  Opportunity  was  thus 
afforded,  to  those  so  inclined,  to  collect  specimens,  or  in  other  ways 
attain  knowledge  of  the  fauna  and  flora  of  the  district. 

Mr.  Capper's  interest  was  chiefly  centred  in  the  Lepidoptera,  and 
he,  with  the  help  of  one  or  two  of  his  schoolmates,  made  a  very  fair 
collection  of  the  moths  and  butterflies  occurring  in  Epping  Forest. 
He  also  received  valuable  help  from  the  brothers  Doubleday,  who 
were  always  happy  in  rendering  assistance  to  young  entomologists, 
instructing  them  in  the  art  of  setting  and  preserving  insects,  and 
solving  difficulties  connected  with- the  identification  of  captures. 

In  the  year  1846  Mr.  Capper  settled  in  Liverpool,  and  soon  made 
the  acquaintance  of  Messrs.  Nicholas  and  Benjamin  Cooke,  C.  S. 
Gregson,  N.  Greening,  and  other  leading  entomologists  of  that 
district  and  period.  About  1866  he  became  known  to  the  late  Mr. 
Alfred  Owen,  with  whom  he  afterwards  made  collecting  expeditions 
to  various  districts,  including  the  New  Forest  and  Penmaenmawr. 
In  the  latter  he  secured,  among  other  species  then  considered  rare, 
Acidalia  contigiLaria'''  during  July,  1874,  but  met  with  the  unfortu- 
nate accident  which  resulted  in  his  being  permanently  lame,  and 
therefore  unable  to  again  engage  in  the  pleasure  of  active  field  work. 
His  connection  with  the  Lancashire  and  Cheshire  Entomological 
Society  has  been  a  long  one.  The  preliminary  meeting  was  held 
at  the  residence  of  the  late  Mr.  N.  Cooke,  at  which  Mr.  Capper, 
who  did  not  attend,  was  elected  President,  and  this  oflice  he 
held  for  thirty-five  years.  The  first  ofdcial  meeting  seems  to  have 
been  held  at  Huyton  Park  on  March  26th,  1877. 

Apart  from  the  many  excellent  addresses  to  the  members  of  the 
Society,  over  the  meetings  of  which  he  so  long  and  so  ably  presided, 
his  published  writings  on  entomological  subjects  are  rather  few  in 
number.  An  article  entitled  "  Educational  Collections  "  (Entom. 
X.  40-42)  bears  evidence  that,  although  chiefly  interested  in  the 
Lepidoptera,  all  orders  of  the  Insecta  received  a  share  of  his 
attention. 

For  many  years  Mr.  Capper  was  a  partner  in  the  firm  of  Thompson 
and  Capper,  manufacturing  chemists,  Liverpool,  and,  although  he 
continued  association  with  it,  he  had  not  taken  an  active  part  in  the 
business  during  the  past  fifteen  years  or  so. 

*  A  Geomecrid  moth  known  under  three  English  names — "Weaver's 
Wave,"  "  Greening's  Pug,"  and  "  Capper's  Acidalia." 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST 


Vol.  XLV.]  MAY,    1912.  [No.  588 

BKITISH    ODONATA    IN    1911. 
By  W.  J.  Lucas,  B.A.,  F.E.S. 

So  abnormal  a  summer  as  that  of  1911  could  not  fail  to  pro- 
vide points  of  interest  to  those  who  concern  themselves  with 
British  dragonflies.  It  may  be  that  1912  and  1913  will  witness 
a  scarcity  of  some  species,  owing  to  the  drying  up  of  their 
breeding-grounds,  although  it  is  quite  possible  that  the  race  has 
already  provided  against  such  a  contingency.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  observation  in  connection  with  this  subject  will  be  made  by 
those  who  work  amongst  the  Odonata,  or  those  who,  though  not 
specially  interested  in  these  insects,  are  favourably  situated  for 
making  such  observations.  It  seems  likely  that  one  immediate 
result  of  the  dry  hot  season  was  the  migratory  impulse  that 
appeared  to  be  at  work  amongst  the  dragonflies,  which  will  be 
referred  to  later. 

Personally,  the  first  date  on  which  a  dragonfly  came  under 
my  notice  was  May  7th,  when  one  or  two  Agrionids  were  seen 
near  Oxshott,  Surrey.  They  were  not  captured,  but  no  doubt 
were  examples  of  Pyrrhosoma  npnphula.  On  May  26th  Mr. 
B.  S.  Williams  sent  me  four  specimens,  two  males  and  two 
females,  of  Libellula  depressa  (the  males  being  without  a  trace  of 
blue  colouring),  which  he  had  captured  at  Finchley,  where  he 
had  never  seen  the  species  before.  Mr.  H.  W.  Andrews  showed 
me  L.  quadrimacidata  and  P.  nymphula,  taken  during  a  visit  to 
Glengarriff,  co.  Cork,  from  May  21st-26th.  On  May  28th  Mr. 
N.  Fenwick,  Jun.,  found  large  numbers  of  Cordulia  cenea  out  at 
the  Black  Pond,  in  Surrey.  He  took  one  male  and  three  females, 
and  could  have  caught  many  more.  L.  quadrimaculata  was  out 
in  force,  as  also  were  P.  nymphula  and  Enallagma  cyathigerum, 
but  he  saw  no  other  species.  On  June  4th  dragonflies  were  very 
numerous  at  this  pond,  and,  in  addition  to  those  already  men- 
tioned, a  summer  species,  Pyrrhosoma  tenellum,  was  on  the 
wing.  A  nymph-skin  (species  undetermined)  was  on  this 
occasion  taken  from  the  trunk  of  a  Scotch  fir  some  ten  or  twelve 
yards  from  the  pond  and  more  than  six  feet  above  the  ground. 
The  next  day  dragonflies  were  found  to  be  plentiful  at  a  small 

ENTOM. — MAY,    1912.  M 


142  TEE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

pond  between  the  Eiver  Wey  and  the  large  pond,  Boldermere, 
facing  the  Hut  Hotel,  near  Wisley,  in  Surrey.  These  were 
L.  quadrimaculata,  P.  nymphida,  and  A  prion  puella,  while  a 
larger  one  seen  appeared  to  be  Brachiitron  pratense. 

Writing  on  June  16th,  Mr.  G.  T.  Porritt  told  me  that  on 
June  15th  Dr.  Corbett  and  himself  visited  the  locality  near 
Askern,  in  Yorkshire,  where  the  former  took  Lihellula  fulva  two 
years  previously,  and  Mosley  took  it  twenty  or  more  years  ago. 
They  were  delighted  to  find  it  in  abundance,  flying  all  about  the 
place.  Mr.  Porritt  had  never  seen  it  so  plentiful,  even  in  the 
Norfolk  Broads.  The  males  were  in  adult  colouring,  and  there 
were  plenty  of  females,  which  are  usually  scarcer  in  the  Broads. 
Many  were  paired.  Altogether  it  was  very  satisfactory  to  find 
the  species  thus  well  established  in  so  northern  a  locality. 

On  July  2nd,  near  Oxshott  and  Claygate,  in  Surrey,  dragon- 
flies  were  not  so  much  in  evidence  as  they  were  on  June  4th. 
One  or  two  examples  of  L.  depressa  haunting  a  hedgerow  were 
particularly  agile,  and  after  receiving  a  lengthy  attention  re- 
mained uncaptured,  although,  as  usual,  they  were  very  loth  to 
forsake  their  chosen  resort. 

During  the  first  few  days  of  August,  Mr.  K.  J.  Morton  saw 
Sympetrum  striolatum,  Lestes  spojisa,  Ischniira  elegans,  and  Agrion 
pulchellum  at  Llanfaethlu,  in  the  Island  of  Anglesey. 

In  the  New  Forest  during  August  dragonflies  were  plentiful 
enough,  being  apparently  but  little  affected  by  the  dry  weather. 
It  would  seem  that  some  species  were  over  earlier  than  usual, 
for  I  did  not  meet  with  a  single  example  of  either  Ischnura 
pumilio  or  Agrioii  mercuriale.  On  August  15th  a  nymph-skin  of 
Cordidegaster  annulatus  was  found  some  two  or  three  feet  up  a 
tree-trunk  several  yards  from  the  bank  of  Beaulieu  Ptiver,  in 
which  of  course  it  had  passed  the  previous  part  of  its  existence. 
What  object  could  the  nymph  have  had  in  crawling  so  far? 
On  August  27th  Mr.  Lyle  and  myself  searched  for  nymph-skins 
under  bridges  at  Queen's  Bower,  the  lowness  of  the  water 
allowing  us  to  do  so  without  difficulty.  Under  Bolderford  Bridge 
we  found  three  C.  annidatus,  two  Calopteryx  virgo,  one  S.  strio- 
latum (probably),  and  one  Platycnemis  pennipes  (possibly).  All 
had  taken  up  a  position  beneath  a  horizontal  beam,  and  so  had 
their  dorsal  surface  downwards.  Under  the  bridge  near  Hurst 
Hill  were  one  C.  annulatus  and  one  C.  virgo,  and  these  were 
similarly  suspended.  It  is  strange  that  all  were  so  placed, 
especially  as  there  was  no  actual  necessity  for  it,  since  in  my 
own  experience  this  is  an  unusual  or  even  unique  position  to 
assume  for  emergence. 

On  August  4th,  at  a  rather  large  shallow  pond  in  what  is 
perhaps  an  old  marl-pit  on  Beaulieu  Heath,  in  the  New  Forest, 
some  dragonflies  with  red  bodies  were  on  the  wing.  At  first  I 
took  them  for  the  common  S.  striolatum,  till  their  manner  of 


BRITISH    ODONATA    IN    1911.  143 

flight  and  strikingly  brilliant  tint  caught  my  attention.  The 
former  resembled  that  of  Sympetrum  flaveoliim  and  S.  sanguineum 
as  I  had  been  accustomed  to  it  at  Wisley  Ponds,  in  Surrey. 
After  considerable  difficulty  three  were  captured,  and  I  found 
that  I  had  added  a  new  species  to  my  British  collection  and  at 
the  same  time  to  the  New  Forest  list  {vide  antea,  vol.  xliv.  p.  267). 
The  species  was  in  fact  S.  fonscolombii,  which  almost  certainly 
is  always  a  migrant  to  our  shores.  All  were  males,  and  another 
seen  was  apparently  a  male  also.  On  August  7th  I  revisited 
the  pond  and  found  the  species  still  present.  At  least  one  female 
which  looked  like  a  Sympetrum  was  seen,  but  it  was  not  captured. 
As,  however,  I  took  a  male  S.  striolatum,  the  female  may  have 
belonged  to  that  species,  or  it  may  even  have  been  an  Onhetrum, 
as  O.  ccerulescens  was  common  at  the  spot. 

On  August  8th  I  made  a  third  excursion  to  the  pond,  and 
this  time  secured  a  female  S.  fonscolombii.  The  fresh  condition 
of  the  species  and  the  capture  of  the  female  raised  some  doubt 
in  my  mind  as  to  whether  the  dragonflies  could  be  migrants 
after  all,  an  opinion  which  Mr.  C.  A.  Briggs  shared  with  me,  in 
consequence  of  the  lateness  of  the  date.  When  hovering  on  the 
wing  in  the  brilliant  sunshine  their  bodies  glow  with  a  rich  soft 
scarlet  tint,  which  unfortunately  becomes  dark  and  dull  as  they 
dry  after  death.  The  female,  which  was  in  perfect  condition, 
looked  very  pale  on  the  wing.  On  August  24th  I  again  visited 
the  spot,  but  it  began  to  rain  as  soon  as  I  arrived.  The  next 
day,  however,  I  tried  again,  and  found  specimens  numerous,  but 
their  restless  habits  and  the  rather  high  wind  made  it  difficult 
to  catch  them.  As  S.  striolatum  was  on  the  wing  also,  it  was 
difficult  to  tell  whether  any  females  of  S.  fonscolombii  were 
present ;  but  one  very  pale  specimen  belonged,  I  think,  to  the 
scarcer  species.  Unfortunately  I  could  not  effect  a  capture. 
The  insects  were  not  so  fresh  now,  but  the  crimson  colouring 
was  as  rich  as  ever.  On  August  29th  I  visited  the  pond  for  the 
last  time.  Males  still  seemed  fairly  numerous,  but  they  were  as 
usual  very  restless,  and  I  captured  but  one. 

From  the  New  Forest  we  must  now  turn  our  attention  to 
Scotland.  Mr.  W.  Evans  tells  us  in  the  '  Scottish  Naturalist ' 
(No.  1,  p.  12,  January,  1912)  of  his  capture  of  a  female  S.  fons- 
colombii on  August  17th  in  the  Isle  of  May  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Firth  of  Forth.  He  afterwards  heard  from  Mr.  P.  H.  Grimshaw 
that  another  female  had  been  caught  by  a  boy  in  Edinburgh  on 
August  11th.  Further,  as  he  was  examining  a  box  of  insects  for 
Mr.  J.  W.  Bowhill,  he  found  amongst  them  a  fine  male  of  the 
same  species  which  had  been  taken  on  July  30th  near  Aberlady, 
where  others  were  seen  at  the  same  time. 

Nor  is  this  all.  In  the  autumn  Lieut. -Col.  C.  G.  Nurse  sent 
me  some  dragonflies  for  identification,  and  amongst  them  were 
two  males  of  S.  fonscolombii,  one  taken  at  Ampton,  in  West 

M  2 


144  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

Suffolk,  on  August  17th,  and  the  other  at  Towyn,  in  Merioneth- 
shire, also  in  August,  the  latter  hy  Kev.  E.  J.  Nurse  (one  of  two 
captured).  In  connection  with  the  Welsh  specimens  it  is  worthy 
of  note  that  on  June  2nd  a  swarm  of  dragonflies  was  seen  flying 
east  near  Aberdovey.  The  flight  was  noticed  by  several  people  at 
Towyn  and  Aberdovey,  and  it  was  so  large  as  to  be  mentioned  in 
one  of  the  local  papers.  There  is  nothing,  however,  to  show 
that  the  two  Welsh  specimens  of  S .  fonscolombii  belonged  to  this 
swarm.  If  those  entomologists  who  took  red-bodied  Sympetra 
in  Britain  during  last  summer  were  to  critically  examine  their 
captures,  it  is  quite  likely  that  other  examples  of  S.  fonscolombii 
might  be  discovered.  It  should  also  be  mentioned  that  Mr. 
Watts  took  another  dragonfly,  which  is  usually  considered  a 
migrant  (5"  fiaveolum,  male),  at  Wisley  Pond,  Surrey,  on  August 
18th  ;  and  that  Mr.  H.  Campion  took  two  more  males  at  the 
same  place  a  few  days  later. 

Previous  records  of  S.  fonscolombii  captured  in  Britain  are  : 
(1)  a  female  in  Stephen's  collection  supposed  to  have  been  taken 
near  London;  (2)  a  male  captured  in  1881  at  Deal,  now,  I 
believe,  in  the  Dover  Museum;  (3)  seventeen  males  taken  by 
Mr.  C.  A.  Briggs  at  Ockham  Common,  Surrey,  in  June,  1892  ; 

(4)  a  female  taken  in  Cornwall  by  Mr.  Boyd  in  June,  1903  ; 

(5)  two  males  taken  June  24th,  1908,  by  Mr.  E.  K.  Speyer  near 
Shenley,  Herts  ;  (6)  a  female  taken  by  Mr.  Speyer  at  Aldenham 
Keservoir  on  July  29th,  1908.  A  male  from  the  Devignes'  collec- 
tion, now  in  the  McLachlan  collection,  has  no  indication  of  the 
locality  whence  it  came,  and  therefore  cannot  with  certainty  be 
set  down  as  British. 

(To  be  concluded.) 


EREBIA     MANTO    AND     ITS     VAEIETIES     ABOVE 
CHAMPERY. 

By  the  Rev.  F.  E.  Lowe,  M.A.,  F.E.S. 

Drawn  by  reports  which  I  had  heard  of  Champ6ry,  above 
Monthey,  as  a  locality  for  many  of  the  Erebias,  I  spent  a  few 
days  there  last  year.  We  put  up  at  the  Hotel  Dent  du  Midi  on 
July  26th,  and  remained  until  August  1st.  This  was  of  course 
late  in  the  season  and  naturally  butterflies  were  on  the  wane. 
The  slopes  of  the  Dent  du  Midi  and  of  the  Dent  Blanche,  though 
so  near  to  the  eye,  are  rather  fatiguing  to  reach.  As  the  river 
runs  between,  it  is  necessary  to  descend  from  Champery  to  the 
bridge  before  beginning  to  make  the  ascent.  I  paid  two 
visits  to  the  little  shanty  of  Anth^moz,  whence  I  worked  along 
the  rough  ground  diagonally  and  upwards  for  about  another 
two  hundred  feet.     Here  I  was  among  the  Erebias  that  I  had 


EKEBIA    MANTO    AND    ITS    VARIETIES. 


145 


come  after.  E.  gorge,  epiphron,  pharte,  and  pronoe  var.  pitho  had 
probably  been  common,  but  were  now  represented  by  a  few  very 
worn  specimens. 

There  remained,  however,  one  species,  E.  manto,  which  was 
present  in  abundance,  and  for  the  most  part  in  first-rate  order, 
and  this  presented  a  range  of  variety  sufficient  to  make  interest- 
ing collecting.  The  males  certainly  were  not  always  fit  for  the 
cabinet,  but  the  females,  which  were  nearly  equally  common, 
were  generally  in  splendid  condition,  and  it  was  in  them  that 
interest  centred. 

Here  manto  seems  to  offer  itself  in  almost  every  variety,  and 
the  type-form  was  unusual.  Var.  or  ab.  coecilia  was  taken 
occasionally,  but  always  for  some  obscure  reason  too  battered  to 
afford  specimens.  Not  uncommon,  too,  was  a  very  smajl  form, 
in  size  qualifying  for  ab.  pyrrhula,  Frey.,  but  still  retaining  the 
eye-spots  too  distinctly,  and  too  much  trace  of  the  russet  sur- 
roundings, to  quite  justify  the  title.  Very  interesting,  however, 
was  a  form  (almost  the  commonest)  which  I  can  only  consider 
to  be  var.  vogesiaca,  Christ,  defined  by  Staudinger  in  his  Cata- 
logue, as  females,  ivithout  the  basal  apots,  on  under  side  of  hind 
wings,  but  otherwise  as  type  manto.  This  striking  form  both 
the  above  authority  and  Kiihl  seem  to  regard  as  restricted  to  the 
Vosges,  and  it  was  therefore  a  pleasant  surprise ;  nor  is  it  men- 
tioned in  Wheeler's  *  Butterflies  of  Switzerland.'  But  this  was 
by  no  means  the  extreme  of  variation  presented  by  the  Anthemoz 
race.  Hardly  less  common  was  a  female  form  entirely  without 
markings  on  the  U7ider  side.  At  first  I  thought  that  this  was  a 
hitherto  unnoticed  variety,  and  had  distinguished  it  in  my 
cabinet  as  ab.  indigcns,  on  my  own  responsibility.  But  on 
further  examination  of  Staudinger's  Catalogue  I  found  in  the 
first  paragraph,  under  the  type  heading  manto,  "  ab.  female 
trajanus,  Hormuz.  Soc.  Ent.  ix.  1895,  p.  161  (al  post.  subt.  basi 
immaculata,  maculis  exterior,  fere  sequalibus)."  I  have  not  the 
opportunity  of  searching  the  pages  of  the  '  Societas  Entomolo- 
gica  '  for  a  description  of  trajanus  and  comparing  it  with  my 
specimens  from  Champery,  and  can  therefore  only  surmise  that 
my  captures  fall  under  this  form.  Again,  var.  vogesiaca,  as 
described  more  at  length  in  Eiihl,  is  stated  to  be  larger  than 
type,  with  the  markings  of  the  fore  wings  yellow  and  broader, 
and  seldom  containing  the  black  spots.  Mine,  from  the  Cham- 
pery locality,  are  only  of  average  size,  with  dull  but  rust- 
coloured  small  patches  on  the  upper  side  of  fore  wings  with 
fairly  distinct  eye-spots ;  and  are  therefore  to  be  regarded  as  a 
separate  variety,  or  a  transition  to  var.  vogesiaca. 

In  any  case  I  had  reason  to  be  much  pleased  with  the  result 
of  my  visit  to  this  locality,  as  it  afforded  two  forms  for  Switzer- 
land (new  to  me)  after  fifteen  consecutive  years'  pursuit  of 
butterflies  in  that  land  of  Erebias.     The  only  other  butterflies  of 


146  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

interest  were  the  extraordinary  number  of  Argiades  corydon  and 
Polyommatus  damon  by  the  sides  of  the  railway  between  Monthey 
and  Champ^ry,  the  former  exceptionally  large.  It  was  just 
above  the  little  station  of  Trois  Torrents  that  they  appeared  to 
fill  the  air,  fluttering  even  into  the  carriage  windows.  From 
this  their  number  gradually  declined  till  after  leaving  the  station 
of  Champery,  both  became  decidedly  scarce.  Perhaps  at  the 
slightly  higher  altitude  they  had  not  yet  fully  emerged,  and  those 
taken  were  not  large  specimens. 
St.  Stephen's  Vicarage,  Guernsey. 


NOTES     ON    ANOSIA     PLEXIPPUS. 
By  the  Kev.  James  Aiken,  M.A. 

An  interesting  article  on  Anosia  plexippus  (life-history)  ap- 
pears in  your  December  number  (Entom.  xliv.  pp.  377-382) 
from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Frohawk.  The  following  extracts  from  my 
note-book  may  be  of  interest  in  so  far  as  the  observations  were 
made  on  the  insect  in  its  own  natural  conditions. 

In  British  Guiana  the  food-plant  is  Asclepias  currassavica 
exclusively,  so  far  as  I  have  observed.  This  butterfly  invariably 
lays  its  eggs  singly  on  the  under  side  of  the  leaf.  Alighting  on 
the  apical  quarter  it  arches  the  abdomen  under  the  leaf  and 
deposits  the  egg  generally  about  the  middle,  then  flits  away  in 
search  of  another  plant.  The  egg  matures  in  two  to  three  days, 
and  the  larva  grows  rapidly.  Some  eggs  which  I  took  on  March 
18th  hatched  out  the  same  day.  On  March  24th  the  cater- 
pillars were  about  IMn.  in  length,  and  one  pupated  on  26th. 
Another  attached  itself  to  top  of  breeding-cage,  and  was  attacked 
by  a  third  smaller  caterpillar.  The  pupating  larva  shook  him- 
self and  wriggled,  but  the  cannibal  continued  his  attack  until 
he  had  eaten  a  deepish  groove  in  the  mid-dorsal  region  of  his 
mate,  about  20  millim.  long  and  2  millim.  broad.  I  put  fresh 
leaves  in  the  box  when  I  observed  the  attack,  but  the  cannibal 
did  not  leave  his  prey  until  the  death  of  the  resting  larva  the 
following  morning.     This  larva  pupated  on  April  1st. 

The  pupal  stage  lasted  on  the  average  ten  days  for  these  and 
for  some  nearly  full-grown  wild  caterpillars  taken  on  October 
30th,  1910,  at  Mara,  on  the  Berbice  Eio.  These  pupated  be- 
tween November  2nd  and  3rd,  and  the  imagines  emerged  on  12th 
and  13th. 

One  of  these  pupae  attached  itself  in  quite  a  peculiar  way  to 
a  leaf-stalk  by  grasping  the  thin  twig  in  a  groove  of  the  abdomen 
formed  between  the  sixth  and  seventh  segments,  and  so  hung 
partially  curled  round  the  stalk.  The  imago  successfully 
extricated  itself  on  November  13th. 


NEW    SPECIES    OF    NOCTUID^    FROM    FORMOSA.  147 

The  colour  of  the  larva  is  very  nearly  the  same  as  that  of 
the  green  pod  of  the  food-plant,  A.  currassavica,  and  is  doubtless 
protective.  Certainly  they  are  very  difficult  to  detect  as  they 
hang  on  the  growing  plant. 

St.  Saviour's  Parish,  Berbice,  British  Guiana. 


NEW    SPECIES    OF    NOCTUID^    FROM    FORMOSA. 
By  A.  E.  WiLEMAN,  F.E.S. 

Boralia  irrorata,  sp.  n. 

J  .  Fore  wings  pale  grey-brown,  faintly  tinged  with  pink,  finely 
irrorated  with  black ;  a  small  black  discoidal  spot ;  postmedial  line 
represented  by  black  dots  on  the  veins,  excurved  from  costa  to  vein 
six,  thence  almost  parallel  with  termen  ;  black  dots  between- the 
veins  on  termen  ;  fringes  whitish  at  tips.  Hind  wings  whitish, 
tinged  with  fuscous,  except  termen  and  fringes.  Under  side  whitish  ; 
fore  wings  suffused  with  brownish  on  costal  area  and  clouded  with 
blackish  on  the  disc ;  costal  area  of  hind  wings  powdered  with 
brownish. 

Expanse,  35  millim. 

Collection  number,  1485. 

A  male  specimen  from  Kanshirei,  April  27th,  1908. 

Cirphis  suhdecoray  sp.  n. 

<? .  Fore  wings  pale  brown,  faintly  pink-tinged,  costa  broadly 
whitish  ;  a  broad,  darker,  shade-like  streak  from  base  of  the  wing  to 
apex,  where  it  meets  a  short,  oblique,  pale  streak ;  veins  whitish, 
with  dark  longitudinal  lines  between  them  on  outer  half  of  the  wings  ; 
dorsal  area  slightly  darker ;  postmedial  line  indicated  by  black  dots 
chiefly  towards  the  costa;  terminal  line  blackish,  with  black  dots 
upon  it  between  the  veins.  Hind  wings  fuscous,  whitish  towards 
the  base.  Under  side  silvery  except  at  base  and  on  costa  of  the  fore 
wings,  and  the  base  and  dorsum  of  hind  wings. 

Expanse,  38  millim. 

Collection  number,  139. 

A  male  specimen  from  Koannania,  June  22nd,  1906. 

Trigojiophora  clava,  sp.  n. 
5  .  Fore  wings  pale  brown,  slightly  pinkish  tinged,  patched  with 
darker  brown  on  dorsum  towards  base,  on  median  area  except  towards 
costa,  and  on  the  terminal  area  below  vein  six  ;  the  dorsal  patch  tri- 
angular, its  base  black  ;  reniform  and  orbicular  of  the  ground  colour, 
clouded  with  darker,  outlined  in  black,  lower  extremities  united  ; 
claviform  whitish,  outlined  in  black ;  subbasal  line  black,  double, 
angled  below  costa,  not  reaching  dorsum  ;  antemedial  line  black, 
double,  curved;  postmedial  Hne  black,  double,  oblique,  elbowed  be- 
tween veins  four  and  five,  terminating  on  dorsum  towards  the  ante- 


148  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

medial ;  subterminal  line  of  the  ground  colour,  inwardly  edged  with 
black  from  dorsum  to  vein  six.  Hind  wings  pale  brown,  darker  on 
termen  ;  ppstmedial  line  dark  brown,  obtusely  angled  at  vein  four ; 
subterminal  band  dark  brown,  inner  edge  diffuse,  obsolete  towards 
costa.  Under  side  pale  brown ;  a  darker  discoidal  mark  and  an 
elbowed  line  on  each  wing  ;  the  discoidal  mark  of  fore  wings  is 
obscured  by  a  dusky  cloud  ;  markings  on  terminal  area  as  above. 

Expanse,  44  millim. 

Collection  number,  944  a. 

A  female  specimen  from  Arizan,  August  31st,  1908. 

Allied  to  T.  subpurpurea,  Leech. 

Archanara  punctilinea,  sp.  n. 

^  .  Fore  wings  pale  brownish,  irrorated  with  darker  ;  a  brown 
streak  under  the  median  nervure,  its  outer  extremity  diffuse  ;  two 
black  marks  in  the  cell ;  postmedial  line  indicated  by  black  linear 
dots  on  the  veins  ;  black  dots  between  the  veins  on  termen.  Hind 
wings  whitish  sprinkled  with  brownish,  discoidal  spot  blackish. 
Under  side  whitish  ;  all  the  wings  have  a  dark  brown  discoidal 
spot,  and  a  postmedial  line  indicated  by  dark  brown  linear  dots 
on  the  veins. 

Expanse,  36  millim. 

Collection  number,  147 «. 

A  male  specimen  (condition  not  very  good)  from  Rantaizan, 
May  8th,  1909. 

Seems  to  come  nearest  to  A.  cerata,  Butler,  from  Japan. 

Archanara  nigropunctata,  sp.  n. 

^  .  Fore  wings  pale  pinkish  brown,  broadly  shaded  with  blackish 
along  the  median  area  from  the  base  nearly  to  the  termen  ;  costal 
area  paler,  streaked  with  brown  between  the  veins ;  veins  one  to  six 
whitish,  freckled  with  brown  ;  an  almost  square  black  spot  in  the 
cell,  margined  in  whitish  except  on  lower  edge ;  a  short  black  dash 
from  base  below  median  nervure ;  postmedial  line  indistinct  from 
costa  to  vein  six,  thence  indicated  by  black  dots  on  the  veins ;  sub- 
terminal  line  indicated  by  black  dots  between  veins  three  to  seven ; 
a  series  of  black  dots,  between  veins,  on  termen.  Hind  w'ing  fuscous, 
fringes  pinkish  brown,  marked  at  their  base  between  veins  two  to 
seven.  Under  side  of  fore  wings  leaden  grey  on  the  disc,  whitish  on 
dorsal  area ;  of  hind  wings  whitish,  costal  area  pinkish  brown  dusted 
with  darker ;  discal  spots  and  terminal  dots  black  on  all  wings  ; 
traces  of  a  dusky  postmedial  line  on  the  hind  wings. 

?  .  Similar  to  the  male,  but  the  whitish  outline  of  cell-spot  not 
so  distinct. 

Expanse,  3"  40  millim. ;   $  44  millim. 

Collection  number,  137. 

One  example  of  each  sex  from  Kanshirei.  The  female 
captured  July  26th,  1908,  and  the  male  on  November  14th  of 
the  same  year. 


149 


ODONATA    IN    THE    CHEISTCHUECH    DISTRICT,    1911. 
By  E.  J.  Burgess  Sopp. 

Whilst  staying  in  this  neighbourhood  during  the  past 
summer,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Philip  Dover,  I  made  several 
expeditions  in  quest  of  insects,  and  our  experiences  among  the 
dragonflies  may  be  of  interest.  The  "  theatre  of  operations  " 
was  limited  in  area  to  within  a  few  miles  radius  of  Southbourne- 
on-Sea,  and  our  observations  were  confined  to  the  middle  and 
late  summer. 

It  being  my  first  experience  of  collecting  in  the  district,  I  am 
unable  to  say  whether  the  locality  is  a  generally  favourite  one 
with  the  group,  or  whether  the  large  number  of  insects  in 
evidence  during  1911  must  be  mainly  attributed  to  the  abnormal 
weather  conditions  which  prevailed.  That  the  long  summer, 
with  its  high  percentage  of  heat  and  sunshine  and  almost  entire 
absence  of  wind  and  rain,  would  be  favourable  to  the  Odonata 
(especially  in  such  a  well-watered  centre  as  Christchurch)  seems 
justly  presumable,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  conjunction  of 
these  factors  largely  contributed  to  the  extraordinary  abundance 
at  certain  periods  of  one  or  two  of  the  species  noted,  of  which  by 
far  the  commonest  was  Ischnura  elegans,  Lind.  On  some  occa- 
sions this  graceful  little  dragonfly  occurred  in  the  utmost  pro- 
fusion along  the  banks  of  the  Eivers  Avon  and  Stour,  and  about 
the  numerous  creeks  at  Wick  and  Tuckton.  During  June  and 
July — more  particularly  in  the  former  month— it  was  to  be  met 
with  throughout  the  surrounding  country  too — in  lanes,  meadows, 
and  gardens,  often  far  removed  from  water. 

Regarded  solely  as  a  catalogue  of  species,  the  appended  tale 
of  captures  is  not  a  very  formidable  one.  Its  interest  will  lie  in 
its  comparison  with  the  experiences  of  others  who  may  have 
worked  over  the  same  terrain  in  former  seasons,  and  in  the  fact 
that,  now  Hengistbury  Head  has  been  sold,  the  district  may  lose 
much  of  its  wild  character  in  the  future. 

Sympetrum  scoticum,  Don. — Hengistbury  :  not  uncommon  in 
July,  common  at  the  end  of  August.  Christchurch  :  Stanpit 
Marsh. 

Libellula  quadrimaculata,  Linn. — Hengistbury  :  common  in 
June,  scarcer  in  July.  Wick  and  Tuckton  Creeks  :  common 
during  June.     Boscombe. 

Orthetrum  ccerulesceiis,  Fabr. — Hengistbury  :  not  uncommon 
in  July,  occasional  in  August.     Mudeford.    Bournemouth. 

Cordulegaster  annulatus,  Latr. — A  male  of  this  handsome 
insect  was  picked  up  near  Pokesdown  Railway  Station  during 
July,  where  it  had  been  run  over  or  trodden  on  in  the  roadway. 
A  few  days  later  (21st)  another  insect  was  seen  hawking  close  to 


150  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

the  ground  behind  a  water-cart,  but  without  a  net  it  was  im- 
possible to  effect  a  capture. 

Brachytro7i  pratetise,  Miill. — Hengistbury  :  one,  July  1st. 

/Eschnajuncea,lj,mi\. — Hengistbury:  August,  not  at  all  un- 
common at  the  end  of  the  month.     Southbourne.    West  Moors. 

M.  cyanea,  Miill. — Hengistbury  :  July  Slst. 

M.  grandis,  Linn. — Christchurch  and  Tuckton  :  July.  Hen- 
gistbury :  July  and  August. 

Calopteryx  splendens,  Han. — Christchurch  :  very  local  among 
sedges  and  rank  herbage  on  the  banks  of  the  Eiver  Avon  im- 
mediately below  the  Castle  Bridge,  where  it  was  not  uncommon 
in  July.  Although  the  spot  was  visited  many  times  previously, 
the  species  was  not  seen  until  the  7th  of  this  month.  Females 
largely  preponderated.  It  may  be  of  interest  to  mention  that 
during  June  and  July,  1910,  many  pairs  of  wings  of  this  species 
were  picked  up  at  Lower  Bockhampton,  Londs  Mill,  Stinsford, 
Winterbourne  Came,  and  Frome  Wbitfield,  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Dorchester,  although,  curious  to  say,  no  living  insect  was  ever 
met  with  !  Search  for  severed  wings  near  the  insect's  haunt  at 
Christchurch  was  unsuccessful,  and  swallows  hawking  for  gnats, 
&c.,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  appeared  to  disregard  the  dragon- 
flies  altogether. 

Pyrrhosoma  nymphula,  Sulz. — Hengistbury  and  the  Christ- 
church district  generally  during  June  and  July.  Tuckton 
Creeks :  early  in  August ;  and  one  at  Hengistbury  on  the  23rd 
of  the  month. 

Ischnura  elegans,  Lind. — Abundant  throughout  the  district 
from  early  June  to  the  beginning  of  August.  A  few  seen  at 
Hengistbury  on  August  23rd.  The  deep  orange  variety,  ritfescens, 
occurred  rarely  with  the  type  on  the  Stanpit  Marsh,  Christ- 
church, but  was  not  noticed  elsewhere  in  the  neighbourhood. 

Bournemouth :  February,  1912. 


A    BAKE     JAMAICA    BUTTERFLY. 
By  W.  J.  Kaye,  F.E.S. 

Quite  recently  Miss  Fountaine,  who  has  just  returned  from 
a  prolonged  entomological  trip  to  the  West  Indies  and  Central 
America,  invited  me  to  inspect  her  captures.  Jamaica  was  one 
of  the  islands  visited,  and  amongst  the  insects  from  this  locality 
was  a  very  good  specimen  of  the  very  rare  Nymphaline  butterfly, 
Chlosyne  pantoni,  which  was  described  and  figured  by  me  in  the 
'Entomologist'  for  1906. 

The  type  specimen  there  figured  was  caught  as  long  ago  as 
1895,  and  until  the  capture  by  Miss  Fountaine  it  was  unique. 


ON    THE    NAME    SYMPETRUM    SCOTICUM.  151 

It  must  be  a  very  scarce  species,  for  the  lucky  captor  of  the 
second  specimen  worked  hard  for  further  examples,  realizing 
that  her  insect  must  be  uncommon,  although  not  knowing  at  the 
time  what  the  species  actually  was,  but  without  success. 

Miss  Fountaine  caught  her  specimen  at  Troy,  on  the  edge  of 
the  remarkable  Cock-Pit  County,  which  is  of  limestone  formation. 
Mr.  Panton  took  the  original  example  in  the  Manchester  Moun- 
tains, which  even  at  the  nearest  point  are  a  good  many  miles 
away.  The  butterfly  was  taken  in  wooded  country  towards  the 
end  of  January,  19li,  and  now  that  we  know  the  exact  locality 
and  almost  the  exact  date,  it  will  be  interesting  to  see  if  further 
search  will  be  productive  of  more  specimens. 

Miss  Fountaine  took  that  fine  Papilio,  homerus,  on  the  Cuna 
Cuna  Pass,  and  saw  several  specimens  of  P.  }ielaus ;  but  I  feel 
I  must  not  say  more,  however — she  personally  asked  me  to 
record  a  note  on  the  rare  Chlosyne. 

Caracas,  Ditton  Hill,  Surbiton, 


ON    THE    NAME    SYMPETRUM    SCOTICUM,    Don. 
[Odonata.] 

By  Herbert  Campion. 

It  would  seem  that  our  small  black  Libelluline,  which  has 
been  known  hitherto  as  Sympetrum  scoticum,  Donovan  (1811), 
must  be  called  in  future  Sympetrum  danae,  Sulzer  (1776).  The 
reversion  to  the  older  name  was  made  by  Dr.  F.  Pas,  without 
comment,  in  1909  (in  Brauer,  '  Siisswf.  Deutschl.  Odon.'  p.  41), 
and  the  change  is  discussed  and  confirmed  in  his  latest  contri- 
bution to  the  Selysian  Catalogue  ('  Collections  Selys,  Libell.,' 
fasc.  xiii.,  p.  646;  1911).  The  possible  claims  to  recognition  of 
certain  other  old  names  need  not  be  dealt  with  here. 

There  is  little  in  Sulzer's  meagre  description  of  Lihellula 
danae  ('  Geschichte  der  Insecten,'  p.  169),  for  which  he  gives  the 
habitat  Pais  de  Vaud,  to  assist  one  to  identify  the  particular 
species  described.  But  the  coloured  figure  {I.  c.  pi.  xxiv.  fig.  3) 
shows  a  Sympetrum-like  dragonfly  with  bright  red  eyes  ;  a  large 
spot  of  the  same  colour  between  the  fore  wings  ;  light  green 
thorax,  crossed  longitudinally  by  a  wide  median  black  band  ;  a 
curved  black  stripe  on  that  side  of  the  thorax  which  is  exposed  to 
view ;  abdomen  dilated  a  little  below  the  middle,  and  narrowing 
again  towards  the  apex,  yellow  dorsally,  bordered  by  blackish ; 
wings  uncoloured;  reticulation  black;  pterostigmata  yellow.  The 
characters  upon  which  I  lay  most  stress  are  the  yellow  abdomen, 
bordered  with  black,  and  the  broad  median  black  band  on  the 
thorax. 


152  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

After  careful  comparison  of  the  figure  with  specimens,  I 
have  come  to  the  conclusion  that,  regarded  as  a  whole,  it  is  a 
recognisable  representation  of  an  immature  male  of  S.  scoticum. 
I  indicate  the  male,  because  it  seems  to  me  that  the  figure 
resembles  that  sex  more  closely  than  it  does  the  female,  with 
which  Dr.  Ris  has  identified  it.  It  is  true  that,  as  the  figure  is 
drawn,  only  two  anal  appendages  are  shown,  but  the  greater 
resemblance  to  the  immature  male  is  due  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  black  on  the  sides  of  the  abdomen  is  represented  as 
encroaching  upon  the  yellow  dorsum  :  in  the  immature  female, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  black  is  confined  to  the  lateral  position. 

58,  Ranelagh  Road,  Ealing :  Feb.  26th,  1912. 


BY    THE     WAY. 


"  The  Essex  Field  Club  has  distinguished  itself  in  the  self- 
imposed  and  entirely  honourable  task  of  keeping  alive  an  interest 
in  the  past  history  of  the  county;  It  has  recently  taken  in  hand 
the  restoration  of  certain  tombs,  in  the  churchyard  of  Black 
Notley,  of  two  Essex  worthies  of  the  seventeenth  century.  John 
Eay  distinguished  himself  for  versatility  as  a  linguist,  as  a 
botanist  and  zoologist,  and  Dr.  Benjamin  Allen,  who  is  buried 
near  him  at  Black  Notley,  was  the  first  scientific  student  of 
British  mineral  waters,  and  a  careful  entomological  observer  .  .  . 
and  these  three  men,  who  were  friends  and  contemporaries,  were 
undoubtedly  a  remarkable  trio,  whose  light  shines  through  the 
centuries  that  have  elapsed  since  they  walked  and  worked 
together!" — Local  paper.  The  late  learned  Mr.  John  Ray,  as 
Derham  terms  him,  we  all  know  through  the  '  Historia  Insect- 
orum,'  published  posthumously  in  London,  1710,  by  Johannes 
Raius  ;  but  who  was  the  second  "  observer,"  and  wrote  he  aught 
entomological  ?  

We  have  at  length  received  the  first  volume  of  the  Victoria 
History  of  Suffolk,  which  was  published  on  31st  of  last  January. 
The  second  volume  appeared  several  years  ago,  but  the  present 
has  been  much  delayed  from  various  more  or  less  obvious  causes. 
This  one  contains  the  Fauna  of  the  county,  and  a  pretty  long 
catalogue  it  is.  Considering  the  extreme  paucity  of  observers, 
and  several  of  those  we  had  ten  years  ago  are  departed,  the  list 
is  a  capital  one  in  both  botany  and  zoology.  The  insects  were 
revised  to  October,  1907,  and  show  the  following  totals  : — Coleo- 
ptera,  1930  species  ;  Hemiptera,  537  species  ;  Orthoptera,  22 
species  ;  Neuroptera,  164  species ;  Lepidoptera,  1290  species  ; 
Hymenoptera,  1241  species  ;  and  Diptera,  1171  species.  The 
grand  total  amounts  to  6355  different  kinds  of  insects  out  of  a 


NOTES    FROM    AN    ESSEX    LEPIDOPTERISt's    DIARY.  153 

British  total  computed  at  14,678.  This  must  he  considered 
satisfactory  for  an  area  of  1500  square  miles,  i.e.  32  north  and 
south,  56  east  and  west ;  but  a  glance  at  the  supersoils,  chalk, 
sand,  clay,  peat,  and  crag,  and  at  the  eastern  coast-line,  southern 
timber-belts,  north-western  breek-sands,  and  north-eastern 
broad-land  will  show  how  rich  this  county  naturally  should  be 
in  its  extremely  variable  character. 


We  have  had  to  have  recourse  to  the  current  quarterly 
*  Deutsche  Entomologische  Zeitschrift '  for  a  review  of  the  latest 
part  of '  Biologia  Centrali  Americana.'  Do  not  we  receive  this 
kind  of  publication  for  review,  or  do  our  editors  consider  the 
subject  too  trans-Atlantic  to  interest  British  readers  ?  We  know 
no  collectors  who  have  done  their  work  better  than  those  who 
assisted  MM.  Godman  and  Salvin  in  their  great  and  beautifully 
executed  task.  n   ]\| 


NOTES    FROM    AN    ESSEX    LEPIDOPTERIST'S    DIARY 
FOR    1911. 

By  Paymaster-in-Chief  Gervase  F.  Mathew,  R.N.,  F.E.S.,  &c. 

(Continued  from  p.  136.) 

The  27th  was  fine  and  warm,  with  a  light  north-easterly  breeze. 
I  went  to  the  distant  woods.  A .  euphrosyne  was  now  out  in  abund- 
ance, and  getting  worn  ;  A.  selene  just  appearing.  I  saw  three  or 
four  iV.  lucina  and  two  Hemarisjuciformis.  By  beating  I  obtained 
a  few  each  of  Lithosia  areola,  Erastria  {fiiscula)  fasciana,  Lobophora 
hexapterata,  Cidaria  corylata,  Eiichceca  ohliterata  (heparata),  H. 
barhalis,  &c.,  but  common  things  were  far  from  abundant.  The 
pretty  little  Roxana  arciiana  was  flying  merrily  over  hazel- 
bushes,  and  a  pair  of  Dasychira  pudihunda  were  taken  in  cop. 
high  up  on  a  bare  aspen  pole  where  they  looked  very  con- 
spicuous. N.  pidvemria  were  still  appearing  in  my  breeding- 
cages,  and  one  Eurymene  dolobraria  was  also  bred.  The  29th 
was  fine  and  bright.  I  went  to  the  woods  in  the  forenoon  and 
beat  one  Drepana  hamida  female  (which  I  kept  for  eggs),  one 
A.  betidaria  (typical),  several  Asthena  candidata,  and  Tortrix 
ministrana,  but  saw  little  else.  In  the  evening  I  noticed  many 
half-grown  larvas  of  Leiicania  straminea  on  reeds  in  a  dyke  on 
the  marshes.  The  30th  was  lovely  and  warm  in  the  evening, 
Perizoma  affinitata  and  P.  decolorata  were  flying  in  great  numbers 
along  a  hedgerow  overgrown  with  Lychnis  dioica.  At  sugar 
N.  rubi  was  abundant,  and  one  H.  pisi  appeared,  but  nothing 
else. 


154  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

On  June  7th  I  went  to  Castor,  near  Peterborough.  The  8th 
was  a  fine  hot  day.  I  went  to  the  woods  and  found  I  was  too 
late  for  Carter ocephalus  palcemon  (paniscus)  ;  I  saw  many,  but 
they  were  all  too  worn  to  take.  A.  euphrosyne,  Hesperia  malva 
(alveolus),  and  Thanaos  tages,  were  flying  about  blackberry 
blossom,  but  were  also  much  worn.  One  Parasemia  plantaginis 
was  disturbed  out  of  some  rough  herbage,  where  also  rather  a 
nice  form  of  Ematarga  atomaria  was  plentiful,  but  very  few 
Geometrae  were  seen,  and  those  only  common  species.  Beating 
produced  a  few  larvas  of  Polyploca  riclens,  Tceniocampa  popideti, 
and  T.  muncla.  On  a  sunny  bank,  overgrown  with  thistles  and 
Ononis,  L.  straminea  was  plentiful,  and  larvae  of  Amblyptilia 
acanthodactyla  were  abundant  on  the  Ononis,  and  in  a  swampy 
place  the  larvfe  of  Tortrix  costana  were  numerous,  spun  up 
between  turned-down  or  roUed-up  tips  of  leaves  of  yellow  iris, 
but  they  were  terribly  ichneumoned. 

On  the  10th  a  friend  motored  me  to  the  celebrated  Monk's 
Wood,  a  locality  I  had  long  wished  to  see.  We  arrived  there 
about  7  p.m.,  a  lovely  fine  calm  evening,  and  the  wood  looked 
as  if  it  ought  to  be  a  perfect  entomologist's  paradise.  But,  sad 
to  say,  nothing  appeared  to  be  moving.  The  wind  was  from  the 
north-east,  and  soon  after  our  arrival  it  began  to  feel  chilly,  a 
heavy  dew  set  in,  with  slight  ground  fog  in  the  damper  places. 
The  first  thing  that  I  noticed  upon  entering  the  wood  were  the 
numerous  privet  bushes,  some  of  them  already  coming  into 
flower,  which  reminded  me  that  these  flowers  are  attractive  to 
Thecla  pruni,  so  I  wondered  if  it  were  possible  to  find  a  larva  or 
two  of  this  species.  There  were  plenty  of  sloe-bushes  about, 
but  a  very  cursory  glance  at  these  revealed  the  fact  that  they 
had  recently  had  a  tremendous  thrashing  by  some  too  ardent 
collector — or  collectors  I  should  think  by  the  results  of  their 
efforts — for  every  likely-looking  bush  had  been  well  flogged, 
many  of  the  branches  were  broken,  and  the  leaves  were  wither- 
ing on  the  mangled  twigs.  No  wonder  that  this  very  local 
species  is  being  rapidly  exterminated  !  In  one  spot  I  found  a 
few  stunted  bushes,  not  much  more  than  a  foot  high,  that  had 
escaped  the  beating-sticks,  and  upon  examining  these  obtained 
three  half-grown  larvae  of  T.  hetulce,  but  no  pruni.  We  had 
intended  to  try  sugar,  but  as  it  continued  to  get  colder  and  the 
dew  and  fog  increased,  we  decided  it  would  be  no  good,  so  left 
the  wood  about  nine  o'clock  and  motored  home. 

The  11th  was  fine,  with  sun  and  cloud,  a  light  northerly 
breeze,  and  a  little  warmer.  This  being  Sunday  I  did  not  go 
collecting  in  the  forenoon,  but  in  the  afternoon  went  for  a  stroll 
to  a  fir  plantation  not  far  from  the  house,  having  put  my  net 
and  a  few  boxes  in  my  pockets.  Tortrices  were  plentiful,  and 
dozens  flew  out  every  time  I  beat  the  branches  ;  but  there  were 
only  two  species,  in  about  equal  numbers  :  Coccyx  tcedella  and 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  155 

Retinia  pinivorana,  both  in  very  fresh  condition  ;  and  I  was 
pleased  at  getting  a  nice  series  of  the  latter.  In  the  evening  I 
tried  sugar  on  the  trees  in  the  gardens  and  shrubberies,  but  saw 
nothing  but  a  few  of  the  most  common  species.  There  was  so 
much  honey-dew  that  moths  would  hardly  look  at  sugar. 

(To  be  continued.) 


NOTES     AND     OBSERVATIONS. 

Idiaspa  maritima,  Hal.,  in  Suffolk. — This  species  has  not  been 
discovered  outside  the  British  Isles.  Haliday  described  it  in  the  old 
Ent.  Mag.  1838,  p.  230,  under  the  name  Alysia  maritima,  adding, 
"  Habitat  sub  fucis  marcentibus  in  littoribus  Hiberniae  borealis 
rarissime — Hantoniensibus,  F.  Walker ;  Eboracensibus,  T.  G.  Budcl — 
qui  plura  examplaria  mecum  benevolo  communicavit."  It  was  not 
again  mentioned  in  literature  till  the  publication  of  the  Rev.  T.  A. 
Marshall's  "  Monograph  of  British  Braconidse,"  when  (Trans.  Ent. 
Soc.  1894,  p.  522)  he  says  it  occurs  sparingly  amongst  decaying  sea- 
weeds on  the  coast,  quotes  the  above,  and  adds :  "  I  have  taken  it  on 
Lymington  Salterns,  and  Mr.  Billups  found  it  at  Dulwich."  This  is 
all  we  know  of  the  species,  for  the  same  author's  reference  to  it,  "  II 
se  trouve  parmi  les  algues  pourrissantes,  aux  hordes  de  la  mer,  et 
dans  les  salines,  mais  pas  communement.  Cotes  d'Angleterre  et 
d'Irlande  "  (Bracon.  d'Europ.  ii.  399),  adds  nothing.  I  was,  conse- 
quently, delighted  to  take  a  male  of  this  rare  (or  overlooked)  species 
on  September  1st,  1911,  walking  leisurely  and  somewhat  sluggishly 
on  the  unusually  dry  mud  among  the  close-set  roots  of  the  reeds 
in  Covehithe  Broad,  on  the  Suffolk  coast,  within  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  of  the  sea,  but  at  a  spot  where  the  water  is  at  most  brackish 
and  by  no  means  salt,  and  to  which  seaweed  certainly  never  extends. 
It  will  doubtless  be  found  parasitic  upon  some  semi-saltmarsh 
Dipteron,  possibly  Platycephala  planifrons,  F.,  or  Ephydra  riparia, 
Fin.,  which  occurred  in  some  numbers  on  the  surrounding  reeds. — 
Claude  Morley  ;  Monk  Soham  House,  Suffolk. 

The  Summer  of  1911  and  the  present  Season. — It  will  be  of 
special  interest  this  year  to  note  what  effect,  if  any,  results  from  the 
abnormal  season  of  last  year.  By  way  of  preliminary  record  I  am 
able  to  state  that  in  Bury  Wood,  Epping  Forest,  last  month  H. 
leucoplicearia  was  unusually  common.  As  early  as  January  1st  a 
specimen  of  P.  ijedaria  was  taken  and  forwarded  to  me  from  Paisley, 
Scotland.  On  February  26th  another  specimen,  almost  black,  was 
sent  to  me  from  the  same  town,  both  specimens  having  been  taken 
from  the  street-lamps.  This  afternoon,  on  the  tree-trunks  in  the 
Ilford  Road,  B.  hirtaria  was,  without  exaggeration,  swarming.  I  have 
never  in  the  whole  course  of  my  experience  seen  this  moth  so  abun- 
dant. On  the  trunks  of  two  rather  small  lime-trees  in  one  front 
garden  a  friend  who  was  with  me  and  I  counted  twenty-eight  and 


156  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

seventeen  respectively.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  other  species 
appear  in  such  profusion.  By  way  of  explanation  I  am  inclined  to 
believe  that  the  wonderful  spell  of  weather  last  year  caused  such 
abundance  of  insect  life  that  the  town  birds  (sparrows,  &c.)  which 
keep  such  species  as  B.  hirtaria  in  check  had  an  ample  supply  of 
food,  and  that  the  persecution  of  caterpillars  was  in  consequence 
below  the  normal  standard. — E.  Meldola  ;  6,  Brunswick  Square, 
W.C,  March  30th,  1912. 

Laege  "Coppers"  in  Wickbn  Fen. — The  late  Mr.  Verrall,  it 
will  be  recalled,  was  anxious  to  re-establish  Ghry sophanus  dispar 
with  its  nearest  existing  representative  C.  rutilus.  To  this  end  he 
caused  to  be  "planted"  in  various  parts  of  Wicken  Fen  a  number  of 
larvae  in  the  year  1909.  I  was  at  Wicken  at  Easter  this  year,  and 
called  on  Mr.  G.  Bailey,  the  son  of  Solomon  Bailey,  who  died  two 
years  ago,  but  who  was  responsible  for  the  putting  out  of  the  larvae. 
I  learned  from  Mr.  Bailey  that  not  a  single  "copper"  had  been  seen, 
and  that  he  accounted  for  the  fact  by  the  abnormally  wet  and  cold 
summers  of  1909  and  1910.  Even  if  the  "coppers  "  had  hatched,  he 
pertinently  remarked  that  there  was  not  a  great  deal  of  Bumex 
hydrolapatlmm,  their  food-plant.  In  this  matter  Mr.  Bailey  is  quite 
correct,  and  as  the  water  dock  requires  water  to  grow  in,  it  does  not 
get  much  chance  of  spreading  at  Wicken,  for  except  in  the  shallow 
ditches  it  can  scarcely  find  suitable  spots,  all  the  "  lodes  "  or  large 
watercourses  being  kept  clear  of  herbage  for  the  adequate  drainage 
of  the  land.  This,  however,  is  a  secondary  matter ;  but  if  further 
attempts  be  made  to  establish  large  "  coppers,"  it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  scarcity  of  the  food-plant  will  be  a  factor  acting  against 
success. — W.  J.  Kaye  ;  Caracas,  Ditton  Hill,  Surbiton. 

Paraege  egeeia  :  Early  Appearance. — This  species  was  seen 
in  the  New  Forest  at  Eastertide,  and  about  April  22nd  it  was  quite 
common.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  W.  J.  Lucas  for  these  facts. — 
BiCHARD  South. 

Callopheys  (Thecla)  rubi  :  Eaely  Appearance. — April  21st 
would  appear  to  be  an  early  date  for  the  emergence  of  Thecla  rubi  in 
a  northern  locality.  I  have  pleasure  in  recording  the  capture  by  Mr. 
A.  Graveson  of  three  newly-emerged  specimens  on  the  neighbouring 
high-lying  moorland,  1000  ft.  elevation.  The  previous  earliest 
mention  of  the  species  in  my  diary  is  May  4th.  The  weather  of  the 
past  week  has  been  exceptionally  warm  and  summer-like. — Frank 
LiTTLEWOOD  ;  10,  Aynam  Eoad,  Kendal. 

[Mr.  Lucas  informs  me  that  a  specimen  of  Callophrys  rubi  was 
seen  in  the  New  Forest  on  April  18th. — R.  S.] 

Pyrameis  cardui  in  April. — This  morning,  while  out  walking, 
I  saw,  and  nearly  caught,  a  large  specimen  of  Pyrameis  cardui 
settling  on  dandelions  along  the  roadside.  Would  this  be  an  early 
immigrant  or  a  hybernated  specimen  ?  In  '  Butterflies  of  the  British 
Isles '  it  is  stated  that,  so  far  as  is  known,  the  butterfly  does  not 
hybernate.  I  don't  know  therefore  whether  you  would  consider  this 
worth  recording  or  not.     The  mildness  of  the  climate  here  might 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  157 

enable  this  species  to  hybernate  in  this  locality,  as  frost  and  snow 
are  practically  unknown. — Hugh  F.  Stoneham  ;  Kinsale,  co.  Cork, 
April  1st,  1912. 

Celasteina  (Cyaniris)  argiolus  in  April. — It  may  be  worth 
recording  that  C.  argiolus  was  seen  at  Chingford  on  Saturday,  April 
13th.  Several  examples  were  seen  by  friends  during  the  week 
following  at  Clapton. — R.  T.  Baumann  ;  "  Glendale,"  Chingford, 
Essex,  April  22nd,  1912. 

Calymnia  (Cosmia)  pyralina  in  West  Surrey. — Last  July  or 
August  I  captured  two  specimens  of  the  above  at  Elstead,  between 
Godalming  and  Farnham.  I  believe  that  this  insect  has  not  been 
reported  to  have  been  observed  in  this  district  before.  —  H.  0. 
HoLFORD  ;   Elstead  Lodge,  Godalming. 

Tephrosia  punctularia  in  early  April. — While  out  this  after- 
noon, not  far  from  Reading,  I  took  among  other  insects  two  specimens 
of  T.  pimctularia  at  rest  on  tree-trunks.  Is  this  not  rather  an  early 
date  for  this  species  ?  all  the  books  I  have  looked  over  say  May  and 
June. — H.  L.  Dolton;  27,  Brunswick  Street,  Reading,  April  4th,  1912. 

Boarmia  cinctaria. — Mr.  Lucas  found  a  specimen  at  rest  on 
April  8th,  and  during  the  third  week  of  the  month  the  species  was 
plentiful  in  the  New  Forest. — Richard  South. 

Notes  on  Lepidoptera  at  Grassington  in  1911. — My  first  visit 
was  paid  on  June  21st,  a  fine  sunny  afternoon.  In  the  woods  a 
search  on  tree-trunks  revealed  specimens  of  Melanthia  alhicillata, 
Larentia  pectinitaria,  one  specimen  of  Coreviia  designata  {propug- 
nata),  C.  ferrugata,  a  worn  example  of  Ciclaria  suffumata,  and  one 
Hadena  dentina  ;  while  on  a  beech-tree  a  pair  of  Lophopteryx  canie- 
lina  were  found  in  cop.  Flying  in  open  spaces  near  the  top  of  the 
wood  were  Lyccena  astrarche  (agestis)  and  a  few  Acidalia  fumata, 
chiefly  males.  One  specimen  of  Lio  geryon  was  taken,  and  at  dusk  a 
female  Hepialus  hectus  was  netted.  Beating  the  bushes  produced 
one  Venilia  inaculata  and  several  Emmelesia  alchemillata ;  the  latter 
were  already  worn,  while  Tortrix  palleana  in  fine  condition  seemed 
plentiful.  Flying  in  the  sun  was  the  beautiful  Ennychia  octomacu- 
lata,  and  also  Pyrausta  purpuralis.  Sitting  among  the  long  grass  a 
female  Parasemia  plantaginis  was  discovered.  In  July  a  few  days 
(8th  to  13th)  were  spent  in  the  vicinity,  chiefly  in  the  Grass  Woods, 
where  L.  astrarche  was  now  very  worn,  three  or  four  specimens  only 
of  L.  icarus  were  seen,  but  Erehia  athiops  (blandina)  was  not  yet 
out.  Probably  the  best  species  taken  was  Phothedes  captiuncula, 
which  was  flying  in  and  out  among  the  bushes  in  the  open  spaces 
near  the  top  of  the  wood,  but  was  most  difficult  to  capture.  It  was 
on  the  wing  but  for  a  few  minutes  at  a  time,  and  could  only  be  taken 
when  there  was  a  fair  amount  of  sunshine.  There  seemed  to  be  a 
fair  proportion  of  the  reddish  form.  Of  other  things  seen,  Acidalia 
fumata  was  nearly  over,  but  some  nice  females  were  secured.  Tanagra 
atrata  was  flying  in  the  sun,  Boarmia  repandata  (on  tree-trunks) 
and  Cidaria  pyraliata  occurred,  and  Metrocampa  margaritaria  was 

entom. — may,  1912.  N 


158  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

common  at  dusk.  On  the  walls  near  the  village  several  Nudaria 
mundana  were  seen  ;  and  in  a  garden  Cidaria  associata  [dotata), 
C.  2^runata,  and  Boarmia  gemmaria  were  flying  at  dusk,  and  also 
caught  by  the  light  from  the  windows.  Plusia  pulclirina  was  taken 
at  rest,  and  Ahrostola  triplasia  flying  over  nettles.  The  moors  were 
not  visited,  as  it  was  far  too  hot  to  roam  about  in  the  scorching  sun. 
— W.  G.  Clutten;  132,  Coal  dough  Lane,  Burnley. 

"New  Forest  Notes,  1911." — The  New  Forest  being  almost  "my 
native  heath,"  I  was  much  interested  in  Mr.  Lyle's  notes  (pp.  126- 
130),  especially  as  it  is  some  years  since  I  have  been  there.  I  have 
never  been  fortunate  enough  to  see  Aporia  cratcegi  in  the  Forest,  but 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  taking  some  specimens  of  Melanargia  galatea 
there  on  July  9th,  1889.  There  was  a  small  colony  of  them  in 
a  damp  rushy  spot  in  Ironshill  Enclosure,  near  Lyndhui'st  Road 
Station,  and  as  the  morning  was  dull  and  somewhat  heavy  they  were 
very  lethargic,  and  many  of  them  seemed  to  have  just  emerged. 
Argynnis  adippe  was  common  in  the  same  spot,  settling  as  usual  on 
the  flowers  of  the  marsh  plume  thistle,  but  galatea  was  mostly  on 
the  tall  grass  and  rushes.  I  seem  to  have  had  the  melancholy  privi- 
lege of  taking  one  of  the  last  of  the  New  Forest  Leucophasia  sinapis, 
for  I  captured  a  male  specimen  in  Stubby  Copse  on  June  13th,  1888, 
which  is  well  within  the  thirty  years  suggested  by  Mr.  Lyle  as  the 
time  elapsed  since  its  disappearance.  I  was  glad  to  see  the  records  of 
Gonepteryx  rliavmi  hybernating  in  ivy,  as,  although  holly  is  so  much 
more  abundant  in  the  Forest  than  the  flowering  ivy,  the  butterfly's 
wings  so  much  more  closely  resemble  yellow  ivy-leaves  in  shape  and 
colour  that  it  has  always  seemed  more  probable  to  me  that  it 
hybernated  in  ivy  than  in  holly,  although  it  has  been  found  also 
amongst  the  latter.  The  reason  why  the  specimen  in  question  was 
so  much  easier  to  see  at  night  than  by  day  was  obviously  that  during 
the  night  there  is  no  top  light  shining  through  the  bush  and  there- 
fore no  shadows  from  above,  whilst  at  night  the  lantern  light  shines 
from  below  and  the  leaves  catching  it  at  a  different  angle  do  not 
throw  such  broad  shadows,  which,  however,  are  more  dense  and 
therefore  contrast  more  sharply  with  the  colour  of  the  insect. — 
C.  Nicholson  ;  Hale  End,  Chingford. 

Correction. — Owing  to  an  error,  Erebia  melampns  should  have 
read  Erebia  cassiope  in  my  article  on  butterflies  at  Digne  in  last 
month's  number  of  the  '  Entomologist.'  E.  cassiope  was  common  on 
the  Doubs  on  July  31st  last  summer.  E.  melampus  has,  I  believe, 
never  yet  been  taken  on  the  Doubs,  though  Oberthiir  mentions  it  as 
occurring  in  the  Basses  Alpes. — Gerard  H.  Gurney  ;  Keswick  Hall, 
Norwich. 

Collecting  in  Westmorland,  1911. — The  following  res7ime  of 
the  season  1911  is,  mainly,  an  account  of  work  done  in  the  environs 
of  Kendal  by  two  entomological  friends,  Messrs.  A.  Graveson  and 
T.  Smith,  and  myself,  with  substantial  assistance  from  Mr.  R.  H. 
Mallinson  who  has  provided  the  Windermere  records. 

The  season  opened  inauspiciously,  the  almost  incessant  rain  of 
the  early  months  being  followed  by  a  weary  period  of  five  weeks' 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  159 

persistent  and  very  cold  north-easterly  wind.  Spring  geometers 
were  noticeably  scarce,  with  the  single  exception  of  Hyhernia 
rujncapraria,  which  could  be  taken  in  numbers  on  the  hawthorn 
hedges  on  the  few  mild  evenings  of  early  January.  Mr.  MaUinson 
reported  males  of  H.  leucophcearia  common  on  lamps  at  Windermere, 
but  our  own  experience  with  this  species  was  not  encouraging.  Four 
specimens  were  taken  on  January  27th,  no  more  being  seen  until 
March  8rd,  when  eleven  males,  including  four  of  the  var.  marmori- 
naria,  were  boxed  from  the  oak-trunks.  Again,  this  year,  no  females 
could  be  found,  although  the  trunks  and  the  grass  around  were  care- 
fully examined  after  dark,  and  the  lower  branches  of  the  trees  beaten. 
Phigalia  pedaria  seemed  to  be  entirely  absent,  and  I  do  not  remember 
seeing  a  single  example.  A  few  night-feeding  larvae  turned  up  on 
March  23rd,  including  Xylophasia  rurea,  X.  hepatica,  and  Apamea 
unanimis.  Larvae  of  Agrotis  lucernea,  notwithstanding  the  cold,  were 
well  advanced  and  approaching  full  growth  by  March  29th,  and  one 
can  only  surmise  that  they  had  made  good  progress  during  the  milder 
though  very  wet  month  of  February.  Polyploca  flavicornis  appeared 
at  the  Windermere  lamps  in  late  March,  and  was  accompanied  by 
numbers  of  the  commoner  Taeniocampids.  Of  the  last,  T.  munda 
was  more  than  usually  abundant,  and  a  fine  and  variable  series  was 
taken.  This  species  comes  to  light  at  a  late  hour,  the  bulk  of  the 
captures  being  made  after  12.30  a.m.  The  all  too  brief  cessation 
of  the  wind  was  taken  advantage  of  by  Mr.  Mallinson,  who  reported 
the  Windermere  sallows  to  be  "alive"  with  moths  on  the  evenings 
of  April  1st  and  2nd.  Amongst  an  abundance  of  Tceniocampia  insta- 
hilis,  T.  stabiUs,  T.  gothica,  T.  cruda,  and  T.  munda,  he  took  several 
T.  rubricosa,  two  T.  leucographa,  one  Panolis  piniperda,  one  Calo- 
campa  exoleta,  and  one  female  D.  tevipli.  On  April  6th,  again 
windy,  Anisopteryx  cescularia  was  found  fairly  plentifully  sheltering 
beneath  projecting  pieces  of  bark  on  the  tree-trunks  and  lower 
branches,  and  even  under  loose  stones  at  the  foot  of  the  tree.  On 
April  14th  a  specimen  of  Pieris  brassiccs  was  seen  flying  in  the 
garden  ;  possibly  the  pupa  had  wintered  in  some  greenhouse,  as 
the  conditions  outside  had  not  been  of  a  kind  to  tempt  a  natural 
early  emergence.  Mr.  T.  Smith  discovered  in  sloe  bloom  a  rival  to 
the  sallows,  the  flower  attracting  ah  the  commoner  Taeniocampids, 
and  in  addition,  on  April  16th,  a  beautiful  female  Lobophora  poly- 
commata,  and  on  the  23rd  an  odd  Panolis  p)iniperda.  At  the  end 
of  the  month  the  forcing-cage  produced  two  fine  melanic  female 
N.  dromedarius ;  a  series  of  A.  rumicis  var.  salicis,  and  an  odd 
specimen  of  Eucosviia  undtdata  from  larva  found  on  sallow  on  the 
"  moss  "  in  the  previous  August. 

With  the  advent  of  May,  however,  the  weather  improved,  and  we 
felt  that  at  lasC  we  had  said  "good-bye"  to  winter!  On  the  10th 
Pieris  rapa,  P.  napi,  and  Euchloe  cardamines  were  observed,  and 
after  dark  Lampropteryx  suffumata,  Melenydris  salicata,  ixnd  Lozo- 
gramma  petraria,  the  latter  resting  on  the  dead  brackens  in  the 
wood.  Night-feeding  larvae  were  not  really  plentiful ;  but  our 
captures,  principally  on  heather,  hawthorn,  birch,  and  bilberry, 
included  Eurois  prasina,  Trip)hana  fimbria,  T.  ianthina,  Noctua 
brunnea,  N.  augur,  N.  triangulum,  N.  festiva,  N.  glareosa,  Aplecta 


160  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

nehulosa,  Leucania  lithargyria,  Agrotis  agathina,  Noctua  castanea, 
Plusia  interrogationis,  Boarmia  reimndata,  Lygris  jMjmlata,  Entephria 
ccBsiata,  and  Acidcdia  fumata.  A  nice  little  colony  of  eighteen  larvae 
of  Cirrhoedia  xeramyelina,  full-fed  on  May  14th,  was  the  reward  of 
pulling  off  not  more  than  a  square  foot  of  moss  on  an  ash-trunk,  but 
we  could  not  repeat  this  performance,  dihgent  search  afterwards  dis- 
covering only  an  odd  larva  here  and  there.  The  species  is  not  rare 
in  the  district,  ash  being  one  of  our  commonest  trees.  Larvae  of 
Satynis  semele  and  Gnoplios  ohscnrata  were  found  full-grown  on 
May  14th,  the  former  on  grass,  the  latter  on  half-a-dozen  different 
rock  plants,  of  which  a  dwarf  variety  of  the  common  ox-eye  daisy 
seemed  to  be  preferred.  Several  perfect  Selenia  lunaria  were  netted 
on  the  16th,  and  Tephrosia  creimscidaria,  single-brooded  only  here, 
was  plentiful  in  the  daytime  on  oak  and  larch  trunks.  The  green 
ova  of  the  latter  species,  laid  in  batches,  are  pushed  well  into  the 
crevices  of  the  bark  and  covered  over  with  loose  woolly-grey  scales. 

Throughout  May,  Mr.  Mallinson  worked  the  street  lamps  with  a 
zeal  that  certainly  merited  reward.  The  illumination  provided  by 
the  Windermere  electric  current  appears  to  be  appreciated  by  the 
moths  if  not  by  the  residents.  The  reddish  glow  of  these  electric 
lights  proved  so  much  more  attractive  than  the  brighter  blaze  of  the 
incandescent  gas-lamps  that  the  latter  were  very  soon  abandoned. 
Again,  the  electric  lights  are  more  favourably  situated  at  the  outskirts 
of  the  town,  in  close  proximity  to  several  well- wooded  estates  and 
private  gardens.  Mr.  Mallinson  states  that  at  this  season  of  the 
year  it  is  useless  to  begin  "  lamping  "  before  eleven  o'clock,  and  all 
the  captures  recorded  below  w^ere  made  between  that  hour  and 
1  a.m.  Swarming  each  lamp-post  is  a  necessary  part  of  the 
business,  as  all  the  best  things  rest  on  the  dark  framework  of 
the  lamp,  and  are  invisible  from  the  ground ;  so  that  a  night's 
work,  consisting  of  three  rounds  of  a  mile  of  lamps,  provides  enough 
exercise  for  even  the  most  enthusiastic  collector.  It  was  a  great 
disappointment  not  to  be  able  to  continue  the  good  work  during  the 
summer  months,  and  we  felt  very  little  sympathy  with  the  economical 
official  mind  that  suspended  the  lighting  of  the  lamps  between 
May  21st  and  August  1st.  From  May  11th  to  19th  Mr.  Mallinson's 
captures  at  these  lamps  included  S.  poimli  (one),  N.  cliaonia  (one 
male,  one  female),  P.  dictceoidcs  (common),  P.  tremula  (one),  N.  trc- 
pida  (nine),  N.  ziczac  (one),  P.  palpina  (one),  D.  coryli  (three), 
H.  pisi  (one),  S.  pavonia  (one  female),  S.  menthastri  (common), 
G.  hidentata  var.  nigra  (one),  E.  dolobraria  (one),  E.  silaceata  (one), 
T.  dubitata  (two),  B.  temerata  (two),  C.  designata  (two),  and  an 
abundance  of  T.  crepuscularia,  L.  suffumata,  M.  fliictuata,  L.  petraria, 
S.  hilunaria,  and  A.  nigrofasciaria,  the  last-named  species  notable  for 
its  large  size  and  dark  purple  clouding.  On  the  night  of  May  18th, 
after  a  two  hours'  back-aching  search  by  lamp-light  on  the  "  moss," 
a  solitary  full-fed  larva  of  Canonympha  typJion  was  found  feeding  on 
the  short  green  spikes  of  Bhynchospora  alba.  Had  we  been  earlier 
I  have  no  doubt  more  would  have  been  obtained,  for  the  insect 
abounds  in  this  locality.  A  careful  examination  of  the  Cotton-grass, 
growing  amongst  the  former  plant,  failed  to  discover  any  larvae  ;  but 


SOCIETIES.  161 

I  should  not  like  to  conclude,  upon  this  slender  evidence,  that  the 
Beaked  Rush  is  the  exclusive  food.  In  all  the  damper  parts  of 
the  "  moss,"  where  C.  typlion  flies.  Cotton-grass  flourishes  equally 
with  B.  alba.  On  May  21st  a  specimen  of  Scodiona  fagaria  was 
taken,  our  first  intimation  of  the  approaching  early  season.  Seven 
fresh  Thanaos  tages,  one  Gh.ryso])hanus  phlaas,  and  several  Euclidia 
mi,  were  netted  on  the  23rd,  and  at  dusk  Coremia  ferrugata,  C. 
desigiiata,  M.  salicata,  Hydriomena  ruberata,  Eidyi^e  hastata,  and 
Perizoma  flavofasciata.  Two  Hipocrita  jacobcece  were  observed  on  a 
street  lamp  at  12  p.m.  Ova  of  Epione  apiciaria,  kept  outside  during 
winter,  did  not  begin  to  hatch  till  May  31st.  The  young  larvae  fed- 
up  well  for  three  weeks,  and  then  for  no  apparent  reason  died  off. 
Young  larvte  of  T.  crepuscularia  preferred  buckthorn  to  oak,  and 
grew  to  an  enormous  size  before  pupating.  Larvae  of  Amathes 
lota  were  beaten  from  sallow  at   the   end  of  the  month.  —  Frank 

LiTTLEWOOD. 

(To  be  continued.) 


SOCIETIES. 


Entomological  Society  of  Lonlon. — Wednesday,  February  7th, 
1912.— The  Rev.  F.  D.  Morice,  M.A.,  President,  in  the  chair.— The 
President  announced  that  he  had  nominated  as  Vice-Presidents  for 
the  present  session  Mr.  A.  H.  Jones,  Dr.  Malcolm  Burr,  and  Mr. 
J.  H.  Durrant. — Mr.  W.  E.  Sharp  exhibited  specimens  of  Carpo- 
philus  6-pustulatus,  F.,  and  G.  obsoletus,  Er.,  taken  under  bark  of 
beech-trees,  near  Doncaster,  in  October,  1912. — Professor  Poulton,  a 
large  but  not  quite  complete  series  of  the  members  of  the  important 
combination  of  Geometrid  moths  of  the  genus  Aletis,  and  their 
mimics,  collected  between  May  23rd,  1909,  and  September  11th, 
1910,  by  Mr.  C.  A.  Wiggins,  D.P.M.O.  of  the  Uganda  Protectorate, 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Entebbe.  Professor  Poulton  also  exhibited 
part  of  an  aXl-anthedon  family,  recently  bred  by  Mr.  Lamborn  at 
Oni  Camp,  seventy  miles  east  of  Lagos,  from  an  anthedon  female 
parent,  and  part  of  an  a,ll-dicbms  family,  also  bred  from  an  anthedon 
female  ;  also  specimens  of  the  Lasiocampid  moth,  Mimopacha  ger- 
stcBckeri,  Dewitz,  bred  from  the  caterpillars  referred  to  by  Mr. 
Lamborn.  The  hairs  on  the  larvae  are  intensely  urticating,  and,  as 
they  come  ofi'  readily,  float  in  the  air  if  there  is  any  draught.  They 
get  into  the  eyes  and  produce  a  troublesome  conjunctivitis.  Pro- 
fessor Poulton  drew  attention  to  the  following  observation  recently 
made  by  Mr.  Lamborn  at  Oni : — "  On  December  27th  I  saw  a  male 
Glutophrissa  saba  courting  a  female.  She  was  resting  on  a  leaf  with 
wings  expanded.  Her  abdomen  was  raised  to  an  angle  of  rather 
more  than  forty-five  degrees  to  the  thorax,  and  two  little  tufts 
very  similar  to  those  possessed  by  male  Danainae  protruded  from  the 
anal  extremity." — Dr.  Malcolm  Cameron,  a  new  species  of  Vesperus 
from  Lagos,  Portugal,  V.  reitteri,  and  for  comparison  a  specimen  of 
V.  bolivari,  Rtt.     In  both  cases  the  females  are  unknown. — Mr.  E.  A. 


1G2  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

Cockayne,  the  following  specimens  of  the  genus  Oporabia :  0.  christyi 
from  Ireland  and  Scotland,  hyhrid  0.  christyi  <?  x  0.  dilutata  $  ,  and 
O.dilutata  ^  x  0.  christyi  ?  ;  0.  di^z^toto  from  Scotland  and  Epping 
Forest,  hybrid  0.  dilutata  <?  x  0.  cmtumiiaria  ?  ,  and  larva ;  0. 
autitmnaria,  hybrid  0.  aidumnaria  <?  x  0.  filigrammaria,  ?  and  0. 
filigrammaria  ^  x  0.  autumnaria  ?  ;  0.  filigrammaria  from  York- 
shire and  Scotland. — The  following  papers  were  read  : — "  On  Some 
hitherto  imperfectly  known  South  African  Lepidoptera,"  by  Eoland 
Triraen,  M.A.  F.R.S.  "  On  the  Comparative  Anatomy  of  the 
Genital  Tube  in  Male  Coleoptera,"  by  D.  Sharp,  M.A.,  F.E.S.,  and  F. 
Muir,  F.E.S.  "  Descriptions  of  New  Species  of  Lepidoptera- 
Heterocera  from  South-east  Brazil,"  by  F.  Dukinfield  Jones,  F.Z.S., 
F.E.S.  "  The  Effect  of  Oil  of  Citronella  on  Two  Species  of  Dacus," 
by  _F.  M.  Howlett,  B.A.,  F.E.S.  "  On  the  Genera  Liothrips  and 
Hooclia,"  by  Dr.  H.  Karny,  of  Elbogen,  Austria  ;  translated  by  E.  A. 
Elhott,  F.E.S.,  and  communicated  by  R.  S.  Bagnall,  F.L.S.  "  On 
the  Early  Stages  of  Albuliiia  pheretes,  a  Myrmecophilous  Plebeiid 
Butterfly,"  by  T.  A.  Chapman,  F.Z.S.  "  The  Food-plant  of  Callo- 
p)hrys  avis,"  by  T.  A.  Chapman,  F.Z.S.  "  An  Experiment  on  the 
Development  of  the  Male  Appendages  in  Lepidoptera,"  by  T.  A. 
Chapman,  F.Z.S.  "The  Study  of- Mimicry  (Batesian  and  Miillerian) 
by  Temperature  Experiments  on  two  Tropical  Butterflies,"  by  Lieut. - 
Col.  N.  Manders,  R.A.M.C,  F.Z.S.,  F.E.S.  A  long  and  important 
discussion  arose  on  many  points  in  connection  with  the  last  paper,  in 
which  several  Fellows  took  part. 

W^ednesday,  March  6th,  1912.— The  Rev.  F.  D.  Morice,  M.A.,  in  the 
chair. — The  following  gentlemen  were  elected  Fellows  of  the  Society  : 
— Messrs.  Harold  Hodge,  Chapel  Place  Mansion,  322,  Oxford  Street, 
W. ;  Samarenda  Mauhk  (Calcutta),  c/o  Messrs.  T.  Cook  &  Son, 
Ludgate  Circus,  E.C. ;  Roland  T.  Smith,  54,  Osbaldeston  Road,  Stoke 
Newington,  N. — Mr.  Donisthorpe  exhibited  a  specimen  of  Catops 
montivagus,  Heer,  new  to  the  British  list,  taken  at  Nethy  Bridge  on 
June  27tii  last,  under  a  dead  squirrel ;  also  C.  tristis,  Panz.,  for  com- 
parison, the  nearest  species  previously  known  as  British. — Professor 
Poulton,  the  first  of  three  families  of  P.  dardanus,  Brown,  bred  from 
hippocoon,  F.,  females  in  the  Lagos  district  by  W.  A.  Lamborn,  and 
a  part  of  the  second.  He  stated  that  these  three  families  were  the 
first  successful  attempt,  outside  Natal,  to  breed  P.  dardamcs  from  a 
known  female  parent.  He  also  drew  attention  to  the  following 
letter,  received  by  Mr.  W.  A.  Lamborn  from  Captain  H.  V.  Neal : — 
"  You  have  asked  me  about  monkeys  eating  butterflies.  This  is  very 
common,  as  every  native  will  tell  you.  I  have  seen  it  myself.  The 
monkey  runs  along  a  path,  sees  some  butterflies  fluttering  round 
some  filth,  goes  very  quietly  and  seizes  one  by  the  wings,  puts  the 
solid  part  [body]  into  his  mouth,  and  then  pulls  the  wings  o&.  The 
poor  butterfly  goes  down  like  an  oyster."  Professor  Poulton  said 
that  he  had  now  submitted  to  Professor  R.  Newstead  some  of  the 
Coccids  which  formed  the  food  of  S.  lemolea,  H.  H.  Druce.  They 
had  been  sent  in  spirits  by  Mr.  W.  A.  Lamborn  and,  although 
unfortunately  badly  attacked  by  fungus,  had  been  placed  without 
hesitation  in  the  genus  Dactylopius  by  Professor  Newstead.     Pro- 


RECENT    LITERATURE.  163 

fessor  Poulton  exhibited  examples  of  Eunjtela  dryope,  Cramer,  and 
E.  hiarbas,  Drury,  bred  by  Mr.  W.  A.  Lamborn  in  the  Lagos  district. 
Mr.  Lamborn  had  bred  considerable  families  of  dryope  three  times, 
and  hiarbas  once,  from  known  female  parents.  The  dryojje  parents 
produced  nothing  but  dryope,  the  hiarbas  nothing  but  hiarbas.  It 
was  therefore  almost  certain  that  the  two  forms  were  distinct 
species,  at  any  rate  in  the  Lagos  district.  Professor  Poulton 
exhibited  specimens  of  Pseudacrseas,  &c.,  captured  on  December  3rd, 
10th,  and  17th,  1911,  by  Dr.  Carpenter,  in  the  primitive  forest  which 
still  exists  in  the  centre  of  Damba  Island. — Mr.  A.  E.  Gibbs,  two 
specimens  of  the  scarce  butterfly  Baronia  brevicorms. — Mr.  Douglas 
Pearson,  a  drawer  of  aberrations  of  the  genera  Melitcea  and  Erebia, 
amongst  which  were  some  striking  forms  of  E.  stygne,  E.  ceto,  and 
M.  varia,  as  well  as  a  remarkably  variegated  female  of  M.  aurelia, 
generally  speaking  the  most  constant  of  the  group. — Dr.  Jordan,  on 
behalf  of  Dr.  Malcolm  Burr,  two  specimens  of  a  new  Dermapteron, 
discovered  in  vast  numbers  in  a  cave  in  Java,  for  which  a  new  sub- 
order is  required. — George  Wheeler,  M.. A.,  Hon.  Sec. 


RECENT    LITERATURE. 

Dermaptera  (Fascicule  122  of  the  'Genera  Insectorum').  By  M. 
Burr,  D.Sc.  Pp.  112 ;  illustrated  by  eight  coloured  and  one 
plain  plate.     Brussels,  1911. 

Such  a  publication  as  the  one  before  us  cannot  but  mark  an 
epoch  in  the  history  of  the  Dermaptera,  a  group  of  insects  better 
known  to  the  ordinary  naturalist  as  the  "earwigs."  One  publica- 
tion only  would  be  even  more  welcome — the  promised  monograph  of 
these  insects  which  our  author  has  in  hand.  Owing  to  a  great  extent 
to  the  comparative  scarcity  of  material  the  classification  of  these 
ancient,  and  therefore  specially  interesting,  creatures  has  been  in  an 
almost  hopeless  state  of  confusion,  but  the  strenuous  labours  of  Burr 
and  others  have  altered  the  position  of  affairs.  In  the  fine  volume 
devoted  to  the  Dermaptera  in  the  '  Fauna  of  British  India,'  Dr.  Burr 
gave  us  a  definite  scheme  of  classification  of  the  earwigs,  and  in  the 
present  publication  we  have  it  brought  still  further  up  to  date.  In 
the  Introduction  will  be  found  the  principles  of  classification  adopted. 
Differences  in  the  genitalia  must,  of  course,  enter  largely  into  the 
various  diagnoses,  but  we  are  glad  to  find  that  Burr  does  not  consider 
them  all-important.  The  average  entomologist,  though  he  may  not 
be  specially  a  student  of  the  earwigs,  will  often  like  to  properly 
place  his  specimens,  and  he  will  have  a  much  better  chance  of 
succeeding  if  he  has  not  to  depend  entirely  on  such  an  abstruse  point 
as  the  construction  of  the  genitalia. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  system  of  classification  and  the  nomen- 
clature of  the  earwigs  is  now  fairly  fixed.  The  seven  hundred  and 
one  species  here  enumerated  are  distributed  amongst  eight  families, 
including  the  Arixeniidse  and  Hemimeridee  with  one  species  each. 
These   famihes   of   parasitic  insects  are  much   more  pronouncedly 


164  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

distinct  than  the  other  famihes,  but  it  appears  to  be  settled  now  that 
they  belong  to  the  earwigs.  Whether  these,  with  the  true  earwigs, 
should  be  given  ordinate  rank  seems  to  be  debatable.  On  the  same 
terms  the  list  of  natural  orders  would  probably  become  as  unmanage- 
able from  the  greatness  of  its  numbers  as  it  was  previously  from  the 
paucity  in  that  respect.  Possibly,  however,  this  is  unimportant,  as 
these  insects  constitute  a  thoroughly  compact  and  natural  group — 
though  not  more  distinct  than  their  neighbours,  the  cockroaches. 

Our  own  little  company  of  seven  species,  which  as  breeding  in 
these  islands  may  all  be  considered  British  (though  two  have  been 
introduced),  are,  indeed,  lost  amongst  the  seven  hundred  odd  species 
here  enumerated.  As,  however,  to  us  they  are  important,  they  are 
here  quoted : — 

Family.  Subfamily. 

Anisolahis  annulipes Labiduridae   Psalinae. 

Lahidura  riparia   Labiduridae   Labidurinae. 

Labia  minor Labiidae  Labiinae. 

Prolabia  arachidis    Labiidae   Labiinae. 

Apterygida  alhii^ennis   Forficulidae Forficulinae. 

Forficula  auricularia    Forficulidae Forficulinae. 

Forficula  lesnei Forficulidae Forficulinae. 

Three  others  (perhaps  more)  have  occurred  sporadically  : — Aniso- 
labis  maritima  (fam.  Labiduridae,  subfam.  Psalinae)  ;  Chelisoches 
morio  (fam.  Chelisochidae,  subfam.  Chelisochinae)  ;  and  Anechura 
letvisi  (fam.  Forficulidae,  subfam.  Anechurinae). 

In  type  and  get-up  this  fascicle  has  a  particularly  pleasing  ap- 
pearance, while  the  plates  are  indeed  excellent.  Sixty  species  are 
figured  in  colours,  a  number  of  others  are  plain,  and  there  are 
numerous  beautiful  drawings  of  details. 

It  would  be  very  nice  of  the  author  if  he  would  publish  periodi- 
cally notes  which  would  keep  up  to  date  all  those — an  increasing 
number,  we  hope — who  are  interested  in  the  earwigs. 

W.  J.  Lucas. 

Annals  of  Tropical  Medicine  and  Parasitology.     Liverpool. 

The  two  parts  just  received  contain  little  of  purely  entomological 
interest,  four  short  notes  only  falling  under  this  head.  In  Series  T.  M. 
vol.  V.  No.  3,  Dec.  30th,  1911,  we  have:  "  Some  Experiments  on 
Larvicides,"  by  Sir  E.  Eoss  and  E.  S.  Edie  (pp.  385-390) ;  and  "  An 
Examination  of  the  City  of  Georgetown,  British  Guiana,  for  the 
breeding-places  of  Mosquitos,"  by  K.  S.  Wise  (pp.  435-441).  In 
Series  T.  M.  vol.  v.  No.  4,  Feb.  26th,  1912,  there  are :  "  The  Genus 
Pristirhynchomyia,  Brunetti "  (Diptera),  by  Capt.  W.  S.  Patton  and 
Capt.  F.  W.  Cragg  (illustrated,  pp.  509-514) ;  and  "  The  Life-history 
of  Philcematomyia  insignis,  Austen  "  (Diptera),  also  by  Patton  and 
Cragg  (illustrated,  pp.  515-520). 

W.  J.  L. 


Obituary. — We  regret  to  learn  that  Professor  John  B.  Smith, 
State  Entomologist  of  New  Jersey,  U.S.A.,  died  on  March  12th  last. 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST 


Vol.  XLV.]  JUNE,    1912.  [No.  589 

NOTES    ON    RHOPALOSIPHUM    SOLANI,    Kaltenbach. 
By  Fred.  V.  Theobald,  M.A.,  F.E.S.,  Hon.  F.R.H.S. 

I  FOUND  this  aphis  on  potato-haulm  at  Wye  in  June  and 
July,  1911,  but  only  a  few  apterous  females  and  a  single  winged 
female  on  June  28th.  In  February  of  this  year  a  number 
of  seed  potatoes  were  sent  me  from  Folkestone,  the  sprouts  so 
badly  attacked  by  aphis  that  they  were  all  dying  off,  and  the 
thick  honeydew  formed  by  the  "  dolphins  "  had  smothered  the 
tubers,  which  gradually  turned  brown  and  rotted  away. 

On  comparing  the  wingless  females  with  those  I  found  on 
the  potato-haulm  in  June  and  July  of  last  year  I  found  them  to 
be  identical,  and  they  agree  exactly  with  Kaltenbach's  descrip- 
tion of  Aphis  solani  (Mono.  Pflanzenlause,  p.  15).  This  is  placed 
as  a  synonym  of  Schrank's  dianthi  by  Buckton.  No  damage  has 
been  reported  as  caused  by  this  aphis  to  my  knowledge,  but  John 
Curtis,  in  his  famous  work  on  Farm  Insects,  refers  to  aphis  on 
potatoes  (pp.  68  and  428),  and  calls  them  Aphis  rapre,  or  vastator* 
Writing  on  the  aphis  in  connection  with  potatoes  he  says : 
**  That  aphides  will  puncture  the  potato-leaves  there  can  be  no 
doubt  and  so  incline  them  to  wither,  but  there  is  no  proof  of 
them  poisoning  the  plant  and  so  causing  the  rot  ....  but 
in  no  instance  have  I  seen  aphides  on  potatoes  in  sufficient 
numbers  to  destroy  the  crop,  or  even  to  injure  the  produce." 
He  then  lists  the  aphides  he  had  found  on  the  potato,  namely. 
Aphis  rapes,  Curtis;  A.  humuli,  Curtis;  A.  persicce,  Morren ; 
A.  fabce,  Morren;  and  Schizoneura  lanigera,  Haussman ;  and 
refers  to  the  last  as  being  only  an  accidental  visitor. 

The  specimens  I  received  from  Folkestone  were  nearly  all 
apterous  females  ;  on  February  25th  I  found  a  few  nymphs,  and 
on  March  1st  winged  females  commenced  to  appear, 

Kaltenbach  only  describes  the  wingless  form,  consequently  I 
describe  in  detail  the  alate  female  here.  At  the  present  time 
(May  24th)  they  are  still  breeding  on  potatoes,  alate  forms 
occurring  irregularly. 

It  may  also  be  pointed  out  that  in  each  of  the  six  colonies 

-'•  Aphis  vastator,  Smee,  is  considered  by  Schouteden  to  be  RJiojialo- 
sijihuvi  dianthi,  Schrank. 

ENTOM. — JUNE,    1912.  0 


166 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 


sent  me  there  were  some  pink  forms  mixed  with  the  green 
and  yellowish  green  normal  specimens.  The  winged  females 
that  have  come  from  the  pink  forms  are  identical  with  those 
from  the  green  ones. 

I  found  that  this  aphis  lives  quite  well  underground,  and  the 
alate  females  emerged  from  the  soil  in  which  I  had  placed  one 
of  the  diseased  tubers.  It  thus  looks  as  if  this  aphis  lays  its 
ova  on  the  tubers  in  the  autumn,  and  there  they  remain  until 
they  sprout  and  so  are  ready  to  work  on  the  young  shoots.  A 
few  years  ago  I  remember  finding  a  few  aphis  eggs  on  some 
potatoes,  and  probably  they  were  of  this  species. 

I  have  no  other  records  of  it  outside  Kent  except  Kalten- 
bach's.  Walker  in  his  List  (p.  990)  also  refers  to  it  with  a  query 
as  a  synonym  of  dianthi,  Schrank.  It  clearly  comes  in  the  genus 
Rhopalosiphum,  the  cornicles  being  most  marked  in  the  alate  and 
apterous  females,  but  not  in  the  larvfe  and  nymphs. 

Alate  female,  first  generation. — ^Head  black  ;  antennae  brown, 
basal  segment  black,  the  second  also  rather  dark,  the  third  a  little 
longer  than  the  fourth,  the  fourth  a  little  longer  than  the  fifth,  the 
sixth  nearly  as  long  as  the  fourth  and  fifth,  the  third  with  eight  to 
ten  sensoria  on  one  side  along  nearly  the  whole  length  of  the  seg- 
ment, the  remainder  of  segments  are  striated  (Fig.  I.,  a). 


Fig.  I.  —RItopalosiphum  solani,  Kalt. 
A.  Third  antennal  segment  (winged  female).     B.  Cauda. 

Thorax :  collar  yellow,  disc  black  in  the  centre,  yellowish  around 
and  on  the  sides,  which  have  also  black  areas.  The  black  area  not 
markedly  trilobed  as  in  B.  dianthi. 


NOTES   ON    RHOPALOSIPHUM    SOLANI. 


167 


Abdomen  deep  yellowish  green  with  black  transverse  bars,  thin 
and  indistinct  on  the  first  two  segments,  which  have  sub-median 
black  spots,  the  bars  thick  in  the  middle  four  segments,  usually- 
uniting  into  a  dark  mass,  and  there  are  also  large  prominent  lateral 
black  spots ;  a  dark  area  running  from  base  of  conicles  to  the  cauda. 

The  cornicles  dark  and  slightly  swelling  towards  their  apices, 
Cauda  dark,  acuminate,  with  three  pairs  of  lateral  hairs,  surface  and 
edges  spiny.  Legs  yellowish,  femora  black  on  the  apical  half,  apex 
of  tibiae  and  tarsi  black,  the  paired  ungues  rather  long. 


_I3$ 


Fig.  II. — Antennae  and  cornicles  of  Ehopalosiphuvi  solaiii,  Kalt. 
A.  Pink  larva.    B.  Pink  nymph.     C.  Green  apterous  female. 

Wings  normal,  with  brown  stigma.  Venter  yellowish  green  to 
green,  mesosternum  black.  Some  specimens  have  the  ground  colour 
almost  all  yellow.  The  proboscis  appears  to  be  banded  with  narrow, 
dusky,  and  pale  areas.     The  abdomen  much  darker  than  in  dianthi. 

Apterous  /3??ia^e.— Variable  in  colour  :  bright  apple-green,  dull 
green,  and  pinkish,  shiny.     Three  forms  occur,  as  follows  : — 

a.  Pale  green  to  yellowish  green ;  antennae  pale  green,  dark  on 
the  apical  halves ;  cornicles  green,  with  small  dark  apical 
areas.  Legs  green,  apex  of  tibiae  and  tarsi  dark.  Eyes 
reddish  black ;  cauda  green,  tips  of  the  cornicles  nearly  level 
with  its  end. 

o  2 


168  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

/3.     Bright  apple-green ;    head  dark ;   eyes  reddish  brown ;    two 
basal  segments  of  antennae  dark,  the  third  pale  at  the  base, 
remainder  dark  ;  cornicles  dusky,  projecting  a  little  beyond 
the   tip  of    the  dark   caudal   process.      Legs   dusky   green, 
darker  at   the  apices.     Proboscis   pale   green,    dark   at   the 
apex,  reaching  just  past  the  base  of  the  second  pair  of  legs. 
y.     Pale  pink,  with  occasional  ochreous  areas. 
In  all  the  cornicles  have  marked  transverse  lines,  and  the  third 
segment    of    the    antennae    is   longer    than   the  fourth,   the  fourth 
slightly  longer  than  the  fifth,  the  sixth  about  equal  to  the  fourth 
and  fifth.     Caudal  process  much  as  in  the  alate  female  (Fig.  I.,  b). 

Nymph. — All  pale  yellowish  green  or  pinkish  to  yellowish  brown. 
In  some  the  head  is  pinkish,  the  thorax  dull  yellowish,  and  the 
abdomen  pinkish.  Wing-buds  dusky  at  the  apices  and  sides.  Legs 
pale  dusky  at  their  apices  ;  antennae  pale,  dark  on  the  apical  half ; 
cornicles  pale,  dark  at  their  tips. 

I  have  retained  Kalteubacb's  name  for  this  potato  aphis, 
although  it  certainly  approaches  Schrank's  dianthi.  The  sen- 
soria  on  the  third  antennal  segment  of  the  alate  female  nearly 
agree  with  one  another,  but  the  general  appearance  of  the  insects 
differ,  and  also  the  thoracic  and'  abdominal  markings.  More- 
over, I  could  not  get  it  to  breed  on  peach  or  nectarine. 


NEW    SPECIES    OF    GEOMETRID^    FROM   FORMOSA. 
By  a.  E.  Wileman,  F.E.S. 

Urapteryx  inspersa,  sp.  n. 

^  .  Fore  wings  white,  heavily  freckled  and  striated  with  greyish  ; 
antemedial  and  postmedial  lines  broad,  brownish  grey,  oblique,  the 
former  nearer  to  the  latter  on  dorsum  than  on  costa  ;  narrow'  spaces 
before  the  antemedial  and  beyond  the  postmedial  lines  free  of  freck- 
ling ;  discoidal  mark  linear,  inconspicuous.  Hind  wings  white 
freckled  with  greyish  on  terminal  area ;  medial  line  broad,  brownish 
grey,  straight,  not  extending  to  costa  or  to  dorsum  ;  a  black  mark  on 
each  side  of  vein  four  before  the  tail,  the  upper  one  scarlet  mixed. 
Fringes  of  all  the  wings  pale  brown,  terminal  line  on  the  hind  wings 
reddish  brown.  Under  side  white,  transverse  markings  of  upper 
side  faintly  indicated. 

Expanse,  53  millim. 

Collection  number,  1545  a. 

Two  male  specimens  from  Rantaizan,  May  9th  and  14th,  1909. 

In  the  cotype  the  upper  mark  before  the  tail  is  more  scarlet 
than  black. 

Urapteryx  approximaria,  sp.  n. 

c? .  Fore  wings  white,  faint  brownish  striae  on  costa ;  ante- 
medial and  postmedial  lines  pale  brown,  oblique,  approaching  to- 
wards dorsum;  discoidal  mark  brownish,  linear;  fringes  pale  brown, 


NEW    SPECIES   OF  GEOMETRIDiB    FROM    FORMOSA.  169 

darker  at  apex,  whitish  at  tornus.  Hind  wings  white,  faint  brownish 
striae  on  terminal  area  ;  medial  line  brownish,  straight ;  a  brownish 
cloud  edged  with  black  at  base  of  tail ;  fringes  red-brown,  whitish  at 
tornus.     Under  side  white ;  two  dusky  transverse  lines  on  fore  wings. 

Expanse,  52  millim. 

Collection  number,  1546. 

A  male  specimen  from  Kanshirei,  April  21st,  1908. 

Obedia  octoscripta,  sp.  n. 

^ .  Fore  wings  yellow,  white  on  basal  two-thirds  of  dorsum  ; 
basal  third  with  three  transverse  series  of  black  spots  ;  two  large 
8-shaped  black  marks  on  costal  portion  of  medial  area;  a  post- 
medial  series  of  nine  black  spots,  four  to  six  smallest,  seven  and  eight 
largest,  the  latter  placed  inwards  and  rather  out  of  Hne  with  the 
others  of  series  ;  a  subterrainal  series  of  seven  black  spots,  the  second 
double  ;  terminal  line  black  ;  fringes  yellow  chequered  with  black. 
Hind  wings  white,  black  spots  towards  base,  terminal  third  yellow, 
traversed  by  two  series  of  black  spots.     Under  side  as  above. 

Expanse,  46  milhm. 

Collection  number,  1572. 

A  male,  Arizan,  August  14th,  1908. 

Comes  near  0.  largetaui,  Ob. 

Eucherodes  agues  subalba,  ab.  nov. 

2  .  Fore  wings  white,  dark  markings  broken  up  and  intersected 
by  the  ground  colour.  Hind  wings  white ;  riledial  line  dusky, 
diffuse,  excurved  from  costa  to  vein  four,  thence  incurved  to  dorsum. 
Under  side  white,  veins  brownish  ;  fore  wings  ochreous  brown  on 
the  costa,  a  brownish  cloud  in  the  cell,  and  a  brownish  spot  at  outer 
end  of  the  cell ;  medial  Hne  blackish,  sinuous,  united  with  a  brownish 
cloud  near  the  costa;  medial  line  of  hind  wings  brownish,  double, 
united  below  the  middle  ;  discoidal  spot  and  traces  of  subterminal 
band  brownish. 

Expanse,  60  milHm. 

Collection  number,  1551. 

A  female  specimen  from  Arizan  (7300  ft.),  August  8th,  1908. 

Glaucopteryx  latifasciata,  sp.  n. 
(?  .  Fore  wings  greyish  brown,  clouded  and  striated  with  darker ; 
basal  area  reddish  brown,  limited  by  two  curved  black  lines  enclosing 
a  diffuse  dusky  line ;  central  fascia  brown  outwardly  clouded  with 
blackish,  narrowed  towards  dorsum,  the  outer  dentated  edge  outlined 
in  white  and  followed  by  a  reddish  brown  band  enclosing  an  inter- 
rupted black  line,  the  inner  edge  indented  above  dorsum,  bordered  by 
a  reddish  brown  double  line ;  subterminal  line  pale,  wavy,  only  dis- 
tinct towards  dorsum,  where  the  terminal  area  is  suffused  with 
blackish  ;  the  veins  on  terminal  area  reddish  brown,  a  black  mark 
below  apex.  Hind  wings  pale  brown,  almost  whitish  ;  faint  traces 
of  a  dusky  postmedial  line  and  a  subterminal  band.  Under  side  pale 
brown,  irrorated  with  darker  brown ;  a  blackish  discal  dot  and  an 


170  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST, 

irregular  postmeclial  line  on  all  the  wings,  the  ama  within  the  post- 
medial  line  suffused  with  dusky. 

Expanse,  40  millim. 

Collection  number,  1581a. 

Two  male  specimens  from  Arizan  (7300  ft.),  August  8th, 
1908. 

Lygris  convexa,  sp.  n. 

(?  .  Head  and  thorax  white  marked  with  blackish,  metathorax 
and  palpi  tipped  with  tawny  ;  abdomen  white,  four  black  dots  on 
basal  segments,  anal  segment  blackish.  Fore  wings  white,  with  four 
bands,  formed  of  blackish  lines,  running  from  costa  to  just  above 
tornus,  where  they  are  edged  with  tawny  ;  the  first  and  second  of  the 
four  lines  forming  the  subbasal  band  only  run  to  just  beyond  the 
middle  of  dorsum  ;  the  antemedial  and  postmedial  bands,  each  of 
three  lines,  curve  round  one  into  the  other  above  tornus  ;  the  first  of 
the  three  lines  forming  subterminal  band  joins  the  postmedial  at 
about  middle,  but  the  other  two  lines  are  not  extended  beyond  this 
point ;  a  brownish  oblique  streak  before  the  antemedial  band,  and  a 
small  blackish  spot  above  dorsum  towards  tornus.  Hind  wings 
white,  tornal  half  of  outer  area  tawny,  enclosing  dark  greyish  edged 
white  spots,  and  limited  above  by  dark  grey  wavy  lines.  Under  side 
white ;  a  black  discoidal  spot,  elbowed  postmedial,  and  interrupted 
subterminal  bands  on  forewings. 

Expanse,  50  millim. 

Collection  number,  1562. 

One  male  specimen  from  Kanshirei  (1000  ft.). 

Allied  to  L.  ludovicaria,  Oberthiir. 

Lygris  hasistrigaria,  sp.  n. 

<y  .  Head  and  thorax  white  marked  with  grey-brown ;  abdomen 
white,  inclining  to  ochreous  posteriorly,  barred  with  grey-brown. 
Fore  wings  white ;  basal  and  antemedial  oblique  bands  grey-brown, 
broad,  enclosing  lines  and  streaks  of  the  ground  colour  (the  basal  half 
of  the  wing  might  be  described  as  grey-brown  transversely,  streaked 
with  white) ;  postmedial  band  grey-brown,  slightly  excurved  between 
veins  four  and  two,  tapered  towards  dorsum,  enclosing  a  white  line 
towards  costa  ;  subterminal  band  represented  by  three  grey-brown 
lines,  the  first  two  united  above  tornus,  the  third  short ;  a  grey-brown 
line,  broken  up  into  spots  towards  tornus,  before  the  blackish  ter- 
minal line  ;  tornal  area  of  outer  margin  ochreous.  Hind  wings  white, 
inclining  to  pale  ochreous  on  outer  margin  ;  discoidal  spot  grey- 
brown  ;  an  ochreous  patch,  with  obscure  blackish  spots  on  it,  above 
tornus ;  three  blackish  spots  on  termen  about  middle.  Under  side 
white ;  all  the  wings  have  blackish  discoidal  spot,  postmedial  band, 
interrupted  subterminal  band,  and  mark  above  middle  of  termen  ;  the 
hind  wings  are  marked  with  ochreous  above  tornus. 

Expanse,  46  millim. 

Collection  number,  1563. 

A  male  specimen  from  Kanshirei,  May  7th,  1908. 

Allied  to  L.  constrica,  Warren,  from  China. 


171 

BRITISH    ODONATA    IN     1911. 
By  W.  J.  Lucas,  B.A.,  F.E.S. 

(Concluded  from  p.  144.) 

On  August  10th  Col.  J.  W.  Yerbury  sent  me  a  few  dragonfiies 
from  the  North  of  Scotland.  A  male  C.  annulatus,  Nethy  Bridge, 
August  6th ;  two  males,  JEschna  juncea,  Nethy  Bridge,  August 
6th  and  7th  ;  one  male  L.  quadriviaculata,  Nethy  Bridge,  August 
7th  ;  one  male  Si/mpetrum  scoticum,  Nethy  Bridge,  August  7th  ; 
one  male  S.  scoticum,  Spey  Bridge,  August  8th ;  and  three 
females,  Lestes  sponsa,  Aviemore,  August  10th.  For  experiment, 
the  three  L.  sponsa  were  despatched  while  still  alive  in  small 
tubes.  Unfortunately  they  had  to  be  readdressed  to  me  from 
Kingston  to  the  New  Forest.  Two  arrived  dead,  but  the  third 
was  quite  alive,  notwithstanding  the  length  of  time  on  the 
journey. 

On  his  return  south  the  same  entomologist  gave  me  a  most 
interesting  little  collection  of  dragonfiies  he  had  taken  during  his 
summer  visit  to  the  North  of  Scotland.  Amongst  them  was  a 
pair  of  insects  belonging  to  the  genus  Sympetrum,  which  are 
either  new  or  else  constitute  a  very  distinct  race  of  S.  striolatum. 
In  1900  {vide  Entom.  vol.  xxxiii.  p.  139)  I  called  attention  to  and 
figured  details  of  a  dragonfly,  one  of  two  females  brought  by  Mr. 
H.  S.  Fremlin  from  Stornoway  in  1899.  There  was  some  doubt 
about  their  identity,  and  Mr.  McLachlan  seemed  to  think  the 
specimens  might  be  hybrids  between  S.  striolatum  and  S.  scoti- 
cum. Though  a  very  unsatisfactory  conclusion,  it  was  left  at 
this.  Now  Col.  Yerbury  has  captured  a  pair  at  Lochinver 
(June  24th  and  July  7th,  1911),  in  Ross,  the  very  counterpart 
of  the  two  females  from  Stornoway.  These  I  describe  as  Sym- 
jjctrum  nigrescens  : — 

Description. — Vertex  ochreous ;  anterior  to  it  a  rather  broad 
black  band,  extending  to  some  extent  downwards  along  the  side  of 
the  eyes  as  in  S.  vulgatum.  Rest  of  face  ochreous,  rhinarium  and 
neighbourhood  being  rather  lighter  ;  hairs  black.  On  the  mesonotum 
two  distinct  narrow  longitudinal  yellowish  streaks.  Ground  colour 
of  sides  of  thorax  nearly  black,  with  two  large  bright  yellow  oblong 
spots ;  between  these  four  small  ones,  and  below  them,  three  others, 
all  bright  yellow;  under  surface  of  thorax  very  dark,  with  bright 
yellowish  markings.  The  thorax  recalls  very  strongly  that  of 
S.  scoticuvi.  Wing-nervures  black ;  pterostigma  as  in  S.  striolatum. 
Fore  legs  black,  with  femur  somewhat  ochreous  below  ;  mid  and  hind 
legs  black  ;  all  legs  with  a  fine  ochreous  line  along  the  tibia.  Abdo- 
men blackish  below  ;  ridges  outlined  in  black  ;  two  black  dorsal  dots 
on  several  of  the  segments.  In  the  female  there  are,  in  addition, 
strong  black  lateral  lines  on  the  segments  of  the  abdomen.  Genitalia 
much  as  in  S.  striolatum.  In  the  male  the  internal  hamular  branch 
perhaps  a  little  more  blunt  and  the  external  one  a   little  sharper 


172  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

and  more  distinct.  The  margin  of  the  vulvar  scale  nearly  straight, 
barely  hollowed.  Size  between  that  of  normal  S.  striolcUum  and 
S.  scoticum.  General  appearance  so  distinct  from  normal  S.  strio- 
laUim  that  one  was  relaxed,  set,  and  put  in  the  cabinet  with  S.  scoti- 
cum before  the  difference  was  noticed  in  size  and  pterostigma. 

Other  specimens  were  : — S.  scoticum,  a  female,  Netby  Bridge, 
August  11th.  L.  quadrimaculata,  a  male,  Inchnadampb,  Loch 
Assynt,  June  2nd  ;  a  female,  Inchnadampb,  Loch  Assynt,  no 
date  ;  a  male.  Loch  Assynt,  June  8th.  C.  annidatus,  a  female. 
Loch  Assynt,  June  6th.  Mschna  ccerulea,  a  male.  Loch  Assynt, 
June  6th  ;  a  female,  Loch  Assynt,  June  3rd — a  new  locality  for 
this  scarce  and  interesting  species.  J^.  juncea,  a  male,  Nethy 
Bridge,  September  4th.  L.  sponsa,  a  male,  Lochinver,  July  9th. 
P.  nymphiUa,  two  females,  Lichnadamph,  June  1st ;  two  males, 
Loch  Assynt,  June  10th  and  12th  ;  a  male,  Lochinver,  June 
23rd  ;  a  male  and  a  female,  in  cop.,  Lochinver,  July  9th  ;  a 
female,  Nethy  Bridge,  July  28th.  /.  elegans,  a  male,  and  a  nice 
female  var.  riifescens,  June  20th  ;  a  male,  July  1st ;  a  male, 
July  9th  ;  and  a  male,  July  16th— all  at  Lochinver.  E.  cyathi- 
gerum,  a  male,  June  20th ;  three  males,  June  21st  ;  a  male  and 
a  female,  in  cop.,  June  23rd  ;  a  female,  June  24th.  In  addition, 
there  were  the  following  nymphs  or  skins  : — One  C.  annidatus, 
apparently  immature,  picked  up  on  the  shore  of  Loch  Assynt, 
June  13th  ;  one  C.  annidatus,  Lochinver,  June  28th  or  29th, 
found  alongside  a  freshly  emerged  male  imago  ;  one  C.  annidatus, 
Lochinver,  June  27th,  on  trunk  of  alder,  banks  of  Inver ;  one 
E.  cyathigerum,  Lochinver,  July  11th,  apparently  the  nymph- 
skin  from  which  emerged  a  very  teneral  female  sent  with  it. 

Writing  from  Nethy  Bridge,  August  22nd,  Mr.  J.  J.  F.  X. 
King  said  of  Agrion  hastulatum  that,  though  he  met  with  the 
males  in  fair  numbers,  he  found  the  females  scarce,  at  their 
habitat  at  Aviemore.  The  species  is  on  the  wing  only  for  a 
short  time,  hence  the  difficulty  in  obtaining  specimens. 

In  addition  to  the  examples  of  *S.  fonscolombii  previously 
mentioned,  Lieut. -Col.  Nurse  showed  me  other  dragonflies  taken 
in  the  East  of  England  in  1911.  Brachytron  pratense,  two  males, 
Chippenham,  Cambridgeshire,  May  21st  and  June  16th.  Mschna 
cyanea,  a  male,  Stowmarket,  Suffolk,  August  2nd.  P.  nymphida, 
five  males,  Chippenham,  May  17th.  I.  elegans,  a  female,  Wicken 
Fen,  Cambridge,  May  28th ;  and  a  female,  Chippenham,  June 
16th.  Agrioji  pueUa,  two  females,  Ampton,  West  Suffolk,  May 
18th  and  August  13th. 

Mr.  G.  0.  Sloper  sent  me  from  Ougbterard,  co.  Galway, 
Ireland,  a  male  and  a  female  of  M.  juncea,  taken  on  September 
11th,  1911. 

Writing  on  November  22nd,  Mr.  N.  P.  Fenwick,  Jun.,  gave  a 
few  notes  on  his  doings  amongst  the  Odonata  during  the  year. 
He  said  : — "  This  year  I  first  saw  M.  grandis  on  July  8th,  when 


NOTES  ON  THE  DKAGONFLY  SEASON  OF  1911.        173 

I  took  two  males  on  the  Kiver  Mole.  Platycnemis  pennipes  has 
been  very  scarce  there  this  year  ;  but  one  or  two  Erythromma 
naias  were  about  at  the  beginning  of  July.  On  July  24th  I  saw 
a  large  Mschna,  which  I  am  pretty  sure  was  grandis,  hawking 
up  and  down  amongst  the  motor-buses  in  Cornhill.  On  the 
previous  day  I  saw  on  the  Mole  an  JE.  grandis  pounce  on  a 
Pieris  rapce  which  happened  to  fly  near.  It  quickly  bit  off  the 
wings  of  the  butterfly  and  departed  with  the  body  in  its  mouth. 
During  the  latter  half  of  August  and  September  I  was  shooting 
in  Achill  Island,  co.  Mayo,  and  was  surprised  to  find  that  the 
Odonata  there  were  chiefly  conspicuous  by  their  absence.  How- 
ever, one  or  two  S.  striolatum  were  to  be  seen,  and  also  an 
occasional  /.  elegans.  The  weather  was  not  good,  and  this  may 
account  for  their  scarcity  to  a  certain  extent." 

Though  the  fine  weather  continued  into  the  autumn,  late 
records  for  dragonflies  were  disappointing.  On  October  1st, 
near  Bedford,  I  saw  one  example,  which  was  no  doubt  S.  strio- 
latum, while  at  the  Black  Pond,  Surrey,  on  Oct.  28th,  I  watched  a 
few  which,  with  still  less  doubt,  belonged  to  that  species.  These 
were  the  last  I  saw.  Mr.  G.  T.  Lyle,  however,  found  that  species 
common  in  the  New  Forest  on  November  5th.  Miss  A.  Sharp 
tells  me  that  on  November  1st  she  saw  a  big  one  in  the  New 
Forest,  but  could  not  name  it.  Assuming  it  to  have  been  an 
jEschna,  a  certain  record  of  it  would  have  been  very  interesting. 

Kinsston-on-Thames:  March,  1912. 


NOTES   ON   THE   DRAGONFLY   SEASON   OF   1911. 
By  F.  W.  and  H.  Campion. 

Notwithstanding  the  long  and  brilliant  summer  of  1911, 
dragonflies  did  not  seem  to  be  particularly  abundant  on  the 
few  occasions  when  we  had  opportunities  for  observing  them. 
However,  twenty-four  species  were  met  with  during  the  season 
by  ourselves  or  by  our  fellow  collector,  Mr.  H.  J.  Watts,  and  a 
certain  number  of  the  captures  made  seem  to  be  worthy  of 
mention. 

On  August  14th  Mr.  Watts  showed  us  a  male  of  Sympetnim 
flaveolum  which  he  had  taken  the  day  before  at  Wisley,  Surrey. 
We  visited  the  same  pond  ourselves  on  August  26th,  and  took 
two  more  males,  all  the  specimens  which  were  seen.  Again  at 
Wisley,  on  August  20th,  Mr.  Watts  obtained  a  female  of  S.  dance, 
Sulz.  (=  S.  scoticum,  Don.)  exhibiting  a  very  interesting  mal- 
formation. The  tips  of  both  fore  wings  presented  the  appearance 
of  a  piece  of  soft  paper  which  had  been  twisted  into  a  screw 
between  the  thumb  and  forefinger,  and  the  abnormal  condition 
was  no  doubt  due  to  incomplete  inflation  of  the  wings,  through 


174  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

one  cause  or  another,  at  the  time  when  the  nymph  was  trans- 
forming into  the  imago.  It  is  probable  that,  if  the  insect  had 
lived  for  some  time  longer,  the  twisted  tips  would  have  fallen 
away,  and  the  wings  would  have  assumed  the  abbreviated  form 
with  rounded  apex  which  is  met  with  occasionally,  as  an  in- 
dividual peculiarity,  in  different  species  of  Anisoptera.  In  the 
present  case  the  right  wing  is  affected  to  a  greater  extent  than 
the  left,  the  entire  area  lying  beyond  the  nodus  being  malformed. 
Mature  and  immature  specimens  of  S.  sanguineum  were  taken  at 
Eamsey,  Hunts,  on  July  8th,  and  the  species  was  flying  in  great 
numbers  at  Wisley  on  August  26th. 

A  male  of  Cordulia  cenea  occurred  to  Mr.  Watts  at  Byfleet  on 
May  21st,  and  a  female  was  taken  by  ourselves  near  the  Black 
Pond  on  June  16th.  Search  was  made  for  Somatochlora  metallica 
in  Surrey,  where  it  occurred  in  1910,  but  no  specimens  were 
procured. 

Mr.  Watts  informs  us  that  he  took  an  emerging  imago  of 
Brachytron  hafniense  at  Byfleet  on  May  21st,  and  found  the 
species  plentiful  at  Wisley  on  May  28th.  A  male  of  Mschna 
mixta  was  caught  at  Wisley  on  August  20th  (H.  J.  Watts). 
Between,  and  including,  September  3rd  and  10th  Mr.  J.  G. 
Ashby  found  mixta  in  abundance  at  Hunton,  near  Yalding, 
Kent,  and  he  showed  us  several  specimens  which  he  had  taken. 

Libellula  depressa,  Orthetrum  ccerulescens,  Calopteryx  virgo, 
Pyrrhosoma  tenellum,  and  Agrion  mercuriale  were  among  the 
species  taken  at  Brockenhurst,  in  the  New  Forest,  on  June  11th 
(H.  J.  Watts).  At  the  same  time  and  place  a  male  imago  of 
Mschna  cyanea  was  obtained  with  the  nymph- skin  from  which  it 
had  just  escaped.  This  is  the  earliest  emergence  of  the  species 
known  to  us.  A  female  cyanea  was  taken  by  ourselves  at 
Eamsey  on  July  8th.  On  July  11th,  an  unusually  early  date, 
Mr.  Watts  found  M.  grandis  already  on  the  wing  at  Ely. 

The  same  observer  noted  Calopteryx  splendens  at  Wisley 
(May  28th  and  July  23rd)  ;  Silverton,  on  the  Kiver  Exe  (June 
4th)  ;  Arundel  (July  9th) ;  and  Ely  (July  11th). 

A  few  adult  males  of  Lestes  dryas  were  taken  near  Eamsey, 
Hunts,  on  July  8th.  In  consequence  of  information  kindly 
furnished  to  us  by  Mr.  S.  W.  Kemp,  we  were  able  to  identify 
the  ponds  near  Hanwell,  Middlesex,  where  in  1902  he  discovered 
a  large  colony  of  this  interesting  species.  We  found  that  we 
knew  the  ponds  already,  and  had  examined  them  for  Odonata  in 
1910.  We  paid  several  further  visits  to  the  place  in  1911,  but  no 
trace  of  the  species  could  be  found  in  either  year.  Mr.  E.  A. 
Waterhouse  has  been  so  good  as  to  give  us  specimens  of  dryas 
taken  by  himself  at  the  ponds  in  question  on  July  17th,  1902,  in 
company  with  Mr.  Kemp,  and  further  (teneral)  examples  obtained 
there  on  June  26th,  1903.  Mr.  Waterhouse  tells  us  that  he  has 
not  seen  the  insect  since  1903,  although  he  has  been  to  the 


1NEW    AND   lilTTLE-KNOWN    BEES.  175 

ponds  again  for  water-beetles  on  several  occasions,  and  as 
recently  as  1909. 

According  to  Mr.  Watts'  observations,  Erythromma  naias 
had  a  very  long  season,  for  he  took  his  first  specimen  (a 
female)  at  Byfleet  on  May  21st,  and  his  last  (two  males  at 
Wisley)  on  the  exceptionally  late  date  August  20th.  Pyrrhosoma 
tenellum  was  found  at  the  Black  Pond  on  June  16th,  18th,  and 
20th,  but  the  specimens  obtained  were  rather  immature.  The 
species  was  met  with  there,  also,  on  August  24th  and  27th. 
Again,  at  the  Black  Pond  (June  20th),  a  number  of  males  of 
Enallagma  cyathigerum  were  flying  over  grass,  and  one  of  them 
was  seen  to  be  carrying  prey.  It  was  captured,  but  was  un- 
fortunately allowed  to  escape,  although  it  left  its  victim  behind 
it  in  the  net.  Mr.  E.  South  was  kind  enough  to  examine  the 
prey,  and  identified  it  as  the  Pyralid  moth  Scoparia  amhigiLalis. 
Another  male  of  E.  cyathigerum  with  prey  was  taken  at  the  same 
place  on  June  18th ;  in  this  instance  the  dragonfly  was  feeding 
on  the  common  little  moth  Tortrix  viridana. 

The  capture  of  Erythromma  naias,  Ischnura  elegans,  and 
Enallagma  cyathigerum  near  Ruislip,  Middlesex,  on  May  28th, 
may  be  recorded  for  the  sake  of  the  locality.  For  the  same 
reason,  also,  we  may  mention  the  following  species  taken  on  the 
Grand  Junction  Canal  in  the  Uxbridge  district : — Calopteryx 
splendens,  male  and  female  (June  4th),  Pyrrhosoma  nymphula 
(June  4th),  Ischnura  elegans  (June  4th  and  11th),  and  Agrion 
puella  (June  11th).  On  the  later  date  named  our  captures  of 
I.  elegans  included  immature  as  well  as  mature  specimens,  and 
var.  female  rufescens  was  also  taken.  Many  of  the  females 
had  the  abdomen  smeared  with  mud,  as  though  they  had  been 
ovipositing.  A  visit  to  Lechlade,  Glos.,  on  September  1st 
(H.  J.  Watts)  resulted  in  the  capture  of  S.  striolatum,  M.  grandis, 
and  E.  cyathigerum. 

58,  Eanelagh  Road,  Ealing  :  April  13th,  1912. 


NEW    AND    LITTLE-KNOWN    BEES. 

By  T.  D.  a.  Cockerell. 

Megachile  aricensis,  Friese. 

Piura,  Peru,  March,  1911,  and  April  28th,  1911,  at  flowers 
oi  Philibertella  Jiava  (Meyer),  Cockerell;  two  males  collected  by 
C.  H.  T.  Townsend.  New  to  Peru.  The  Philibertella  was 
recorded  somewhat  doubtfully  in  Ann.  Mag.  Nat.  Hist.,  August, 
1911,  p.  285 ;  I  sent  the  specimen  to  Dr.  N.  L.  Britton,  who 
expresses  the  opinion  that  my  identification  is  correct. 


176  THE   ENTOMOLOGIST. 

Megachile  philinca,  sp.  n. 

$  .  Length,  10  mm.,  rather  slender;  black,  with  the  legs  bright 
ferruginous,  the  under  side  of  the  abdomen  also  ferruginous,  as  also 
the  extreme  lateral  margins  of  the  dorsal  segments,  especially  pos- 
teriorly ;  eyes  brown  ;  mandibles  red,  quadridentate,  the  teeth  Ijlack ; 
cheeks  narrow,  especially  above ;  clypeus  and  supraclypeal  area 
shining,  with  strong  punctures ;  cheeks,  base  of  mandibles,  and  sides 
of  clypeus  with  white  hair,  that  on  clypeus  directed  inwards,  the 
ends  meeting  in  the  middle  ;  a  few  inconspicuous  black  hairs  about 
upper  part  of  clypeus  and  middle  of  face ;  hair  of  front  and  sides  of 
face  pale  yellowish,  of  vertex  and  occiput  black,  a  strong  black  tuft 
between  the  ocelli  ;  antennae  black,  the  liagellum  with  the  faintest 
reddish  tinge  beneath  ;  mesothorax  dullish,  with  strong  scattered 
punctures,  bordered  all  round  (broadly  in  front)  with  dense  orange 
tomentum,  the  greater  part,  however,  apparently  bare,  but  with  thin 
black  hair  ;  scutellum  with  long  black  hair,  but  posteriorly,  and  on 
postscutellum  it  is  very  pale  yellowish  to  white  ;  hair  on  pleura, 
sides  of  prothorax  and  metathorax  white,  but  a  black  tuft  just  beyond 
tubercles  ;  tegulae  shining  apricot  colour  ;  wings  dusky  hyaline,  ner- 
vures  dark  fuscous ;  legs  with  white  hair,  pale  orange  on  inner  side 
of  tarsi ;  abdomen  above  shining  black,  with  strong  green  and  purple 
tints,  hind  margins  of  the  segments  with  entire  but  narrow  pale 
yellowish  hair-bands  ;  ventral  scopa  white,  black  on  last  segment. 

(?  .  Length  about  8^  mm. ;  differing  by  the  usual  sexual  charac- 
ters ;  face  densely  covered  with  silky  pale  golden  hair ;  black  hairs 
of  hind  part  of  head  above,  and  of  scutellum,  very  long  ;  mandibles 
very  dark,  nearly  black  ;  antennae  black,  last  joint  not  peculiar  ;  a 
curious  long  pencil  of  black  hair  on  lower  part  of  cheeks ;  anterior 
00X83  unarmed ;  anterior  femora  rather  broad  and  flat,  anterior  tarsi 
not  modified  ;  fifth  and  sixth  abdominal  segments  with  pale  yellowish 
hair  and  longer  black  hair  ;  sixth  segment  retracted,  feebly  emar- 
ginate. 

Hub. — Piura,  Peru,  February,  1911 ;  one  female,  three  males 
taken  from  nest  (C.  H.  T.  Townsend,  1124).  The  cells  are 
covered  with  leaves  in  the  usual  manner,  and  the  whole  has  a 
diameter  of  about  8  mm.  The  bee  has  taken  portions  of  small 
Jeaves,  each  showing  a  midrib.  A  neat  little  species,  quite 
closely  related  (male)  to  M.  lenticula,  Vachal,  but  the  latter  is 
larger,  with  black  legs,  and  a  very  long  pale  yellow  beard  on 
cheeks  below,  the  cheeks  of  philinca  having  a  very  short  white 
beard.  The  type  of  philinca  is  the  female.  I  have  sent  a  male 
M.  philinca  to  the  British  Museum. 

Trichocolletes,  gen.  nov. 

Eesembling  Paracolletes,  but  the  eyes  clothed  with  very  long 
hair ;  stigma  rudimentary. 

Type,  Trichocolletes  venustus  {Lamprocolletes  venustus,  F. 
Smith). 

A  specimen  from  Victoria,  Sept.  20th,  1901  (W-  W.  Froggatt, 


NEW    AND    LITTLE-KNOWN   BEES.  177 

67),  was  observed  to  agree  with  L.  venustus,  except  that  it  was 
larger  (length  fully  12  mm.),  and,  to  my  astonishment,  the  eyes 
were  covered  with  long  hair.  I  wrote  to  Mr.  G.  Meade-Waldo, 
asking  him  to  look  at  Smith's  type,  and  received  this  reply : — 
"  I  have  carefully  examined  L.  venustus,  Sm.,  and  find  the  eyes 
are  clothed  with  long  pale  hair  !  Smith's  estimate  of  length 
(4|-  1.)  is  not  far  out  for  the  type  specimen  in  its  present  position 
with  abdomen  somewhat  curved;  I  would  suggest  11^  mm.  as  a 
fair  estimate  of  the  total  length,  if  the  abdomen  were  straight." 
There  is  therefore  no  doubt  that  the  specimen  from  Victoria  is 
really  L.  venustus,  which  should,  I  think,  form  the  type  of  a 
new  genus. 

Paracolletes  turneri,  Cockerell. 

The  known  range  is  greatly  extended  by  a  specimen  from 
Kutherglen,  Victoria,  1909  (French  ;  Froggatt  collection,  86). 
Mr,  Meade-Waldo  has  kindly  examined  the  types  of  P.  turneri 
and  P.  elegans  (Sm,),  and  notes  that  in  P.  turneri  the  post- 
scutellum  is  armed  medially  with  a  small  tooth-like  process  (so 
also  in  the  specimen  from  Victoria),  but  in  P.  elegans  the  post- 
scutellum  is  shining,  entirely  impunctate,  and  bluntly  sub- 
tuberculate. 

Xenoglossa  citrullina,  sp.  n. 

^ .  Length  about  10  mm.,  antennae  about  7  ;  black,  head  and 
thorax  with  very  pale  grey  hair,  vertex  with  some  long  fuscous  hairs 
curving  over  ocelli,  middle  of  scutellum  and  hind  part  of  disc  of 
mesothorax  with  dark  sooty  hair  ;  nearly  the  lower  half  of  clypeus 
yellow,  the  upper  edge  of  the  yellow  angled  in  middle  ;  labrum  yellow  ; 
mandibles  black,  obscurely  reddish  toward  apex  ;  antennae  black,  the 
fiagellum  very  obscurely  reddish  beneath,  its  apical  half  strongly 
crenulated  ;  maxillary  palpi  five-jointed,  the  last  four  joints  measuring 
in  [x  (2.)  192,  (3.)  192,  (4.)  65,  (5.)  110 ;  paraglossas  extending  beyond 
blade  of  maxilla,  and  the  latter  a  little  beyond  end  of  second  joint  of 
labial  palpi ;  last  joint  of  labial  palpi  broad  and  obliquely  truncate  at 
end ;  tongue  extending  about  1088  fi  beyond  paraglossae  ;  mesothorax 
dullish,  with  evident  shallow  punctures ;  tegulae  rufopiceous,  with 
some  dark  sooty  hair ;  wings  moderately  dusky ;  b.  n.  falling  short 
of  t.  m.  ;  small  joints  of  tarsi  ferruginous ;  hair  on  inner  side  of  tarsi 
bright  fox-red  ;  abdomen  very  distinctly  punctured  ;  second  segment 
with  a  pale  basal  hair-band,  evanescent  in  middle  ;  segments  three  to 
five  with  dense  subapical  bands  of  very  pale  yellowish-grey  tomen- 
tum  ;  sixth  with  redder  hair,  which  covers  apical  margin  ;  apical 
plate  ferruginous,  broadly  truncate ;  no  lateral  spines. 

Hab. — Piura,  Peru,  at  flowers  of  water-melon,  May  (C.  H.  T. 
Townsend).  It  had  previously  visited  an  Asclepiad,  as  shown 
by  two  pollen-masses  on  the  legs.  This  is  related  to  the  North 
American  Xenoglossa  pruinosa.  Say,  but  differs  in  the  maxillary 
palpi,  which  rather  resemble  those  of  Tetralonia  leucocephala, 
Bertoni  and  Schrottky.     The  subapical  hair-band,  conspicuous 


178  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

on  the  second  abdominal  segment  of  X.  pndnosa,  is  wholly 
absent  in  X.  citrullina,  which  also  has  the  antennae  unusually 
long  for  a  Xenoglossa. 

Boulder,  Colorado  :  March  8th,  1912. 


NOTES    FROM    AN    ESSEX    LBPIDOPTERIST'S    DIARY 
FOR    1911. 

By  Paymaster-in-Chief  Gervase  F.  Mathew,  R.N.,  F.E.S.,  &c. 

(Continued  from  p.  155.) 

June  12th  was  fine  and  hot,  and  I  spent  most  of  the  day  in 
the  woods,  but  did  not  secure  anything  of  note.  Parasemia  {Nemeo- 
phila)  plantaginis  was  kicked  up  in  small  numbers :  also  Euclidia 
glyphica,  E.  mi,  and  Hapalotis  fasciana  {Erastria  fuscula) .  The 
leaves  of  the  butter-bur  had  been  riddled  by  the  larvse  of 
Aciptilia  galactodactyla,  but  although  I  turned  over  scores  of 
them  I  only  found  two  pupae.  Among  St.  John's  wort  the 
pretty  little  Catoptria  hypericana  was  flying  in  some  numbers, 
and  the  larvae  of  Depressaria  hypericella  were  plentiful  in  screwed- 
up  leaves  and  terminal  shoots.  The  first  2\  costana  was  bred 
to-day  from  the  pupae  and  larvae  taken  on  the  8th. 

The  13th  and  14th  were  rather  cool  days  with  occasional 
showers.  On  the  13th  I  beat  some  fine  fresh  Endoplsa  nebri- 
tana  from  sloe  and  bramble  ;  on  the  14th  more  pupae  and  larvae 
of  T.  costana  were  found,  and  Melanthia  procellata  was  beaten 
from  wild  clematis  ;  on  the  15th  I  returned  to  Dovercourt.  On 
the  17th  there  had  been  some  rain  during  the  night,  followed  by 
a  warm  bright  day  with  a  fresh  south-westerly  breeze.  I  visited 
the  woods  in  the  evening  and  tried  sugar ;  it  was  (apparently)  a 
very  favourable  night,  but  only  one  moth  was  attracted,  a  large 
and  very  dark — almost  black — Palimpsestis  (Cymatophora)  da- 
plaris.  I  had  hoped  that  the  previous  night's  rain  would  have 
washed  off  most  of  the  honeydew,  but  it  had  not.  Very  few 
things  were  flying  at  dusk,  the  only  thing  netted  being  Noctua 
/estiva.  Several  Hypena  prohoscidalis  were  bred.  On  the  18th 
Acidalia  marginipimcta  was  bred  from  a  brood  of  larvae  I  got 
through  the  winter  ;  one  larva  was  still  feeding.  A  very  dark, 
almost  black,  variety  of  T.  costana  was  bred  from  Castor  pupae  ; 
it  is  a  very  pretty  insect — I  have  not  seen  one  like  it  before. 
The  20th  was  fine,  with  heavy  showers  in  the  middle  of  the  day  ; 
warm  south-westerly  breeze.  In  a  marshy  field,  below  a  small 
wood,  where  there  were  some  ditches  overgrown  with  reeds,  I 
tied  several  reeds  together  and  sugared  them.  Moths  came  in 
abundance,  and  among  others  were  the  following : — Leucania 
obsoleta  (one,  rather  worn)  ;  L.  comma,  Apameabasilinea,  Hadena 
dentina,  H.  suasa,  Euplexia  lucipara,   Noctua  augur,    Triphcena 


NOTES    FEOM    AN    ESSEX    LEPIDOPTERISt's    DIARY.  179 

pronuba,  Agrotis  exclamationis,  A.  gemina,  Miana  fasciuncula, 
M.  strigilis,  and  H.  oleracea,  were  abundant.  Several  fresh 
Leucania  pallens  were  sitting  on  the  reeds  drying  their  wings. 
In  the  forenoon  I  took  a  fresh  Trochilium  apiformis  on  a  poplar- 
tree.  On  the  21st  I  sugared  in  another  locality — a  dark  warm 
night  with  no  dew  or  moon.  Moths  were  abundant,  from  sixteen 
to  twenty  on  every  patch  of  sugar ;  all  those  species  seen  the 
previous  night  were  present,  with  the  exception  of  L.  ohsoleta  and 
H.  dentina,  and,  in  addition,  I  boxed  five  L.favicolor  (an  insect 
I  had  not  seen  for  several  years),  Agrotis  ripce  (already  worn), 
Mamestra  sordida  (anceps),  L.  impura,  Mania  typica,  Caradrina 
morpheiis,  N.  c-nigrum,  and  Acronycta  psi,  or  trideiis  ;  the  latter 
were  abundant.  The  23rd  was  fine  and  warm  until  4  p.m., 
when  a  drizzly  rain  set  in  until  7  o'clock,  then  it  cleared  for  a 
short  time.  In  the  forenoon  I  took  one  T.  apiformis  from 
poplar,  and  several  Hedya  neglectana.  In  the  evening  I  armed 
myself  with  an  umbrella  and  went  to  the  lanes,  &c.,  "  sugar- 
ing." Fine  rain  came  on  again,  and  by  10  o'clock  it  had 
increased  to  a  regular  downpour.  However,  moths  were  quite 
numerous,  and  I  got  five  more  L.  favicolor,  and  saw  all  the 
species  noted  on  the  21st,  with  the  addition  of  Xylophasia 
lithoxylea,  Aplecta  advena,  and  Axylia  putris.  On  the  26th  I 
bred  Melanthia  alhicillata,  and  beat  about  three  dozen  larvae  of 
Anticlea  badiata,  most  of  them  full  grown.  Larvae  of  Malaco- 
soma  neustria  were  now  abundant.  When  at  Castor  I  obtained 
a  batch  of  ova  of  Ematurga  atomaria,  which  began  to  hatch  on 
the  27th.  I  supplied  them  with  white  clover,  Lotus  corniculatus, 
and  knotgrass ;  they  nibbled  at  each,  but  finally  settled  down  to 
the  knotgrass,  at  which  I  was  pleased,  as  this  is  the  easiest 
plant  of  the  three  to  keep  fresh.  (They  eventually  became  full- 
grown,  and  very  pretty  larvae  they  were  ;  I  thought  the  moths 
would  emerge  in  the  late  summer,  but  they  did  not  do  so.)  I 
went  to  the  woods  in  the  forenoon  on  the  27th,  but  the  weather 
was  rather  dull,  and  insects  were  not  moving.  I  got  another  T. 
apiformis  and  one  Crambus  pinetellus,  which  is  rather  uncommon 
here.  I  sugared  in  the  lanes,  &c.,  in  the  evening,  and  there 
were  plenty  of  visitors  on  each  patch ;  I  boxed  three  L.Javicolor, 
and,  in  addition  to  the  species  already  seen,  noticed  Acronycta 
megacephala,  L.  lithargyria,  and  N.  plecta.  The  28th  was  fine 
and  bright  in  the  morning,  but  clouded  over  during  the  after- 
noon, with  warm  light  north-westerly  breezes.  In  the  woods, 
notwithstanding  the  warm  dark  night,  very  few  moths  were 
flying,  and  only  seven  visited  the  sugar,  Palimpsestis  {Cijmato- 
phora)  or  being  the  best.  The  29th  was  dull  and  warm.  I  took 
a  pair  of  T.  apiformis  in  cop,  high  up  on  a  poplar  at  9  am. 
The  female  laid  a  quantity  of  little  round,  shining,  chocolate- 
coloured  eggs,  with  apparently  no  adhesive  matter  attached  to 
them,  as  they  rolled  loosely  about  in  the  box.     I  wonder  where 


180  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

the  eggs  are  placed  by  this  female  ?  Probably  in  the  old  larva- 
holes,  or  scattered  at  random  at  the  base  of  the  tree.  Hadena 
trifolii  (chenopodii)  and  Pseudoterpna  pruinata  (cytisaria)  were 
now  emerging  in  breeding-cages.  The  30th  was  another  dull 
warm  day.     Thecla  quercus  and  Triphcena  ianthma  were  bred. 

On  July  1st  we  had  sun  and  cloud,  light  westerly  breezes,  and 
it  was  very  warm.  Posts,  &c.,  near  the  sea,  were  sugared.  It 
seemed  to  be  a  favourable  night,  but  moths  were  few  and  far 
between.  Among  those  seen  or  taken  were  two  Leucania  favi- 
color  and  six  or  seven  Agrotis  ripcs,  all  much  worn ;  Mamestra 
ahjecta,  two  very  fine,  the  first  this  year  ;  and  I  was  sorry  to  see 
X.  polyodon,  as  I  knew  this  species  would  probably  be  a  pest  in  a 
few  days.  A  couple  of  Cranibus  salinellus  were  netted  at  dusk. 
The  4th  was  fine  and  bright,  and  very  warm.  Two  more  Tro- 
chiliiim  apiformis  were  taken  off  poplars  after  breakfast.  In  the 
evening  I  sugared  on  the  marshes  ;  moths  were  not  very  nume- 
rous, but  L.  conigera  and  M.  albicolon  were  observed  for  the  first 
time.  At  dusk  eight  C.  salinellus,  all  males,  were  netted,  together 
with  Lithosia  complana  and  Acidalia  emutaria.  The  5th  was 
another  hot  day.  Some  T.  interjecta  were  bred.  One  of  the  female 
L.favicolor  taken  on  June  21st  had  laid  a  few  eggs,  and  they  began 
to  hatch  to-day. 

The  6th  was  fine,  bright,  and  very  hot,  the  warmest  day  we 
have  yet  had.  I  went  to  the  salterns  to  see  if  I  could  get  any 
full-grown  larvae  of  Malacosoma  castrensis,  but  in  consequence  of 
the  dry  weather  and  scarcity  of  grass  I  found  the  farmers  had 
turned  their  cattle  out  there ;  everything  had  been  cropped  close 
to  the  ground,  and  there  was  hardly  an  insect  to  be  seen.  There 
were  no  signs  of  castrensis  larvae.  I  was  perhaps  a  bit  too  late 
for  them.  All  I  got  was  one  specimen  of  A.  emutaria  and  half  a 
dozen  Tortrix  vihurniana.  On  the  way  back  I  noticed  a  quantity 
of  chamomile  growing  at  the  edge  of  a  cornfield,  and  upon 
sweeping  it  with  my  net  obtained  seven  small  larvae  of  Cucullia 
chamomillce  and  a  number  of  Eupithecia  oblongata.  Epinephele 
tithonus  was  just  appearing. 

The  7th  was  fine  and  very  hot.  A  large  female  Zeuzera 
cssculi  was  brought  to  me  by  a  boy  ;  C.  asteris,  E.  subnotata,  and 
2\  fimbria  appeared  in  breeding-cages.  In  the  evening  I  went 
to  the  marshes,  to  work  along  the  reeds.  There  was  a  light 
easterly  breeze ;  a  heavy  dew  and  a  ground-fog  began  to  rise, 
and  it  became  quite  cool,  which  stopped  the  flight.  I  only  got 
Comacla  (Nadaria)  senex,  Chilo  phragmitellus,  and  Acidalia  emar- 
ginata  (the  latter  had  been  abundant  in  some  places),  so  I  left 
the  marshes  and  went  homewards.  When  I  reached  the  higher 
ground  I  lost  the  fog  and  it  became  much  warmer,  and  common 
insects  such  as  Timandra  amataria,  Camptogramma  bilineata, 
Cidaria  dotata,  Hypena  proboscidalis,  &c.,  were  flying  in  great 
numbers. 

(To  be  continued.) 


181 


NOTES    AND     OBSEEVATIONS. 

A  New  Generic  Name  in  the  Hemithein^. — I  regret  that  by 
an  unaccountable  oversight  I  overlooked  the  name  OrtJiocraspeda  in 
Hanipson's  Fauna  of  British  India  :  Moths,  1,  p.  393,  and  have 
employed  the  same  name  again  in  my  recent  revision  of  the 
Geometrid  subfamily  Hemitheinae  (Gen.  Ins.  fasc.  129,  p.  28,  1912). 
For  Orthocraspeda,  Prout,  nee  Hampson  (type  netunaria,  Guen.)  I 
therefore  propose  the  new  name  of  Orthorisma. — Louis  B.  Prout  ; 
G2,  Graham  Koad,  N.E.,  May  3rd,  1912. 

Plusia  moneta. — Is  it  known  how  P.  moneta  passes  the  winter  ? 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  egg  is  laid  on  the  seed  of  the  plant 
while  in  the  pod.  For  this  reason  :  last  autumn  I  bought  some  new 
flower-pots  from  a  brick-yard,  not  from  a  nurseryman,  one  of  which 
I  filled  with  earth  from  a  meadow^  far  from  any  possible  Delphinium 
or  monkshood,  and  in  it  planted  some  seeds  of  Delphinium  bought 
from  a  seedsman.  This  pot  was  kept  in  a  greenhouse  through  the 
winter,  in  which  there  were  not  and  had  not  been  any  other  Del- 
phinium plaiits.  When  my  seedlings  were  about  an  inch  and  a  half 
high,  there,  curled  up  among  them,  was  a  small  P.  moneta  larva. 
How  did  it  get  there  ?  The  only  possible  way  seems  to  be  that  it 
was  among  the  seed,  either  as  ovum  or  larva,  and  all  things  con- 
sidered it  does  not  seem  feasible  that  it  could  have  survived  if  it  was 
in  the  larval  stage.  Hence  I  conclude  that  the  egg  is  attached  to  a 
seed  and  so  passes  the  winter. — W.  Claxton  ;  Navestock  Vicarage, 
Romford. 

Gynandrous  Euchloe  cardamines. — It  may  be  of  interest  to 
record  the  capture  of  a  gynandrous  specimen  of  E.  cardamines  at 
Oxshott,  on  May  12th.  The  left  side  is  female  and  the  right  side 
male.  The  orange  has  a  splash  of  white  through  it  on  both  upper 
and  under  side  of  the  wing.  There  is  also  a  black  streak  radiating 
from  the  tip  of  the  wing  towards  the  centre. — D.  S.  Williams  ; 
77,  Durham  Road,  East  Finchley,  N.,  May  13th,  1912. 

Brephos  parthenias,  ab. — On  March  23rd,  1912,  I  took,  on 
Wimbledon  Common,  several  B.  parthenias,  all  in  very  fine  con- 
dition ;  one  of  these  has  the  whole  ground  colour  of  the  hind  wings 
pure  yellow,  with  the  usual  blackish  markings.  Seeing  that  you 
state  that  this  form  of  B.  parthenias  is  rare  ('  Moths  of  the  British 
Isles,'  Series  ii.  p.  98),  I  thought  it  might  be  well  to  record  the 
capture. — W.  Saville  ;  16,  Mincing  Lane,  E.G.,  April  25th,  1912. 

Drymonia  chaonia,  ab. — On  the  evening  of  May  7th  I  took  a 
specimen  of  D.  chaonia  on  a  street  lamp.  It  is  without  the  usual 
white  band,  and  of  a  uniform  dark  sooty  colour. — Bertram  E. 
Jupp  ;  Lyn  Lodge,  Camelsdale,  Haslemere. 

CoLiAs  EDUSA  AT  Reigate. — A  Specimen  of  C.  edusa  was  flying 
in  my  garden  this  morning  (May  12th)  at  10  a.m.  It  went  straight 
across  in  the  usual  manner  of  the  species.  I  have  heard  of  another 
specimen  being  seen. — T.  A.  Chapman  ;  "  Betula,"  Reigate,  May 
16th,  1912. 

ENTOM. — JUNE,  1912.  p 


182  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

CoLiAs  EDUSA  IN  THE  IsLE  OF  WiGHT. — I  am  glad  to  recorcl  the 
capture  of  a  perfectly  fresh  female  C.  edusa,  which  I  took  on  Culver 
Cliffs  at  Sandown  to-day  (May  14th).  There  does  not  appear  to  be 
any  record  of  this  species  having  been  taken  before,  in  the  spring,  in 
any  part  of  the  Isle  of  Wight. — Stanley  A.  Blenkarn,  F.E.S.  ; 
"  Teneriffe,"  Sandown,  1912. 

EucHLOE  cardabiines  IN  ApRiL. — Dr.  E.  N.  Goodman  (Kingston) 
informs  me  that  he  saw  a  specimen  of  E.  carclamines  on  April  13th 
last.  I  may  add  that  I  saw  a  specimen  of  this  butterfly  at  Claygate 
Coverts  on  April  24th. — W.  J.  Lucas. 

Lyc^nopsis  (Cyaniris)  argiolus,  Linn.,  in  April. — It  is  interest- 
ing to  note  that  this  species,  which  was  first  observed  here  in  1899, 
seems  firmly  established,  as  to-day  I  have  seen  several  freshly 
emerged  specimens  flying  in  the  sunshine.  By  this  early  date  of 
appearance  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  have  hybernated  in  the 
pupal  stage. — Hamilton  H.  Druce  ;  The  Beeches,  Circus  Eoad, 
London,  N.W.,  April  18th,  1912. 

I  took  a  specimen  of  argiolus  in  my  garden  at  Kelly  College,  on 
Good  Friday,  April  5th.  —  H.  V.  Plum;  Kelly  College,  Tavistock, 
May  8th,  1912. 

Pyrameis  atalanta  and  p.  cardui  at  Dover. — A  pupil  (J.  P. 
Eestall)  informs  me  that  P.  atalanta  and  P.  cardui  are  swarming  at 
Dover.  I  may  add  that  I  saw  a  specimen  of  the  last-named  species 
at  Claygate  on  May  12th  last.  —  E.  A.  C.  Stowell  ;  Kingston 
Grammar  School,  Kingston-on-Thames,  May  17th,  1912. 

Pyrameis  atalanta  at  Haslemere. — On  May  12th  I  saw  a  fine 
specimen  of  P.  atalanta  flying  about  a  bed  of  nettles.  It  appeared 
to  be  in  good  condition. — Bertram  E.  Jupp  ;  Lyn  Lodge,  Camels- 
dale,  Haslemere. 

Pyrameis  atalanta  and  P.  cardui  in  Isle  of  Wight. — P.  cardui 
was  common  at  Sandown  on  May  14th,  and  the  specimens  were  in 
fine  condition.  One  very  fresh  specimen  of  P.  atalanta  was  noted. — 
Stanley  A.  Blenkarn  ;  "  Norham,"  Cromwell  Eoad,  Beckenham. 

Pyrameis  cardui  and  Nomophila  noctuella  at  Kew. — In  Kew 
Gardens,  on  May  14th,  I  saw  two  specimens,  both  seen  at  once,  of 
P.  cardui ;  also  one  example  of  A^.  noctuella,  clearly  pointing  to  a 
spring  immigration. — T.  A.  Chapman  ;  "  Betula,"  Eeigate. 

Pyrameis  cardui  in  Norfolk. — On  May  14th  last  I  captured  in 
Eoughton  Eectory  Garden,  near  Cromer,  a  specimen  of  P.  cardui.  It 
was  not  at  all  worn. — L.  W.  Eobinson  ;  Eoughton  Eectory,  Norwich. 

Manduca  (Acherontia)  atropos  in  Salop.  —  A  specimen  of 
M.  atropos  was  brought  to  me,  on  May  15th,  by  a  working  man  in 
Shifnal.  The  moth  had  entered  one  of  his  hives  and  driven  every 
bee  out,  queen  included.  I  note  that  Macroglossa  stellatarum  is  also 
about.  These  facts  point  to  a  migrant  year.  A  full-grown  larva  of 
Gastropacha  quercifolia  was  sent  to  me  from  a  garden  in  Welford- 
on-Avon. — L.  T.  Burt  ;  Buckley  Estate  Office,  near  Shifnal,  Salop. 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  183 

Phryxus  (Deilephila)  livornica  at  Dover. — I  am  pleased  to 
record  the  capture  of  P.  livornica  on  May  17th,  1912,  on  the 
Admiralty  Pier,  Dover,  by  a  Mr.  E.  King.  It  is  now  in  my  posses- 
sion.— F.  P.  Abbott  ;  8,  Beaconsfield  Eoad,  Dover,  May,  1912. 

Phryxus  livornica,  Manduca  atropos,  and  Heliothis  pelti- 
GERA  IN  Cornwall. — I  have  to  record,  between  May  9th  and  17th, 
the  capture  of  fifteen  P.  livornica,  one  M.  atropos  (female) ;  also  one 
H.  peltigera,  taken  at  light  in  South  Cornwall. — B.  Harold  Smith  ; 
Edgehill,  Warlingham,  Surrey. 

Sphinx  ligustri  in  May. — A  specimen  of  S.  ligustri  was  captured 
on  May  16th  last  at  Hampton  Wick.— E.  A.  C.  Stowell. 

Cbrura  bifida  in  May. — At  5  p.m.  on  May  1st  I  found  a  newly 
emerged  specimen  of  C.  bifida,  near  the  foot  of  a  poplar-tree. — 
E.  A.  C.  Stowell. 

Polyploca  flavicornis  in  February.  —  On  February  25th, 
between  11  and  12  a.m.,  I  saw  three  specimens  of  P.  flavicornis  at 
Oxshott.  They  were  drying  their  wings  and  sitting  about  a  foot 
from  the  ground. — E.  A.  C.  Stowell. 

Tephrosia  punctularia  in  March. — I  can  give  an  earlier  date  for 
T.punctularia  than  April  4th,  mentioned  by  Mr.  Dolton  {antea,  p.  157), 
as  I  found  the  species  on  palings  at  Esher  on  March  30th  last. — 
E.  A.  C.  Stowell  ;  Kingston  Grammar  School,  Kingston-on-Thames. 

Lepidoptera  at  Light  in  early  May. — The  following  records 
may  be  interesting  as  illustrating  the  abnormal  early  emergence  of 
some  insects  this  spring.  After  the  long  period  of  continuous  easterly 
wind,  a  change  took  place  on  May  1st,  and  that  evening  the  wind 
blew  gently  from  the  westward.  Thinking  I  might  obtain  a  few 
moths  around  the  several  street  lamps  in  the  neighbourhood,  I  went 
to  see ;  not  a  specimen  of  any  sort  was  about,  although  weather  con- 
ditions appeared  suitable.  However,  on  the  3rd  inst. — only  two 
evenings  later — around  the  same  lamps  I  secured,  in  the  course  of 
an  hour,  one  Stauropus  fagi,  Notoclonta  trepicla  (6),  Pheosia  clictce- 
oicles  (1),  and  Drymonia  chaonia  (1),  as  well  as  seeing  plenty  of 
commoner  species.  During  the  following  two  nights  I  took  several 
N.  trepicla,  and  one  or  more  specimens  of  P.  clictaa,  D.  chaonia, 
Demas  coryli,  Panolis  pinipercla,  Eustroma  silaceata,  Selenia  tetra- 
lunaria,  one  Lobophora  viretctta,  and  one  Anticlea  nigrofasciaria. 
The  sudden  emergence  of  Lepidoptera  after  the  period  of  east  winds 
struck  me  as  being  rather  remarkable. — Bertram  E.  Jupp  ;  Lyn 
Lodge,  Camelsdale,  Haslemere,  May  8th,  1912. 

Early  emergence  of  Lepidoptera. — It  may  be  of  interest  to 
record  the  following  early  emergences  : — April  20th,  Demas  coryli ; 
May  4th,  Agrotis  cinerea ;  May  5th,  DiantJmcia  cucuhali.  The 
above  all  came  to  hght  at  Warlingham.  This  afternoon  (May  11th)  I 
noticed  Macroglossa  stellatarum  flying  round  the  blossoms  of  Iris 
florentina. — B.  Harold  Smith  ;  Edgehill,  WarHngham,  Surrey. 

Dasycampa  rubiginea  at  Christchurch. — On  March  17th,  when 
searching  sallow-bloom  in  the  Christchurch  district,  I  found  a  female 


184  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

D.  ruhiginea  at  rest  on  a  twig  of  nut,  some  distance  away  from  the 
nearest  sallow.  It  laid  over  two  hundred  eggs,  and  later  I  had  nearly 
one  hundred  larvae  feeding.  —  E.  Piazza  ;  11,  St.  Phihp's  Koad, 
Surbiton. 

Blatella  germanica  (Orthopteea). — A  specimen  was  found  in 
Walker's  Brewery,  Warrington,  on  September  18th,  1911.  It  is  now 
in  the  Warrington  Municipal  Museum. — W.  J.  Lucas  ;  28,  Knight's 
Park,  Kingston-on-Thames. 

Notes  on  Lepidopteea  from  the  Isle  of  Wight. —  Vanessa  io, 
worn ;  Pararge  mcgcera,  common ;  V.  urticce,  a  few  specimens ;  Plusia 
gavima,  a  few  in  good  condition  ;  larvae  of  Euproctis  chrysorrhoea, 
very  abundant  on  the  cliti's,  where  it  was  rare  last  year ;  whilst 
Abraxas  grossulariata,  larvte  of  which  swarmed  last  year,  is  almost 
non-existent  this  year. — Stanley  A.  Blenkarn,  F.E.S  ;  "  Teneriffe," 
Sandown,  May  14th,  1912. 

West  Surrey  Lepidoptera. — Mr.  H.  0.  Holford's  record  in  the 
last  number  of  the  '  Entomologist '  {ante,  p.  157)  enables  me  to  supply 
some  additional  information  concerning  the  Lepidoptera  of  West 
Surrey.  In  the  early  seventies  my  friend  Mr.  John  Evershed,  Junr., 
now  of  the  Kodiakanal  Observatory  in  India,  frequently  collected 
with  me  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Wonersh,  near  Shalford,  w^iere  his 
family  then  resided.  One  season  (the  exact  year  has  unfortunately 
escaped  my  memory),  we  took  at  sugar  quite  a  large  number  of 
Calymnia  pyralina,  my  series  being  still  in  my  collection,  as  I  have 
never  taken  the  species,  since.  We  were  neither  of  us  very  greedy 
for  numbers  of  specimens,  and  we  only  took  a  small  portion  of  the 
number  seen  on  the  sugar  patches.  That  same  year  Xylophasia 
scolojMcina  was  quite  abundant  at  sugar  in  the  same  district.  At 
sallow,  near  Bramley,  in  the  spring  of  that  year,  among  the  usual 
species,  one  specimen  of  T.  leucographa  was  taken,  this  being,  so  far 
as  I  have  been  enabled  to  ascertain,  the  first  Surrey  record  for  this 
species. — E.  Meldola  ;  6,  Brunswick  Square,  W.C.,  May  3rd,  1912. 

Laphygma  exigua  in  South  Wales. — With  my  friend  Mr.  G.  D. 
Hancock  I  spent  last  week  in  South  Wales,  in  a  vain  search  for 
larvae  of  X.  conformis.  We  were  lucky  enough,  however,  to  find  a 
good  locality  for  L.  exigua,  of  which  we  took  eleven  specimens  in 
two  nights,  some  on  the  wing,  others  at  sugar.  I  see  that  Barrett 
states  that  the  imago  hybernates,  and  I  have  always  understood  that 
the  specimens  taken  in  the  spring  in  this  country  are  supposed  to  be 
immigrants.  Judging,  however,  from  the  condition  of  those  which 
we  secured,  I  feel  sure  they  were  recently  emerged  and  had  bred 
where  we  found  them.  I  always  believed,  too,  that  L.  exigua  liked  a 
strong  wind,  and  did  not  come  to  sugar  till  11  p.m.  or  later.  The 
two  nights  on  which  we  took  it  were,  however,  warm  and  still.  I 
took  one  insect  on  the  wing  at  8.30;  the  flight  seemed  to  be  over  by 
9  o'clock,  and  we  were  never  out  after  10  p.m. — Percy  C.  Eeid  ; 
Peering  Bury,  Kelvedon,  May  16th,  1912. 

Correction. — In  the  '  Entomologist,'  vol.  xHv.  p.  285  (1911), 
Mr.  E.  R.  Speyer  recorded  the  dimensions,  as  ascertained  by  myself. 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  185 

of  an  unusually  small  specimen  of  Pyrrliosoma  nymphula  taken  by 
him  near  Tunbridge  Wells  on  August  1st,  1909.  The  measurements 
themselves  are  correctly  quoted,  but  they  relate  to  a  male  and  not  to 
a  female  example,  as  stated  by  Mr.  Speyer. — H.  C. 

Collecting  in  Westmorland,  1911. — On  June  4th  we  spent 
a  pleasant  morning  amongst  the  butterflies,  and  netted  a  grand 
series  of  Lyccena  agestis  (male)  in  bred  condition.  The  abnormal 
heat  of  May  had  hastened  emergence,  and  both  Argynnis  euphro- 
syne  and  Nemeobius  lucina  were  worn.  A  somewhat  surprising 
capture  in  the  same  locality  (dry  limestone  formation)  was  half-a- 
dozen  A.  selene  in  none  too  fresh  condition.  In  this  neighbourhood 
we  generally  look  for  A.  selene  towards  the  end  of  June,  or  even 
early  July,  and  then  only  on  the  marshy  hillsides.  A  couple  of  Para- 
semia  plantaginis  (early)  and  several  Prothymnia  viridaria  completed 
the  bag.  Several  hours  beating  of  oak  on  the  5th  produced  only  two 
full-fed  larvae  of  T.  quercus.  All  foliage  was  unusually  forward,  and 
larvae  were  greatly  in  advance  of  the  average  season.  A  couple  of 
half-grown  larvae  of  N.  chaonia  fell  into  the  tray,  but  both  died  after 
spinning  up. 

The  evening  of  June  8th,  with  a  bright  cloudless  sky,  saw 
P.  plantaginis  flying  in  numbers.  From  6.30  p.m.  to  9  p.m.,  when 
the  sun  left  the  hillside,  they  dashed  madly  across  the  heather  and 
bracken,  never  attempting  to  "  settle."  The  effort  needed  to  overtake 
and  net  even  a  few  brought  us  quickly  to  a  state  of  exhaustion. 
Generally,  in  an  afternoon,  and  especially  if  the  sky  is  overcast, 
P.  i:)lantaginis,  when  disturbed,  will  fly  perhaps  fifty  yards  and  then 
drop,  when  it  may,  with  caution,  be  successfully  stalked  ;  but  this 
particular  evening  was  quite  evidently  their  "  night-out  "  !  The  var. 
hospita  is  unmistakable  on  the  wing,  but  several  taken,  even  at  this 
early  date,  were  so  far  worn  as  to  be  hardly  worth  setting.  It  was  a 
matter  of  considerable  regret  that  other  arrangements  prevented  me 
from  following  up  this  handsoiBO  species,  but  my  friend,  Mr.  G. 
Holmes,  was  lucky  enough  to  find  a  pair  in  cop.  (male  =  liospita, 
female  =  type).  From  these  he  obtained  a  quantity  of  ova,  and  the 
resulting  larvae  were  fed  on  broad-leaved  plantain.  A  good  pro- 
portion fed  up  quickly,  and  during  September  and  October  he  bred 
one  typical  male,  ten  var.  hospita,  and  thirteen  females,  six  of  the 
latter  being  more  or  less  crippled.  Hospita  is  a  lovely  thing  when 
bred.  Tvv'o  of  them  are  noteworthy  in  having  the  black  markings  of 
the  hind  wing  confined  to  the  marginal  area  with  the  exception  of  a 
pair  of  short  pencilled  streaks  at  the  base,  which  figuring  gives  the 
hind  wings  a  strikingly  white  appearance.  The  same  evening  (8th) 
about  7  p.m.  males  of  Macrothylacia  rubi  were  flying  low  over  the 
grass  in  search  of  females.     Two  of  the  latter  sex  were  netted. 

On  June  11th  I  paid  a  visit  to  the  "  moss  "  in  quest  of  C.  typhon, 
and  can  confirm  Mr.  B.  H.  Crabtree's  note  (Entom.  xliv.  p.  319)  on 
the  early  appearance  of  this  insect.  They  were  out  in  numbers,  but 
many  of  the  males  and  some  females  were  looking  very  ragged. 
Judging  by  their  condition,  I  can  quite  beheve  that  typhon  might 
have  been  taken  on  the  1st  of  the  month.  Perconia  strigillaria  and 
Acidalia  fumata  were  abundant,  and  one  newly  emerged  male 
Diacrisia  sanio  was  taken.     The  same  day  a  number  of  larvae  (about 


186  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

half  grown)  of  Triphosa  duhitata  were  found  on  the  under  sides  of 
buckthorn  leaves.  This  larva  has  a  habit  of  resting  in  a  curved 
position,  with  the  head  touching  the  eleventh  segment.  —  Frank 
LiTTLEWOOD.  (To  be  continued.) 


SOCIETIES. 
Entomological  Society  of  London. — Wednesday,  March  ^Oth, 
1912.  — Eev.  F.  D.  Morice,  M.A.,  President,  in  the  Chair. —The 
following  gentlemen  were  elected  Fellows  of  the  Society  : — Messrs. 
T.  W.  Allen,  M.A.,  30,  Blenheim  Gardens,  Cricklewood,  N.W. ; 
Edward  Stuart  Augustine  Baynes,  120,  Warwick  Street,  Eccleston 
Square,  S.W. ;  Gerald  Bedford,  Entomologist  to  the  Union  of 
South  Africa,  Department  of  Veterinary  Science,  Churchfelles, 
Horley,  and  Ondestepoort,  Transvaal ;  Capt.  Kenneth  Alan  Crawford 
Doig,  E.A.M.C,  M.R.C.S.,  F.R.C.P.,  Villa  Sorrento,  York  Eoad, 
Woking ;  Messrs.  Herbert  L.  Earl,  35,  Leicester  Street,  Southport, 
Lanes ;  C.  Jemmett,  Ashford,  Kent,  and  South-Eastern  Agricultural 
College,  Wye,  Kent ;  R.  D'A.  Morrell,  Authors'  Club,  1,  Whitehall 
Court,  S.W. ;  Charles  A.  Schunck,  Ewelme,  Wallingford. — The  death 
was  announced  of  Mr.  H.  J.  Adams,  of  Roseneath,  Enfield.  —  Com- 
mander J.  J.  Walker  exhibited  specimens  of  Glaviger  longicornis, 
Miill.  (with  C.  testaceus,  PreyssL,  for  comparison),  a  species  of 
Coleoptera  new  to  the  British  list.  They  were  taken  under  stones 
near  Kirtlington,  Oxfordshire,  in  May,  1906,  and  April,  1907,  in  nests 
of  small  yellow  and  black  ants  of  a  species  not  determined,  but 
suggested  by  Mr.  Donisthorpe  to  be  Lasius  umhratus. — Mr.  Donis- 
thorpe  exhibited  specimens  of  Microdon  mutahilis  bred  in  his 
observation  nest  of  Formica  fusca  from  Porlock,  also  the  nest  itself 
with  the  ants  and  a  live  larva  of  Microdon  taken  at  Porlock,  April 
27th,  1911,  and  pupa-cases  and  larvae  of  the  fly  in  spirit.  Mr.  W.  C. 
Crawley  said  that  he  had  found  one  larva  in  a  nest  of  Myrmica 
ruginodis  instead  of  the  usual  host  Formica  fusca. — Professor  Poulton 
exhibited  the  insects  in  the  following  list ;  all  the  specimens  had 
been  captured  in  forests  within  a  few  miles  of  Entebbe,  between 
May  23rd  and  July  25th,  1909  : — Neptidopsis  opliione,  Cram.,  Neptis 
melicerta,  Drury,  N.  agatJia,  Stoll,  N.  metella,  Dbl,  Hew.,  N.  nico- 
medes,  Hew.,  var.  quintilla,  Mab.,  N.  nemetes,  Hew.,  N.  saclava, 
Boisd.,  N.  nysiades,  Hew.,  ab.  continuata,  Holl.,  N.  piiella,  Auriv., 
Deilemera  leiiconoe,  Hopff.,  D.  transitella,  Strand. — Professor  Poulton 
exhibited  the  male  and  female  types  of  Neptis  sivynnertoni,  a  new 
species  from  S.E.  Rhodesia,  described  by  Mr.  Roland  Trimen,  F.R.S., 
together  with  a  specimen  captured  in  the  garden  at  Chirinda  (3800  ft.) 
on  March  28th,  1911,  by  Mr.  C.  F.  M.  Swynnerton.  —  Professor 
Poulton  exhibited  T.  formosa,  Godman,  and  its  mimic,  Papilio  rex, 
Oberth.,  from  the  Kikuyu  Escarpment,  near  Nairobi,  British  East 
Africa ;  the  same  Danaine,  and  the  transitional  Papilio  commixta, 
Auriv.,  from  Nyangori,  at  the  north-east  corner  of  the  Victoria 
Nyanza  ;  T.  mercedonia,  Karsch,  and  Papilio  viimeticus,  Rothsch., 
from  Buddu  on  the  west  shore  of  the  lake  ;  and  T.  morgeni,  Honrath, 
with  three  of  its  Amauris  models — psyttalea,  Plotz,  hecate,  Butler, 


SOCIETIES.  187 

and  an  undetermined  species,  probably  new,  from  the  Cameroons. — 
Professor  Poulton  exhibited  the  three  largest  Lycaenidas  captured  by 
Mr.  W.  A.  Lamborn,  and  suggested  that  an  undetermined  pupa  in 
the  nest  of  CEcophylla  might  possibly  belong  to  one  of  them.  He 
pointed  out,  however,  that  all  three  were  placed  among  the  Lipteninse, 
while  the  problematical  pupa  bore  much  resemblance  to  a  smaller 
one  which  produced  an  imago  belonging  to  the  Lycaeninse.  The 
three    large   species   were  Epitola  honorius,  F.,   male  and   female, 

E.  posthuvuis,  F.,  male,  and  Hewitsonia  boisduvali,  Hew.,  male  and 
female.  Mr.  Lamborn's  notes  on  the  two  females  showed  a  remark- 
able degree  of  sluggishness.  —  Professor  Poulton  exhibited  a  male 
Amauris  egialea.  Cram.,  recently  received  from  Mr.  W.  A.  Lamborn. 
The  "paper"  enclosing  the  specimen  bore  the  following  note: — 
*'  8  a.m.  Half  mile  [from  Oni  clearing] ;  Jan.  30th,  1912.  Observed 
flying  up  and  down.  It  then  settled  on  upper  surface  of  leaf  and 
started  to  pass  its  brushes  to  and  fro  over  its  scent-patches,  exactly 
as  Amauris  niavius    did.      Wings  were   rather   over-flexed."      Dr. 

F.  A.  Dixey  and  Professor  Kellogg,  of  California,  commented  on  this 
exhibit. — George  Wheeler,  M.A.,  Hon.  Sec. 

The  South  London  Entomological  and  Natural  History 
Society.— February  8th,  1912.— Mr.  A.  E.  Tonge,  F.B.S.,  President, 
in  the  chair. — Mr.  E.  Adkin  exhibited  an  aberration  of  Pyrameis 
atalanta  with  a  flesh-coloured  band  on  the  fore  wing. — Mr.  Newman, 
a  series  of  Ejjhyra  annulata  var.  obsoleta,  in  which  the  discoidal 
rings  on  the  fore  wings  were  absent. — Messrs.  Mitford,  Edwards, 
Coxhead,  and  West  (Ashtead),  exhibited  slides  under  the  microscope. 

February  22nd. — The  President  in  the  chair. — Mr.  Andrews,  a 
number  of  species  of  the  Trypetidae  family  of  the  Diptera,  all  from 
Milford  Haven. — Mr.  Turner,  a  dwarf  example  of  Colias  edusa  from 
near  Villeneuve,  measuring  32  mm.  in  expanse. — Mr.  Sheldon,  the 
Brenthids  he  took  last  year  in  Lapland,  B.frigga,  B.frieja,  B.  2>olaris, 
&c.,  and  gave  full  notes  on  their  characteristics  and  habits. 

March  28th.— Mv.  A.  E.  Tonge,  F.E.S.,  President,  in  the  chair. 
— Mr.  C.  F.  Lloyd,  of  Ashford  Common,  Middlesex,  was  elected 
a  member. — Mr.  B.  H.  Smith  exhibited  ova  of  Aviphidasys  strataria 
laid  by  a  female  with  which  he  had  assembled  five  males. — Mr. 
West,  the  specimen  of  Psylla  albipes  found  by  him  at  Box  Hill  in 
October  last,  and  new  to  the  British  list  of  Hemiptera. — Mr. 
Newman,  living  examples  of  Melitaa  aurinia,  bred  at  a  temperature 
of  sixty  to  seventy  degrees,  and  full-fed  larvae  of  Dryas  paphia  fed 
under  similar  conditions.  He  called  attention  to  the  extreme 
scarcity  of  larvae  of  Arctia  caia  and  of  Abraxas  grossulariata.  Mr. 
W.  G.  Sheldon,  specimen  of  Leptosia  sinapis  and  L.  duponcheli,  with 
the  summer  broods  of  the  same,  var.  diniensis  and  var.  cBstiva 
respectively,  and  pointed  out  that  the  British  summer  form  of  the 
former  species  was  an  intermediate  form. — Mr.  E.  Adkin,  a  specimen 
of  Hadena  porphyrea  (satitra),  and  read  a  series  of  historical  and 
critical  notes  on  the  species. — Mr.  Andrews,  the  Syrphid  S.  arcticus, 
taken  at  Chattenden  on  March  12th. — Mr.  Ashdown,  a  specimen  of 
Mysia  oblongo-guttata  ab.  nigro-guttata,  from  Oxshott,  in  May,  1911, 
and  recently  described  as  new. — Mr.  Sich,  for  Mr.  G.  B.  Eoutledge,  a 


188  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

melanic  example  of  Depressaria  aplana,  from  Carlisle. — Mr.  A.  E. 
Tonge,  a  living  specimen  of  Callophnjs  avis,  bred  ab  ovo. — -Mr. 
Edwards,  examples  of  the  closely  allied  Ornithoptera  0.  lydins  and 
0.  crcesus. — Mr.  H.  Main,  the  larva  of  the  alder-fly,  Sialis  lutaria. — 
H.  J.  Turner,  Hon.  Bepori.  Secretary. 


RECENT    LITERATURE. 

Batter  fly -Hunting  in  Many  Lands  :  Notes  of  a  Field  Naturalist. 
By  George  B.  Longstapf,  M.A.,  M.D.,  F.R.C.P.,  F.G.S.,  &c. 
To  which  are  added  Translations  of  Papers  by  Fritz  Muller 
on  the  Scent-organs  of  Butterflies  and  Moths :  with  a  Note  by 
E.  B.  PouLTON,  D.Sc,  F.R.S.  Pp.-xviii,  1-728.  Plates  i-xvi 
(seven  coloured).     London  :  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.     1912. 

Op  the  ten  chapters  into  which  this  handsome  volume  is  divided, 
the  first,  entitled  "  Some  Early  Reminiscences,"  treats  mainly  of  the 
author's  field-work  in  various  British  localities.  Among  other  inte- 
resting captures  mentioned  in  this  section  we  note — eighteen  larvae 
of  Orgyia  gonostigvia  on  Wimbledon  Common  (1864)  ;  Anticlea 
rubidata,  Wimbledon  Common  (1865) ;  Leucophasia  sinapis,  Lynd- 
hurst  (1865) ;  Boarmia  abietaria,  Rugby  (1866  or  7) ;  and  Macaria 
notata,  Combe  Wood  (1867). 

In  chapters  ii-ix  the  author's  impressions  of  the  countries  he 
travelled  through,  and  the  entomological  observations  he  made 
therein,  are  chronicled  in  narrative  form.  Not  only  as  regards 
butterflies,  but  every  insect  that  presented  itself  to  his  notice  seems 
to  have  been  annexed,  accurately  identified,  and  its  name  entered  in 
these  interesting  accounts  of  the  author's  wanderings  in  many  lands. 
India  and  Ceylon  were  visited  in  1903-4  ;  China,  Japan,  and  Canada  in 
1904  ;  Algeria  in  1905  ;  South  Africa  in  1905  ;  West  Indies  and  South 
America  in  1906-7  ;  and  New  Zealand  and  Australia  in  1910. 

Under  the  heading  "  Butterfly  Bionomics  "  (chapter  x.  pp.  489- 
600)  are  brought  together  valuable  notes  on  several  exceedingly 
interesting  subjects  such  as  Scents,  Tenacity  of  Life,  Successful 
Mimicry,  Peculiarities  of  Life,  Attitudes  at  Rest,  Seasonal  Forms,  &c. 

A  series  of  papers  on  scent-organs  in  Lepidoptera  (twelve  in 
number)  by  the  distinguished  naturalist  Fritz  Muller,  who  died  in 
1897,  form  the  Appendix  (pp.  601-666).  These  papers,  some  written 
in  German,  others  in  Portuguese,  have  been  ably  translated  by  Mr. 
Ernest  A.  Elliott,  and  English  students  will  be  grateful  to  him,  as 
well  as  to  Dr.  Longstaff,  for  their  publication  in  the  present  volume. 
The  Appendix,  which  is  prefaced  by  an  introductory  note  written  by 
Professor  Poulton,  D.Sc,  F.R.S. ,  is  illustrated  by  nine  plates. 

We  can  heartily  commend  this  capital  volume  of  travel  and 
entomology.  It  is  readable  from  cover  to  cover,  highly  interesting 
throughout,  and  very  instructive.  If  we  were  disposed  to  cavil  at 
aught,  we  might  take  exception  to  the  title,  which  does  not  appear 
to  present  an  adequate  conception  of  the  contents  of  the  book. 

The  six  excellent  coloured  plates,  drawn  by  Messrs.  Horace  and 
Edgar  S.  Knight,  represent  some  forty-eight  species  belonging  to 
various  Orders,  and  include  twenty-two  novelties. 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST 


Vol.  XLV.] 


JULY,    1912. 


[No.  590 


THE     LAEVA     OF     CARDIOPHORUS    ASELLUS 
(COLEOPTERA,     Fam.    ELATERID^). 

By  David  Sharp,  M.B.,  F.R  S,   F.E.S.,   &c. 


At  the  beginning  of  this  month  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting 
with  this  extraordinary  larva  near  Bournemouth.  I  have  for 
many  years  wished  to  see  this  larva,  not  only  because  of  its 
peculiarity,  but  because  some  of  the  points  in  the  literature 
about  it  are  vague  and  obscure.  Although  the  genus  Cardio- 
phorus  abounds  in  species,  some  of  which  are  very  abundant  in 
Continental  Europe,  yet  the  larva  is  so  seldom  met  with  that 
M.  Henri  du  Buysson,  who  has  devoted  many  years  to  the  study 
of  the  European  Elateridse,  has  never  seen  it ;  and  in  his  work 
(' Faune  gallo-rhenane  Elateridae')  recently  completed  has  been 
obliged  to  content  himself  with  a  summary  of  the  observations 
of  Schiodte  and  Ferris,  who  are  apparently  the  only  naturalists 
who  have  described  this  larva  from  personal  knowledge. 

When  I  obtained  it  I  thought  it  desirable  to  obtain  a  photo- 
graph before  it  underwent  post-mortem  changes  in  form,  and  my 
friend  Mr,  G.  T.  Lyle  has  been  so  good  and  so  skilful  as  to 
produce  a  likeness  that  gives  an  excellent  idea  of  the  form  and 
of  some  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  creature,  for  which  we  owe 
him  our  best  thanks. 

When  alive  the  larva  is  totally  dissimilar  in  its  movements 
from  other  Elaterid  larvse,  being  very  quick  and  agile.  The 
posterior  part  of  the  elongate  body  trails  behind,  and  when  it 
moves  forward  does  so  with  a  sort  of  peristaltic  movement.    But 

ENTOM. — JULY,    1912.  Q 


190  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

the  anterior  parts  are  quite  different  in  action ;  they  are  held 
raised  a  little  from  the  ground,  and  moved  about  quickly  from 
side  to  side  ;  the  head  moves  the  most  freely,  and  the  mouth- 
parts  are  kept  in  constant  and  rapid  vibration,  like  the  tongue 
of  a  snake ;  the  movements  indeed  are  singularly  reptilian,  as 
well  as  the  form  of  the  creature. 

As  regards  the  extraordinary  segmentation,  we  may  remark 
that  at  first  sight  there  appear  to  be :  head  +  4  thoracic  +  23 
abdominal  segments.  A  careful  examination  reduces  the  number 
of  segments  to  that  normal  for  coleopterous  larvae.  What  appears 
in  the  photograph  to  be  the  head  is  really  the  progndthous 
mouth-pieces,  which  are  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  head 
(i.  e.  the  elongated  part  that  immediately  follows)  by  a  trans- 
verse division  that  extends  completely  round.  The  head,  in 
fact,  is  excessively  elongate,  and  may  be  described  as  pseudo- 
bisegmental.  The  first  thoracic  segment  is  hard  and  of  a  brown 
colour  like  the  head ;  all  the  following  parts  are  pale  and  soft. 
In  length  the  three  thoracic  segments  are  subequal ;  and  the 
first  is  connected  with  the  head,  the  third  with  the  first  abdo- 
minal, and  the  three  one  with  the  other,  by  means  of  inter- 
segmental membranes  that  do.  not  differ  greatly  from  the 
intersegmental  membranes  of  ordinary  Elaterid  larvae  except 
by  being  somewhat  longer  and  more  exposed  than  usual.  The 
apparently  increased  number  of  abdominal  segments  is  due  to 
great  elongation  and  exposure  of  the  intersegmental  membranes. 
The  number  is  made  up  thus  :  first  abdominal  segment  consists 
of  two  divisions,  segments  2-7  consist  each  of  three  divisions, 
segment  8  of  two  divisions,  and  segment  9  is  single ;  thus 
making  up  twenty-three,  the  pseudo-segmental  number.  The 
true  tenth  abdominal  segment  is  concealed  in  a  dorsal  view  by 
being  placed  under  the  ninth.  When  the  larva  is  alive  there  is 
a  slight  difference  in  colour  and  texture  between  the  super- 
numerary divisions  and  the  others,  that  confirms  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  abdominal  structure  I  have  just  given. 

The  larva  was  found  by  Mr.  A.  Ford,  of  Bournemouth,  and 
myself  side  by  side  with  specimens  of  Cardiophorus  asellus  (of 
British  collections).  No  other  Cardiophorus  is  known  to  occur 
at  Bournemouth,  so  that  the  connection  of  the  larva  and  imago 
is  not  open  to  doubt.  I  mention  this  because  the  larva  described 
and  figured  by  Schiodte  in  his  well-known  work  is  said  to  be 
that  of  C.  asellus.  If  so,  his  figure  is  far  from  successful,  and 
I  believe  it  really  pertains  to  a  species  different  from  that  I  have 
described.  Perris's  figure  (204,  '  Larves  de  Coleopteres  ')  is  said 
to  be  G.  rufipes :  this  figure  gives  a  better  general  idea  of  our 
larva  than  does  that  of  Schiodte,  which  is  far  too  broad  and 
robust. 

The  peculiarities  of  the  larva  of  Cardiophorus  are  far  from 
being  confined  to  its  segmentation.    But  a  consideration  of  them 


NOTES    ON    THE    BRITISH    MOSQUITOS.  191 

would  involve  comparisons  and  discussions  that  would  extend 
far  beyond  the  limits  of  an  article  in  the  '  Entomologist.' 

I  may  mention  that  the  larva  was  found  in  the  purest  and 
driest  of  fine  sea-sand.  It  was  brought  home  in  a  tin  containing 
some  of  the  sand;  this  was  wetted  and  so  made  more  solid, 
and  the  larva  evidently  appreciated  this,  and  burrowed  in  the 
wet  sand.  I  did  not  "keep  it  long  alive,  as  I  feared  it  might 
change  to  a  pupa.  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  is  carnivorous  and 
predaceous. 

Brockenhurst :  May  28th,  1912. 


NOTES   ON   THE   BEITISH   MOSQUITOS   (CULICIN.E). 
By  F.  W.  Edwards,  B.A.,  F.E.S. 

(Published  by  Permission  of  the  Trustees  of  the  British  Museum.) 

Considering  the  great  interest  now  taken  in  the  blood-sucking 
gnats  or  "  mosquitos,"  their  economic  importance  in  relation  to 
disease,  the  large  number  of  workers  engaged  in  their  study, 
and  the  enormous  output  of  literature  concerning  them,  it  is 
somewhat  remarkable  that  so  little  has  been  written  about  the 
British  species.  Indeed,  the  only  attempt  at  a  general  syste- 
matic account  of  them  (apart  from  the  treatment  in  Walker's 
'Insecta  Britannica,  Diptera'  [1856]),  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  is  that 
of  Stevens,  published  in  1825.  Needless  to  say,  these  are  hope- 
lessly out  of  date,  and  the  descriptions  are  so  meagre  that  it  is 
impossible  to  recognize  to  what  insects  they  are  intended  to  apply. 
Thus  their  determination  is  a  matter  of  needless  difficulty.  It  is 
true  that  good  descriptions  of  most  of  the  species  are  to  be  found 
in  Theobald's  '  Monograph  of  the  Culicidae  of  the  World,'  but  these 
have  to  be  picked  out  of  an  enormous  mass  of  material,  while 
the  keys  to  the  genera  and  species  which  the  author  gives  are  in 
many  cases  difficult  of  application  and  not  of  much  value  ;  to 
say  nothing  of  the  fact  that  his  system  of  classification  is  not 
accepted  by  other  entomologists  who  have  studied  these  insects, 
and  by  dipterists  in  general.  This  being  the  state  of  affairs,  it 
seems  as  though  it  would  be  of  use  to  give  a  concise  synopsis 
of  the  British  species,  taking  into  account  the  most  recent 
researches.  It  is  hoped  that  the  following  tables  and  notes  will 
be  found  workable  and  helpful,  and  that  they  may  be  the  means 
of  inducing  some  to  take  up  the  study  of  these  interesting 
insects  during  the  present  summer.  There  is  much  work  yet 
to  be  done  before  our  knowledge  of  them  approaches  com- 
pleteness :  the  larvae  of  several  species  are  yet  undiscovered, 
and  it  is  probable  that  even  the  number  of  species  on  the  British 
list  is  not  yet  complete.     One  species  is  introduced  in  the  present 

Q  2 


192  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

paper  as  new  to  our  fauna,  and  others  are  very  likely  to  occur  if 
searched  for. 

The  writer  merely  hopes  in  these  notes  to  pave  the  way  for 
further  and  more  detailed  work  by  enabling  the  collector  to 
name  his  material  correctly.  With  this  end  in  view,  tables  for 
determining  the  adults  are  given,  with  brief  descriptions  of  each 
species.  The  common  gnat  is  so  well  known  that  no  general 
description  is  necessary — all  Diptera  with  a  long  proboscis  and 
the  same  type  of  wing-venation  as  is  found  in  Culex  pipiens 
may  be  assumed  to  be  "  mosquitos."  This  term  is  rightly 
applicable  to  any  member  of  the  group,  and  should  not  be 
limited  to  a  particular  species  or  genus. 

The  following  artificial  key  may  serve  as  a  rough  guide  in 
the  identification  of  a  specimen,  but  its  proper  generic  position 
should,  of  course,  be  ascertained  by  the  aid  of  the  tables  : — 

A.  Tarsi  ringed  with  white  at  the  bases  of  the  joints. 

a.  Metatarsi  without  a  median  pale  ring. 

0.  cantans,  0.  annulipes,  0.  vexans. 

b.  Metatarsi  with  a  median  pale  ring. 

Th.  anmdata,  Teen,  richiardii. 

B.  Tarsi  pale-ringed,  the  rings  embracing  both  ends  of  the  joints. 

a.  Abdomen  with  a  median  longitudinal  pale  stripe,  more  or  less 

interrupted. 
0.  dorsal  is. 

b.  Abdomen  without  such  stripe,  but  with  whitish  bands  at  the 

bases  of  the  segments. 
Th.  morsitans,  Th.  theobaldi. 

C.  Tarsi  entirely  dark. 

a.  Abdomen  not  scaly.     Anopheles. 

b.  Abdomen  scaly. 

i.  Segments  of  abdomen  with  complete  basal  pale  bands. 

0.  divcrsus,  0.  nemorosus,  0.  salinus,  C.  pipiens. 
ii.  No  complete  pale  bands  on  abdomen. 
0.  lateralis,  A.  cinereus. 

Table  of  Genera. 
Males  (antenna  plumose)  : 

1.  Scutellum  rounded  ;  legs  very  slender  ;  abdomen 

without  scales 1.  Anopheles. 

Scutellum  more  or  less  trilobed  ;  abdomen  scaly 
(the  scales  are,  of  course,  easily  rubbed  off,  but 
will  be  quite  evident  except  in  very  bad  speci- 
mens)   2. 

2.  Palpi  very  short 3.  Aedes. 

Palpi  long,  rarely  shorter  than  the  proboscis         .  3. 

3.  Last  two  joints  of  palpi  more  or  less  swollen,  and 

never  curved  upwards 4. 

Last  two  joints  of  palpi  quite  thin,  curved  upwards     6.  Culex. 

4.  Last   joint  of  palpi  distinctly    thicker   than   the 

penultimate 5.  Theobaldia. 


NOTES    ON    THE    BRITISH    MOSQUITOS.  193 

Last  joint  of  palpi  never  thicker  than  penultimate. 

usually  distinctly  thinner    .         .         .         .         •  5. 

5.  The  smaller  claw  on  the  fore  and  luid  feet  simple 

(metatarsi  with  pale  rings  in  the  middle)    4.  TiENiOEHYNCHUS. 
The  smaller  claw  on  the  fore  and  mid  feet  toothed 

(metatarsi  not  pale-ringed  in  the  middle)      2.  Ochlebotatus. 

Females  : 

1.  Palpi  as  long  as  proboscis     ....        1.  Anopheles. 
Palpi  much  shorter  than  proboscis         .      _  .         .  2. 

2.  Claws  toothed  (rarely  the  hind  pairs  are  simple); 

abdomen  pointed  ;  ovipositor  externally  promi- 
nent   .........  3. 

Claws  all  simple  ;  abdomen  usually  blunt-ended  ; . 
ovipositor  hardly  visible  externally     .         .         .  4:. 

3.  Head  almost  covered  with  broad  flat  scales  .         .     3.  Aedes. 
Middle  of  head  (above)  with  only  quite  narrow 

scales 2.  Ochlerotatus. 

4.  Hind  metatarsus  shorter  than  the  tibia         .         .  5. 
Hind  metatarsus  as  long  as  the  tibia     .         .         .6.  Culex. 

5.  Cross-veins  separated  by  less  than  the  length  of 

the  posterior  ;   lateral  vein-scales  narrow     .       5.  Theobaldia. 
Cross-veins  separated  by  more  than  the  length  of 
the  posterior ;  lateral  vein-scales  mostly  rather 
broad 4.  T^nioehynchus. 

Genus  1.  Anopheles. 

The  species  of  this  genus  are  readily  recognized  by  the  long 
female  palpi,  and  by  a  number  of  minor  characters,  such  as  the 
absence  of  scales  on  the  body. 

We  have  only  three  species  o(  Anopheles  in  Britain.  Theobald, 
indeed,  states  that  he  has  taken  a  fourth — the  North  American 
A.  barheri — in  England,  but  this  requires  confirmation.  The 
larva  of  A.  barheriis  distinguished  from  those  of  other  Anopheles 
by  "the  slight  development  of  the  head  hairs,  the  presence  of 
plumose  hairs  after  the  third  abdominal  segment,  and  the 
absence  of  short  teeth  on  the  comb  of  the  eighth  segment." 

1.  A.  macuUpennis,  Mg. ;  the  Spotted  Gnat. — Distinguished 
from  the  other  two  species  by  the  presence  of  spots  on  the  wings, 
formed  by  the  accumulation  of  scales.  Grey-brown  to  grey- 
ochreous  in  colour.     Average  length  (without  proboscis),  6  mm. 

Widely  distributed  in  the  south  and  east  of  England,  and 
common  in  marshy  places  ;  occurs  also  in  North  Wales. 

2.  A.  bifnrcatus,  h.  —  Closely  resembles  A.  macuUpennis  in 
size  and  colour,  but  differs  most  obviously  in  the  entire  absence 
of  the  dark  spots  on  the  wingSc  It  seems  to  be  less  common 
than  the  preceding,  but  has  a  similar  distribution. 

3.  A.  plumbeus,  Stephens.  —  Smaller  and  darker  than  the 
two  preceding ;  the  wings  are  somewhat  narrower,  the  scales 


194  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

being  blacker  and  rather  denser ;  the  thorax  (in  good  specimens) 
is  ashy-grey  in  the  middle,  blackish  at  the  sides,  and  bears 
anteriorly  some  white  hair-like  scales,  the  vestiture  of  the 
thorax  in  the  other  two  species  being  yellowish  ;  the  abdomen 
is  black,  not  brown  or  greyish-brown.  Average  length,  4-5  mm. 
This  species  seems  to  have  a  wider  distribution  than  the 
other  two,  as  it  has  been  recorded  from  Scotland  and  Ireland. 
As  Theobald  remarks:  "There  is  little  doubt  that  Haliday's 
[Stephens's]  A.  plumheus,  taken  in  the  North  of  Ireland  in 
July,  is  this  species  [A.  nigripes,  Staeger]."  It  is  best  known 
under  this  latter  name. 

Genus  2.  Ochlerotatus. 

This  genus  includes  most  of  the  European  species  till  recently 
placed  in  Ciilex.  It  is,  however,  at  least  as  distinct  from  Culex 
as  Acdes  is.  The  eggs  are  deposited  singly  (as  in  Acdes),  not  in 
masses  (as  in  Culex). 

The  writer  has  been  able  to  recognize  eight  species  in  Britain, 
which  can  be  distinguished  as  follows  : — 

1.  Tarsi  (especially  those  of  the  hind  legs)  pale-ringed  .  2. 
Tarsi  entirely  dark    .         .         . "       .         .         .         .  5. 

2.  Pale  rings  of  tarsi  embracing  both  ends  of  the  joints, 

on  hind  legs  the  whole  of  the  last  joint  is  pale       .  1.  dorsalis. 
Pale  rings  of  tarsi  at  bases  of  joints  only  ...  3. 

3.  Pale  rings  of  hind  tarsi  very  narrow  ;  wing-scales  all 

dark 2.  vcxans. 

Pale  rings  of  hind  tarsi  broad,  except  on  first  and  last 
joints  ;  wings  with  both  dark  and  light  scales         .  4. 

4.  Yellower  species  ;  a  broad  band  of  yellowish  scales 

on  each  side  of  the  mesonotum       .         .         .         .3.  ammlipes. 
Browner  species  ;  mesonotum  mostly  brown-scaled, 
with  lateral  spots  or  lines  of  whitish  scales    .  4.  maculatus. 

5.  Segments  of  abdomen  with  basal  pale  bands  ;  mar- 

gins of  thorax  not  whitish 6. 

Segments  of  abdomen  with  lateral  basal  white  spots ; 
margins  of  mesonotum  broadly  wdiite-scaled  .         .  8.  lateralis. 

6.  Wings  speckled  with  light  and  dark  scales,  on  nearly 

all  the  veins 5.  salinus. 

"Wings  with  few  or  no  light  scales     .         .         :         .  7. 

7.  Pale  bands  of  abdomen  yellow,  tending  to  spread  out 

in  the  middle,  and  sometimes  forming  a  median 
yellow  line  on  the  last  few  segments       .         .         .6.  divcrsus. 
Pale  bands  of  abdomen  whitish,  tending  to  spread 
out  laterally,  and  sometimes  almost  divided  into 
pairs  of  triangular  spots  ....  7.  nemorosus. 

1.  O.  dorsalis,  Mg. — Scales  of  head  bright  reddish-brown  at 
the  sides,  whitish  in  the  middle.  Thorax  mainly  clothed  with 
bright  reddish-brown  scales,  but  with  two  rather  broad  whitish 
longitudinal  stripes.     Wings  and  legs  speckled  with  dark  and 


DESCKIPTION   OF    A    NEW    SPECIES   OF    ANOMALON.  195 

light  scales,  as  in  0.  maculatiis  and  0.  nemorosus.  Abdomen 
with  yellowish  bands,  each  embracing  two  contiguous  segments, 
and  connected  by  a  median  dorsal  yellowish  line,  so  that  in  pale 
specimens  each  segment  of  the  abdomen  appears  to  have  a  pair 
of  subquadrate  dark  brown  patches.  Average  length,  $  6'5  mm., 
?  5  mm. 

This  species  occurs  abundantly  at  Aldborough,  Suffolk,  and 
has  been  taken  at  various  places  in  the  London  district  (Charlton, 
Dartford,  Albert  Docks,  Lewisham,  Camberwell,  Chiswick,  Stam- 
ford Hill),  and  at  Kochester  and  Wyre  Forest. 

I  believe  that  Eondani's  Culex  imlchripalins  and  G.  penicillaris 
are  both  synonyms.  Theobald  introduced  C .  imlchripalins  as  British 
on  the  strength  of  some  specimens  of  tliis  species  taken  at  the  Albert 
Docks. 

2.  0.  vexans,  Mg. — Thorax  dark  brown,  uniformly  clothed 
with  dark  golden-brown  scales.  Pale  bands  of  abdomen  (in 
female  at  least)  narrowly  interrupted  at  the  sides  and  indented 
in  the  middle,  so  that  they  appear  bilobed.  Male  genitalia  very 
peculiar,  the  claspers  being  forked.  Average  length,  3-  6  mm., 
?  5  mm. 

This  species  has  at  present  but  slender  claims  to  a  place  in 
the  British  list.  It  has  been  confused  with  Thcohaldia  morsitans, 
and  probably  some  of  the  old  records  of  0.  vexans  really  refer  to 
that  species.  In  the  old  CUfton  collection  in  the  British  Museum 
were  seven  specimens  of  this  species,  all  without  locality  label — 
three  females  unnamed,  and  two  males,  two  females  labelled 
*'  ?  calopus,  Meig."  Apart  from  these  the  only  British  specimens 
I  have  seen  or  heard  of  are  a  male  and  female  in  the  Cambridge 
Museum,  taken  at  Mildenhall,  Suffolk,  July,  1894,  by  Mr.  C.  G. 
Lamb.  Both  these  are  very  much  rubbed,  and  the  characteristic 
abdominal  markings  of  the  female  removed. 

0.  vexans  occurs,  I  believe,  in  North  America  under  the  name  of 
sylvestris,  Theo. — variously  placed  in  Culex,  Ecculcx,  or  A'ccles. 
Theobald's  type  was  said  to  have  the  hind  claws  of  the  female 
simple,  but  most  American  specimens  have  them  toothed,  like  the 
European  0.  vexans. 

(To  be  continued.) 


DESCEIPTION    OF    A   NEW   SPECIES    OF    ANOMALON 
(ICHNEUMONID^)    FKOM    HONGKONG. 

By  p.  Cameron. 

Anomalon  pyretoriim,  sp.  n. 
Ferruginous,  the  abdomen  brighter  in  tint ;  the  front  broadly,  the 
vextex   less   broadly,    occiput,  the  greater   part  of  mesonotum,  the 
lower  part  of  the  pro-  and  mesopleurse,  the  metathorax,  and  more  than 


196  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

the  basal  three-fourths  of  the  second  abdominal  segment  above,  black  ; 
the  four  front  legs  bright  yellow,  the  coxae  broadly  at  the  base  below 
rufous,  the  hind  legs  rufous,  the  coxie  in  the  middle  broadly  above 
and  entirely  below,  and  the  apical  third  of  the  hind  tibiae,  black,  the 
hind  tarsi  yellow,  tinged  with  fulvous,  the  base  rufous.  The  face, 
clypeus,  mandibles,  and  palpi  bright  yellow,  as  are  also  the  malar 
space  and  a  line  on  the  lower  part  of  the  outer  orbits.  Wings  fulvous- 
hyaline,  the  apex  broadly  tinged  with  fuscous  violaceous,  the  ner- 
vures  black,  the  costa  and  stigma  rufo-testaceous.  Male.  Length, 
28  mm. 

Bred  from  the  larva  of  Saturnia  pyretorum,  West.  Received 
by  Mr,  J.  Henry  Watson  from  Hongkong. 

Head,  thorax,  and  base  of  legs  densely  covered  with  pale,  almost 
fulvous  pubescence.  The  vertex  between  the  ocelli  is  irregularly, 
stoutly  striated,  a  stout  stria  runs  down  from  outside  the  posterior 
ocelli,  and  two  stout  oblique  ones  from  between  the  outer  and  lower. 
Parapsidal  furrows  with  stout  striae,  which  are  more  numerous  on 
the  base.  Middle  of  propleurae  stoutly  striated,  the  striae  almost 
forming  reticulations ;  there  is  a  broad  reticulated  band  on  the  meso- 
pleuraB  below  the  middle,  the  band  widest  at  the  base.  Metathorax 
strongly  reticulated.  Mesosternal  furrow  curved,  crenulated  ;  it  is 
on  the  basal  two-thirds.  The  transverse  median  nervure  is  received 
shortly  beyond  the  transverse ;  in  the  hind  wings  the  transverse 
cubital  is  broken  shortly  below  the  middle.  The  basal  joints  of  the 
flagellum  are  yellow  below. 


SOME     NEW     SPECIES     OF     ZAMARADA 
(Fam.    GEOMETPJDiE). 

By  Louis  B.  Prout,  F.E.S. 

Chiefly  through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  F.  W.  Short,  B.Sc, 
F.LE.,  of  Selukwe,  S.  Ehodesia,  I  have  accumulated  some  very 
interesting  material  in  the  genus  Zamarada,  Moore,  which 
seems  to  be  remarkably  prevalent  in  his  district.  As  most  of 
the  forms  are  represented  by  more  than  one  specimen,  and 
entirely  without  intergrades,  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt 
as  to  their  specific  rank,  although  the  structural  uniformity 
throughout  the  genus  robs  one  of  the  most  decisive  criteria.  I 
subjoin  descriptions  of  the  new  species. 

Zamarada  bat]iyscaphes,  n.  sp. 

^  ?  ,  26-27  mm.  Face  and  palpus  mixed  red  and  pale  ochreous. 
Vertex  and  antenna  pale  ochreous ;  occiput  red.  Thorax  and  abdo- 
men above  red,  beneath  (with  legs)  pale. 

Both  wings  very  pale,  iridescent  yellow-green,  with  small  basal 
patch,  broad  distal  border,  slight  inner-mai'ginal  shading  and  very 
small  discal  spot  red  (a  blend  of  bright  rufous,  yellowish  and  violet 
scales),  the  fore  wing  in  addition  with  costal  edge  (to  SC)  ochreous 


SOME    NEW   SPECIES    OF    ZAMARADA.  197 

spotted  with  red  ;  the  distal  border  4  mm.  broad  anteriorly  on  fore 
wing,  sHghtly  less  posteriorly  and  on  hind  wing,  margined  by  a  fine 
darker  red  or  blackish  line  proximally  and  traversed  by  a  usually 
indistinct,  interrupted,  dentate,  pale  (in  some  lights  silvery)  sub- 
terminal  line  ;  between  E^  and  M^  the  ground  colour  encroaches  very 
deeply  into  the  band,  almost  touching  the  termen  at  M^  and  IVP,  but 
leaving  a  small  pyramidal  red  spot  between  these  veins.  Fringe 
yellowish,  marked  with  red  at  the  vein-ends.  Under  side  similar, 
shghtly  paler,  the  red  border  without  markings. 

Selukwe,  October,  1911 ;  two  females  (type  and  co-type). 
Also  three  males  :  one  taken  early  in  1911 ;  one,  December, 
1911;  one,  March,  1912.  In  the  females  the  discal  spot  of 
hind  wing  is  almost  obsolete,  but  it  is  distinct  in  all  the  three 
males.  Otherwise  there  is  no  appreciable  variation,  except 
slightly  in  the  strength  of  the  markings  on  the  border.  May 
possibly  prove  a  local  race  of  vulpina,  Warr.  (Novit.  Zool.  iv. 
123),  from  West  Africa. 

Zamarada  jnirimargo,  n.  sp. 

5  ,  29  mm.  Face  and  palpus  rufous  mixed  wuth  pale  ochreous. 
Vertex  and  antenna  pale  ochreous.  Occiput  with  thorax  and  abdo- 
men dorsally  bright  rufous  with  slight  violet  reflections. 

Fore  wing  very  pale,  translucent  yellow-green,  with  hyaline 
reflections,  veins  yellower ;  costa  to  SC  pale  ochreous,  except  at 
base  ;  a  small  red  basal  patch,  a  distal  border  of  about  the  same 
breadth  as  in  the  preceding  species,  of  a  delicate  rufous  with  a 
slight  admixture  of  shining  violet  scales,  without  traces  of  pale  or 
dark  markings,  and  with  only  a  comparatively  shallow,  rounded 
sinus  (narrowing  the  border  by  less  than  half  its  width)  between 
E^  and  M'l  Hind  wing  similar  excepting  costa,  but  the  basal  patch 
much  smaller  and  the  proximal  edge  of  the  red  border  running 
obliquely  after  the  sinus,  so  as  to  reach  inner  margin  at  middle. 
Fringes  pale  yellowish,  tinged  with  red  proximally.  Under  side 
quite  similar,  somewhat  more  washed-out. 

Selukwe,  October  20th-27th,  1911  ;  type  in  coll.  L.  B.  Front. 
A  co-type,  precisely  similar,  but  with  minute  discal  dots,  which 
are  virtually  obsolete  in  the  type,  Lilongwe  district.  Central 
Angoniland,  4-5000  ft.,  June  2nd,  1910  (S.  A.  Neave)  in  coll. 
Brit.  Mus. 

Perhaps  nearest  to  pyrocincta  ab.  1  of  Hampson  (Proc.  Zool. 
Soc.  Lond.,  1910,  p.  470),  but  with  larger  basal  patch,  terminal 
bands  broader,  more  devoid  of  markings,  and  at  inner  margin 
of  hind  wing  quite  differently  shaped. 

Zamarada  nehulimargo,  n.  sp. 

<? ,  27-29  mm.  Face  and  palpus  ochreous,  mixed  with  reddish 
fuscous.  Vertex,  antenna,  and  dorsal  surface  of  body  the  same,  body 
beneath  and  legs  (excepting  upper  and  inner  side  of  fore  leg)  without 
fuscous  admixture. 


198  THE   ENTOMOLOGIST. 

Fore  wing  pale  brownish  ochreous,  very  finely  (along  costa 
coarsely  and  more  densely)  speckled  with  fuscous,  the  costal  region 
to  SC  somewhat  deeper  and  brighter  ochreous,  inner-marginal  area 
also  somewhat  clouded :  a  large,  somewhat  diamond-shaped  purple- 
fuscous  discal  spot,  blacker  at  edges,  and  a  moderately  broad  distal 
border  of  a  somewhat  darker,  more  reddish  tone,  irregularly  dusted 
with  purple-fuscous,  this  dusting  sparse  in  distal  half,  but  concen- 
trated in  proximal  into  a  somewhat  interrupted  purplish  band  from 
SC  to  inner  margin  (weakest  between  radials),  followed  by  some 
tooth-shaped  dark  markings  between  the  veins ;  the  sinus  between 
E-''  and  M^  common  to  most  of  the  genus,  is  present  though  not 
very  deep ;  a  very  fine  sinuous  ferruginous-fuscous  line  precedes  the 
border;  terminal  dark  line  slightly  interrupted  ;  fringe  pale  brownish 
ochreous.  Hind  wing  similar,  the  purplish  half-band  in  distal  area 
somewhat  weaker.  Under  side  similar,  more  thinly  scaled,  almost 
unmarked  excepting  the  cell-spots  and  submarginal  band,  which  are 
rather  deeper  purple ;  costa  nearly  as  above ;  marginal  band  ochreous, 
not  reddish-tinted. 

Selukwe,  October,  1911 ;  type  in  coll.  L.  B.  Prout.  Three  other 
males,  worn,  but  recognizable  (by  their  colour,  large  discal  spots, 
&c.),  October,  1911,  and  March,  1912;  also  in  coll.  L.  B.  Prout. 
Victoria  Falls,  February  20th,  1911  (L.  A.  Sabine),  male  in  coll. 
L.  B.  Prout.  Salisbury,  Mashonaland,  March,  1899,  February, 
1900,  and  March,  1905  (G.  A.  K.  Marshall) ;  Fort  Jameson  to 
Lundazi,  N.E.  Ehodesia,  4000  ft.,  June  14th,  1910  (S.  A. 
Neave) ;  all  in  coll.  Brit.  Mus.     Female  still  unknown. 

Perhaps  rather  near  ochrata,  Warr.  (Novit.  Zool.  ix.  518), 
from  British  East  Africa,  but  larger,  without  basal  patch  and 
median  shade,  and  with  other  differences. 

Zamarada  ignicosta,  n.  sp. 

^ ,  27  mm.  Face,  crown,  and  proximal  half  of  antennal  shaft 
pale  ochreous,  almost  entirely  covered  with  bright  rufous  speckling. 
Palpus,  antenna  distally,  and  collar  pale  ochreous.  Thorax  and  abdo- 
men above  mostly  covered  with  bright  rufous  and  violet,  the  former 
with  a  narrow  anterior  band  concolorous  with  costa  of  fore  wing,  the 
latter  with  paler  mediodorsal  spots. 

Wings  hyahne,  very  pale  greenish,  with  iridescent  reflections  ;  a 
rather  faint  but  coarse  speckling  or  short  strigulation  of  reddish 
brown,  denser  at  inner  margin.  Fore  wing  with  costal  margin 
reddish  ochreous  much  mixed  with  bright  red  and  sprinkled  with 
minute  lustrous  bluish-silvery  scales.  Both  wings  with  indistinct 
dark  discal  dot  and  rather  narrow  distal  border,  formed  and  coloured 
about  as  in  the  Indian  translucida,  Moore,  bounded  proximally  by 
a  deeper  red  line  and  traversed  by  an  interrupted,  dentate  silvery 
line,  which  encloses  proximally  within  some  of  its  teeth  subtriangular 
red  spots  of  a  deeper  red  colour  than  the  ground  of  the  border ;  traces 
of  other  silvery  lines  proximally  and  distally  to  the  dentate  line. 
Fringe  reddish,  darkest  opposite  the  veins  ;  a  sprinkling  of  minute 
silvery  scales.  Under  side  with  the  border  present,  but  duller ;  no 
lustrous 


SOME    NEW   SPECIES   OF    ZAMAEADA.  199 

Victoria  Falls,  Ehodesia,  May  26tb,  1911  (L.  A.  Sabine) ; 
type  in  coll.  L.  B.  Prout.  A  second  male  from  Upper  Luangwa, 
Luwumba  Valley,  N.E.  Ehodesia,  2500-3500  ft.,  July  21st,  1910 
(S.  A.  Neave),  'in  coll.  Brit.  Mus.,  may  belong  to  the  same 
species,  but  the  vertex  and  antennal  shaft  are  pale  (the  specimen 
possibly  a  little  faded),  and  the  under  side  has,  at  the  two  broad 
parts  of  the  fore  wing  border  and  the  anterior  one  of  the  hind 
wing,  blackish  proximal  markings  of  which  the  type  shows  no 
indication. 

Although  the  ground  colour  of  this  species,  when  viewed 
from  above,  is  nearly  as  green  as  that  of  bathyscaphes,  jmrimargo, 
&c.,  the  iridescent  reflections  are  mainly  pink  and  purple,  giving 
it  an  entirely  different  aspect  on  a  change  in  the  incidence  of 
the  light. 

Zamarada  fessa,  n.  sp. 

3"  2  ,  24-30  mm.  Head,  body  and  wings  pale  grey  with  a  slight 
lilacine  tinge,  more  or  less  speckled  with  fuscous ;  the  under  side  of 
body,  with  legs,  paler  and  more  ochreous,  scarcely  speckled. 

Fore  wing  with  costal  margin  ochreous,  densely  dark-speckled,  as 
far  as  outer  line  otherwise  hyaline,  almost  colourless,  somewhat  less 
iridescent  than  in  most  of  the  allies ;  a  distinct  black  discal  dot ;  a 
moderately  broad  distal  border  formed  of  a  blend  of  violet-grey  and 
reddish  scales  and  containing  some  very  slightly  darker,  redder 
dentate  spots  suggesting  a  very  vague  and  interrupted  band  before 
the  subterminal,  the  subterminal  itself  almost  entirely  obsolete  ;  a 
weakly  lunulate-dentate  dark  line  (proximally  ochreous-edged)  bounds 
the  distal  area,  into  which  the  ground  colour  projects  moderately 
between  E^  and  M^ ;  terminal  line  more  ochreous  ;  fringe  grey. 
Hind  wing  similar,  excepting  the  costa.  Under  surface  with  the 
distal  border  more  sombre,  more  uniform,  not  bounded  by  a  dark 
line. 

Selukwe,  four  males,  four  females,  October,  1911,  to  January, 
1912  ;  the  type  (a  female)  taken  October  20th-27th,  1911 ;  all  in 
coll.  L.  B.  Prout. 

Zamarada  metiioscaphes,  n.  sp. 

3 ,  26  mm.  Face,  vertex,  and  antenna  ochreous,  spotted  with 
blackish  fuscous.  Palpus  ochreous.  Abdomen  dorsally  purple- 
fuscous,  with  some  ochreous  spots. 

Fore  wing  pale,  translucent  yellow-green  irrorated  with  scattered 
fuscous  strigulaB,  more  copious  at  inner  margin ;  costa  to  SO  ochreous 
coarsely  marked  with  blackish,  especially  in  proximal  half ;  discal 
spot  moderately  large,  purple-blackish ;  distal  border  purple,  some- 
what mixed  with  reddish  ochreous,  preceded  by  a  fine,  weakly 
lunulate-dentate  black  line,  the  encroachment  of  the  ground  colour 
between  E^  and  M-  deeper  than  in  transvisaria,  Guen.,  but  not  so 
deep  as  in  hatliyscaphes,  narrowing  the  border  by  slightly  more  than 
one-half ;  in  the  middle  of  the  border,  interrupted  from  E^"  to  M^ 
runs  an  acutely  dentate  pale  ochreous  subterminal  line  enclosing 
proximally  some  sharply -marked  dark  pyramids  between  the  veins, 


200  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

their  bases  redder,  their  apices  blacker  ;  terminal  line  reddish  ochre- 
ous ;  fringe  olivaceous,  at  base  pale  ochreous,  dark-spotted  opposite 
veins.  Hind  wing  similar,  discal  spot  small.  Under  side  similar, 
but  with  distal  border  mostly  pale,  only  purplish  in  anterior  half  of 
fore  wing  and  proximal  part  of  anterior  half  of  hind  wing,  the  sub- 
terminal  line  and  pyramids  w'anting. 

Selukwe,  November,  1911  ;  type  in  coll.  L.  B.  Prout.  A 
worn  female  with  the  border  more  reddish  (same  time  and  place) 
is  probably  also  referable  here.  Near  Chikawa,  Lower  Shire 
Valley,  Nyassaland,  600  ft.,  April  12th,  1910  (S.  A.  Neave), 
co-type  (male)  in  coll.  Brit.  Mus. ;  also  a  female,  slightly  larger 
and  duller,  from  Blantyre,  Nyassaland  (J.  E.  S.  Old),  in  coll. 
Brit.  Mus. 

In  coloration,  &c.,  this  species  suggests  a  small  edition  of 
transvisaria,  Guen.,  except  for  the  dark  irroration  and  the  shape 
of  the  distal  borders. 

Zamarada  aclea,  n.  sp. 
5  ,  26-27  mm.  Very  like  the  forms  of  translucida,  Moore,  with 
the  narrowest  border  and  the  purple-brown  parts  lightest  and  most 
reddish,  but  differing  as  follows  :  13ody  and  border  of  wings  slightly 
more  reddish  still,  the  latter  perhaps  slightly  narrower  ;  the  green 
ground  colour  lighter,  a  small  red  basal  patch  present  on  fore  wing  ; 
the  minute  dark  discal  dots  obsolete,  the  entire  green  area,  on  the 
other  hand,  faintly  dotted  and  strigulated  with  grey  ;  under  side 
with  the  border  bicoloured,  its  proximal  part  in  apical  half  of  both 
wings  and  towards  tornus  of  fore  wing  being  dark  (nearly  as  in 
translucida),  the  rest  much  lighter  and  redder,  fading  off  still  further 
towards  tornus  of  hind  wing. 

Selukwe,  November,  1911  (type),  and  December,  1911  (co- 
type)  ;  both  in  coll.  L.  B.  Prout. 


DESCEIPTION    OF    A    NEW    ETHIOPIAN    CICADA. 

By  W.  L.  Distant.     \'\\^\ 

Platypleura  liberiana,  sp.  n. 
Body  and  legs  pale  ochraceous  ;  vertex  of  head  with  a  spot  at 
each  anterior  angle,  a  waved  transverse  fascia  widened  at  area  of 
ocelli,  and  three  small  irregular  spots  at  base  near  each  eye,  fuscous 
or  black  ;  pronotum  with  the  subanterior  margin  (medially  broken), 
two  small  central  spots  near  base,  and  the  outermost  fissures,  black ; 
mesonotum  with  four  obconical  spots — the  two  central  spots  smallest 
— and  a  spot  at  each  anterior  angle  of  the  basal  cruciform  elevation, 
black ;  abdomen  above,  with  the  exception  of  central  longitudinal 
disk,  pale  castaneous  ;  tegmina  opaque,  dull  greyish  with  darker 
shadings,  the  venation,  costal  membrane,  and  basal  area  pale  ochra- 
ceous ;  wings  dark  ochraceous,  opaque,  shadings  at  the  bases  and 
apices  of  the  apical  areas,  along  the  inner  longitudinal  veins,  and 


DORSET  ODONATA  IN  1911.  201 

most  of  the  posterior  margin  dark  castaneous,  the  inner  half  of  the 
posterior  margin  greyish  brown  ;  head,  inchiding  eyes,  about  as  wide 
as  base  of  mesonotum,  not  frontally  produced,  anteriorly  subtruncate, 
ocelli  large,  the  frontal  ocellus  almost  visible  beneath  above  face  ; 
face  longer  than  broad,  strongly,  centrally,  longitudinally  sulcate, 
finely,  transversely  striate,  cheeks  globosely  prominent ;  antennae 
black ;  pronotum  with  the  lateral  margins  ampliated,  and  broadly, 
centrally  angulated,  about  as  long  as  mesonotum  in  front  of  the 
cruciform  elevation  ;  abdomen  moderately  elongate,  but  not  longer 
than  space  between  apex  of  head  and  base  of  cruciform  elevation  ; 
opercula  in  male  short,  obliquely  rounded,  not  extending  beyond 
basal  segment  of  abdomen,  and  almost  meeting  internally  ;  rostrum 
reaching  the  posterior  coxae,  its  apex  black  ;  abdomen  beneath  with 
the  stigmatal  spots  ivory  white.  Long.  excl.  tegm.  <?  27  millim.; 
exp.  tegm.  75  millim. 

Hab.     West  Africa;  Liberia  (W.  P.  Lowe — Brit.  Mus.). 

A  very  distinct  species,  belonging  to  the  section  of  the  genus 
characterized  by  having,  opaquely  coloured  tegmina  and  wings, 
and  may  be  placed  near  P.  makaga,  Dist. 


DORSET     ODONATA    IN     1911. 
By  F.  H.  Haines,  D.P.H.  (Lond.),  &c. 

A  FEW  observations  made  by  me  round  Wiufrith  last  summer 
may  be  of  interest  in  connection  with  Mr.  Lucas's  notes  on 
British  Odonata  in  1911. 

Sympetrum  striolatum  and  S.  scoticum  were  abundant  as  usual. 
The  latter  is  generally  confined  to  fenny  places,  near  the  heath- 
lands.  Libelbda  depressa  is  always  widely  distributed  and  com- 
mon. I  first  noticed  L.  quadrimaculata,  in  great  abundance, 
round  a  large  pond  on  Morden  Heath,  on  May  27th.  On  June 
20th,  it  was  common  at  Trigon  near  Wareham,  and  was  far 
more  widespread  than  usual  in  all  suitable  spots,  such  as  open 
fir-woods  and  wet  moors,  from  Holme  to  Moreton  throughout  June. 
L.  fidva  occurs  every  year,  in  some  plenty,  over  a  few  square 
yards  of  ground  near  a  boggy  area  at  Holme.  Here  it  settles 
very  warily  on  small  fir-trees  and  furze  bushes.  Once  known, 
flying  or  settled,  it  could  not  be  easily  confused  with  any  other 
species.  It  is  to  be  found  at  the  end  of  May,  and  blue  males 
are  seen  quite  at  the  beginning  of  June.  Last  year  it  was  in 
remarkable  profusion  here  and  there  over  the  same  stretch  of 
wild  country  as  L.  quadrimacidata,  and  continued  well  into 
July.  Orthetrum  ccendescens  abounds  over  the  heathy  swamps 
every  year,  and  I  noticed,  as  I  had  not  done  previously,  0.  can- 
cellatum  at  East  Lul worth  and  Moreton  in  sandy  hollows  and  on 
the  road.  Cordidia  cenea  swarmed  at  Morden  on  May  27th  on  a 
very  large  extent  of  morass  and  wet  fir  plantations,  and  over  the 


202  THE   ENTOMOLOGIST. 

very  large  pond  in  the  woods  there.  A  few  specimens  were  still 
about  on  June  28th.  Cordidegaster  anmdatiis  is  frequent  every 
year.  I  saw  Anax  imperator  first  at  Trigon  on  June  20th. 
Later  I  noted  two  specimens  at  Moreton.  Brachytron  pratense 
was  in  evidence  at  Holme  about  the  end  of  May.  In  June  I 
took  it  on  damp  ground  covered  with  rank  growth  by  the 
Frome  at  Iford.  Feeling  certain  that  I  can  distinguish 
Mschna  mixta  from  M.  juncea  on  the  wing,  partly  by  its 
smaller  size,  but  more  especially  by  its  very  different  habit  of 
flight,  I  can  all  but  positively  record  three  specimens — one  at 
Bindon  Abbey,  one  at  East  Stoke,  and  one  at  East  Lulworth. 
j^.  juncea  is  fairly  distributed  year  by  year  from  Galton  to 
Parley  and  Arne.  AL.  grandis  occurred  at  Holme  near  East 
Burton,  and  at  Bindon  Abbey.  Calopteryx  splendens  is  ever  in 
profusion  in  open  flowery  tracts  by  the  Frome  and  its  branches. 
Lestes  sponsa  is  common  here,  as  is  also  Pyrrhosoma  nymphula. 
P.  teiiellum  was  met  with,  as  is  the  rule,  at  TadnoU  marsh.  It 
was  frequent,  too,  on  Studland  Heath.  Ischnura  elegans,  Agrion 
puella,  and  Enallagma  cyathigenim  were  once  more  in  force  in 
their  haunts. 

I  may  add  that  I  took  eight  specimens  of  A.  mercuriale  in  this 
immediate  neighbourhood,  doubtless  near  the  Frome,  a  few 
seasons  ago.  Not  distinguishing  the  species  at  once,  the 
precise  place  of  capture  is  unknown  to  me  and  I  have  never  met 
with  it  again. 

I  do  not  work  the  Odonata  in  my  leisure  more  than  other 
orders,  and  the  species  named  above,  with  M.  cyanea,  are  all  I 
identified  here  last  season. 

Brookside,  Winfrith,  Dorset :  May  4th,  1912. 


NOTES    FROM    AN    ESSEX    LEPIDOPTERIST'S    DIARY 
FOR    1911. 

By  Paymaster-in-Chief  Gervase  F.Mathew,  R.N.,  F.E.S.,  &c. 

(Continued  from  p.  180.) 

July  8th  was  a  very  hot  day — eighty-one  degrees  in  the  shade 
at  noon.  Three  T.  apiformis  were  taken  on  poplars,  I  have 
lately  been  breeding  a  number  of  Pleris  napi  from  South  of 
Ireland  ova — no  particular  varieties,  but  some  very  bright  and 
clearly  marked  specimens. 

The  11th  was  fine,  bright  and  hot,  with  a  fresh  north- 
easterly breeze.  I  went  to  the  distant  woods,  as  I  wanted  some 
fresh  Argynnis  adippe,  but  I  only  saw  one  specimen  of  that 
species,  seven  or  eight  Limenitis  sibylla,  and  about  a  couple  of 
dozen  A.  paphia ;  these  three  species  used  to  swarm  in  these 


2.  P  X*'i^r^  o/=- 

QPIDOPTB^ISr^'DIAliY.- 


NOTES  FROM  AN  ESSEX  LEPIDOPTB^ISf^'DiAliY.-      203 

woods  some  years  ago,  but  they  now  seem  to  be  nearly  extinct. 
Adopaa  thaumas  (linea)  was  plentiful  and  fresh,  and  I  took  one 
Herminia  derivalis,  but  saw  nothing  else  worth  noting. 

The  12th  was  another  very  hot  day.  The  second  brood 
of  Cyanlris  argiolus  was  now  rather  numerous,  and  Arctia  caja, 
Noctua  baja,  &c.,  were  appearing  in  my  breeding-cages.  The 
larvfe  of  Saturnia  carpini,  from  the  ova  laid  on  May  13th,  were 
now  full  grown.     I  sleeved  them  on  a  sallow-bush  in  my  garden. 

The  14th  was  very  hot.  I  had  a  beautiful  variety  of  A.  caja 
brought  me,  with  hind  wings  bright  yellow.  I  went  to  the  lanes 
and  marshes  in  the  evening  and  I  noticed  quantities  of  beauti- 
fully fresh  Adopcea  lineola,  sitting  on  grass-stems  after  sunset, 
and  boxed  a  couple  of  dozen,  nearly  all  males.  I  also  took  five 
Leucania  favicolor  on  flowering  grasses,  two  of  which  were  the 
red  var.  rufa,  and  two  the  yellow  var.  lutea.  L.  impura  was 
abundant,  also  Miana  colorata,  but  not  much  else  except  a  few 
Anerastia  lotella  and  one  Spilodes  (cinctalis)  verticalis.  C.  dotata 
was  flying  commonly  in  the  lanes. 

The  17th  was  fine,  overcast,  very  warm,  and  nearly  calm. 
At  night  I  went  to  the  marshes  and  sandhills  and  found  moths 
swarming  on  the  marram  grass.  I  took  several  L.  favicolor,  but 
they  were  so  worn  I  had  to  release  them  the  next  morning. 
M.  ahjecta  was  in  fair  numbers ;  L.  pallens,  L.  impura,  Apamea 
ocidea,  Miana  hicolorata,  and  Xijlophasia  polyodon,  in  profusion  ; 
and  among  the  others  were  Agrotis  nigricans,  Leucania  conigera, 
and  Hydrilla paludis  (one);  A.  lineola  was  also  plentiful  on  the 
grass-stems. 

21st.  The  hot  weather  still  continued,  and  in  the  evening, 
as  it  was  almost  calm,  with  no  dew  or  moon,  I  went  to  the  reedy 
dykes,  but  did  not  see  much  flying  at  first,  except  a  few  Chilo 
phragmitellus.  Upon  reaching  a  favourable-looking  place,  I 
stood  still  and  threw  the  light  of  the  lantern  on  to  the  reeds,  and 
presently  a  moth  fluttered  out  towards  me  and  was  netted,  and 
proved  to  be  Senta  tdva  maritima.  This  was  a  good  beginning, 
so  I  remained  where  I  was  for  nearly  two  hours,  just  moving  a 
pace  or  two  to  the  right  or  left,  and  every  minute  or  so  a  moth 
came  out  (sometimes  two  or  three  together),  and  I  eventually 
found  that  I  had  secured  thirteen  S.  maritima,  seven  Nonagria 
arundineta,  two  Leucania  straminea,  one  Hydroecia  paludis,  and 
several  Chilo  phragmitellus,  Timandra  amataria,  Coremia  uni- 
dentata,  and  Agrotis  tritici.  On  my  way  home  I  passed  a  large 
clump  of  flowering  rushes,  and  upon  every  flower  there  were  two 
or  three  moths,  chiefly  L.  conigera,  L.  lithargyria,  L.  impura,  T. 
amataria,  E.  pumilata,  &c. 

On  the  22nd  I  bred  eight  Drepana  hanmla,  from  ova  laid  by 
the  female  captured  on  May  29th.  The  larvae  were  sleeved  upon 
an  oak  in  my  garden.  (I  subsequently  bred  about  thirty  more, 
and  obtained  a  batch  of  ova.) 


204  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

The  23rd  was  bright  and  very  warm — ninety- six  degrees  in 
the  shade.  Pelurga  comitata  and  Tortrix  viburniana  were  now 
appearing  in  breeding-cages.  The  evening  of  the  25th  was  fine, 
calm,  close,  and  very  warm,  with  lightning  and  distant  thunder. 
I  visited  the  reed-dyke  again,  and  netted  thirty  N.  arnndincta, 
six  S.  maritima,  three  H.  paludis,  one  M.  maura,  &c.  About  half 
the  arundineta  I  have  taken  are  the  black  form  dissoluta.  This 
moth  flies  low  down  among  the  reeds,  and  I  seldom  saw  any 
flying  high  above  them,  so  it  requires  a  quick  eye  to  see  them. 

26th.  Similar  weather  to  yesterday,  only  there  was  a  sharp 
thunder-shower  about  7  p.m.  Visited  the  reeds  again  and  got 
more  arundineta,  maritima,  straminca,  paludis,  &c.  ;  among  the 
former  there  were  two  very  interesting  red  varieties,  and  among 
the  maritima  there  were  several  var.  bipunctata.  On  my  way 
home  I  found  2\  amataria  and  A.  emarginata  swarming,  but 
they  were  mostly  worn,  and  among  others  I  netted  Lithosia 
griseola,  L.  complamda,  Calamia  phragmitidis,  Boarmia  rhomboid- 
aria,  &c. 

The  28th  was  a  fine  and  very  hot  day.  In  the  evening  I 
went  to  the  salterns  and  sea-banks.  I  found  moths  swarmmg 
on  marram  grass,  but  there  was  nothing  fresh — chiefly  L.  im- 
pura,  M.  abjecta,  H.  paludis  (already  worn),  &c.  It  began  to 
rain  at  about  ten  o'clock,  with  thunder  and  lightning,  and  I  was 
afraid  a  big  storm  was  coming  on,  so  I  hurried  home. 

(To  be  continued.) 


NOTES    AND     OBSEEVATIONS. 

Natural  History  Books  from  the  library  of  the  late  Mr.  A. 
Harrison  will  be  sold  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Stevens  at  his  Auction  Eooms, 
King  Street,  Covent  Garden,  on  July  9th. 

Capture  of  Moths  at  Sea. — Some  months  ago  my  friend  Dr. 
Charles  Chilton  kindly  forwarded  to  me,  in  case  they  should  be  of 
interest,  some  moths  taken  at  sea  during  his  voyage  from  New 
Zealand  to  this  country.  He  wrote  as  follows : — "  During  the 
morning  of  November  26th,  a  moist,  hot  day,  while  the  '  Ionic  '  was 
a  considerable  distance  off  the  coast  of  America,  many  small  moths 
were  blown  on  to  the  steamer,  and  many  more  were  seen  on  the 
surface  of  the  sea.  This  continued  all  the  morning,  and,  though 
in  less  numbers,  some  were  blown  on  during  the  afternoon,  and  a 
few  were  seen  the  next  morning ;  our  position  at  noon  that  day  was 
28°  24'  S.,  46°  30'  W.  One,  or  perhaps  two,  small  land  birds  were  seen 
on  the  ship  at  the  same  time."  The  position  indicated  is  about  one 
hundred  miles  off  the  coast  of  Montevideo.  The  insects  proved  to  be 
almost  all  Geometrids,  and  I  therefore  passed  them  on  to  my  friend  Mr. 
L.  B.  Prout,  who  has  been  good  enough  to  identify  them  as  follows, 
viz. : — Pleuroprucha  insularia,  Guen.  (1  male) ;  Amaurinia  carnana, 
Druce  (8  males,  9  females) ;  Eupithecia,  sp.  (worn)  (1  female) ;  Doche- 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  205 

phora  jnlosa,  Warren  (2  females) ;  Euclule  hesperina,  Burm.  (1  female) ; 
Macaria  regulata,  Fab.  (1  female) ;  Pantherodes  yardalaria,  Guen. 
(1  female) ;  Bronchelia  pudicaria,  Guen.  (1  female).  There  was  also 
a  Tortricid  altogether  denuded  and  unrecognisable,  and  I  think  it 
very  likely  that  there  were  other  Micro-lepidoptera  unnoticed;  on 
these  occasions  the  larger  specimens  are  naturally  selected.  It  will 
be  seen  that  all  are  insects  of  weak  flight,  whilst  the  more  robust  and 
powerful  insects  are  absent.  I  imagine  the  effect  was  due  to  a  small 
whirlwind  (which  might  naturally  arise  in  such  weather)  carrying 
the  insects  up  to  some  height  and  then  drifting  out  to  sea  with  them ; 
it  could  not  have  been  a  strong  one,  as  all  active  fliers  were  able  to 
escape. — Edward  Meyrick  ;  Thornhanger,  Marlborough,  June  17th. 

Abundance  op  the  Larv^  op  Abraxas  grossulariata  at 
HuDDERSPiELD. — I  noto  from  the  current  number  of  the  '  Entomolo- 
gist '  (pp.  184  and  187)  that  Messrs.  T.  A.  Blenkarn  and  L.  W.  New- 
man record  the  larvae  of  Abraxas  grossulariata  as  having  been  exces- 
sively scarce  in  the  South  of  England  this  spring.  Here  there  has 
been  no  lack  of  them.  From  one  market-garden  close  to  the  town  I 
have  had  six  thousand  larvae  and  pupae,  and  could  probably  have  had 
twenty  thousand  from  the  same  garden  had  there  been  time  to  pick 
them  off,  or  to  manage  them  when  collected  !  They  were  full-fed 
unusually  early  this  year,  and  at  the  beginning  of  May  a  schoolboy 
collected  them  for  me  in  the  evenings,  &c.,  after  school  hours.  On 
his  earlier  visits  he  said  he  could  collect  them  faster  than  he  could 
count  them,  then  suddenly  two  pairs  of  cuckoos  took  up  their  quarters 
in  the  garden,  when  at  once  it  became  a  race  as  to  whether  he  or  the 
cuckoos  should  get  most !  The  cuckoos  beat  him  by  a  long  way,  for  in 
a  few  days  they  had  practically  cleared  off  the  lot.  The  owner  of  the 
garden  told  me  the  cuckoos  never  left  it,  and  seemed  to  be  almost 
always  feeding  on  the  caterpillars,  except  when  the  two  pairs  were 
quarrelling  over  them,  which,  when  they  came  near  each  other,  they 
often  did,  and  made  plenty  of  noise  over  it !  Probably  they  never 
before  had  such  a  time  in  their  lives.  Large  numbers  of  the  goose- 
berry-bushes were  absolutely  stripped  of  every  vestige  of  leaf,  and 
many  of  the  currant-bushes  also  suffered  terribly.  I  never  before 
saw  anything  like  it  with  this  species. — Geo.  T.  Porritt  ;  Dalton, 
Huddersfield,  June  6th,  1912. 

Monochamus  galloprovincialis,  Oliv.,  IN  Hackney. — On  May 
30th  a  living  specimen  of  this  longicorn  was  found  in  the  analytical 
laboratory  at  Messrs.  W.  S.  Bush  &  Co.'s  works.  Ash  Grove,  Hackney. 
In  the  morning,  a  boy  picked  up  a  duster  off  a  bench,  when  the 
beetle  nipped  him.  Mr.  L.  Slarm,  one  of  the  analysts,  secured  the 
insect,  which  was  then  forwarded  to  Mr.  C.  J.  Gahan,  who  has  kindly 
identified  it  as  above.  He  also  adds  that  he  does  not  remember  any 
previous  record  of  the  beetle  having  been  captured  in  this  country. — 
J.  O.  Braithwaite  ;  18,  Warren  Eoad,  Chingford. 

\_M.  galloprovincialis,  Oliv.,  is  very  like  M.  sutor,  L.,  and  it  is 
quite  possible  that  some  of  the  records  of  the  latter  species  really 
apply  to  the  former.  It  is  distinguished  from  sutor  by  having  a 
naked  triangular  spot  at  the  base  of  the  scutellum,  instead  of  a  line 
extending  right  up  to  the  apex,  and  by  having  the  acetabula  of  the 

BNTOM. — JULY,    1912.  R 


206  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

front  coxae  closed,  or  very  nearly  closed  behind.  In  sartor  and  sector 
there  is  a  distinct  and  rather  wide  gap  between  the  epimeron  and  the 
hind  end  of  the  prosternum,  so  that  the  acetabula  are  always  open 
behind.— C.  J.  G.] 

OviPOSiTiON  OF  Plusia  moneta.  —  In  reply  to  the  Eev.  W. 
Claxton's  query  on  p.  181,  I  may  say  that  the  moths  of  the  first 
brood  (emerging  about  the  end  of  June)  deposit  their  ova  on  the 
flowers  and  flower-stems,  and  amongst  the  buds  and  capsules,  of 
monkshood  and  DeliJhiniwn  ;  those  of  the  second  brood  (emerging  in 
late  August  and  September)  probably  oviposit  on  the  seed-capsules  or 
on  late  flowers,  if  any.  I  cannot  say  from  experience  whether  this  is 
so,  but  I  have  found  very  small  larvae  feeding  on  the  seeds  of  monks- 
hood in  late  September  in  my  garden  here,  in  which  the  moth  occurs 
commonly  after  Midsummer-day  at  the  Delphinium  flowers.  The 
larvae  hybernate  in  the  hollow  stems  of  the  plants  near  the  surface  of 
the  ground,  and  if  these  be  removed  in  winter  I  presume  no  larvae 
would  appear  in  spring.  To  this  I  attribute  the  fact  that  in  some 
years  my  monkshood  does  not  seem  to  be  attacked,  because  I  have 
removed  the  old  stems,  whilst  the  Delphiniums,  whose  stems  w^ere 
only  cut  down  to  within  six  inches  of  the  ground,  have  been  badly 
attacked.  I  should  think  it  highly  probable  that  the  3'oung  larvae 
would  sometimes  hybernate  in  the  dead  capsules,  or  even  inside  some 
of  the  seeds,  and  that  Mr.  Claxton's  larva  was  curled  up  inside  a  seed, 
or  at  any  rate  was  amongst  the  seeds  when  he  got  them,  and  so  was  on 
the  spot  when  the  seeds  germinated.  It  seems  to  me  extremely  un- 
likely that  the  species  would  ever  hybernate  as  an  egg.  I  should  like 
to  take  this  opportunity  of  thanking  the  few  correspondents  who  were 
good  enough  to  respond  to  my  request  for  records  of  this  species  in 
May,  1911. — C.  Nicholson  ;  Hale  End,  Chingford. 

In  your  last  issue  {antea,  p.  181)  the  Eev.  W.  Claxton  suggests 
that  the  ova  of  Plusia  moneta  are  laid  "  on  the  seed  of  the  plant  while 
in  the  pod."  Last  night  I  watched  a  female  ovipositing  ;  she  laid 
her  egg  on  the  unexpanded  bud  of  a  Delphinium  flower.  I  have  no 
doubt  that,  like  most  Plusias,  P.  moneta  passes  the  winter  in  the 
larval  stage,  but  I  will  try  to  watch  this  particular  egg  to  note  when 
it  hatches. — Percy  C.  Reid  ;  Feering  Bury,  Kelvedon,  June  19th. 

Mr.  Claxton's  theory  {antea,  p.  181)  that  P.  moneta  lays  its  eggs 
on  the  seeds  of  Delphinium  while  yet  in  the  pod  is  extremely  inte- 
resting, but  all  the  evidence  at  my  disposal,  though  not  conclusive,  is 
against  it.  In  my  garden  there  is  a  single  clump  of  monkshood 
(Aconitum),  which  comes  up  regularly  year  after  year,  and  in  due 
course  flowers,  but  to  the  best  of  my  belief  in  the  last  twenty  years, 
and  certainly  in  the  last  ten,  it  has  never  succeeded  in  setting  any 
seed,  even  in  spite  of  attempts  at  artificial  self-pollination.  Never- 
theless, from  1904  to  1907  the  young  larvae  of  P.  moneta  appeared  in 
the  tips  as  soon  as  the  shoots  were  an  inch  or  two  above  ground. 
The  eggs  that  produced  these  could  not  have  been  laid  on  the  seeds 
of  the  plant,  for  there  were  no  seeds,  and  no  other  plants  of  either 
Aconitum  or  Delphinium  in  any  of  the  neighbouring  gardens.  The  old 
stems  were  cut  off  and  the  ground  dug  over,  even  the  tubers  removed 
in  the  autumn  of  the  previous  year ;  consequently,  if  the  eggs  are 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  207 

laid  in  the  autumn,  they  must  have  been  deposited  in  the  ground 
about  the  roots  of  the  plant,  so  that  in  the  spring  the  newly  hatched 
larva3  could  find  the  springing  shoots  of  the  monkshood ;  or  else,  being 
laid  on  the  plants,  the  eggs  hatch  in  the  autumn,  and  the  young  larvJB 
crawl  down  and  hybernate  in  the  crevices  of  the  tubers.  This,  I 
admit,  was  my  own  theory,  but  it  seems  to  be  ruled  out  of  court  by 
Mr.  Claxton's  experiments.  There  yet  remains  the  possibility  that 
the  moth  itself  hybernates,  and  deposits  its  eggs  on  the  young  shoots 
as  soon  as  they  appear.  This  theory  seems  perhaps  the  least  incom- 
patible with  both  Mr.  Claxton's  experience  and  my  own,  though  I 
have  no  positive  evidence  that  the  moth  does  hybernate. — K.  G. 
Blaie  ;  23,  West  Hill,  Highgate. 

Plusia  moneta. — I  am  pleased  to  be  able  to  record  P.  moneta  for 
this  district.  I  found  one  larva  and  six  pupse  the  first  w^eek  in  June, 
three  of  which  have  already  emerged.  Five  were  on  Delpliinium  and 
two  on  monkshood. — Eobt.  S.  Smith,  Jun.  ;  The  Laurels,  Downham 
Market,  Norfolk. 

COLIAS    EDUSA   IN    BuCKS,    AND    SOME    EaRLY    EMERGENCES.  —  On 

May  30th  I  was  cycling  from  Great  Missenden  in  the  Wendover 
direction,  when  I  saw  a  fine  female  Golias  eclusa  by  the  roadside, 
evidently  prospecting  for  a  lucerne  field,  of  which  there  are  usually 
plenty  in  this  neighbourhood.  My  last  record  for  the  country  here- 
abouts is  August  13th,  1904,  north-west  of  Wendover.  With  the 
exception  of  the  "whites,"  most  of  the  common  spring  butterflies 
have  put  in  a  very  early  appearance  this  year.  On  April  20th  Euchloe 
cardamines  (males)  were  flying  on  the  Chilterns  near  Kimble,  and  on 
the  21st  at  Pinner.  Pararge  egeria  var.  egerides  was  going  over  in 
the  Bucks  beech-woods  on  May  11th.  On  May  2nd  Coenonymplia 
]}ampliilus  was  out  here  ;  Ghrysophanus  phlcsas  on  the  9th.  Callo- 
l^hrys  rubi  swarmed  on  the  Chilterns  on  April  20th — both  sexes,  and 
in  the  same  locality  Gelastrina  argiolus.  The  latter  butterfly  has 
been  commoner  than  I  ever  remember  it  in  our  garden,  the  flight 
lasting  from  April  19th  to  June  1st,  when  one  or  two  worn  females 
still  haunted  the  hollies.  On  May  30th  Aricia  medon  (astrarche)  was 
well  out  on  the  Chilterns,  with  occasional  Pararge  megc&ra  and 
Augiades  sylvanus.  Thanaos  tages  also  was  very  common  from  May 
11th  onwards,  Hesperia  malvcB  less  so.  The  first  Polyommatus  icarus 
was  out  here  on  May  23rd  (female,  25th),  and  individual  males  of 
Cupido  minimus  in  Bucks  on  May  27th. — H.  Eowland-Brown  ; 
Harrow  Weald,  June  8th,  1912. 

Metrioptera  (Platycleis)  roeselii  in  Essex. — On  reading  Mr. 
Campion's  article  in  the  'Entomologist'  for  April  {antea,  pp.  117-18) 
it  at  once  struck  me  that  the  description  of  this  insect  agreed  very 
well  with  some  examples  I  have  taken  on  the  North  Essex  coast 
during  the  past  few  years,  and  had  labelled  P.  hracliyptera.  On  com- 
paring the  specimens  with  the  description  in  Mr.  Burr's  '  British 
Orthoptera,'  the  entirely  pale  margins  of  the  pronotum  seemed  con- 
clusive that  it  was  really  P.  roeselii,  and  on  my  sending  a  specimen 
to  Mr.  W.  J.  Lucas,  he  confirmed  the  identification.  The  species 
seems  to  have  been  first  met  with  in  1903,  when  a  single  male  was 
taken,  and  one  or  more  examples  have  occurred  in  most  years  since, 


208 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 


the  largest  number  being  in  1909,  when  four  were  taken.  The 
nymphs  seem  more  in  evidence  than  the  adult  insects,  over  a  dozen 
being  seen  in  1909,  when  they  were  observed  towards  the  end  of 
June  and  in  July — the  dates  for  imagines  being  August  8th,  1904, 
August  30th,  1909,  and  most  recently  a  single  male  on  September 
6th,  1911.  It  would  therefore  seem  that  the  insect,  though  rare,  is 
firmly  established  on  the  Essex  coast,  where  it  has  probably  occurred 
for  many  years,  since  the  absence  of  wings  would,  as  pointed  out  by 
Mr.  Campion,  render  its  dispersal  by  migration  very  difficult. — 
Bernard  Smith  Harwood  ;  62,  Station  Road,  Colchester. 

Early  Appearance  of  Butterflies  in  1912. — Four  specimens 
of  Gallophrys  rubi  were  taken  on  April  23rd  ;  a  female  specimen  of 
CJmjsophanus  jMceas  on  May  13th,  and  a  male  Cwnonymplia  pam- 
philus  on  May  14th.— G.  B.  Oliver  ;  Tettenhall,  Wolverhampton. 

Agrotis  puta  in  May. — While  working  lamps  in  Cambridge  on 
May  11th  I  was  surprised  to  observe  a  fair  number  of  Agrotis  p^ita. 
I  took  two  males  in  excellent  condition,  and  saw  about  half  a  dozen 
more.  The  only  other  Noctua  taken  was  a  venerable  Go^ioptcra 
Ubatrix,  though  it  was  barely  a  fortnight  since  the  disappearance  of 
the  Tasniocampids.  I  took  A.  piUa  here  in  June,  July,  and  August 
last  year,  but  have  never  before  taken  it  in  May.  Presumably  it  is 
occasionally  double-brooded,  and  in  hot  seasons,  when  the  moths 
emerge  early,  the  larvae  pupate  in  the  autumn  instead  of  in  the 
spring,  and  so  are  ready  to  emerge  some  months  before  their  normal 
date. — (Eev.)  C.  E.  Eaven  ;  4,  Park  Terrace,  Cambridge. 

Spring  Lepidoptera,  &c.,  in  Essex,  1912. — A  few  dates  of  first 
appearances  noted  here  may  be  useful  for  comparison  : — February 
12th,  Hybernia  progemmaria ;  March  11th,  Anticlea  badiata,  Amplii- 
dasys  prodromaria;  21st,  Diurnea  fagclla;  27th,  Breplios  parthcnias  ; 
April  17th,  Lyccena  argiolus;  21st,  Euchlo'd  cardamines,  Anticlea 
derivata;  May  7th,  Platypteryx  havmla;  8th,  Hemeropliila  abruptaria, 
Bumia  cratcegata,  Gilix  spinida ;  9th,  Ligdia  adustata,  Pyrausta 
jnirpuralis ;  12th,  Stenopteryx  hybridalis ;  13th,  Heliodes  arbuti, 
Conchylis  straminea ;  17th,  Ghrysophamis  pMceas ;  18th,  Euchelia 
jacobcBce,  Penthina  prunicma.  Finally,  the  cuckoo  was  heard  on 
April  19th,  and  the  nightingale  on  April  20th. — (Rev.)  W.  Claxton  ; 
Navestock  Vicarage,  Romfoi-d. 

Gynandrous  Cyaniris  argiolus. — I  took  a  gynandrous  specimen 
of  C.  argiolus  on  April  26th  in  Sutton  Park,  the  right  side  being  the 
male.  This  species  was  plentiful  on  April  22nd,  and  even  at  that 
date  some  of  both  sexes  were  badly  worn. — G.  B.  Oliver  ;  Tettenhall, 
Wolverhampton,  May  24th,  1912. 

Spring  Brood  of  Cyaniris  argiolus. — This  pretty  little  "  blue  " 
was  quite  common  in  our  garden  this  spring,  flying  over  holly-trees 
on  sunny  days  in  April  and  May.  The  first  appearance  noticed 
was  on  April  21st,  when  half-a-dozen  were  seen  at  one  time. — 
Joseph  Anderson  ;  Chichester. 

Pyrameis  atalanta  and  p.  cardui  at  Chichester. — Notes  on 
the  occurrence  of  these  butterflies  in  May  appeared  in  last  month's 
'  Entomologist '  (p.  182).    A  worn  specimen  of  P.  atalanta  was  taken 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  209 

on  an  elm  in  front  of  the  house  ;  also  in  the  same  place  and  on  the 
same  date,  May  13th,  two  P.  cardui. — Joseph  Anderson. 

Vanessa  antiopa  in  Kent,  1911. — It  may  be  of  interest  to 
record  the  capture  of  V.  antiopa  last  August  at  Chelsfield,  Kent. 
The  insect  was  taken  by  Master  Arthur  Kolls,  and  is  unfortunately 
much  damaged.  I  have  to-day  seen  it  among  some  insects  he  has. — 
B.  Harold  Smith  ;  Edgehill,  Warlingham,  Surrey. 

Acherontia  atropos  at  Bradford. — On  May  23rd  a  very  fine 
specimen  of  Acherontia  atropos  was  picked  up  in  the  roadway  at 
Low  Moor,  Bradford.  The  moth  was  in  excellent  condition  when 
taken,  although  the  weather  was  rough  and  wet  at  the  time. — 
Wm.  Barraclough  ;  Holly  Hall,  Low  Moor,  Bradford,  June  15th,  1912. 

Daphnis  (Ch^rocampa)  nerii  in  Kent,  1911.  —  I  was  lately 
shown  what  would  have  been,  had  it  fallen  into  "  good  entomological 
hands,"  a  fine  specimen  of  that  rare  visitor  to  Britain,  Ghcerocampa 
nerii.  It  was  taken  by  Mr.  J.  Diamond,  of  Chilmington,  Great 
Chart,  near  Ashford,  in  his  dairy  late  last  autumn.  The  wings  are 
still  in  fair  condition,  but  the  abdomen  and  thorax  are  almost  denuded 
of  scales ;  the  antennae  and  legs  are  gone.  I  have  set  the  insect,  and 
it  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Gandy,  of  63,  Beaver  Eoad,  Ash- 
ford, to  whom  it  was  given  by  the  captor.  —  Charles  Viggers  ; 
49,  Sussex  Avenue,  Ashford,  Kent,  June  7th,  1912, 

Phryxus  (Deilephila)  livornica  in  Cornwall.  —  I  have  to 
record  the  capture  of  twenty  more  P.  livornica  between  May  18th 
and  23rd  also  in  South  Cornwall.  Several  were  females  with  fully 
developed  ova. — B.  Harold  Smith  ;  Edgehill,  Warlingham,  Surrey, 
June  6th,  1912. 

Phryxus  (Deilephila)  livornica  in  North  Wales.  —  I  have 
to  report  the  capture  by  me  of  D.  livornica  (the  striped  hawk)  at 
Silene  maritima  flower  on  May  25th,  1912.  Is  this  a  new  record  for 
North  Wales  ? — F.  Seymour  Jackson  ;  Hafod,  Aberdovey,  Merioneth- 
shire, June  2nd,  1912. 

Phryxus  (Deilephila)  livornica  in  Norfolk. — On  May  22nd 
a  nice  specimen  of  Deilephila  livornica  was  taken  at  rest  on  a  shop 
window  in  this  town.  It  is  the  first  I  have  heard  of  from  this 
locality,  and  is  now  in  my  possession.  I  see  in  '  The  Field  '  that 
another  specimen  has  lately  been  taken  near  Flax  Bourton.  I  have 
seen  several  specimens  of  Vanessa  cardui  about  lately  in  this  dis- 
trict.— F.  H.  Barclay;  The  Warren,  Cromer. 

Spilosoma  urtic^  in  Isle  of  Wight. — I  am  glad  to  be  able  to 
record  the  capture  of  a  female  specimen  of  S.  urticce  (water  ermine) 
in  Sandown  Marshes,  May  28th.  Only  one  specimen  has  been  taken 
in  the  Isle  of  Wight  before,  and  this  is  now  in  the  collection  of  Mr, 
J.  Taylor,  of  Sandown.  Another  capture  of  interest  was  a  very  fine 
specimen  of  Zygana  trifolii  var.  confluens  in  Brading  Marshes,  taken 
on  May  29th. — Stanley  A.  Blenkarn  ;  "  Norham,"  Cromwell  Eoad, 
Beckenham,  May  29th,  1912. 

Diaphora  mbndica  in  Ireland.  —  I  obtained  here  yesterday  a 
typical  female  specimen  of  Diaphora  mendica  (pure  silky  white),  with 


210  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

five  spots  on  each  fore  wing,  and  apparently  newly  emerged.  She 
deposited  a  few  ova,  but  I  fear  that  these  are  infertile. — Hugh  F. 
Stoneham  ;  Kinsale,  co.  Cork,  May  24th,  1912. 

Collecting  in  Westmorland,  1911. — June  12th  was  a  fine, 
bright  day,  and  Lyccena  icarus  (male)  was  out  in  swarms.  The  dis- 
parity in  size  between  examples  of  the  same  brood  from  the 
same  locality  is  astonishing.  Our  largest  males,  when  set,  measure 
exactly  If  in.  from  tip  to  tip — the  smallest  (both  sexes)  exactly 
1  in.  Some  females  are  almost  as  "blue"  as  the  males  (except 
of  course  the  extreme  margins  of  the  wings),  but  in  their  case  the 
blue  has  very  often  a  pronounced  lilac  tinge.  Occasional  speci- 
mens (female)  have  a  distinct  bluish-w4iite  wedge-shaped  mark  on 
the  upper  side  of  the  disc  of  the  hind  wing,  and  examples  with 
whitish  patches  near  the  apex  of  the  fore  wing  are  somewhat 
commoner.  The  same  day  I  found  males  of  Augiades  sylvanus 
plentiful  and  in  beautiful  order.  Several  males  and  one  female 
of  Diacrisia  sanio  were  netted.  A  dozen  ova  from  the  latter 
hatched  very  quickly,  and  the  young  larvas  fed  so  vigorously  that 
I  had  hopes  of  rearing  the  second  brood,  but  in  this  I  was  dis- 
appointed. After  reaching  a  certain  stage  their  appetite  failed,  and 
they  are  now,  after  trying  unsuccessfully  to  hybernate,  all  dead. 
Mr.  Holmes  from  a  similar  number  of  ova  obtained  from  a  female 
taken  a  month  later  had  one  larva  go  through,  and  that  produced  a 
fine  male  on  x\ugust  29th.  One  wonders  as  to  the  cause  of  such 
erratic  behaviour,  for  it  would  be  hard  to  imagine  a  season  theore- 
tically more  suited  to  the  production  of  a  second  brood  of  this 
species.  June  13th  saw  a  new  batch  of  G.  typJion  emerging,  and 
I  was  fortunate  in  netting  a  fair  series.  The  day  was  windy,  and 
every  individual  had  to  be  "  kicked  up."  After  battling  with  the 
breeze  for  a  moment  or  two,  they  would  be  swept  away  for  fifty 
yards  before  they  could  alight,  and  then  could  be  marked  down  and 
generally  captured.  A  number  of  perfect  female  A.  sylvanus  and  one 
fresh  Hyria  muricata  were  taken  on  the  following  day.  I  noticed 
some  L.  icarus  resting  on  grass-heads  at  6  p.m.,  and  as  they  were 
still  in  the  same  position  at  9.30  p.m.,  assumed  that  they  had  at  that 
hour  begun  to  take  up  their  positions  for  the  night.  Quite  a  number 
of  C.  'pamphilus  were  observed  at  the  same  time,  resting  upon  the 
yellow  centre  of  the  ox-eye  daisies. 

June  16th,  a  dull  day  with  a  strong  wind,  found  me  again  on  the 
"  moss."  G.  typhon  would  not  rise  at  all.  A  storm  was  threatening, 
and  they  seemed  to  know  it.  I  have  noticed  that  in  bad  weather 
they  creep  low  down  amongst  the  grasses,  after  the  manner  of 
Erebia  cassioi^e.  On  some  high-lying  marshy  ground  (1000  ft.) 
freshly  emerged  males  of  A.  selene  were  found  fully  three  weeks 
later  than  on  the  lowland  limestone,  although  here  we  noticed 
projecting  from  a  sallow  trunk  two  freshly  vacated  pupal  cases  of 
T.  crahroniformis,  a  species  we  are  accustomed  to  take  in  early  July  ! 
The  vagaries  of  the  season  have  been  bewildering.  About  this  date  I 
had  the  mortification  of  losing  a  fine  brood  of  Lithomoia  solidaginis 
through  diarrhosa,  caused,  I  believe,  by  the  birch  carelessly  supplied 
them  being  saturated  with  honeydew.  Honeydew  was  greatly  in 
evidence  during  the  summer  months,  and  consequently  "  sugar,"  so 


SOCIETIES.  211 

productive  last  year,  was  a  complete  failure.  Mr.  Mallinson  reported 
numerous  captures  at  dusk  on  Silene  flowers — G.porcellus,  C.  wiibm- 
tica,  D.  cucubali,  P.  iota,  P.  pulchrina,  and  P.  interrogationis.  Three 
Pheosia  dictaoides  appeared  in  the  pupa-cage  on  June  20th.  There 
is  something  peculiar  ahout  this  insect.  Mr.  Mallinson  took  it  freely 
at  Hght  in  early  May,  and  again  in  August.  Yet,  out  of  the  seventy 
odd  pupae  carried  over  winter  by  the  Kendal  collectors,  the  above 
three  were  the  first  to  emerge.  More  dribbled  out  during  July,  but 
fully  half  the  total  number  are  lying  over.  I  cannot  recall  ever 
breeding  or  catching  a  May  specimen  here,  although  Kendal  is  only 
nine  miles  distant  from  Windermere.  E.  ccesiata  was  out  and  in 
good  condition  on  June  23rd,  and  on  the  27th  I  found,  by  searching 
poplar,  nine  newly  hatched  S.  ijopuli,  three  G.  libatrix,  and  one 
P.  tremida,  the  last,  unfortunately,  turning  out  to  be  ichneumoned. 
An  enterprising  specimen  of  Oporahia  filigrammaria  emerged  in  the 
pupa-cage  (kept  outside)  on  June  27th — a  further  proof  of  the  early 
character  of  the  season. — Frank  Littlewood. 
(To  be  continued.) 


SOCIETIES. 
Entomological  Society  of  London.  —  Wednesday,  April  3rd, 
1912.  — The  Eev.  F.  D.  Morice,  M.A.,  President,  in  the  Chair.— 
The  following  gentlemen  were  elected  Fellows  of  the  Society  : — • 
Mr.  Henry  Hacker,  Queensland  Museum,  Bowen  Bridge  Road, 
Brisbane,  Queensland ;  Mr.  Cyril  Engelhart  Latour,  Port  of 
Spain,  Trinidad,  British  West  Indies ;  Signer  Orazio  Querci,  Mace- 
rata,  Marche,  Italy.  —  The  Council  having  been  invited  to  elect 
Delegates  to  represent  the  Society  at  various  functions,  the  follow- 
ing had  been  elected  : — For  the  Centenary  Celebration  of  the 
Piiiladelphia  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  Professor  Comstock  and 
Dr.  Holland ;  Professor  Fernald,  who  had  also  been  elected,  was 
unable  to  attend ;  for  the  First  Eugenic  Congress,  in  July,  Professor 
Bateson ;  for  the  250th  Anniversary  of  the  Royal  Society,  in  July, 
the  President ;  for  the  International  Congress  of  Entomology,  in 
August,  the  President,  the  Rev.  G.  Wheeler,  Secretary,  and  Messrs. 
G.  T.  Bethune-Baker,  H.  Rowland-Brown,  and  the  Hon.  W.  Roths- 
child.— Mr.  G.  T.  Bethune-Baker  exhibited  a  specimen  of  Cydopodia 
Jiopei,  Westw.,  a  parasite  on  the  Indian  flying-fox  ;  this  was  itself 
parasitized  by  an  Acarid  of  the  genus  Gamasus,  there  being  no  less 
than  seventeen  of  this  small  species  on  one  specimen  of  C.  Jiopei. — 
There  being  no  other  exhibits  and  no  papers  to  be  read,  the  President 
said  that  he  thought  it  would  be  a  good  opportunity  to  discuss  the 
important  subject  of  Nomenclature,  and  a  long  discussion  took  place 
in  which  many  of  the  Fellows  present  took  part.  Eventually  Mr. 
Turner  proposed  that  a  small  Committee  be  appointed  to  consider 
the  subject  of  Nomenclature  and  report  to  the  June  meeting,  with  a 
view  to  the  coming  International  Congress.  This  was  seconded  by 
Mr.  A.  E.  Gibbs,  and  carried  nem.  con.  The  following  Fellows  were 
proposed  as  forming  the  Committee,  and  the  names  being  put  from 
the  Chair  were  unanimously  accepted  : — Mr.  G.  T.  Bethune-Baker, 
Dr.  T.  A.  Chapman,   Messrs.  J.   H.  Durrant,   H.  J.  Turner,  C.  O. 


212  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

Waterliouse,    and  Rev.   G.   Wheeler,    with  power   to  add   to    their 
number. — Geoege  Wheeler,  M.A.,  Hon.  Sec. 

The  Manchester  Entomological  Society. — January  3rd. — 
Annual  Meeting. — Election  of  Officers  for  1912. — Mr.  W.  Buckley 
gave  the  Presidential  Address  for  the  year — "  Entomology  and  the 
Microscope,"  and  illustrated  his  remarks  with  a  large  number  of 
beautiful  slides. — Mr.  J.  H.  Watson  exhibited  Saturnia  ccplialarice 
var.  harversoni,  from  Higher  Armenia  ;  in  a  pupa  kept  for  tw^o  years 
he  had  found  a  living  dipterous  parasite. — Mr.  R.  N.  Earwaker 
showed  the  larvae  (feeding  on  the  fungus  Polyporus  radiatus)  and  the 
imago  of  the  beetle  Orchesia  micans,  from  Cheltenham. — Mr.  B.  H. 
Crabtree  showed  a  series  of  Lujjerina  gueneei. — A.  W.  Boyd,  M.A., 
Ho7i.  Secretary . 

RECENT    LITERATURE. 

British  Butterflies.  By  A.  M.  Stewart.  London  :  Adam  &  Charles 
Black.  1912.  Pp.  i-viii,  1-88.  (Peeps  at  Nature  Series. 
Edited  by  Rev.  C.  A.  Hall.) 
Although  this  little  book  deals  with  a  subject  already  much  and 
often  handled,  we  venture  to  say  it  will  admirably  fill  a  place  not  yet 
occupied.  It  contains  some  ninety  pages  of  attractive  letterpress, 
not  overburdened  with  detail,  but  "nevertheless  setting  forth  all  that 
is  necessary  to  the  tyro.  One  could  only  wish  that  the  life-histoi'ies 
had  been  more  fully  dealt  with  in-  some  species.  The  eight  coloured 
plates  produced  direct  by  the  three-colour  process  are  really  mar- 
vellously well  executed,  and  lose  nothing  in  being  somewhat  re- 
duced ;  they  should  entirely  do  away  with  any  difficulties  of  identi- 
fication— even  those  of  the  merest  novice.  It  is  easy  to  see  that 
the  introductory  chapters  are  the  work  of  a  thoroughly  practical 
entomologist ;  but  we  should  have  liked  to  see  the  tracing-clotli 
method  of  setting  at  least  mentioned,  being  as  it  is  at  least  as 
rapid  and  quite  as  effective  as  the  Paisley  method.  N   D   R 


Hoio  to  Use  the  Microscope;  a  Guide  for  the  Novice.  By  the  Rev. 
C.  A.  Hall.  London  :  Adam  &  Charles  Black.  1912. 
Pp.  i-viii,  1-88. 
This  useful  little  book  on  the  microscope  is  apparently  uniform 
with  the  '  British  Butterflies  '  already  noticed,  and  equally  well  got- 
up.  Although  the  twenty  plates,  taken  direct  from  photo-micrographs, 
are  of  course  none  of  them  in  colours,  yet,  taken  in  conjunction  with 
the  drawings  in  the  text,  they  cover  a  sufficiently  wide  and  varied 
range  of  subject  to  interest  the  uninitiated,  for  whom  the  book  is 
intended,  in  at  least  a  few  branches  of  the  science  of  microscopy. 
The  text,  too,  contains  a  wealth  of  useful  advice  and  instruction,  and 
we  are  glad  to  see  a  very  large  proportion  of  it  has  been  devoted  to 
the  explanation  of  the  apparatus  necessary  and  of  its  uses,  and  also 
of  the  chief  methods  of  preparation.  These,  after  all,  are  the  points 
upon  which  the  novice  needs  help  ;  for  the  application  of  them  he  can 
usually  be  trusted  to  look  after  himself.  We  heartily  recommend 
the  book.  ^_  ^_  j^_ 


The  Entomologist,  August,   1912. 


Plate    V. 


Fig.  2. 
Where  Wallace  Trod." 


The  Entomologist,  September,  1912. 


Plate  VI 


Fig.  4. 
Where  Wallace  Trod." 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST 


Vol.  XLV.]  AUGUST,    1912.  [No.  591 


"  WHERE  WALLACE  TROD  " :  BEING  SOME  ACCOUNT 
OF  AN  ENTOMOLOGICAL  TRIP  TO  MT.  SERAMBU, 
SARAWAK,   BORNEO. 

By  J.  C.  MouLTON,  B.Sc,  F.L.S.,  F.Z.S.,  F.E.S.,\^vO 
Curator  of  the  Sarawak  Museum. 

(Plates  V.  &  VI.) 

Just  as  the  Galapagos  Isles  will  always  be  famous  for  the 
birth  of  Darwin's  great  theory  of  Natural  Selection,  just  as 
Ternate  will  always  share  this  fame  as  the  birthplace  of  the 
same  idea  to  Wallace,  so  too,  should  Sarawak  be  remembered 
in  connection  with  Wallace's  earlier  essay  on  the  Origin  of 
Species,*  which  foreshadowed  that  written  three  years  later  in 
Ternate,  and  read  before  the  Linnean  Society  in  conjunction 
with  Darwin's  essay  in  1858. 

During  Wallace's  travels  in  the  Malay  Archipelago,  lasting 
over  eight  years,  the  great  naturalist  spent  fifteen  months  in 
Sarawak,  nine  of  which  he  spent  at  Simunjan,  which  he  describes 
as  the  best  collecting-ground  for  insects  found  in  all  his  travels, 
and,  as  most  readers  will  remember,  he  gives  some  astonishing 
figures  to  illustrate  this.  Besides  this,  he  also  spent  four  weeks 
on  a  mountain  called  Serambu,  not  far  from  Kuching,  the  capital 
of  Sarawak ;  this  was  from  December,  1855,  to  January,  1856. 
His  essay  was  written  in  February,  1855,  at  Santubong,  the 
Sarawak  seaside  resort,  and  was  published  in  September,  1855. 
As  he  tells  us  in  his  'Life,'  1905  (p.  354),  through  many  even- 
ings and  wet  days  in  solitude  he  used  to  "  ponder  over  the 
problem  which  was  rarely  absent  from  my  thoughts,"  and  there 
is  little  doubt  that  the  quiet  time  spent  on  Peninjau  (a  spur  of 
Serambu)  enabled  him  to  put  in  many  quiet  hours  of  wrestling 
with  the  all-absorbing  riddle.  It  was  therefore  with  feelings  of 
the  liveliest  interest  that  I  first  beheld  Mt.  Serambu,  just  tbree 

*  "  On  the  Law  which  has  Regulated  the  Introduction  of  New  Species," 
published  in  '  Annals  and  Magazine  of  Natural  History,'  September,  1855, 
and  reprinted  as  Essay  T.  in  '  Contributions  to  the  Theory  of  Natural 
Selection,'  by  the  same  author,  1870. 

ENTOM. — AUGUST,    1912.  S 


214  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

years  ago  (February,  1909),  and  had  soon  determined  to  go  to 
that  mountain,  find  the  very  spot,  if  possible,  where  Wallace 
lived,  spend  the  same  months  there  as  Wallace  did,  and  devote 
myself  to  catching  insects  just  in  the  same  way  that  he  did.  To 
hopes  of  thinking  out  another  epoch-making  theory  I  did  not 
aspire,  but  I  did  hope  that  my  collection  of  insects  would  not 
fall  far  short  of  those  recorded  by  him,  and  in  this  I  was  not 
disappointed.  Circumstances  prevented  me  from  going  to 
Serambu  until  January  of  this  year  (1912),  and  it  was  with  the 
keenest  anticipation  that  I  started  from  Kuching  at  3  p.m.  on 
January  19th  in  the  Borneo  Company's  little  steam-launch 
*  Patricia.'  My  companions  for  the  trip  were  Mr.  Harrison  W. 
Smith,  who  was  as  desirous  as  I  "  to  step  where  Wallace  trod," 
two  museum  collectors  (Sea-Dayaks),  two  Land-Dayaks,  and  our 
two  Chinese  boys.  A  three  hours'  journey  up-river  in  the 
launch  brought  us  to  Busau,  once  a  populous  place  on  account 
of  the  antimony  works.  From  here  we  walked  some  three  or 
four  miles  to  a  place  called  Paku,  where  we  had  arranged  to 
spend  the  night  in  the  Government  bungalow.  Unfortunately, 
as  the  sun  set  soon  after  6  p.m.,  we  soon  found  ourselves 
stumbling  along  a  slippery  path  in  the  dark,  which  was  made 
no  nicer  by  a  heavy  downpour  of  rain.  Our  luggage  and  retinue 
followed  on  little  trolley-cars,  arriving  about  10  p.m.,  after 
successfully  negotiating  sundry  little  differences  of  opinion 
between  the  car  and  the  line,  which,  while  adding  character 
to  the  line,  at  the  same  time  serve  to  distinguish  it  from  our 
memories  of  the  London  to  Bath  portion  of  the  Great  Western 
Kailway. 

At  Paku  the  mountain  faced  us  due  east,  and  we  learnt  that 
there  were  two  sites  of  former  bungalows,  one  to  the  south, 
where  a  resident  of  this  district  used  to  spend  some  days,  and 
the  other  on  the  northern  end  of  the  mountain  on  a  spur  called 
Peninjau ;  this  was  the  site  of  the  old  bungalow  built  by  the 
Rajah.  The  Dayaks  who  had  come  down  to  fetch  our  baggage 
explained  that  nothing  was  left  of  either  of  these  bungalows, 
and  that  both  sites  were  all  overgrown,  especially  the  latter, 
which  they  said  was  indistinguishable  now  from  the  old  jungle. 
However,  this  last  was  our  objective,  so  off  we  started  that 
morning,  and  after  an  hour  and  a  half  of  hot  walking  we  came  to 
a  Dayak  village  on  the  lower  slopes  of  the  mountain  ;  here  we 
deposited  our  baggage,  and,  taking  three  men  with  us,  Mr.  Smith 
and  I  proceeded  on  up  to  "explore,"  or  rather  to  see  how  far 
the  Dayaks  could  be  believed  in  their  account  of  the  place.  Just 
above  the  village  the  path  lay  over  some  huge  boulders,  and 
these  had  been  bridged  by  a  series  of  bamboos  placed  end  on  ; 
some  of  these  were  notched  to  give  a  foothold,  others  were 
not ;  to  some  were  attached  hand-rails,  to  others  not.  Having 
respectfully  and  successfully  negotiated  this  portion  of  the  Dayak 


"where    WALLACE    TROD."  215 

highway,  we  came  by  a  steep  but  easier  path  to  a  deserted 
village,  which,  situated  as  it  was  on  the  steep  slope  of  the  hill, 
surrounded  by  the  stately  trees  characteristic  of  old  jungle,  and 
itself  overgrown  by  a  quick-spreading  green  garment  of  creeper 
and  undergrowth,  made  a  pretty  picture,  and  my  friend  was  not 
slow  to  take  the  opportunity  of  photographing  it.  A  few 
minutes  further  brought  us  to  the  end  of  our  journey — a  fine 
mangosteen  tree  loaded  with  some  of  the  most  delicious  fruit 
imaginable.  Our  Dayak  guides  said  this  was  where  the  bunga- 
low used  to  be,  and  after  a  little  search  we  discovered  the  six 
posts  on  which  the  raised  floor  had  rested  ;  between  them  grew 
a  fine  young  tree  just  three  feet  in  circumference  at  the  base, 
and  the  whole  place  was,  as  the  Dayaks  had  said,  just  like 
ordinary  jungle.  Except  for  those  six  posts  and  two  boards  used 
for  steps,  not  a  trace  of  the  bungalow  was  left.* 

We  returned  that  afternoon  and  slept  the  night  at  the  Dayak 
house.  Next  morning  we  ascended  the  hill  again,  this  time 
accompanied  by  twenty-one  Dayaks,  who,  after  carrying  up  our 
baggage,  spent  some  hours  clearing  the  site  and  building  us  a 
house.  This  was  built  on  much  grander  lines  than  is  usual  for 
these  jungle  shelters,  and  for  those  unacquainted  with  this  style 
of  domicile  the  following  details  may  be  of  interest : — Six  poles 
were  first  driven  into  the  ground,  three  to  mark  each  end  of  the 
house,  which  then  measured  13  ft.  x  10  ft.  Two  feet  above  the 
ground  poles  were  tied  across  these  ends,  and  others  laid  at 
right  angles  to  them,  supported  by  more  cross  poles  on  forked 
stakes  underneath.  Bamboos  were  then  laid  close  together  to 
form  a  floor,  while  the  walls  were  formed  of  the  same  useful 
material  split  lengthwise,  and  then  more  bamboos  laid  across 
the  top  supported  our  "  kadjang  "  roof.f  We  were  a  bit  short  of 
these  •'  kadjangs,"  but  luckily  my  friend  had  brought  a  tarpaulin, 
so  we  were  able  to  make  our  little  hut  very  fairly  watertight. 

*  Wallace's  description  of  his  visit  there  is  given  in  his  '  Malay  Archi- 
pelago '  (10th  ed.  1902,  pp.  63-67).  I  quote  the  following  lines  descriptive  of 
the  place : — 

"  This  is  a  very  steep  pyramidal  mountain  of  crystalline  basaltic  rock 
about  a  thousand  feet  high,  and  covered  with  luxuriant  forest.  There  are 
three  Dayak  villages  upon  it,  and  on  a  little  platform  near  the  summit  is  the 
rude  wooden  lodge  where  the  English  Rajah  was  accustomed  to  go  for  relaxa- 
tion and  cool  fresh  air.  It  is  only  twenty  miles  up  the  river,  but  the  road  up 
the  mountain  is  a  succession  of  ladders  on  the  face  of  precipices,  bamboo 
bridges  over  gullies  and  chasms,  and  slippery  paths  over  rocks  and  tree- 
trunks  and  huge  boulders  as  big  as  houses.  A  cool  spring  under  an  over- 
hanging rock  just  below  the  cottage  furnished  us  with  refreshing  baths  and 
delicious  drinking  water,  and  the  Dayaks  brought  us  daily  heaped-up  baskets 
of  Mangusteens  and  Lansats,  two  of  the  most  delicious  of  the  subacid 
tropical  fruits." 

f  "  Kadjangs  "  are  palm-leaves  sewn  together  in  a  large  square  ;  they 
are  in  continual  demand  for  hut  and  boat  coverings — in  fact,  anything  which 
wants  a  temporary  protection  from  the  rain ;  they  cost  about  fourpence  each. 

s  2 


216  THE    BNTOMOLOaiST. 

Except  for  the  ''  kadjangs  "  and  tarpaulin  which  we  brought  from 
Kuching,  all  the  materials  for  the  house  (which  contained  no  nail 
or  cord)  were  provided  by  the  jungle. 

A  little  way  below  the  house  was  a  huge  overhanging  rock, 
under  which  trickled  a  tiny  stream  ;  a  bamboo  split  down  the 
middle  formed  an  excellent  water-pipe,  carrying  the  water  to  a 
place  under  which  we  could  stand  and  bathe. 

,  Mindful  of  Wallace's  warnings  in  the  Malay  Archipelago,  and 
knowing  from  my  own  experience  how  difficult  it  is  to  catch  moths 
in  a  native-made  hut  roofed  with  leaves,  I  brought  some  old 
packing-cases  from  Kuching,  and  these  were  brought  up  the  hill 
in  sections  by  Dayaks.  When  put  together  and  given  a  coat  of 
whitewash  they  formed  a  very  serviceable  moth-trap.  The 
rough  measurements  of  it  were :  7  ft.  high  ;  across  open  front, 
4  ft.  ;  across  back  (boarded),  2  ft. ;  sides,  4  ft. ;  a  good  reflector 
lamp  placed  on  a  split  bamboo  inside  this  kept  us  well  supplied 
with  moths  each  night. 

According  to  our  aneroids,  the  height  above  the  sea-level  for 
this  place  was  just  under  1000  ft.,  and  the  summit  of  Mt.  Serambu 
was  1340  ft.  The  temperature  in  the  shade  of  our  hut  averaged 
between  71°-77°  Fahr. ;  on  one  cold  afternoon  it  went  down  to 
69°,  and  for  two  days  it  never  went  above  73°.  These  tempera- 
tures were  almost  suggestive  of  the  North  Pole  after  those 
registered  at  Kuching,  where  80°-90°  is  the  usual  range,  with 
an  occasional  rise  to  96°.  As  the  wet  monsoon  lasts  from 
October  to  March,  we  could  hardly  expect  to  have  other  than  a 
wet  spell  in  January  for  our  trip,  and  for  the  last  portion,  at  all 
events,  of  our  stay  there  we  had  our  full  share  of  wet  weather, 
which  accounts  for  the  relatively  small  number  of  insects  caught 
in  the  daytime,  although  it  made  no  difference  to  the  numbers 
captured  at  night. 

On  the  21  st  we  spent  our  first  night  on  the  spot  where 
Wallace  had  dwelt  just  fifty-six  years  before.  Jungle  life  has 
been  described  so  often  before  that  there  is  no  need  for  me  to 
detail  ours,  though  let  me  remark  that  the  best  accounts  give 
but  a  very  small  idea  of  the  unique  charm  of  life  in  such 
surroundings.  With  the  exception  of  a  visit  paid  by  Mr.  Smith 
and  myself  to  some  caves  in  a  neighbouring  hill,  our  party  spent 
just  a  fortnight  collecting  on  and  round  this  place.  Mr,  Smith 
unfortunately  contracted  fever,  and  had  to  return  to  Kuching  on 
the  29th.  The  remainder  of  us  stayed  up  there  until  February 
2nd,  descending  on  that  day  by  the  Peninjau  side  to  Siniawan, 
which  was  a  good  deal  shorter  than  the  Paku  route. 

All  inquiries  of  the  older  Dayaks  failed  to  elicit  any  positive 
recollections  of  Wallace's  visit  here.  All  they  remembered  was 
that  the  first  Rajah,  Sir  James  Brooke,  had  a  bungalow  built  on 
this  site  (which  site,  by  the  way,  they  say  he  purchased  from  the 
Peninjau  Dayaks  for  one  cannon),  and  that  he  came  here  often 


NOTES    ON    THE   BRITISH    MOSQUITOS.  217 

accompanied  by  European  friends,*  and  that  the  present  Rajah, 
Sir  Charles  Brooke,  did  the  same.  Only  a  few  remembered  the 
Chinese  rebellion  in  Sarawak,  which  took  place  in  1857,  and 
recollections  of  that  great  event  seem  to  have  swamped  all 
memories  of  events  before  it ;  so  that  Wallace's  visit  in  January, 
1856,  must  now  be  relegated  to  that  great  host  of  events  which 
took  place  in  the  irreclaimable  past  no  longer  within  the  memory 
of  man. 

"  Eheu  fugaces,  Posthume,  Posthume, 
Labuntur  anni." 

(To  be  continued.) 


NOTES   ON   THE   BRITISH   MOSQUITOS   (GULICIN^). 
By  F.  W.  Edwards,  B.A.,  F.E.S. 

(Published  by  Permission  of  the  Trustees  of  the  British  Museum.) 
(Continued  from  p.  195.) 

3.  0.  annulipes,  Mg. — Proboscis  with  a  rather  ill-defined  pale 
band  in  the  middle.  Head  scales  yellowish.  Scales  of  meso- 
notum  dark  brown  in  the  middle,  rather  bright  yellow  at  the 
sides.  Segments  of  abdomen  with  yellowish  basal  bands, 
covering  nearly  half  of  each  of  the  segments  3-5,  but  narrower 
on  the  remaining  segments  ;  apical  portion  of  segments  mainly 
dark  brown,  but  with  scattered  pale  scales.  Wings  and  legs 
speckled  with  light  and  dark  scales,  but  femora  nearly  all  yellow 
behind.  0.  annulipes  is  very  much  like  0.  maculatus  in  general 
appearance,  but  can  be  distinguished  in  the  female  sex  without 
much  difficulty  by  the  characters  given  in  the  key.  The  males 
are  more  easily  separated  by  the  structure  of  the  genitalia. 
Rough  figures  of  the  genitalia  of  both  the  species  are  given.  In 
0.  annulipes  (fig.  1)  the  harpes  (basal  appendages)  are  long  and 
strap-shaped,  and  in  0.  maculatus  (fig.  2)  they  are  shorter,  and 
provided  with  a  large  membranous  expansion  near  the  tip. 
Average  length,  7-8  mm. 

The  British  Museum  possesses  specimens  from  Angmering, 
Sussex  {Rev.  A.  E.  Eaton) ;  Longner  Hall,  Shrewsbury  {R.  F.  L. 
Burton)  ;  and  RoUesby,  Norfolk  (G^.  if.  Verrall). 

I  have  no  doubt  that  this  species  is  correctly  named,  as  it  answers 
quite  well  to  Meigen's  description.     Ficalbi,  however,  states  that  the 

*  Sir  Spenser  St.  John  visited  the  place  in  1851-2,  spending  some  months 
there  in  all  (see  his  '  Life  in  the  Forests  of  the  Far  East,'  2nd  ed.  1863,  vol.  i. 
pp.  162-169).  Ida  Pfeiffer  visited  the  Dayak  villages  on  Serambu  in  Decem- 
ber, 1851  (see  her  account  of  it  in  *  A  Lady's  Second  Journey  round  the 
World,'  1856,  pp.  50-55).  The  distinguished  botanist,  O.  Beccari,  spent  a 
week  there  in  1865  (see  his  '  Wanderings  in  the  Great  Forests  of  Borneo,' 
1904,  pp.  54-60). 


218 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 


abdomen  is  entirely  yellow  ;  this  may  very  likely  be  a  variation  of 
our  British  species,  or  it  may  be  another  nearly  allied  form.  A 
similar  variation — i.  e.  the  reduction  in  the  number  of  dark  scales  on 
abdomen  and  wings — occurs  in  0.  nemorosus.  Ficalbi's  C.  anmdipes 
has  been  redescribed  from  Finland  by  Theobald  as  C.  flavescens,  and 
Blanchard  has  renamed  it  C.  arcanus.  M.  Goetghebuer  records 
C.  annulipes  from  Belgium  (Ann.  Soc.  Ent.  Belg.  1910,  p.  84),  but 
states  that  the  female  has  simple  claws  and  median  rings  on  the 
metatarsi.     Perhaps  his  species  is  T.  richiardii,  Fie. 


Fig.  1. — Ochlerotatus  annulipes,  Mg;     Male  genitalia  (diagrammatic). 
Fig.  2. — 0.  maculatus,  Mg.     Male  genitalia  (diagrammatic). 

4.  0.  maculatus,  Mg. — Thoracic  scales  mainly  dark  brown, 
but  a  variable  number  of  yellowish  white  ones  are  present.  These 
latter  are  usually  found  on  the  margins  of  the  mesonotum,  in 
front  of  the  scutellum,  and  as  a  pair  of  thin  pale  lines  of  variable 
length,  sometimes  reduced  to  a  pair  of  rather  prominent  whitish 
spots  near  the  middle  of  the  thorax.  Pale  bands  of  abdomen 
often  very  indistinct  in  the  female,  represented  by  median  basal 
spots  on  some  or  all  of  the  segments  ;  the  whole  dorsal  surface 
of  the  abdomen,  like  the  wings  and  legs,  is  speckled  over  with 
pale  scales.     Average  length,  7-8  mm. 

Widely  distributed  and  probably  common. 

Synonymy. — This  species  is  usually  known  as  Culex  cantans,  Mg. 
Meigen,  however,  states  that  his  previously  described  C.  maculatus 
is  only  the  male  of  C.  cantans.  Stephens's  C.  fumipen7iis  is  generally 
accepted  as  a  synonym  of  C.  cantans,  but  I  think  wrongly.  Stevens 
stated  that  the  "  white  rings  at  the  base  of  each  joint  of  tarsi"  were 
"  nearly  obsolete " ;  this  would  apply  very  well  to  T.  morsitans  or 
T.  theobaldi,  but  not  to  0.  cantans.  As,  however,  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  decide  which  of  these  two  Theobaldias  Stephens  had,  and 
as  no  British  species  known  to  me  can  be  said  to  have  the  "  wings 
obscure,"  I  do  not  revive  this  old  name.  Theobald's  Culicada  water- 
housei  is  certainly  only  0.  maculatus,  as  the  genitalia  of  the  type 
(though  not  of  the  figure)  agree  well  with  those  of  typical  maculatus 
as  figured  by  Meijere,  and  roughly  in  this  paper.  C.  zvaterhousei 
agrees  with  all  other  British  Ochlerotatus  except  0.  lateralis  in  having 
the  hind  claws  toothed. 


NOTES    ON    THE    BRITISH    MOSQUITOS. 


219 


5.  0.  salinus,  Ficalbi. — Proboscis  and  palpi  dark  brown  with 
scattered  pale  scales.  Scales  of  thorax  uniformly  reddish  brown. 
Abdominal  segments  with  distinct  basal  pale  bands,  dark  brown 
on  the  apical  three-fourths,  with  numerous  scattered  pale  scales. 
Wings  and  legs  (even  the  tarsi)  speckled  with  light  and  dark 
scales.     Average  length,  3^  65  mm.,  2  5*5  mm. 

Apparently  chiefly  a  sea-coast  species  ;  the  British  Museum 
specimens  are  from  Worthing  {Rev.  A.  E.  Eaton)  ;  Walton-on- 
the-Naze,  Essex;  Studland,  Dorset,  and  Torpoint,  South  Devon 
{Lt.-Col.  Yerbury) ;  Dartford,  Kent  (F.  W.  Terry). 

Synonymy. — This  species  was  originally  described  by  Ficalbi  as 
distinct  from  0.  nemorosus  owing  to  the  absence  of  silvery-white 
knee-spots,  which,  according  to  the  descriptions  of  Meigen  and 
Schiner,  characterise  0.  nemorosus.  Subsequently  Ficaljai  examined 
a  specimen  of  0.  nemorosus  named  by  Schiner  in  which  the  pale 
knee-spots  were  not  silvery-white,  and  so  sank  his  C.  salinus  as  a 
variety,  differing  from  nemorosus  in  the  genitalia.  I  feel  sure  it  is  a 
totally  distinct  species,  both  by  coloration  and  habitat.  In  the 
writer's  synopsis  of  African  Culicidoe  this  species  is  wrongly  referred 
to  as  0.  nemorosus.  Theobald's  Culicada  terriei,  described  from  a 
single  specimen,  is  nothing  but  a  small  specimen  of  this  species. 

6.  O.  diversus,  Theo.— Scales  of  head  and  thorax  mostly 
yellowish  brown;  on  the  thorax  are  a  median  pair,  almost 
touching  in  the  middle  line,  and  a  short  lateral  pair  of  longi- 
tudinal dark  brown  stripes.  Proboscis  and  palpi  dark  brown, 
with  very  few  light  scales.  On  the  wings  the  light  scales  are 
practically  confined  to  the  mediastinal  vein.  The  legs  are  less 
speckled  than  in  O.  salinus ;  the  femora  are  entirely  yellowish 
behind,  except  at  the  extreme  tip  ;  the  tibiae  are  mostly  pale ; 
the  last  four  joints  of  the  tarsi  entirely  black-scaled.  Average 
length,  6-7  mm. 

Apparently  a  common  species. 

This  species  answers  in  many  respects  to  Ficalbi's  description  of 
what  he  takes  to  be  the  G.  ornatus  of  Meigen,  and  it  is  certainly 
difficult  to  beheve  that  it  should  have  been  undescribed  until  1901. 
But  Ficalbi's  description  does  not  correspond  with  the  colouring  of 
the  abdomen  found  in  British  specimens,  and  I  have  been  unable  to 
satisfy  myself  that  0.  diversus  has  been  described  under  any  older 
name.  Theobald's  C.  nemorosus  var.  luteovittatus  is,  however,  a 
synonym,  as  I  have  proved  by  comparison  of  the  types. 

7.  O.  nemorosus,  Mg. — Head  scales  rather  light  yellowish 
brown  ;  thoracic  scales  forming  a  broad  deep  brown  band  in  the 
middle,  extending  almost  to  the  scutellum  ;  at  the  sides  of  this 
band,  which  is  usually  quite  sharply  defined,  the  scales  are 
concolorous  with  those  of  the  head.  The  pale  bands  of  the 
abdomen  are  rather  variable  in  shape,  but  always  tend  to  be 
contracted  in  the  middle  (or  expanded  at  the  sides).  The  apical 
dark  brown  portions  of  the  segments  are  entirely  without  any 


220  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

pale  scales.  The  femora  are  pale  behind  and  over  the  greater 
part  of  the  basal  half,  dark  in  front  and  above.  Tibiae  and  tarsi 
usually  entirely  dark  brownish  black,  but  there  may  be  pale 
scales  on  the  tibiae  and  metatarsi.  Wings  entirely  without  pale 
scales.     Average  length,  <?  6*5  mm.,  $  5"5  mm. 

A  common  sylvan  species.  Very  abundant  at  Oxshott,  Surrey ; 
and  at  Studlaud, Dorset  ("very  venomous,"  according  toLt.-Col. 
Yerbury).  I  have  also  seen  specimens  from  the  New  Forest ; 
Burnham  Beeches ;  Tophins  (Aberdeen) ;  North  Sutor  (Cro- 
marty) ;  Nethy  Bridge  (Inverness),  &c. 

Synonymy. — This  species  is  without  any  doubt  the  Culex  con- 
cimms  of  Stephens,  a  name  which,  for  some  unexplained  reason,  has 
been  omitted  from  all  the  catalogues.  Curtis's  C.  guttatus  has  been 
commonly  regarded  as  synonymous  with  0.  nemorosus,  but  the  figure 
plainly  shows  that  it  is  not  this  species,  but  0.  lateralis.  The  form 
which  Theobald  calls  var.  detritus  (Hal.)  is  really  typical  nemorosus ; 
Haliday  himself  stated  that  his  G.  detritus  was  only  G.  pipiens,  but  a 
specimen  in  the  British  Museum  collection,  named  G.  detritus  by 
Walker,  is  really  0.  lateralis.  Dr.  S.  Bengtsson  very  kindly  sent  me 
specimens  of  three  of  Zetterstedt's  species  {G.  fusculus,  G.  nigripes, 
and  G.  nigitulus)  to  examine ;  those  of  G.  fusaihis  seemed  to  be  very 
much  rubbed  specimens  of  this  species,  and  though  the  descriptions 
do  not  correspond,  G.  fusculus  may  probably  be  taken  to  be  a  synonym 
of  G.  nemorosus.  One  of  Zetterstedt's  specimens  showed  traces 
of  pale  bands  on  the  abdomen.  G.  nigripes,  Zetfc.,  is  extremely 
similar,  but  the  scales  of  the  head  and  thorax  are  all  very  deep 
brown,  except  for  a  few  in  front  of  the  wing-base,  which  are  whitish. 
Theobald's  Gulicada  sylvce  (originally  described  from  two  New  Forest 
specimens  as  a  variety  of  G.  nigripes)  is  probably  this  species.  Mr. 
E.  C.  Bradley  has  kindly  re-examined  the  types  for  me  ;  he  says  that 
the  hind  claws  of  the  female  are  distinctly  toothed,  and  indicates 
that  the  cross-veins  are  separated  by  nearly  the  length  of  the  pos- 
terior. Thus  the  two  main  characters  by  which  this  specimen  was 
supposed  to  be  distinguished  are  not  really  present.  The  palpi  of  the 
male  are  described  as  being  a  little  shorter  than  the  proboscis,  a 
character  found  in  0.  lateralis  ;  the  other  characters  of  this  male  (a 
worn  specimen)  do  not,  however,  correspond  wath  those  of  0.  lateralis. 

8.  O.  lateralis,  Mg. — Scales  of  head  mostly  whitish,  but  two 
large  patches  of  black  ones.  Thorax  black ;  sides  broadly 
whitish,  a  line  of  whitish  scales  do\^n  the  middle,  and  several 
short  lines  of  the  same  colour  in  front  of  the  scutellum.  Abdo- 
men violet-black  above,  with  conspicuous  white  lateral  spots. 
Legs  black ;  basal  half  of  hind  femora  yellowish-white  ;  distinct 
silvery-white  knee-spots.  Wing-scales  all  dark.  Hind  claws 
simple.  Male  palpi  a  little  shorter  than  the  proboscis,  and  scarcely 
swollen  at  the  apex.     Average  length,  <?  5  mm.,  ?  6'5  mm. 

Common  in  the  South  of  England. 

Synonymy. — This  is  the  species  described  by  Curtis  as  Gulex 
guttatus,  and  by  Kondani  as  G.  albopunctatus. 

(To  be  continued.) 


221 

BRITISH     NEUROPTEEA,     1911. 

By  W.  J.  Lucas,  B.A.,  F.E.S. 

With  the  advent  of  the  new  year  the  Neuropterist  may 
commence  out-door  operations,  and  the  capture  of  more  species 
than  one  may  at  once  reward  him  for  his  trouble.  On  January 
29th  I  met  with  my  first  example  in  1911 — a  specimen  of 
Hemerobius  stigma  (one  of  the  Brown  Lace-wings),  which  was 
beaten  from  a  small  Scotch-fir  by  the  margin  of  the  Black  Pond 
on  Esher  Common,  Surrey.  The  species  is,  however,  continuous 
as  an  imago,  and  I  believe  I  have  taken  it  in  that  condition  in 
every  month  of  the  year. 

Of  the  Sialidae  (Alder-flies)  I  have  but  one  record,  a  male  of 
the  common  Sialis  lutaria,  which  was  taken  at  Lochinver  in 
Sutherland  by  Col.  J.  W.  Yerbury  on  June  23rd. 

Personally  I  made  no  captures  of  the  Raphidiidse,  though  I 
sought  for  specimens  near  the  Black  Pond,  Esher,  on  June  4th, 
and  found  pupa  skins.  These  insects  seem  to  be  upon  the  wing 
for  quite  a  short  period.  Lieut. -Col.  Nurse,  writing  on  June  8th, 
said  that  he  found  a  pupa  and  two  larvae  of  Raphidia  notata. 
The  latter  two  duly  pupated,  but  unfortunately  they  were 
thrown  away  by  mistake.  He  also  obtained  a  small  larva  of 
Raphidia  in  a  spruce-fir  cone.  In  May  Mr.  G.  B.  Oliver  of 
Wolverhampton  sent  me  a  living  female  of  R.  xanthostigma  and 
a  pupa-case,  saying  that  the  imago  was  found  on  the  14th  of  the 
month,  apparently  freshly  emerged,  near  the  empty  case  on  an 
oak-trunk  m  Sutton  Colddeld  Park.  Later  he  sent  me  another 
living  female,  which  fell  from  oak  when  he  was  larva-beating  on 
June  6th  at  Sutton  Coldfield.  This  species  closely  resembles 
the  much  scarcer  one,  P.  cognata. 

Nest  come  the  Hemerobiidse.  While  I  was  on  a  visit  to  the 
New  Forest  in  April,  Mr.  D.  Sharp  caught  in  Blackwater  near 
Rhinefield,  and  gave  to  me,  three  larvae  of  Osmylm  ckrysops,  the 
finest  of  our  Neuroptera.  After  I  had  left  the  Forest  he  wrote 
to  me  on  May  13th,  saying : — "  I  have  been  able  to  get  only  one 
more  larva  of  Osmylus.  It  appears  to  be  an  amphibious  insect, 
not  aquatic ;  it  runs,  not  swims.  It  puts  out  from  behind  two 
delicate  tubes,  armed  with  some  curious  processes.  I  do  not 
recollect  having  seen  any  special  remark  concerning  them.  The 
figure  in  the  Cambridge  Natural  History  shows  them,  but  it  is  a 
poor  figure,  and  the  antennae  too  are  different  from  those  of  my 
specimen.  I  think  the  tubes  assist  in  locomotion,  but  this  can 
scarcely  be  their  primary  function."  Of  Sisyra  fuscata,  the 
interesting  little  creature  whose  larva  feeds  in  freshwater 
sponge,  I  have  two  records.  One  specimen  was  taken  at 
Lochinver  on  July  11th  by  Col.  Yerbury,  and  another  was 
captured  at  Barnham  in  Suffolk  by  Lieut.-Col.  Nurse. 


222  THE   ENTOMOLOGIST. 

Of  the  typical  genus  Hemerohius  (Brown  Lace-wings)  a 
number  of  species  have  been  noted : — H.  micans,  three  at 
Ampton,  Suffolk  (Nurse).  H.  nitidulus,  May  21st,  Oxshott, 
Surrey,  (W.  J.  L.) ;  five  at  Ampton  and  Troston,  Suffolk  (Nurse). 
H.  humuli,  in  Sutherland,  three  at  Lochinver,  June  23rd,  and 
one  at  Loch  Assynt,  June  2nd,  a  very  dark  form  (Yerbury) ; 
two  at  Ampton  (Nurse).  H.  lutescens,  four  at  West  Stow, 
Suffolk  (Nurse).  H.  orotypus,  two  at  Spey  Bridge,  July  31st, 
and  one  at  the  same  place,  August  2nd  (Yerbury).  H.  nervosus, 
four  at  Spey  Bridge,  July  31st,  one  at  Lochinver,  June  27th, 
one  at  Grantown-on-Spey,  August  17th,  and  one  at  Loch  Assynt, 
June  9th  (Yerbury);  four  at  Ampton  (Nurse).  H.  suhnehulosus, 
one  sent  me  about  May  5th,  caught  by  Mr.  P.  Eichards  in  his 
garden  at  Kingston-on-Thames,  where  there  was  a  fir-tree. 
H.  stigma,  Esher  Common,  January  29th,  and  Oxshott  district. 
May  21st  (W.  J.  L.).  H.  concinnus,  Esher  Common,  June  4th 
(W.  J.  L.). 

Three  species  only  of  the  family  Chrysopidae  (Green  Lace- 
wings)  have  been  noted,  and  all  belong  to  the  typical  genus 
Chrysopa.  C.  fliva,  one  in  the  evening  of  July  17th  in  a  garden 
at  New  Maiden,  Surrey.  C.  septempunctata,  an  example  caught 
in  Surbiton,  Surrey,  May  27th  (A.  Dadswell).  C.  2?erZ(i,  Esher 
Common,  June  4th  (W.  J.  L.). 

We  now  come  to  the  last  family,  Panorpidse  (Scorpion-flies). 
The  first  noticed  were  a  male  and  two  females  of  Panorpa 
germa'iica,  May  21st,  in  the  Oxshott  district.  A  number  of 
specimens  of  the  same  species  were  taken  by  Col.  Yerbury  in 
the  north  of  Scotland — one  male  at  Dingwall,  May  27th  ;  two 
males  and  a  female  at  Dingwall,  May  29th,  when  they  were  in 
fair  numbers ;  one  female,  July  12th,  at  Lochinver.  These 
Scotch  specimens  form  a  nice  series,  extending  from  the 
normally  spotted  condition  to  a  practically  immaculate  form, 
not  unknown  from  the  same  region.  Lieut. -Col.  Nurse  captured 
the  species  at  Ampton,  a  teneral  female.  May  12th,  and  another 
female  on  May  18th ;  at  Timworth,  West  Suffolk,  a  teneral 
female.  May  21st,  and  two  males  and  a  female,  mature,  on  the 
same  day;  also  at  Timworth,  a  male,  June  15th,  two  males  and 
a  female.  May  80th,  and  a  female,  August  27th ;  at  Bradfield, 
West  Suffolk,  three  males.  May  23rd.  Mr.  E.  Whitehead  took 
it  at  HoUingworth  Lake,  Smithy  Bridge  C?  Cheshire)  on  June 
20th.  P.  communis  was  taken  (a  female)  near  Oxshott,  on  July 
2nd,  and  a  female  in  the  New  Forest  on  August  2nd  (W.  J.  L.)  ; 
at  Beach  Ditch,  Cambridgeshire,  three  females,  July  11th ;  at 
Chippenham,  Cambs,  a  male,  June  16th,  and  at  Timworth  in 
August  a  brownish  male  (Nurse) ;  in  Delamere  Forest,  Cheshire, 
July  3rd  (Whitehead).  P.  cognata  was  taken  at  Livermore, 
West  Suffolk,  a  male  and  a  female,  July  2nd  [and  two  males 
and  a  female,  August,  1905,  at  Timworth]  (Nurse;.     The  uni- 


A    NEW    STRAWBEKRY    APHIS.  223 

colorous  rostrum,  the  shape  of  the  antepenultimate  segment  of 
the  abdomen,  and  the  form  of  the  appendages,  very  clearly 
pointed  to  this,  the  scarcest  of  our  species  of  Panorpa. 

Notes  on  British  Neuroptera  (as  well  as  on  British  Orthop- 
tera  and  Odonata)  during  1912  will  be  welcomed  by  the  author 
of  this  note. 

Kingston-on-Thames:  June,  1912. 


A     NEW     STRAWBERRY    APHIS. 

By  Fred.  V.  Theobald,  M.A.,  F.E.S.,  Hon.  F.R.H.S.,  &c. 

MyzusfragaricB,  nov.  sp. 

Apterous  Viviparous  Female.  —  Very  pale  green,  often  semi- 
transparent.  Head,  thorax,  and  abdomen  covered  with  capitate 
hairs.  Antennge  as  long  as  the  body  ;  basal  segment  rather  large, 
with  a  thick  blunt  swelling  on  the  inner  side  ;  second  segment  small ; 
third  long,  not  quite  as  long  as  the  next  two,  which  are  equal ;  the 
sixth  longer  than  the  fourth  and  fifth ;  the  first  with  several,  the 
second  with  two  large  and  some  small  capitate  hairs,  the  third  with 
one  or  two  on  the  inner  side.  Cornicles  long  and  thin,  almost  trans- 
parent, with  faint  incrassation ;  projecting  some  distance  beyond  the 
Cauda.  Cauda  pallid  green,  with  two  pairs  of  lateral  hairs  and  a 
median  apical  one.  Legs  pallid  green,  almost  transparent ;  tarsi 
slightly  dusky ;  femora  and  tibiee  with  capitate  hairs.    Eyes  blackish. 

Length,  1-1-5  mm. 

Winged  Viviparoiis  Female. — Head  dark  brown  ;  antennae  dark 
brown.  Prothorax  pale  yellowish  green ;  mesothorax  with  dark 
brown  median  area.  Abdomen  pale  yellowish  green,  with  a  dusky 
patch  on  the  apical  half,  and  a  few  small  dusky  spots  on  the  basal 
segments  and  dusky  lateral  spots.  Legs  pale  yellowish  green,  apices 
of  femora  and  tibiae  dusky,  tarsi  dark.  Cornicles  pale  yellowish  green. 
Wings  with  smoky  black  veins  and  smoky  black  stigma.  Capitate 
hairs  scantier  than  in  the  apterous  form,  four  on  the  front  of  the  head, 
some  on  the  two  basal  antennal  segments,  and  short  ones  on  the 
body,  the  heads  being  only  slightly  swollen.  Third  antennal  seg- 
ment with  32-36  sensoria  disposed  all  along  it,  fourth  with  5-8 
sensoria  ;  third  segment  about  as  long  as  the  fourth  and  fifth  ;  sixth 
a  little  longer  than  the  fourth  and  fifth ;  cornicles  showing  faint  in- 
crassation, not  projecting  beyond  the  pale  green  cauda,  which  has  two 
pairs  of  lateral  hairs  and  one  median  apical  one.  A  marked  papilla 
on  the  under  wings  with  five  curved  apical  bristles. 

Length  of  body,  2-2-5  mm. ;  of  wings,  expanse,  4  mm. 

Food-plant. — Cultivated  strawberries. 

Habitat.— Rounslow,  Middlesex,  and  Rudgwick,  Sussex. 

Observations. — Described  from  a  colony  sent  me  by  the  Board 
of  Agriculture  in  March.  At  first  the  apterous  females  only 
occurred  under  the  leaves ;  later  they  and  the  nymphs  swarmed 


224  THE   ENTOMOLOGIST. 

up  the  leaf-stalks  as  well.  Pupae  occurred  on  March  29th,  niany 
on  April  4th,  and  winged  females  commenced  to  appear  on 
April  10th.  The  apterous  females  resemble  Myzus  ribis,  but  the 
alate  forms  are  very  distinct,  having  green  cornicles  and  different 
abdominal  ornamentation.  Some  of  the  alate  females  appear  to 
have  five,  some  three,  curved  bristles  on  the  papilla  on  the 
under  wings.  I  also  found  it  swarming  on  hothouse  strawberries 
in  May  at  Eudgwick  and  doing  much  damage.  A  succession  of 
winged  broods  kept  on  appearing  until  mid-June. 


METRIOPTERA     ROESELII. 

By  W.  J.  Lucas,  B.A.,  F.E.S. 

Yet  another  record  of  this  somewhat  elusive  grasshopper 
has  come  to  hand.  Mr.  W.  West,  of  Lewisham,  Curator  of  the 
South  London  Entomological  Society's  Collections,  when  work- 
ing for  Coleoptera  and  Homoptera,  makes  a  point  of  not  neglect- 
ing "  other  fish  that  come  to  his  net."     Consequently  he  has 


W.  J.  Lucas,  photo. 
M.  roeselii  (  x  3). 

more  than  once  been  able  to  help  those  who  work  at  the  Ortho- 
ptera.  They  have  now  to  thank  him  for  adding  another  locality 
to  the  two  or  three  that  we  already  possessed  for  M.  roeselii. 

On  September  3rd,  1911,  he  took  five  specimens,  three  males 
and  two  females,  in  a  reed-patch  on  the  bank  of  the  Thames,  a 
few  miles  below  Gravesend.  They  were  not  recognised  at  the 
moment,  but  Burr's  description  enabled  Mr.  West  to  identify 
them.     Two  pairs  are  placed  in  Mr.  West's  collection,  and  the 


DESCRIPTION    OF   EGG    OF    VANESSA    POLYCHLOROS. 


225 


odd  specimen  he  has  been  kind  enough  to  add  to  mine.  All  five 
were  exhibited  at  a  recent  meeting  of  the  South  London  Society. 
As  August  and  September  are  the  best  months  for  the  species, 
a  magnified  figure  of  the  male  accompanies  this  record,  as 
well  as  a  table  for  the  purpose  of  naked-eye  recognition  in  the 
field,  since  the  species  may  easily  be  confused  at  first  sight  with 
the  far  commoner  M.  brachyptera.  A  third  much  larger 
species,  M.  albopunctata  (  =  grisea),  occurs  in  damp  spots  on 
cliff  sides,  but  it  is  not  likely  to  be  mistaken  for  either  of  the 
other  two. 


M.  hrachyptera. 

1.  Size  slightly  smaller. 

2.  Colour  dark,  usually  marked 
with  green. 

3.  Pronotum  —  flat  dorsal  part 
rather  narrower. 

4.  Pronotum — posterior  margin  of 
lateral  flap  pale. 

5.  Elytra  pointed. 

6.  $  Ovipositor  long,  scarcely 
angled  at  base,  upper  edge  of 
blade  curved. 


M.  roeselii. 

1.  Size  slightly  larger. 

2.  Colour  somewhat  ruddy,  with- 
out green  markings. 

3.  Pronotum  —  flat  dorsal  part 
rather  broader. 

4.  Pronotum  —  total  margin  of 
lateral  flap  pale. 

5.  Elytra  rounded  or  even  truncate. 

6.  5  Ovipositor  about  two-thirds 
that  of  M.  brachyptera,  with  a 
sharp  bend  at  base,  upper  edge 
of  blade  more  nearly  straight. 


3'  Cerci  more  prominent,  tooth 
nearer  tip  of  inner  edge. 


7.   3    Cerci  less  prominent,  tooth 
near  middle  of  inner  edge. 

The  male  figured  was  taken  on  the  Essex  coast  by  Mr.  B.  S 
Harwood,  September  3rd,  1903. 
Kingston-on-Thames :  July,  1912. 


DESCRIPTION    OF     THE     EGG    OF     VANESSA 
POLYCHLOROS. 

By  F.  W.  Frohawk,  M.B.O.U.,  F.E.S. 

Apparently  there  is  no  reliable  description  of  the  colouring 
of  the  egg  of  Vanessa  polychloros  published,  and  respecting  all 
the  works  on  British  butterflies  I  have  referred  to  very  little  is 
to  be  found,  and  that  is  unreliable.  Tutt  says  ('  British  Butter- 
flies,' p.  341)  : — "  The  fiction  derived  from  a  figure  by  Sepp, 
published  nearly  one  hundred  and  forty  years  ago,  that  the  eggs 


226  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

of  this  species  and  that  of  V.  urticce  are  very  dissimilar  is  to  be 
found  in  almost  every  text-book  on  butterflies  that  has  been 
published  in  this  country.  They  are,  on  the  contrary,  very 
similar."  Barrett  gives  no  description  of  the  egg.  Mr.  South 
('  British  Butterflies,'  p.  66)  describes  the  only  eggs  he  obtained 
as  "  purplish  with  whitish  ribs,  but  no  caterpillars  hatched  from 
them.  Hellins,  who  squeezed  a  few  eggs  from  a  freshly  killed 
female,  states  that  the  colour  is  apparently  a  dull  green." 

Having  obtained  two  batches  of  eggs  of  V.  polychloros  from 
specimens  captured  on  April  6th  last  by  the  Hon.  N.  Charles 
Eothschild  and  Mr.  C.  Granville  Clutterbuck,  I  am  indebted  to 
both  these  gentlemen  for  kindly  sending  the  butterflies  direct 
to  me ;  thereby  I  have  been  enabled  to  note  the  colouring  of  the 
egg  from  the  time  of  deposition  to  that  of  hatching. 

One  of  the  three  females  received  I  sent  to  Mr.  L.  W.  Newman 
on  April  13th,  which  deposited  a  large  batch  of  eggs  (about  two 
hundred  and  twelve)  during  a  gleam  of  sunshine  the  following 
morning  ;  these  he  at  once  kindly  sent  to  me,  which  arrived  on 
the  15th.  These  I  figured  when  twenty-four  hours  old  ;  they 
were  then  of  an  apricot-buff  colour.  These  I  returned  to  Mr. 
Newman,  who  tells  me  they  hatched  on  May  6th,  remaining  in 
the  egg-state  twenty-two  days. 

The  second  female  died  on  April  23rd  without  depositing. 
Upon  dissection  I  found  her  full  of  eggs,  apparently  ready  for 
laying ;  they  were  of  a  clear  yellow-ochre  colour,  of  the  same 
hue  as  when  first  laid. 

The  third  female,  which  I  kept  under  constant  observation, 
and  fed  her  about  every  other  day,  laid  a  batch  of  about  one 
hundred  and  twenty  eggs  on  sallow  between  1  p.m.  and  2.30  p.m. 
on  April  20th.  These  eggs  began  hatching  on  May  7th,  remain- 
ing eighteen  days  in  the  egg-state.  When  first  laid  (directly 
after)  the  colour  is  a  pure  yellow-ochre,  which  changes  to  apricot- 
yellow  when  twenty-four  hours  old.  They  very  gradually  assume 
a  slightly  duller  colour  by  the  third  day,  and  by  the  fifth  day  are 
dull  ochreous-buff.  Very  gradually  the  colour  increases  in  depth 
to  amber-brown  when  a  week  old ;  the  white  keels  give  the 
entire  batch  a  drab  appearance  to  the  naked  eye.  Under 
microscopic  power  the  ground  colour  is  amber,  checkered  with 
underlying  chestnut-red  markings  caused  by  the  maturing  of 
the  larva. 

After  remaining  for  a  few  days  the  basal  half  assumes  a  more 
ochreous  hue,  while  the  apical  half  turns  duller,  and  finally  the 
ground  colour  becomes  pale  ochreous,  the  dark  hairs  of  the  larva 
showing  through  the  transparent  shell,  and  the  black  head 
covers  the  greater  part  of  the  crown ;  this,  combined  with  the 
white  keels,  gives  the  eggs  a  dull  purplish  effect. 

The  egg  is  3^  in.  high  and  dome-shaped.  The  micropyle  is 
flattened  and  very  finely  reticulated.     There  are  from  seven  to 


NOTES    FROM    AN    ESSEX    LEPIDOPTERIST's    DIARY.  227 

nine  longitudinal  keels,  which  rise  on  the  crown,  where  they  are 
much  elevated,  but  rapidly  decrease  in  height  on  traversing  the 
side,  and  form  only  a  slight  ridge  over  the  basal  half;  they  are 
fluted,  and  resemble  white  frosted-glass  frills,  but  are  only  white 
on  the  upper  half.  The  usual  number  is  eight,  occasionally 
only  seven,  and  sometimes  nine.  The  spaces  between  the  keels 
are  delicately  ribbed  transversely  by  about  forty  in  number. 

As  will  be  seen  by  the  above,  the  egg  of  V.  polychloros  is  not 
green  in  any  stage  either  before  or  after  it  is  laid,  and  in  this 
respect,  and  in  structure  also,  it  is  not  similar  to  that  of  V. 
urticce,  but  agrees  closely  both  in  structure  and  colour  with  its  near 
ally.  V.  antiopa. 


NOTES    FEOM    AN    ESSEX    LEPIDOPTERIST'S    DIARY 
FOR    1911. 

By  Paymaster-in-Chief  Gervasb  F.Mathew,  R.N.,  F.E.S.,  &c. 

(Continued  from  p.  204.) 

July  31st  was  fine,  bright,  and  very  warm.  In  the  evening 
I  went  to  the  woods  and  tried  sugar.  There  was  a  clear  sky, 
small  moon,  slight  dew,  and  the  air  was  calm  and  close.  Moths 
were  abundant,  but  mostly  common  species.  Apamea  oculea 
swarmed  and  was  in  great  variety ;  others  were  T.  orhona, 
T.  ianthina,  N.  baja,  M.  ahjecta  (two),  C.  affinis,  C.  trapezina,  N. 
ruhi  (second  brood),  G.  lihatiix,  A.  pyramidea,  H.  nictitans  (one, 
a  rare  moth  here),  &c.,  and  one  Dichelia  grotiana.  T.  amataria 
was  flying  in  great  numbers  over  Chenopodlum,  &c.,  in  the  rides. 
One  H.  micacea,  six  H.  paludis,  and  two  C.  matiira  were  captured 
at  light. 

The  first  day  of  August  was  fine,  bright  and  hot  until  6  p.m., 
when  it  clouded  over,  and  there  was  a  little  rain  between 
seven  and  eight.  I  bred  Zephyrus  hetulcs  (from  Monk's  Wood 
larvae)  and  Catocala  nupta.  I  went  to  the  reed-beds  at  dusk  and 
took  sixteen  N.  arundineta  and  one  S.  maritima,  but  they  were 
too  worn  for  the  cabinet,  so  were  released  in  the  morning,  and  I 
hope  were  able  to  find  their  way  back  to  the  reeds.  Nonagria 
geminipuncta  was  just  appearing,  and  I  netted  seven  very  fresh 
specimens  ;  also  one  Oi'thotcelia  sparganiella,  the  first  I  have  taken 
here.  The  2nd  was  fine,  bright,  and  warm,  with  fresh  south- 
westerly breeze.  The  second  brood  of  Pararge  megcera  was  just 
coming  out,  and  I  saw  six  or  seven  ;  also  a  fresh  and  very 
abundant  brood  of  Lyccsna  icarus,  and  noticed  several  fresh 
Chrysophanus  phlceas,  the  first  I  have  seen  this  year.  I  obtained 
the  following  from  the  electric  lights  at  Parkeston  : — Cerura 
furcula  (one),  Porthesia  similis,  Hepialus  hunudi  (one,  female), 
Plusia  gamma,  P.  chrysitis,  Hydroecia  micacea,  H.  paludis,  Miana 
literosa  (one,  a  scarce  moth  here),  Charceas  graminis,  &c. 


228  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

The  7fch  was  bright  and  warm.  Several  larvse  of  Leucania 
favicolor  had  fed  up  rapidly,  and  were  now  full  grown,  and  one 
spinning  up  ;  the  remainder  were  still  small,  evidently  intending 
to  hybernate.  It  is  strange  how  scarce  the  Vanessids  were  this 
season,  notwithstanding  the  long  spell  of  hot  weather,  and  in 
the  lucerne  fields,  bright  with  flowers,  I  did  not  see  one.  There 
were  very  few  hybernated  urticce  about  in  the  spring,  and  no  io, 
but  I  had  seen  one  or  two  of  the  latter  lately  indoors,  as  if  they 
were  looking  for  some  dark  corner  wherein  to  hibernate,  though 
it  seemed  early  for  that.  I  had  not  seen  Pyrameis  atalanta  or 
P.  cardui  yet.  Lyccena  icarus  were  in  great  profusion  among 
the  lucerne. 

The  10th  was  fine  and  bright  in  the  forenoon  and  very  hot, 
with  a  fresh  north-easterly  breeze,  but  became  overcast  after  noon. 
I  went  to  the  woods  in  the  evening  for  sugaring.  Common  species 
were  abundant.  I  took  or  saw  Acronycta  rumicis,  one  (?  second 
brood) ;  Apamea  oculea  and  Triphana  pronuba,  abundant ; 
T.  ianthina,  Noctiia  baja,  N.  c-nigrum,  Amphipyra  pyramidea, 
many  of  each  ;  Catocala  nupta,  eight ;  Noctiia  stigmatica,  three  ; 
N.  umbrosa,  one ;  N.  xanthographa,  one  ;  M.  brassicce,  three 
(?  second  brood)  ;  Dipterygia  scabriuscula,  one,  fresh  (?  second 
brood)  ;  Cidaria  truncata,  one ;  and  netted  Epio7ie  apiciaria,  one 
female ;  Timandra  amataria  was  still  abundant.  On  the  12th 
I  visited  the  woods  again.  Moths  were  plentiful  on  the  sugar ; 
the  same  species  as  on  night  of  10th,  with  the  addition  of  a  few 
fresh  G.  libatrix.  The  weather  for  the  past  week  was  excessively 
warm.  On  the  9th  the  temperature  recorded  in  the  shade  at 
Greenwich  Observatory  was  100°,  the  highest  recorded  since  the 
Observatory  was  started  nearly  three  hundred  years  ago ! 

Some  ova  laid  by  a  female  T.  amataria  captured  early  last 
month  hatched  in  due  course,  and  a  few  of  the  larvie  fed  up 
rapidly,  and  on  the  15th  I  saw  that  three  of  them  had  spun  up 
on  the  muslin  hood  of  the  breeding-cage,  and  had  changed  to 
pupse  ;  most  of  the  others  were  still  small. 

16th. — About  ten  days  earlier  I  had  caught  a  female  Chryso- 
phaniis  phlceas,  and  placed  her  out  in  the  sun  in  a  muslin -covered 
flower-pot  with  a  growing  plant  of  Rumex  acetosella ;  she  soon 
laid  a  number  of  eggs  on  the  leaves  and  stems,  and  some  of 
these  were  already  hatched  on  the  16th,  and  the  tiny  larvae 
had  buried  themselves  in  a  groove  they  had  eaten  in  the  leaves. 
It  was  a  very  hot  day.  At  dusk  I  went  to  the  lanes  and  marshes, 
sugaring  the  posts  and  twigs ;  moths  were  abundant,  the  best 
being  Cerigo  matura,  T.  interjecta,  H.  paliidis,  and  a  second 
brood  of  L.  pallens  and  A.  exdamationis,  these  latter  being 
remarkably  small. 

The  18th  was  fine  and  very  hot — 82°  in  the  shade.  I  took  a 
fresh  specimen  oi  Eupithecia  pwinilata;  this  must  have  been  a 
third  brood. 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  229 

21st. — About  a  month  earlier  I  had  obtained  a  batch  of  eggs 
of  Acidalia  dimidiata,  which  hatched  in  a  few  days.  The  larvae 
fed  up  rapidly  on  knotgrass,  and  the  first  moth  emerged  on  the 
21st.  (None  of  these  larvfe  showed  any  disposition  to  hibernate ; 
the  last  moth  of  the  brood  was  bred  on  Sept.  9th.) 

(To  be  continued.) 


NOTES     AND     OBSERVATIONS. 

Males  op  Bupalus  piniaria  attracted  by  a  Spider. — On  the 
afternoon  of  June  11th  we  went  into  the  pine  woods  to  find  females 
of  B.  jnniaria,  cand  seeing  about  twenty  or  thirty  males  flying  round 
a  head  of  bracken,  we  at  once  expected  to  find  a  female,  but  instead 
we  found  the  males  "assembled"  around  a  spider,  belonging  to  the 
genus  Theridion  (thanks  to  Dr.  Jordan  for  name).  The  spider  soon 
captured  a  male,  secured  all  its  feet  in  a  small  web,  and  bit  it  under 
the  thorax ;  I  released  the  moth  and  removed  the  stem  of  bracken 
with  the  spider  on  it  away  some  twenty  yards ;  the  males  followed 
and  at  once  surrounded  the  spider.  Thinking  a  female  B.  piniaria 
might  have  been  on  the  same  stem,  we  transferred  the  spider  to  a 
fresh  stem  of  bracken,  and  again  removed  it  some  twenty  yards 
away.  In  a  few  seconds  all  the  males  had  left  the  old  stem  and 
gone  to  the  spider;  then,  after  allowing  it  to  capture  one  more 
Bwpahis,  we  killed  the  Theridion.  Evidently  the  scent  was  with  the 
spider,  for  the  male  moths  dispersed  when  it  was  bottled.  Has  any 
entomologist  made  a  similar  observation?  The  Hon.  Walter  Eoths- 
child  suggests  that  the  spider  had  devoured  a  female  B.  piniaria, 
the  scent  of  the  same  remaining.  The  spider  itself  was  not  so  large 
as  the  moth's  body,  and  it  could  only  have  sucked  the  juices,  still 
the  scent  might  have  been  retained. — J.  J.  Joicey  and  A.  Noakes  ; 
The  Hill,  Witley,  Surrey. 

Lepidoptera  attracted  by  "  Honey-dew"  on  Larch-Shoots. — 
Whilst  collecting  in  Northants  amongst  larches,  several  M.  stella- 
tarnm  were  noticed  about  6  p.m.,  apparently  feeding  upon  some 
substance  resembling  mildew  which  had  affected  the  shoots  of  the 
trees.  Whatever  the  deposit  or  growth  might  have  been,  it  appeared 
to  be  singularly  attractive  both  to  bees  and  insect  life  in  general. 
Later  in  the  evening  sugar  was  practically  a  failure,  but  an  in- 
spection of  the  larches  with  a  lamp  showed  them  to  be  swarming 
with  moths.  There  was  nothing  sweet  in  the  taste  of  the  affected 
larch  shoots.  [The  mildew-looking  substance  mentioned  by  our 
correspondent  was  probably  the  woolly  covering  of  the  larch  aphis 
{Ghermes  laricis,  Hartig.). — Ed.] — G.  B.  Kershaw;  West  Wickham, 
Kent. 

OviPOSiTiON  OF  Nemeobius  lucina. — On  May  30th  a  female  of 
this  species,  captured  the  day  before,  was  placed  on  a  growing  plant 
of  Primula  vulgaris,  and  although  very  little  sun  had  been  showing, 
three  eggs  were  deposited  on  the  under  side  of  a  leaf  some  time 
during  the  forenoon.     Whilst  watching  the  butterfly,  about  5  o'clock 

BNTOM. — August,  1912.  t 


230 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 


in  the  evening,  it  was  noticed  to  add  two  more  eggs  to  the  batch, 
and  this,  although  the  sun  was  totally  obscured,  and  had  been  for 
some  time.  As  there  had  been  so  little  sunshine  throughout  the 
day,  it  is  probable  that  the  first  three  eggs  had  been  deposited 
under  similar  circumstances.  Up  till  June  8th  sixty-three  eggs  had 
been  deposited  by  the  one  female,  and  these  commenced  to  hatch  on 
June  12th. — A.  t.  Postans  ;  Portsmouth. 

Scarcity  op  Arctia  caia  in  1912. — I  notice  that  on  p.  187  of  the 
'  Entomologist,'  reference  is  made  to  the  scarcity  of  Arctia  caia 
larvae  this  season,  and  fellow  collectors  of  my  acquaintance  have  also 
remarked  on  the  same  scarcity.  In  the  locality  where  I  usually  take 
larvae  of  A.  caia,  however,  I  have  secured  over  one  hundred  this 
season,  and  these  were  picked  up  quite  casually  along  a  sunny  lane 
about  one  hundred  yards  long.  Of  Arctia  villica  larvae,  however,  I 
have  not  seen  a  single  specimen  where  I  usually  take  them  every 
season. — A.  T.  Postans;  Portsmouth. 

EuPROCTis  CHRYSORRHCEA  IN  NoRFOLK. — On  July  7th  last  I 
captured,  near  Eoughton,  Norfolk,  a  female  Eitproctis  {Liparis) 
chrysorrhoea  drying  its  wings.  I  thought  this  was  rather  an  unusual 
occurrence  for  Norfolk. — A.  C.  Morris  ;  Leafield,  Gibson's  Hill, 
Upper  Norwood,  July  16th,  1912. 

Agrotis  puta  in  May. — Your  correspondent,  the  Eev.  C.  E. 
Eaven  (antea,  p.  208),  may  be  interested  to  know  that  Agrotis  imta 
is  rather  common  at  our  electric  lamp.  It  was  first  observed  this 
year  on  May  2nd,  rather  earher  than  in  1911,  when  it  was  first  seen 
on  the  15th  of  that  month.  Taniocampa  gothica  sometimes  lingers 
with  us  until  quite  the  end  of  May. — F.  G.  Whittle  ;  7,  Marine 
Avenue,  Southend,  July  6th,  1912. 

Percnoptilota  (Camptogramma)  fluviata  in  Surrey. — I  should 
like  to  record  the  capture  of  C.  fluviata  at  a  lamp  in  this  village  on 
May  13th  last.  It  was  in  good  condition  and  apparently  freshly 
emerged. — H.  Fleet,  Junr. ;  7,  Park  Eoad,  Esher,  Surrey,  June  10th. 

DiCYCLA  00  AND  PaLIMPSESTIS   OCULARIS  AT  WiNCHMORE  HiLL. — 

I  wish  to  record  the  capture  of  a  perfect  specimen  of  D  icy  da  oo  at 
sugar  on  July  5th  about  8.15  p.m.  at  Winchmore  Hill,  N.  I  had 
only  just  finished  sugaring  and  took  it  on  almost  the  last  tree  I  did, 
and  needed  no  light  to  see  it.  I  also  took  a  fine  specimen  of  Palinip- 
sestis  ocularis  {Cymatophora  octogesima)  at  sugar  on  June  9th  in  the 
same  locality,  but  have  not  seen  either  species  since,  although  I  have 
been  many  times. — L.  E.  Dunster  ;  44,  St.  John's  Wood  Terrace, 
N.W.,  July  19th,  1912. 

Butterflies,  &c.,  at  Freshwater,  Isle  of  Wight. — Numbers  of 
Macroglossa  stellatarum  and  Pyrameis  cardui  appeared  in  my  garden 
on  June  19th,  and  continued  in  diminishing  quantity  till  the  end  of 
the  month.  P.  atalanta  was  common  at  the  same  time.  On  July 
4th  I  saw  three  specimens  of  Colias  edusa  in  and  around  Freshwater, 
and  heard  of  others.  As  early  as  July  12th  the  second  brood  of 
Cyaniris  argiolus  was  on  the  wing.  The  first  brood  was  noticed 
here  on  April  5th. — S.  L.  0.  Young,  M.D.  ;  Brooklands,  Freshwater, 
Isle  of  Wight,  July  19th,  1912. 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  231 

Deilephila  galii  in  Somerset. — I  have  to  report  the  capture  of 
twenty-five  larvae  of  D.  galii,  feeding  on  yellow  Galium  on  the  sand- 
hills quite  close  to  Burnham,  Somerset. — H.  Doidge  ;  The  Bank, 
High  Street,  Taunton,  July  19th,  1912. 

LiMENITIS    SIBYLLA    AND    APATURA   IRIS    IN    SURREY. On  July  9th 

four  specimens  of  Limenitis  sibylla  were  taken  in  a  public  wood  near 
here ;  and  on  the  same  date  a  specimen  of  Apatura  iris  was  captured 
in  a  private  wood.  Another  specimen  of  A.  iris  was  found  drying 
its  wing  on  the  door  of  a  private  garden  in  this  neighbourhood,  on 
July  10th.— J.  J.  JoiCEY ;  The  Hill,  Witley. 

CoLiAs  EDUSA  IN  1912. — Specimens  were  noted  by  members  of 
the  S.  Lond.  Ent.  and  Nat.  Hist.  Soc.  at  Otford  on  July  27th  last. 
The  butterfly  has  also  been  seen  or  captured  at  other  places  in  Kent, 
and  also  in  Surrey. — Richard  South. 

CoLiAS  EDUSA  IN  DORSETSHIRE. — It  may  be  of  interest  to  record 
the  capture  of  C.  edusa  var.  helice  at  Purbeck,  June  24:th. — Leonard 
Tatchell  ;  Bournemouth. 

CoLiAs  BDUSA  IN  GLAMORGANSHIRE. — I  notice  in  last  month's 
'  Entomologist '  (p.  207)  that  Mr.  Rowland-Brown  records  having 
seen  this  butterfly  in  Bucks,  on  May  30th.  I  saw  a  male  G.  edusa  on 
June  22nd,  about  4  p.m.,  on  the  roadside  near  my  house  at  Llandaff. 
Very  few  specimens  were  seen  last  autumn  in  this  county. — E.  U. 
David  ;  Yscallog,  Llandaff. 

Butterfly  Collecting  in  Sicily  and  Calabria  in  1911. — It 
is  pleasant  to  look  forw^ard  in  the  spring  to  rambles  in  "sunny" 
Sicily  and  Calabria,  and  especially  was  this  the  case  after  the  long 
dreary  winter  in  England  of  1910-11,  but  occasionally  the  realization 
does  not  come  up  to  expectation.  I  left  London  in  dull,  cloudy 
weather  on  April  25th,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  27th  arrived  at 
Nervi,  a  lovely  health  resort  a  few  miles  south  of  Genoa,  where  I 
stopped  a  night.  The  town  is  sheltered  from  northerly  and  easterly 
breezes  by  hills,  and  the  Pensions  have  some  of  the  loveliest  gardens 
I  have  seen,  and  1  found  the  scent  of  the  orange  blossom  almost 
overpowering.  The  sky  was  overcast,  with  occasional  shght  showers, 
and  during  a  long  walk  up  a  beautiful  mountain  gorge  the  only 
butterfly  that  ventured  out  was  ageria  (two  specimens).  Next  day 
I  reached  the  Junction  Station  of  Roccasecca,  between  Rome  and 
Naples,  at  10  a.m.,  and  hoped  for  better  success,  but  the  clouds  hid 
the  sun  nearly  all  day,  and  only  rapce,  cardamines,  ageria,  and  edusa 
were  seen  or  captured,  and  one  larva  of  B.  quercus  picked  up.  An 
amusing  episode  at  the  solitary  restaurant  (a  very  poor  one)  and 
the  discovery  of  a  magnificent  pass,  where  the  road  follows  the 
windings  of  the  River  Garigliana  (or  a  tributary)  through  one  of 
the  grandest  chasms  imaginable,  redeemed  the  day  from  being 
unprofitable — I  much  regretted  the  absence  of  sunshine.  Next  day 
clouds  covered  the  sky  when  I  reached  Gioja  Tauro,  in  Calabria, 
where  I  had  planned  another  break  in  my  journey,  and  instead 
of  stopping  I  went  straight  through  to  Messina. 

My  first  day  in  Messina  (April  30th)  proved  a  glorious  day.  My 
son  and  I  took  a  vehicle  as  far  up  the  mountain  as  the  road  would 


232 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 


permit  and  revelled  in  the  sunshine.  We  soon  found  that  the  season 
was  very  backward,  at  least  three  weeks  later  than  the  spring  of  1910, 
owing  to  the  relatively  very  severe  winter  and  continued  rains. 
Guns  were  popping  off  in  all  directions,  a  sign  that  the  quail  was 
migrating,  so  we  decided  to  get  lunch  first,  as  this  is  the  chief 
difficulty  in  Sicily  away  from  the  large  towns.  For  this  purpose 
a  tin  of  sardines  is  a  great  help,  as  it  forms  a  first  course,  and  a  little 
butter  in  which  to  fry  some  eggs  is  essential.  With  these  requisites 
the  contadina  or  peasant  farmer's  wife,  who  was  known  to  us,  pro- 
vided eggs,  bread  and  wine,  and  we  made  a  meal.  Our  walk,  owing 
to  the  quails,  was  somewhat  curtailed,  but  my  note  book  records  : — 
"  Sunny  day,  lovely  gorge,  butterflies  galore,  chiefly  cleopatra  (male 
and  female),  cardamines  (male),  sinapis,  cegeria,  megcera,  and  '  blues,' 
all  fresh." — J.  Platt  Barrett;  "  Westcroft,"  South  Eoad,  Forest 
Hill,  London,  S.E.  (^o  be  continued.) 


SOCIETIES. 

The  South  London  Entomological  and  Natural  History 
Society. ^ — March  lAth. — Mr.  A.  E.  Tonge,  President,  in  the  chair. — 
Wm.  Bateson,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.E.S.,  F.E.S.,  and  Professor  E.  B.  Poulton, 
D.Sc,  M.A.,  F.E.S.,  were  elected  honorary  members. — Mr.  Andrews 
exhibited  three  species  of  Syrphidae,  parasitic  in  their  larval  stage 
upon  Lepidoptera,  viz.,  Gatahomha  j^l/^'i^stri,  Xantliandrus  conitus, 
and  Melanostovia  vicllinum. — Mr.  Adkin,  an  extreme  melanic  specimen 
of  Noctua  xanthographa,  taken  in  his  garden  at  Lewisham  in  1911. — 
Mr.  Newman,  living  full-fed  larvae  of  MoUtcea  aurinia  fed  up  in  tempe- 
rature of  60°  to  70°,  and  a  pair  of  Saturnia  carpmi  with  all  the  usual 
reddish  markings  of  a  clear  yellow.  It  was  bred  from  a  yellow  male 
and  a  red  female. — Mr.  Blenkarn,  the  Coleopteron  Haliphis  nomax, 
from  Coatbridge,  recently  new  to  science. — Mr.  B.  H.  Smith,  a  living 
larva  of  Colias  edusa,  from  ova  laid  in  October  last ;  one  larva  had 
already  pupated. 

Aiml  lUh.—Mr.  A.  E.  Tonge,  F.E.S.,  President,  in  the  chair. 
— Mr.  Step  exhibited  the  crustacean  Squilla  deviarestii,  and  des- 
cribed its  Mantis-like  appearance  and  habits. — Mr.  Gibbs,  long 
series  and  specimens  of  Pieris  napi  from  various  British  localities, 
a^nd  pointed  out  their  racial  characters  with  reference  to  various 
continental  races  and  forms. — Mr. 'Cowham,  hybrid  Nyssia  zonaria 
and  Biston  hirtaria,  varied  series  of  Hybernia  leucophcearia  and 
H.  marginaria,  small  forms  of  Leucania  pallens,  probably  of  the 
second  brood,  and  bred  specimens  of  Zonosoma  pendularia  from 
Oxshott,  referable  to  the  rosy  form  var.  subroseata. — Mrs.  Hemming, 
bred  series  of  Melitcea  aurinia :  the  Carlisle  series  included  a  melanic 
form  and  var.  virgata,  the  Welsh  series  included  forms  with  very  red 
ground  colour,  and  the  Oxford  series  contained  very  pale  specimens 
as  well  as  a  specimen  closely  resembling  M.  cinxia. — Mr.  Quarring- 
ton,  living  larvae  of  Bumicia  phlaas  taken  wild  on  April  7th  and 
10th. — Mr.  Newman,  full-fed  larvae  of  Abraxas  grossulariata  kept  in 
sleeves  out-doors,  and  living  pupae  of  Dryas  paphia  and  M.  athalia, — 


SOCIETIES.  233 

Dr.  Chapman,  living  larvae  of  Leioptilus  tepkradactyla. — Mr.  Tonge, 
a  branch  of  Viburnum  from  Tilgate,  with  four  larvae  of  Mgeria 
andreno&formis.  —  Mr.  Colthrup  noted  the  abundance  of  Biston 
hirtaria  this  season,  especially  around  London. — Mr.  R.  Adkin, 
many  examples  of  named  varieties  of  British  Lepidoptera  to 
illustrate  his  paper  entitled  "  Varietal  Names  as  AppHed  to  British 
Lepidoptera." 

April  25th.— My.  B.  H.  Smith,  B.Sc,  Vice-President,  in  the 
chair. — Mr.  Dennis  exhibited  a  stereoscope,  fitted  up  so  as  to  show 
diminution  and  intensification  of  the  stereoscopic  effect. — Mr.  H. 
Moore,  Lepidoptera  from  N.  Borneo,  including  Papilio  paradoxus 
var.  tileicles,  Hestia  hypermnestra  and  var.  helina,  Ilestia  lynceus,  a 
large  species  of  Nyctalemon,  &c. — Mr.  Edwards,  several  species  of 
the  genus  Charaxes  from  Central  and  South  America,  and  a  CuculUa 
verbasci  which  had  been  two  years  in  pupa. — Mr.  Lucas  reported 
that  from  April  4th  to  April  23rd,  in  the  New  Forest,  he  had  noted 
fifty-seven  species  of  plants  in  flower,  and  that  Boarmia  cinctaria 
was  out  on  April  5th.  The  rest  of  the  evening  was  given  up  to  the 
exhibition  of  lantern  slides  by  Messrs.  Dennis,  Lucas,  and  Edwards, 
the  last-named  showing  slides  illustrative  of  the  anomalous  animal 
the  Peripatus. — Hy.  J.  Turner,  Hon.  Beport.  Sec. 

Lancashire  and  Cheshire  Entomological  Society. — February 
18th,  1912.^Meeting  held  in  the  Royal  Institution,  Colquitt  Street, 
Liverpool. — Dr.  P.  F.  Tinne  in  the  chair. — ^Mr.  William  Mansbridge 
contributed  notes  on  "  Breeding  Experiments  with  the  Black  Race 
of  Boarmia  rep)andata  (var.  nigra)"  and  summarized  the  results  as 
follows : — In  1909  (a)  a  wild  female  of  the  local  type  form  gave  all 
var.  nigra ;  {b)  a  wild  female  var.  nigra  gave  all  black  moths  ;  (c)  a 
pairing  of  nigra  male  and  type  female  gave  all  types.  In  1910  (a) 
type  X  type  gave  66-6  per  cent,  type  and  33-3  per  cent.  var.  nigra ; 
(6)  nigra  x  nigra  gave  92  per  cent,  nigra  and  8  per  cent,  type ;  and 
(c)  nigra  x  nigra  gave  96  per  cent,  nigra  and  4  per  cent,  type  ; 
while  in  1911  (a)  type  x  type  gave  all  type ;  (b)  nigra  male  X  type 
female  gave  all  nigra ;  (c)  nigra  x  nigra  gave  95-7  per  cent,  nigra 
and  4-3  per  cent,  type,  and  {d)  a  second  experiment  of  the  same  gave 
70-5  per  cent,  nigra  and  29*5  per  cent.  type.  In  1910  moths  from  the 
broods  a  and  c  were  used  for  the  cross  pairings  of  type  and  variety, 
the  others  being  inbred;  and  in  1911  all  were  inbred.  Dr.  Tinne 
exhibited  Lyccena  icarus  from  North  Ireland,  including  very  blue 
females. — Wm.  Mansbridge,  Oscar  Whittaker,  Hon.  Secretaries. 

The  Manchester  Entomological  Society. — February  7th. — 
Mr.  J.  Mangan,  M.A.,  gave  a  lecture  on  "  The  Larch  Sawfly 
{NematiLs  erichsonii)  and  its  Parasites."  After  dealing  with  its 
life-history,  habits,  and  destructive  powers,  he  detailed  the  various 
natural  checks  found  to  affect  this  insect : — (1)  Parasites.  Mesoleius 
aulicus  has  been  found  (in  the  Lake  District)  in  the  greatest 
numbers,  and  is  apparently  the  most  valuable  natural  check. 
Microcryp)tus  labralis  also  occurs  ;  examples  of  each  were  shown. 
(2)  A  fungus  attacks  the  sawfly  cQcoons.  (3)  The  field-vole  {M. 
agrestis)  occasionally  destroys  as  many  as  thii'ty  or  forty  per  cent. 
(4)  Birds,  such  as  chaffinches,  tits,  and  starlings,  are  useful. — Mr. 


234  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

B.  H.  Crabtree  read  a  paper : — "  Some  Butterflies  of  the  Ehone 
Valley."  During  July,  1912,  he  visited  Chamonix,  Zermatt,  and 
Berisal,  and  took  between  fifty  and  sixty  species,  specimens  of  most 
of  which  were  exhibited.  The  species  of  the  genera  Lycana,  Colzas, 
Parnassius,  Erehia,  &c.,  were  particularly  noteworthy. — Mr.  J.  H. 
Watson  exhibited  Ornithoptera  priarmis  (male  and  female)  and 
0.  paradisea,  and  an  example  of  0.  cVurvilUana.  He  also  showed 
Papilio  laglaizei  and  a  moth  which  mimics  it  in  a  most  remarkable 
manner — Alcides  agathyrsus. — -Mr.  W.  Mansbridge  showed  Tortrix 
costana  with  var.  latiorana,  from  the  Liverpool  district,  and  var.  nov. 
Uverana,  taken  by  himself  at  Liverpool,  and  by  Mr.  A.  E.  Wright  at 
Burnley.  He  showed  also  Amphidasys  hetularia,  from  Simonswood, 
Lancashire,  an  intermediate  form  between  the  type  and  var.  double- 
dayaria. — Mr.  R.  Tait,  Jr.,  recorded  the  capture,  by  Mr.  W.  A. 
Tyerman,  of  DasypoUa  templi,  in  Oldham  Road,  Manchester,  on 
February  5th,  1912.— A.  W.  Boyd,  M.A.,  Hon.  Secretary. 


REGENT    LITERATURE. 


Forty-second  Annual  Beport  of  the  Entomological  Society  of  Ontai'io, 
1911.  (Published  by  Ontario  Department  of  Agriculture,  1912.) 
This  report,  consisting  of  one-  hundred  and  fourteen  pages  with  a 
number  of  illustrations,  relates  chiefly  to  useful  and  injurious 
insects.  One  or  two  short  papers  are  of  a  more  general  nature, 
including  one  on  "  Insect  Migration  at  Aweme,  Manitoba."  A  dis- 
cussion on  the  "  Catalogue  of  Canadian  Insects,"  to  be  at  once 
undertaken,  will  be  found  of  interest.  WIT 


The  Early  Stages  of  our  Dragonfiies.-''     By  W.  J.  Lucas,  B.A.,  F.E.S. 

We  have  now  received  a  print  of  the  very  interesting  address 
which  Mr.  Lucas  presented  to  the  Lancashire  and  Cheshire  Entomo- 
logical Society  at  their  last  Annual  Meeting.  A  brief  summary  of 
the  address  was  embodied  in  the  account  of  that  meeting  which 
appeared  in  the  '  Entomologist '  for  February  last,  but  we  find  that 
Mr.  Lucas  was  there  wrongly  reported  to  have  drawn  "  particular 
attention  to  the  habit  Ischnura  elegans  possesses  of  descending 
beneath  the  surface  of  the  water"  for  the  purpose  of  oviposition. 
The  species  really  referred  to  was,  of  course,  Enallagma  cyathigerum, 
and  on  one  or  two  occasions  we  have  ourselves  witnessed  the  same 
insect  engaged  in  subaqueous  oviposition. 

Mr.  Lucas  traces  in  some  detail  the  progress  of  our  knowledge  of 
dragonfly  nymphs,  but  he  seems  to  regard  Moufet's  '  Insectorum 
Theatrum '  (1634)  as  containing  the  earliest  reference  to  them. 
According  to  some  other  bibliographies  which  we  have  seen,  how- 
ever, the  literature  of  the  subject  begins  with  the  writings  of 
Rondelet  (1555)  and  Aldrovand  (1618).  At  the  present  time,  Mr. 
Lucas  says,  "  leaving  out  Sympetrum  vulgatum,  S.  fonscolombii,  and 

■'•  Thirty-fifth  Annual  Keport  and  Proceedings  of  the  Lancashire  and 
Cheshire  Entomological  Society.     Session  1911. 


OBITUARY.  235 

S.  flaveolum,  the  only  species  of  which  descriptions  appear  to  be 
wanting  are  Syvipetrum  sanguineum,  Lihellula  fulva,  SomatocJilora 
arctica,  ^schna  ccerulea,  Lestes  dry  as,  Agrion  armatwn,  and  A.  has- 
tulatum."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  some  of  these  nymphs  are  well 
known  already.  For  instance,  Sympetrum  sanguineum  and  Lihellula 
fulva  have  been  fully  described  by  Dr.  B.  Eousseau,  the  first  in  Ann. 
Soc.  Ent.  Belg.  hi.  p.  290  (1908),  and  the  second  in  Ann.  Biol. 
Lacustre,  iii.  p.  337  (1909)  ;  Dr.  F.  Eis  described  the  nymph  of 
SomatocJilora  arctica  in  Mitt.  Schweiz.  Ent.  Ges.  xii.  p.  33  (1911). 
Apart  from  Hagen,  a  short  diagnosis  of  Lestes  nympha  {  =  L.  clryas) 
may  be  fomid  in  Tiimpel,  Geradfl.  Mitteleuropas,  p.  72  (1901). 
Eeference  may  also  be  made  to  the  tables  of  nymphs  given  by  Eis 
(in  Brauer,  Siisswf.  Deutschl.  Odon.  (1909)  ),  in  which  are  charac- 
terized the  nymphs  of  several  species  occurring  in  our  own  country. 
British  Odonatists  are  much  indebted  to  Mr.  Lucas  for  the  beau- 
tiful figures  of  dragonfly  nymphs  which  he  has  published  already, 
and  we  learn  with  satisfaction  that  he  has  before  him  the  nymph- 
skins  of  sixteen  additional  species,  from  many  of  which  he  hopes  to 
make  drawings.  jj   n 


OBITUAEY. 

Edward  Arthur  Fitch. 

Edward  Arthur  Fitch  died  at  the  Brick  House  at  Maldon,  after 
an  operation  for  acute  gastritis  and  other  complications,  early  on 
June  28th  last.  He  was  a  J. P.  and  C.A.  for  Essex,  and  had  several 
times  been  Mayor  of  his  town,  besides  filling  many  other  civil  offices. 
In  general,  it  is  said,  "  Mr.  Fitch  was  remarkable  inasmuch  as,  while 
taking  an  active  part  in  local  and  public  affairs,  he  yet  found  time  to 
devote  attention  to  archaeological  and  literary  matters,  and  display 
an  interest  in  sport,  while  all  the  time  he  was  carrying  on  business 
as  a  farmer."  As  an  entomologist  he  was  one  of  our  great  dis- 
appointments. An  education  at  Great  Ealing  School  and  King's 
College,  London,  did  little  more  than  harness  natural  brilliancy  and 
that  quick  perception  of  fundamental  points  in  an  intricate  subject, 
so  well  exhibited  in  his  generic  articles  concerning  our  parasitic 
Hymenoptera,  upon  which  he  wrote  the  text  and  Bridgman  the  tables 
of  species  in  their  incomplete  "  Introductory  Papers  on  Ichneu- 
monidcB,"  published  in  our  Magazine  from  February,  1880,  to  August, 
1885.  This  is  the  work  by  which  he  will  be  remembered  among  us ; 
though  his  "  Descriptions  of  Oak-galls,"  translated  from  Mayr's  '  Die 
Mitteleuropaischen  Eichengallen '  by  Mrs.  Hubert  Herkomer  and 
himself,  together  with  many  shorter  articles  from  his  pen  upon  a 
wide  range  of  kindred  subjects,  also  appeared  in  the  same  Magazine, 
of  which  he  became  an  Assistant  Editor  in  1877.  He  joined  the 
Entomological  Society  of  London  when  only  twenty  years  of  age, 
served  it  as  Hon.  Sec.  in  1881-5,  and  as  Councillor  in  1879  and  1886, 
about  which  time  he  threw  up  Entomology  finally  and  entirely.  We 
have  corresponded  with  him  from  time  to  time,  and  ever  found  him 
most  courteous  and  willing  to  lend  rare  tracts  on  the  Palaearctic 
Parasitic  Hymenoptera,  upon  the  literature  of  which  he  possessed 


236  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

something  very  like  a  complete  collection  in  1890.  As  a  general 
naturalist  he  was  known  as  Chairman  of  the  Essex  and  Kent  Sea 
Fisheries,  a  Fellow  of  the  Linnean  Society,  of  the  Essex  Archaeo- 
logical Society  and  Field  Club,  of  which  last  he  was  President  for  ten 
years.  He  was  the  only  son  of  Mr.  Edward  Fitch,  of  London,  and 
was  born  on  February  23rd,  1854.  He  married  a  daughter  of  the 
late  Mr.  Isaac  Belsham,  of  Rayleigh,  and  leaves  five  sons  and  four 
daughters. — C.  M. 


Robert  Shelford,  M.A.,  F.E.S. 

The  tragic  and  premature  death  of  Robert  Shelford  has  removed 
a  most  active  and  competent  entomologist  in  the  prime  of  his  career, 
before  the  completion  of  his  work. 

He  was  born  on  August  3rd,  1872,  at  Singapore,  and  so  w^as 
within  a  few  weeks  of  completing  his  fortieth  year. 

Educated  at  first  privately,  and  then  at  King's  College,  London, 
he  proceeded  to  Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge,  where  he  passed 
second  in  Science.  His  first  appointment  was  at  Leeds,  as  Teacher 
in  Physiology,  but  this  he  soon  gave  up  in  favour  of  an  offer  more 
tempting  to  a  man  of  his  temperament,  the  Curatorship  of  the 
Museum  at  Kuching,  Sarawak,  under  Rajah  Brooke.  After  serving 
here  seven  years  he  returned  to  England  to  take  up  an  appointment 
in  the  Hope  Department  of  the -University  Museum  of  Zoology  at 
Oxford,  where  he  devoted  himself  with  enthusiasm  to  the  task  of 
arranging  the  rich  collection  of  Orthoptera,  with  the  result  that 
before  long  he  found  himself  involved  in  the  entire  reorganization  of 
the  BlattidiB  ;  he  rapidly  acquired  an  unrivalled  knowledge  of  this 
group,  examined  a  very  large  number  of  types  from  most  of  the 
museums  in  the  world,  and  published  a  valuable  and  important  series 
of  papers,  in  various  periodicals,  dealing  with  his  speciality.  Had 
he  been  spared  a  few  more  years,  he  would  have  doubtless  given  us 
an  entire  monograph  of  the  recent  cockroaches. 

His  general  scientific  education,  and  his  seven  years  in  the 
gorgeous  tropics  of  Sarawak,  gave  him  a  breadth  of  outlook  upon 
scientific  problems  which  he  expressed  in  terse  and  crisp  language. 
In  addition  to  his  special  work  he  published  articles  on  Bornean 
Anthropology  and  Folk-lore,  and  upon  Mimicry  in  Bornean  Iiisects, 
and  he  whiled  away  some  of  the  tedium  of  his  last  years,  spent  in 
almost  constant  suffering,  by  writing  a  book  upon  his  observations 
of  tropical  nature  in  Sarawak.  He  left  the  MS.  unfinished,  but  it  is 
to  be  hoped  that  part  at  least  will  yet  see  the  light. 

About  three  years  ago,  the  complaint  which  had  already  severely 
handicapped  him  assumed  an  aggravated  form,  and  under  medical 
advice  he  moved  to  Margate,  where  he  lingered  on,  reclining  con- 
stantly on  his  back,  obliged  to  abandon  all  hope  of  future  activity. 
He  bore  the  cruel  disappointment  with  great  fortitude,  till  his 
sufferings,  becoming  more  and  more  acute  and  practically  incessant, 
drove  him  to  desperation. 

Thus  Entomology  has  lost  a  devoted  servant,  who  had  already 
achieved  distinction,  and  cut  off  in  the  prime  a  most  promising 
scientific  career. — M.  B. 


The   Entomologist,   September,   1912. 


Plate  VII 


I 


'■•jtmrWaL-Mfc 


ItSi.*.!..-'     V  A'i    -J» 


PrszTA   Peszeh.      a   tyi'hai,    ••  JJiczka." 


PUSZTA  PeSZER.    a  typical  flat  open  SPA' 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST 


Vol.  XLV.]  SEPTEMBEK,    1912.  [No.  592 


SOME    NOTES    ON    THE    LIFE-HISTOEY    OF    MELAN- 
ABGIA    JAPYGIA    subsp.    SUWAROVIUS. 

By  F.  W.Frohawk,  M.B.O.U.,  F.E.S.,  and  the  Hon.  N.  Charles 
EoTHScHiLD,  M.A.,  F.L.S.,  F.E.S. 

(Plate  VII.) 

This  Eastern  race  of  M.  japygia  extends  as  far  westward  as 
Puszta  Pesz6r  in  Hungary.  This  is  apparently  the  only  locality 
in  that  country  where  the  species  is  at  present  found,  though,  ac- 
cording to  Aigner,*  at  one  period  it  occurred  close  to  Budapest. 
Aigner*  further  maintained  that  the  Hungarian  specimens 
could  be  distinguished  from  those  coming  from  the  Ural  Moun- 
tains and  South  Russia,  and  formed  a  special  local  race,  clotho 
Hb.  This  distinction,  however,  cannot  be  maintained,  and  the 
most  that  can  be  said  is  that  the  Peszer  examples  are  very  large 
and  very  white :  they  are,  in  fact,  remarkably  fine  specimens,  a 
feature  exhibited  by  most  of  the  butterflies  occurring  in  this 
classic  locality.  Several  entomologists  have  described  Peszer, 
but  only  one  appears  to  have  seen  this  remarkable  butterfly  in 
any  abundance,  i.  e.,  Miss  Margaret  E.  Fountaine,t  and  none 
have,  as  far  as  we  are  aware,  described  the  peculiar  features  of 
the  wood.  Puszta  Peszer  is  a  long  narrow  wood  of  some  1300 
acres  of  by  no  means  a  uniform  character.  The  northern  third 
has  been  artificially  afforested  some  eighty  years  ago,  and  con- 
sists largely  of  acacia  (Rohinia  j^seudacacia)  and  poplar  trees, 
planted  on  sandhills  which  at  the  time  of  afforestation  were 
wind-blown  and  shifting.  The  middle  third  of  the  wood  consists 
(or  perhaps  one  should  say  consisted)  largely  of  oak  trees, 
sparsely  scattered  with  numerous  open  spaces  between  them, 
the  soil  being  a  mixture  of  sand  and  humus,  or,  as  it  is  locally 
known,  "black  sand."  The  most  southern  portion  of  the  wood 
resembles  the  middle  portion  as  to  general  contour  and  quality 
of  the  soil,  but  lacks,  to  a  great  extent,  the  oak  which  is  here 
replaced  by  birch.  It  is  in  the  two  last-named  portions  of  the 
wood  (the  true  forest)  where  suivarovius  is  found,  and  both  these 

-  Rov.  Lap.  xiv.,  p.  144  (1907). 
f  Ent.  xxxi.,  p.  286  (1898). 

ENTOM. — SEPTEMBER,    1912.  U 


238  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

portions  possess  a  common  geological  feature,  namely,  that  of 
"Buczkas"  or  sandhills  (see  Plate  VII).  The  whole  surface  of 
the  ground  is  covered  with  mounds  of  soil  (a  mixture  of  sand 
and  humus)  shaped  like  an  inverted  saucer,  i.  e.,  rounded  at  the 
top  (which  is  nearly  pure  sand)  and  gradually  sloping  away  to  a 
wide  flat  base  of  the  above-mentioned  "  black  sand."  The  effect 
of  this  formation  is  that  the  surface  of  the  land  really  consists 
of  a  number  of  mounds  with  more  or  less  flat  spaces  between 
them,  the  mounds  being  more  sandy  than  the  plains  between. 
The  rain  water  falling  on  the  mounds  rapidly  runs  down  from 
them,  but  remains  on  the  flat  land  between,  and  produces  a 
curious  effect  on  the  general  vegetation  of  the  locality.  The 
mounds  possess  but  few  plants,  those  present  binding  together 
the  sand,  but  the  flatter  spaces  between  (see  Plate  VII.)  being 
richly  watered  are  covered  with  numerous  flowers  and  plants ;  in 
fact,  in  some  cases  where  the  land  is  especially  low-lying,  the 
ground  is  positively  swampy  and  supports  reeds.  The  imagines 
of  this  butterfly  flutter  about  over  these  sandhills,  where  they 
deposit  their  eggs  during  June,  and  the  species  would  appear 
to  be  normally  full  out  about  the  middle  of  the  month.  The 
insects,  however,  generally  frequent  the  flowers  growing  on  the 
flatter  portions,  where  they  obtain  sustenance.  Miss  Charlotte 
de  Wertheimstein  informs  us  that  she  has  absolutely  observed 
a  female  deposit  an  egg  on  a  plant  of  Festuca  sulcata.  Owing  to 
the  fact  that  some  of  the  grasses  grow  so  very  close  together,  it  is 
a  matter  of  extreme  difficulty  to  decide  from  which  of  several 
grass  plants  the  larvae  taken  at  night  with  a  lantern  really  come. 
The  adult  larvae  which  are  described  in  this  paper  were  un- 
doubtedly taken  from  a  plant  of  Festuca  sulcata  growing  in  the 
"  Buczkas,"  i.  e.,  the  raised  sandhills,  and  this  Festuca,  with  its 
variety  rupicola,  we  have  no  hesitation  in  stating  is  the  food- 
plant,  at  all  events  here,  of  the  larva  of  this  butterfly.  The 
other  species  of  grass  growing  in  close  proximity  (and  there  are 
several)  can  now  be  rejected  as  possible  food-plants  with  absolute 
certainty. 

In  June,  1910,  we  placed  a  much  worn  female  of  this  species 
on  a  pot  of  grass,  and  about  thirty  ova  were  laid  and  dropped 
loosely  on  the  surface  of  the  soil.  These  ova  hatched  on  July 
19th,  and  in  February,  1911,  we  found  that  two  had  recently  fed 
on  fescue  grass  {Festuca  ovina).  They  had  grown  slightly,  and 
had  become  greener  in  colour,  but  they  died  shortly  after.  As  we 
shall  show  later  on  in  this  paper,  it  is  quite  abnormal  for  the  eggs 
of  this  species  to  be  dropped  in  the  grass.*     A  similar  experiment 

■■'•  This  phenomenon  has  been  observed  in  the  eggs  of  other  lepidopterous 
insects  when  they  are  in  a  worn  and  emaciated  condition,  for  example,  in 
the  eggs  of  Sphinx  ligitstri,  both  the  authors  and  Mr.  L.  W.  Newman  having 
possessed  worn  females  of  this  moth  which  deposited  eggs  entirely  lacking 
the  usual  gummy  substance  by  which  they  are  normally  fixed  to  the  leaves 
of  the  food-plant. 


MBLANARGIA    JAPYGIA    SUBSP.    SUWAROVIUS. 


239 


was  carried  out  in  1911,  and  eggs  were  obtained  all  glued  to  the 
gauze,  or  the  wires  supporting  the  gauze,  or  the  grass.  On 
June  10th  this  year  some  females  were  placed  on  different 
species  of  grass  plants  potted  up,  each  with  a  gauze-covering 
supported  with  wires.  The  butterflies  at  once  began  depositing, 
they  lived  for  three  weeks  in  captivity,  the  last  one  surviving 
until  July  5th  ;  they  all  deposited  a  number  of  eggs.  AH  the 
eggs  were  laid  either  on  the  grass  blades,  gauze-coverings,  or 
the  wires,  but  by  far  the  greater  number  were  laid  on  the  gauze, 
often  in  rows  or  clusters  between  any  folds  they  could  find  for 
the  purpose,  or  between  the  wire  and  gauze  when  the  eggs  were 
usually  deposited  on  the  wire.  A  large  number  of  eggs  were 
laid  while  the  females  were  under  observation,  so  that  the  exact 
method  of  depositing  could  be  accurately  recorded.  Unlike 
M.  galathea  which  deposits  its  eggs  at  random,  letting  them  fall 
among  the  grass,  without  laying  them  on  any  object,  smvarovius 
always  attaches  its  egg  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  of  other 
Satyridae. 

The  egg  is  Jj  in.  high,  of  an  ovate-spheroid  shape,  broadest 
below  the  middle;  the  micropyle  is  finely  pitted,  the  entire 
surface  finely  granular ;  the  apical  third  and  basal  third  irregu- 
larly and  roughly  reticulated,  forming  ridges  and  coarse  granu- 
lations which  develop  into  short  striations  longitudinally,  the 
central  third  is  strongly  and  boldly  fluted  with  from  ten  to 
thirteen  longitudinal  keels— of  ten  eggs  counted.  Two  had  ten, 
two  twelve,  one  thirteen,  and  five  eleven.  The  concave  inter- 
vening spaces  are  finely  ribbed  transversely,  and  at  each  end  of 
the  concavities  are  very  short  ribs  between  the  main  keels. 

The  colour  when  first  laid  is  greenish  white,  which  gradually 
becomes  whiter,  and  finally  it  is  white  with  pale  citrine-yellow 
shadows,  giving  the  egg  a  very  pale  lemon-yellow  tinge.  From 
the  density  of  the  shell  it  remains  unchanged  in  colour  until 
hatched,  when  the  empty  shell  is  pure  white. 

The  egg  state  lasts  about  twenty-three  days.  The  eggs 
deposited  in  1911  started  hatching  during  the  first  week  of  July. 

The  young  larva  eats  away  the  whole  of  the  crown  of  the 
egg,  emerges,  and  rests  close  to  the  empty  shell,  remaining 
motionless  without  feeding  throughout  the  autumn  and  early 
winter.  All  those  in  our  possession  during  1911-1912  died 
during  hibernation;  the  last  one  survived  until  the  middle  of 
March,  1912,  living  eight  months  without  moving  after  it  first 
emerged  from  the  egg.  The  continued  damp  weather  of  last 
winter  obviously  was  the  cause  of  failure,  as  all  were  attacked  by 
mould. 

The  larva  directly  after  emergence  measures  y\j  in.  long,  the 
head  is  large  creamy-ochreous  in  colour,  the  surface  roughly 
granular,  and  beset  with  white  hairs  rising  from  tubular  bases  ; 
eye  spots  and  mouth  parts  brown ;  the  body  tapers  to  the  anal 

u  2 


240  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

segment  which  bears  two  terminal  points  each  ending  in  a  fine 
straight  hair ;  the  segments  are  somewhat  indistinctly  sub- 
divided, the  first  division  occupies  the  anterior  half  of  the 
segment,  on  which  are  placed  (on  each  side)  four  long  curved 
glassy  white  hairs  with  tubular  bases  ;  the  first  is  sub-dorsal, 
the  second  super-spiracular,  and  the  third  and  fourth  sub- 
spiracular  on  the  large  lateral  lobe ;  all  curve  backwards  except 
the  super-spiracular  one,  which  curves  forwards ;  on  the 
posterior  half  is  a  second  sub-dorsal  hair,  acutely  elbowed  where 
it  is  widened  out,  then  running  at  right  angles  and  sharply 
pointed ;  other  hairs  exist  on  the  ventral  surface  and  claspers. 
All  the  hairs  are  pure  white  and  glassy.  There  is  a  fine  medio- 
dorsal  longitudinal  line,  a  finer  and  less  distinct  sub-dorsal  line, 
and  a  rather  plainer  spiracular  line ;  between  these  two  lines  is 
a  rather  broad  band;  this  as  well  as  the  lines  are  dull  red-brown; 
the  spiracles  are  dark  brown.  The  whole  surface  of  the  body  is 
granular  and  of  a  pale  creamy-ochreous  colour. 

On  May  17th,  1912,  we  received  from  Hungary  two  larvie, 
one  almost  fully  grown,  the  other  rather  smaller  ;  from  their 
great  similarity  to  the  larva  of  galalhea,  we  at  once  felt  certain 
that  they  were  suivarovius,  which  is  now  proved  to  be  the 
case  by  the  emergence  of  the  perfect  insect.  The  larva  when 
fully  grown  is  1^^  in.  long.  Excepting  its  larger  size  and  the 
formation  of  the  head  it  is  exactly  like  galathea  in  form,  and  in 
cobur  it  greatly  resembles  the  green  variety  of  the  latter.  The 
chief  difference  is  the  head  of  suivarovius,  which  is  wholly  green 
and  unicolorous  with  the  body,  and  bears  two  flattened  project- 
ing points  with  the  front  edge  serrated.  The  head  of  galathea  is 
globular,  without  the  points,  and  always  ochreous-yellow  both 
in  the  green  and  ochreous  forms.  Suivarovius  has  deep  orange 
spiracles  which  in  galathea  are  black. 

The  ground  colour  of  suivarovius  is  green,  with  a  dark  green 
medio-dorsal  longitudinal  stripe  bordered  on  either  side  by  a 
pale  yellow-green  line ;  a  greenish  white  subdorsal  stripe 
bordered  below  by  dull  green  ;  spiracles  deep  orange  ;  legs  pale 
buff ;  anal  points  purple  at  base,  fading  into  rose  pink  at  tips 
and  laterally  striped  with  pearl  white.  The  entire  surface,  in- 
cluding the  head,  is  clothed  with  white  sharply-pointed  bristles. 

On  May  26th  the  largest  larva  ceased  feeding  and  roamed 
about  for  several  hours,  and  the  following  day  entered  the  basal 
grass  stems  and  spun  a  loose  network  of  silk  on  the  surface  of 
the  earth  and  stems,  forming  a  slight  oval-shaped  cocoon,  in 
which  it  remained  concealed  almost  hidden  from  view  for  a 
week,  and  pupated  on  June  3rd.  The  following  day  it  was 
figured  as  it  was,  but  in  order  to  show  the  cocoon  more  clearly 
some  of  the  grass  {Festuca)  was  removed  from  the  front ;  after 
figuring  it,  the  top  of  the  cocoon  was  opened  up  for  examination 
of  the  pupa,  when  it  was  then  of  a  translucent  pale  ochreous- 


THERA   VARIATA   IN    BRITAIN.  241 

green  over  the  head,  thorax,  and  wings,  inclining  to  glaucous  on 
the  anterior  portion;  and  the  abdomen  pale  amber.  The 
colouring  very  gradually  became  duller  and  uniformly  more 
ochreous-olive  over  the  head,  thorax,  and  wings,  and  the 
abdomen  browner.  By  the  fourteenth  day  the  central  area  of 
the  wing  assumes  a  pale  buffish  tint,  the  base  and  hind  margin 
remaining  greenish,  and  a  few  indistinct  smoky-brown  spots 
appear  between  the  nervures;  by  very  slow  degrees  the  green 
colouring  disappears  and  the  wings  become  opaque-ochreous, 
and  very  gradually  the  head  and  limbs  acquire  a  dusky  hue,  and 
the  abdomen  deepens  slightly.  On  July  6th  the  colouring  of 
imago  began  to  appear,  on  the  following  day  it  rapidly  matured, 
the  wings  then  showing  ochreous-yellow  marked  with  dark 
brown,  the  rest  of  the  pupa  being  dull  brown,  and  on  July  8th 
a  fine  female  butterfly  emerged.  The  pupal  stage  lasted  for 
thirty-five  days. 

The  pupa  measures  J'o  in.  long.  It  closely  resembles  that  of 
galathea,  but  is  considerably  larger,  being  \  in.  longer,  having 
the  abdomen  more  elongated,  with  a  dorsal  depression  between 
the  second  and  third  segments,  and  the  cremaster  is  more 
decurved,  which  in  galathea  is  almost  straight ;  the  ventral  out- 
line of  suwarovius  is  straight  from  the  apex  of  the  wings  to  the 
cremaster,  otherwise  the  form  is  very  similar  to  galathea.  The 
cremastral  process  terminates  with  a  bunch  of  amber-coloured 
spines,  some  almost  straight,  others  having  the  apices  slightly 
curved.  The  abdomen  is  clothed  with  minute  dart-shaped 
spines  and  the  entire  surface  is  granular.  The  thoracic 
spiracle,  like  galathea,  forms  a  conspicuous  black  projecting  ear- 
shaped  process,  giving  the  head  a  peculiar  appearance.  The 
wings  are  finely  transversely  reticulated  and  the  whole  structural 
detail  is  finely  outlined  with  brown. 

The  authors  take  this  opportunity  of  expressing  their  most 
sincere  thanks  to  Mr.  Theodor  Micklitz,  the  Director  of  the 
Austrian  Emperor's  Forests,  for  his  great  kindness  in  granting 
permission  to  visit  Puszta  Peszer,  without  which  this  present 
article  could  not  have  been  written. 


THERA     VARIATA     IN     BEITAIN. 

By  Louis  B.  Prout,  F.E.S. 

Probably  the  above  heading  will  cause  surprise  to  a  good 
many  readers,  and  some  may  wonder  whether  my  next  discovery 
will  hQ  Camptogramma  bilineata  in  Britain  !  It  seems  to  have 
been  forgotten  by,  or  to  have  remained  unknown  to,  the 
majority  of  present-day  British  lepidopterists,  although  it  was 
well  known  to  the  illustrious  Doubleday,  that  the  Thera  which 


242  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

occurs  so  generally  and  so  abundantly  in  our  pine-woods  is  not 
the  true  variata,  Schiff.,  but  an  allied  form  (whether  species, 
subspecies,  or  fixed  variety  is  not  yet  positively  determined) 
appearing  in  Staudinger's  'Catalog'  as  "v.  (et  ab.)  obeUscata, 
Hb."  In  the  'Entomologist,'  vol.  iii.  p.  84,  Doubleday  wrote: 
"  Thera  oheliscata  of  Hiibner. — I  send  you  two  larvas  of  our 
Thera,  which  I  think  is  really  distinct  from  the  variata  of 
Hiibner,*  although  I  believe  all  modern  entomologists  are  of  the 
contrary  opinion  :  Dr.  Staudinger  has  sent  me  what  he  con- 
siders intermediate  varieties,  but  they  do  not  seem  so  to  me  : 
the  true  variata  is  of  an  olive  or  greenish  brown,  with  a  strongly 
dentated  central  fascia;  ours  is  always  either  of  a  rufous  or 
blackish  tint,  and  the  central  fascia  is  scarcely  at  all  dentated." 
Newman,  in  describing  the  larva  {torn,  cit.,  p.  83),  assents  to 
Doubleday's  opinion,  and  in  'British  Moths  '  (p.  151)  follows  the 
same  course,  maintaining  the  name  of  oheliscata. 

Staudinger  (Stett.  Ent.  Zeit.  xxii.  389,  1861)  only  tells  us  that 
he  sinks  oheliscata  as  var.  to  variata  hecsiuse  the  identity  "  is  said 
to  be  experimentally  proved  "  and  has  been  "  confirmed  to  him 
by  his  friend  Wocke";  a  highly  unsatisfactory  note,  for  which 
I  can  find  no  experimental  basis,  and  doubly  unsatisfactory  be- 
cause Staudinger  in  the  self-same  place  speaks  of  the  two  as  "so 
different  in  appearance,"  and  records  only  the  oheliscata  form  for 
Bossekop.  On  the  other  side  we  have  (apart  from  the  ipse  dixit 
of  Treitschke)  to  consider  the  following  observations.  Eatze- 
burg  ('  Waldverderbniss,'  ii.  407,  1868)  says  that  several  recent 
observers,  as  Herrn  Tieffenbach  and  Werneburg  {in  litt.),  agree 
that  the  oheliscata  form  lives  on  Scotch  fir,  the  variata  form  on 
spruce.  Eossler  (J.  B.  Nass.  Ver.  Nat.  xxxiii.-xxxiv.  154)  has 
the  same  experience  {variata  on  Finns  ahies,  oheliscata  on  Pinus 
sijlvestris),  and  a  like  observation  is  quoted  by  Kolbe  (Einfiihrung 
Kenntu.  Ins.  p.  67),  but  probably  at  second-  (or  third-)  hand, 
as  he  attributes  it  to  "  Staudinger."  Klemensiewicz  (Verh. 
z,-b.  Ges.  Wien,  xliv.  188)  confirms  Eossler  Avith  the  statement 
that  in  Brody,  where  the  woods  are  exclusively  of  Pinus  sijlvestris, 
he  has  always  found  only  oheliscata,  whereas  his  general  expe- 
rience with  regard  to  Galicia  is  that  variata  is  much  the 
commoner  and  more  widely  distributed.  Again,  Franz  Schmidt 
(Arch.  Ver.  Fr.  Nat.  Mecklenburg,  xsxiii.  186,  1879)  questions 
whether  Staudinger  has  done  right  in  uniting  them,  and  records 
that  oheliscata  is  very  common  in  all  his  pine-woods  twice  in  the 
year,  but  that  variata  is  scarce  and  local,  and  has  never 
occurred  among  oheliscata.  And  in  1888  A.  Hoffmann  (Stett. 
Ent.  Zeit.  xhx.  172)  reports  variata  as  occurring  in  the  Upper 
Hartz  Mountains  in  great  numbers  from  the  end  of  June  to  the 
end  of  August,  apparently   in   a   continuous    succession,    very 

-  Variata  [Schiff.]  Schmett.  Wien.  p.  110;  Hb.  fig.  293;  Tr.  ^i  (1), 
p.  334  {nee  Hawortb).— L.  B.  P. 


THERA    VARIATA    IN   BRITAIN.  243 

variable,  but  always  belonging  to  "  typical  variata,'"  the  larva 
on  Pinus  picea.  Recently  the  question  has  again  been  some- 
what to  the  fore,  e.g.,  Laplace  (Mitt.  Ent.  Ver.  Hamburg- 
Altona,  1899-1904,  p.  100)  records  variata  "everywhere in  spruce- 
woods,  probably  two  broods,  middle  of  May  to  end  of  July,  larva 
May  and  June  on  spruce ;  obeliscata  everywhere  in  pine- 
(Kiefern-)  woods,  irregular,  but  certainly  double-brooded,  end  of 
May  to  October,  larva  May  and  July-August  on  pine  (Scotch 
fir)."  Blocker  (Eev.  Russ.  Ent.  viii.  48)  writes  in  a  similar 
strain,  that  obeliscata  is  "unconditionally  an  independent  species. 
Besides  the  extraordinarily  sharp  distinction  in  design  and 
ornamentation,  the  two  forms  are  distinguished  in  manner  of 
life  :  variata  lives  on  spruce,  but  obeliscata  on  pine,  and  appears 
a  little  later  than  variata.  In  pine-woods  only  obeliscata  is 
taken  ;  in  spruce-woods  only  variata.  Where  both  spruce  and 
pine  grow  together,  both  species  occur  together,  but  evidently 
they  do  not  mis,  as  intermediate  forms  are  not  met  with." 


%i|'    ^ 


9  Thera  variata.  ^ 

The  above  survey,  which  of  course  does  not  profess  to  be 
exhaustive,  will  show  that  we  have  been  much  too  "  previous  "  in 
merging  the  whole  heterogeneity  under  the  single  name  of 
variata,  and  have  now  to  submit  to  a  third  edition  of  the 
inconvenience  to  which  we  were  subjected  nineteen  years  ago, 
when  the  late  C.  G.  Barrett  announced  the  "  true  Acidalia 
osseata"  in  Britain,  and  again,  four  years  ago,  when  Messrs. 
Sharp  and  Wightman  introduced  us  to  "  Nonagria  neurica  in 
Britain."  When  will  entomologists  learn  the  importance  of 
maintaining  a  separate  name  for  a  separate  concept '?  Whether 
obeliscata  be  or  be  not  a  "  species,"  it  is  an  entity  which  we 
ought  never  to  have  allowed  ourselves  to  call  ''variata'' ;  if  we 
were  very  anxious  to  bolster  up  the  Staudingerian  theory,  it 
would,  of  course,  have  been  permissible,  though  rather  cumber- 
some, to  call  our  insect  "  variata  obeliscata.'" 

For  myself,  I  have  always  felt  convinced  that  the  two  were 
species,  and  I  submitted  the  genitalia  to  Mr.  Pierce  several  years 
ago ;  but  as  these  unfortunately  yielded  nothing  tangible,  I 
published  nothing  on  the  subject,  unless  possibly  there  be  a 
stray  note  in  the  Trans.  City  Lond.  Ent.  Soc,  in  connection 


244  THE   ENTOMOLOGIST. 

with  an  exhibit.  At  any  rate,  it  was  with  no  small  degree  of 
pleasure  that  I  received  from  my  friend  Major  Robertson,  in 
December  last,  six  bred  specimens  of  the  true  variata,  which 
emerged  in  May,  1911,  from  larvae  taken  on  small  ornamental 
spruce  in  his  own  neighbourhood  (Chandlers  Ford).  They  had 
struck  him  as  a  peculiar  form,  quite  different  from  anything 
which  he  had  seen  before,  nor  were  they  familiar  to  any  of  his 
friends  who  had  seen  them  ;  but  not  being  acquainted  with  the 
particulars  which  I  have  set  forth  above,  he  was  naturally 
unprepared  for  my  identification.  I  promised  him  at  the  time 
that  I  would  publish  a  note  on  the  discovery,  but  asked  leave  to 
postpone  it  for  a  little,  expecting  shortly  to  be  working  at  the 
genus  in  preparation  for  Seitz's  *  Macro-Lepidoptera  of  the 
World.' 

In  the  meantime  Major  Robertson  has  been  successful  in 
breeding  it  again,  so  that  it  is  evidently  now  established, 
however  it  may  have  been  introduced.  He  has  recently  pre- 
sented to  the  British  Museum  a  very  nice  series  (mostly  males, 
but  including  two  females)  bred  in  the  middle  of  May ;  these  I 
have  had  the  pleasure  of  examining.  They  vary  moderately, 
but  never  in  such  wise  that  they  could  be  mistaken  for  obeliscata. 
Indeed,  I  may  mention,  as  illustrating  to  those  readers  who 
have  not  yet  seen  them  the  wideness  of  the  divergence,  that 
Mr.  J.  Hartley  Durrant  (in  the  neighbourhood  of  whose  Thet- 
^ford  home  obeliscata  used  absolutely  to  swarm)  did  not  at  all 
recognize  them,  and  assured  me  he  had  never  seen  a  specimen 
approaching  them.  The  width  and  strength  of  the  median 
band  varies  a  good  deal,  the  tone  of  colour  slightly,  some  being 
greyer,  some  browner;  but  none  approach  the  red-brown  of 
obeliscata,  nor  the  melanism  of  its  ab.  obliterata.  The  interest- 
ing ab.  stragulata  Hb.  ( =  vitiosata,  Frr.  =  rcsinaria,  Peyer.)  has 
not  yet  occurred  among  Major  Robertson's  forms. 

In  addition  to  the  colour  difference,  which  alone  is  used  in 
Staudinger's  '  Catalog  '  {variata  =  "  forma  grisescens,"  obeliscata 
=  "forma  brunnea  vel  fulva"),  and  the  jagged  median  band 
mentioned  by  Doubleday  (see  above) — both  good  characters — 
true  variata  can  nearly  always  be  differentiated  at  a  glance  by  its 
better-marked  and  strongly  dentate  subterminal  line  (often  very 
clear  and  pale)  and  better- marked  hind  wing,  nearly  always  with 
a  distinct  central  spot  and  not  rarely  with  a  fairly  definite  post- 
median  line.  It  is  only  in  a  few  very  weakly  marked  specimens 
that  these  characters  can  become  obliterated ;  I  believe  that 
wherever  the  course  of  the  pale  postmedian  line  of  the  fore 
wing  can  be  seen  at  all  in  either  species,  it  will  be  found  abso- 
lutely reliable. 

It  will  be  interesting  to  see,  now  that  Major  Robertson's  dis- 
covery has  called  attention  to  the  matter,  to  what  extent  variata 
really  is  established  in  Britain,  and  how  far  it  maintains  the 


THBRA    VARIATA    IN    BRITAIN.  245 

distinctions  of  habitat  and  food-plant  claimed  for  it  on  the 
Continent.  In  our  early  literature,  the  only  hint  with  which  I 
am  acquainted  is  a  note  by  Sir  Thomas  Moncreiffe  in  '  The 
Scottish  Naturalist,'  vol.  iv.,  p.  241  :  "  We  have  a  dark  and  a 
pale  variety  here,  which  Mr.  Herd  believes  to  be  different 
insects.  He  tells  me  the  larvffi  are  quite  distinct,  and  that  from 
one  form  he  always  breeds  the  dark  insect,  and  from  the  other 
the  paler."  But  as  darkness  and  paleness  are  not  the  obvious 
distinctions  of  the  two  species  before  us,  and  no  mention  is 
made  of  different  food-plants  (the  record  is  simply  "common 
among  Scots  fir"),  not  much  use  can  be  made  of  the  note.  I 
am,  however,  able  to  add  to  Major  Robertson's  two  other 
records.  Dr.  E.  A.  Cockayne  has  detected  in  his  collection  a 
single  female  of  T.  variata  which  he  took  on  June  10th,  1901,  on 
a  spruce  in  a  wood  of  oak  and  spruce  in  Berkshire.  He  spent 
an  hour  in  the  same  locality  this  year  without  seeing  either 
variata  or  oheliscata.  The  Eev.  C.  E.  Eaven,  of  Cambridge,  has 
had  a  very  interesting  experience.  The  week  after  Easter  he 
was  beating  spruce  in  the  New  Forest  for  larvae  of  Boarmia 
riheata  {ahietana),  and  beat  among  them  a  large  number  of  what 
he  assumed  to  be  oheliscata ;  of  these  he  kept  some  twenty-five 
to  thirty  to  renew  his  series.  They  commenced  to  emerge  by 
the  end  of  April,  the  first  being  a  beautiful  female  aberration  of 
variata,  bronze-coloured,  with  no  bar,  and  of  a  very  marbled 
appearance,  and  washed  with  green  in  certain  lights.  Then 
came  a  typical  grey  female  variata,  but  after  this,  with  the 
exception  of  one  male  variata  and  one  female  which  Mr.  Eaven 
regards  as  "as  nearly  as  possible  intermediate,"  all  (some 
fifteen)  were  typical  oheliscata.  Mr.  Eaven  has  kindly  invited 
me  to  study  his  material  closely,  as  soon  as  an  opportunity 
offers,  and  in  the  unlikely  event  of  my  judgment  differing  from 
his,  I  will  report  to  readers  of  the  '  Entomologist '  later. 
Neither  he  nor  Major  Eobertson  has  as  yet  detected  any  distinc- 
tion in  the  larvse,  but  the  latter  has  kindly  promised  to  send  me 
some,  in  the  hope  that  I  may  be  more  fortunate. 

With  the  exception  of  Mr.  Eaven's,  I  have  no  record  of 
oheliscata  feeding  on  spruce.  The  testimony,  both  British  and 
foreign,  is  unanimous  to  the  fact  that  its  natural  food-plant  is 
Scotch  fir,  and  as  this  is  our  only  indigenous  British  pine,  the 
dominance  of  oheliscata  in  this  country  is  not  surprising ;  but 
there  must  have  been  hundreds  of  opportunities,  ancient  and 
modern,  for  the  introduction  of  variata  (which  has  never  yet  been 
recorded  on  Pinus  sylvestris)  with  other  species  of  pine  {sens, 
lat.),  and  it  is  quite  possible — though  I  have  hazarded  a  conjec- 
ture of  recent  importation — that  it  has  been  sedentary  among 
us  for  a  very  long  period.  The  question  of  food-plant,  moreover, 
though  important,  must  not  be  over-pressed,  as  neither  species 
is  absolutely  monophagous.     Spormann  (Progr.  Gymn.   Stral- 


246  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

sund,  1909,  p.  8)  tells  us  that  Prof.  Stange,  who  "  rightly  holds 
variata  and  obeliscata  to  be  different  species,  found  larvae  of  the 
latter  on  Juniperiis  and  Larix,  as  well  as  on  pine  " ;  while  Pmus 
picea  would  appear  to  be  shared  as  an  occasional  substitute 
food-plant  by  both  species  (c/.  Hoffmann,  Stett.  Ent.  Zeit.  xlix. 
172  for  variata;  Barrett,  Lep.  Brit.  Isl.  viii.  356  for  obeliscata — 
"rarely"). 

Postscript. — Since  writing  the  above  I  learn  that  Major 
Eoberteon  has  also  found  the  larvae  of  T.  variata  on  two  other 
conifers,  the  Silver  Fir  {Abies  pectinata)  and  the  Norway  Spruce 
{Picea  excclsa).  In  a  letter  dated  August  28th,  he  writes,  "I 
have  four  or  five  pupae  of  T.  variata,  2nd  brood,  and  other  larvae 
sleeved  out  seem  to  be  feeding  up  rapidly." 


"  WHERE  WALLACE  TROD  " :  BEING  SOME  ACCOUNT 
OF  AN  ENTOMOLOGICAL  TRIP  TO  MT.  SERAMBU, 
SARAWAK,   BORNEO. 

By  J.  C.  MouLTON,  B.Sc,  F.L.S.,  F.Z.S.,  F.E.S., 
Curator  of  the  Sarawak  Museum. 

(Plates  V.  &  VI.) 
(Concluded  from  p.  217.) 

The  fortnight  on  the  mountain  went  by  all  too  quickly,  as 
most  entomological  expeditions  only  too  often  do.  If  fine  and  a 
promising  day  generally,  we  would  climb  to  the  top  and  wait  on 
a  small  cleared  spot  up  there  for  insects  to  visit  us,  but  generally 
clouds  and  rain  developed,  preventing  any  big  captures  there, 
although  such  spots  are  generally  most  productive  in  Sarawak. 
The  clearing  round  our  hut  produced  most  insects,  but  we  also 
tried  the  lower  slopes  of  the  mountain  with  varying  success.  At 
night  time  we  were  kept  busy  by  the  improvised  light-trap, 
which  we  were  told  afterwards  was  easily  visible  from  Bau,  some 
four  miles  down  the  valley  to  the  south-west  of  us  ;  the  light  in 
our  hut  also  attracted  many  moths.  Sugar  was  tried,  but  with- 
out success.  In  our  day  at  the  birds'-nest  caves  on  Mt.  Jibong 
we  were  astonished  at  the  numbers  of  cockroaches  swarming  on 
the  sides  of  the  caves  and  in  the  soft  guano  which  filled  the 
floor.  These  proved  to  be  two  species — Ischnoptera  cavernicola, 
Shelford,  and  Periplaneta  australasia,  Fab.  The  place  seemed 
alive  with  them,  and,  together  with  hundreds  of  screeching 
swifts,  whirring  bats,  and  the  twinkling  lights  of  the  Dayaks, 
whom  we  could  just  discern  high  up  in  the  roof  above  us,  cling- 
ing to  a  frail  bamboo  scaffolding  while  they  took  the  nests  which 
are  so  highly  prized  by  the  Chinese  epicure,  formed  an  interest- 
ing scene  not  easily  forgotten. 


"  WHERE    WALLACE    TROD."  247 

On  Serambu  we  prepared  heaps  of  rotten  fruit,  which  attracted 
a  certain  amount  of  small  insects. 

The  small  clearing  made  round  our  hut  used  to  be  quite  gay 
with  butterflies  whenever  the  sun  was  shining  brightly,  and  I 
longed  to  see  an  attractive  row  of  flowers  planted,  so  as  to  bring 
these  beautiful  creatures  within  easier  reach  of  the  net.  As  may 
be  imagined,  a  chase  in  the  jungle  after  any  coveted  species  can 
only  be  of  the  shortest,  as  the  undergrowth  and  uncertainties  of 
the  ground,  once  you  leave  a  path,  occupy  all  one's  attention. 
Among  the  butterflies  caught  or  noticed  were  the  following  : — 

Nymphalid^. — Danaini :  the  big,  lazy-flying  Hestia  lynceus, 
Drury,  Ideojjds  daos,  Boisd.,  and  Danais  aspasia,  Fab.  Euplceini: 
Euploca  Claudius  mulcihcr,  Cr.,  common.  Satyrina; :  species  of 
Mycalesis,  lytliima  and  Elites  ;  a  large  Melanitis,  apparently 
nearest  to  zitenius,  Herbst.,  which  may  be  distinguished  from 
the  only  other  Bornean  Melanitis  {M.  isinene,  Cr.),  so  common 
in  Sarawak,  by  the  presence  of  an  orange  apical  band  on  fore 
wing  instead  of  the  eye-spot  below  the  apex  of  fore  wing  ;  in  the 
Serambu  specimen  there  is  a  faint  orange  apical  band.  Elym- 
niin£e :  Elymnias  nigrescens,  Butl.,  was  very  common  in  sunny 
clearings  on  the  hillside  ;  one  E.  lais,  Cr.,  was  taken.  Ama- 
thusiinse  :  Zeuxidia  amethystus,  Butl.,  Z.  doubledayi,  Westw., 
and  Amnosia  haluana,  Fruhst.,  were  taken  near  our  hut  in  the 
shady  part  of  the  jungle  ;  Thaumantis  aliris,  Westw.,  the  largest 
and  most  showy  butterfly  to  be  found  in  Borneo,  except  perhaps 
the  big  Troides  species  (Papilioninse),  was  seen  two  or  three 
times,  once  feeding  on  the  remains  of  a  dead  chevrotain. 

The  Nymphalinae  noted  were  :  Cupha  erymanthis  lotis,  Sulz., 
CctJiosia  hypsea,  Doubl.  and  Neptis  spp. ;  Hypolimnas  anomala, 
Wall.,  was  common  on  the  sunny  paths  at  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tain, and  easily  distinguished  in  flight  and  at  rest  from  its 
Euploeine  models,  although  both  Euploeine  and  Nymphaline  are 
characterized  by  a  slow  fearless  flight.  I  noticed  the  Hypolimnas 
almost  invariably  settled  (or  else  immediately  oriented  itself)  so 
that  its  wings  were  outspread  on  a  leaf  with  its  head  nearest  to 
or  actually  on  the  edge  of  the  leaf,  the  hinder  part  being  nearest 
the  base  or  midrib  of  the  leaf;  I  suppose  this  position  enables  it 
to  fly  off  at  quicker  notice,  and  it  is  thus  less  likely  to  be  sur- 
prised. The  dark  Euthalias  seemed  to  similarly  orient  them- 
selves, and  at  first  I  thought  it  was  in  order  to  obtain  the  full 
glare  of  the  sun,  but  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  sun  had 
nothing  to  do  with  it.  Time  after  time  I  watched  them  fly 
towards  a  leaf,  settle,  "  about  turn,"  and  there  they  were  "facing 
the  enemy  "  in  the  same  way  that  Hypolimnas  did.  There  is 
more  point  in  this  action  with  the  Euthalias,  as  the  males  of  the 
three  commonest  species  in  Sarawak  have  light  blue-grey  hind 
marginal  borders  to  both  wings,  which  effectively  merge  in  the 
ground  colour  of  the  leaves  on  which  they  rest,  thus  leaving  a 


248  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

dark  patch  at  the  tip  or  edge  of  the  leaf  which  might  well  be 
taken  for  a  piece  eaten  out  of  the  edge  or  off  the  end  of  the  leaf. 
The  females  are  less  often  seen,  and  I  could  make  no  observa- 
tions on  their  rest  attitudes. 

The  large  Nymphaline,  Parthenos  sylvia  borneensis,  Stand., 
occasionally  flew  by  at  a  great  speed.  One  example  of  another 
swift-flying  Nymphaline,  rather  Hesperid-like  in  flight,  was 
taken,  Dicchoragia  nesimachus  mannus,  Fruhst.  ;  this  is  a  rare 
species  in  Sarawak.  Athyma  nefte  nivifera,  Butl.,  and  A.  abiasa, 
Moore,  were  common.  Adolias  canescens,  Butl.,  was  taken.  The 
celebrated  leaf-butterfly,  Kallima  inachis  buxtoni,  Moore,  was 
seen  to  settle  on  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  but  it  evaded  capture. 

LEMONiiDiE. —  Zemeros  emesioides  eso,  Frust.,  and  Laxita 
orphna,  Boisd.,  both  common  species,  were  taken. 

LYCiENiD^.  —  Megisba  malaya,  Horsf.,  Lyccenopsis  plauta, 
Druce,  Neopithecops  zalmora,  Butl.,  Lampides  zebra,  Druce,  L. 
coruscans,  Moore,  L.  celeno,  Cr.  (a  dwarf  measuring  only  21  mm. 
across  the  wings),  Everes  argiades,  Pall.,  Dacalana  vidura, 
Horsf.  (a  pair  taken  in  cop.),  two  examples  of  Horaga  ajjinis, 
Druce,  which  is  a  rare  mountain  species  confined  to  Borneo ; 
and  a  male  of  the  pretty  little  Sinthusa  amata,  Dist.,  also  a  rare 
species  in  Sarawak. 

Papilionid.e.— The  Pierines  noted  were  Terias  hecabe,  L.,  T. 
sari,  Horsf.,  Catophaga  plana,  Butl.,  and  Delias  metarete,  Butl., 
a  specimen  of  this  last  species  with  a  large  piece  removed  from 
anal  half  of  right  hind  wing  and  anal  quarter  of  left  hind  wing, 
evidently  bitten  out  by  some  bird  or  lizard  enemy.  Two  species 
of  Papilioninas,  P.  helenus  palaivanicus,  Staud.,  and  P.  nephelus 
saturnus,  Guer.,  were  frequently  seen.  A  male  of  the  former 
was  taken  with  a  large  piece  removed  from  the  greater  part  of 
the  left  hind  wing,  and  the  inner  margin  of  the  right  hind  wing 
also  bitten  away.  Another  Papilio,  P.  aristolochice  antiphus,  Fab., 
was  taken,  showing  a  large  symmetrical  bite  removing  tailed 
portion  of  both  hind  wings. 

Two  Hesperids,  Tagiades  ivaterstradti,  Elwes,  and  Parnara 
moolata,  Moore,  were  taken. 

The  moths,  so  far  as  I  can  identify  them  from  the  collection 
in  the  Sarawak  Museum,  include  the  following.  There  are, 
however,  many  others  which  I  have  not  been  able  to  identify 
up  to  the  moment  of  writing.  The  majority  of  the  following 
were  taken  at  light : — 

Syntomid^, — Syntomis  egenaria,  Wlk. 

ARCTiiDiE. — Nishada  rotundipennis,  Wlk.,  Ilenia  tortricoides, 
Wlk.,  /.  plagiata,  Wlk.,  I.  costalis,  Wlk.,  /.  apicalis,  Wlk.,  /. 
vicaria,  VVlk.,  Padenia  duplicana,  Wlk,,  Darantasia  cuneiplena, 
Wlk.,  Cliioncema  pudens,  Wlk.,  C.  conclusa,  Wlk.,  C.  subornata, 
Wlk.,  G.  bianca,  Wlk.,  Asura  obsoleta,  Moore, /I.  ciineifera,  Wlk., 
A.  euprepioides,  Wlk.,  A.  stringipennis,  Sch.,  A.  bizonoides,^\'k.t 


"  WHERE    WALLACE    TROD."  249 

A.  uniformeola,  Hmpsn.,  Miltochrista  cuneonotata,  Wlk.,  M.  cru- 
ciata,  Wlk.,  M.  ruhricostata,  Sch.,  Eugoa  ceqiialis,  Wlk.,  E.  vagi- 
gutta,  Wlk.,  Hemonia  orhiferana,  Wlk.,  Diacrisia  strigatula,  Wlk. 

NocTuiD^.  —  Aiicara  obliterans,  Wlk.,  Flammona  quadri- 
fasciata,  Wlk.,  Toxocanipa  dorsigera,  Wlk.,  Aquis  viridisquama, 
Wlk.,  Doranaga  lencospila,  Wlk.,  Ariola  continua,  Wlk.,  Risoha 
diversipennis,  Moore,  Nyctipao  crepuscidaris,  L.,  Baniana  crini- 
gera,  Swinh.,  Bocula  quadrilineata,  Wlk.,  Remigiafrugalis,  Fab., 
Simplicia  schaldusalis,  Wlk.,  S.  butesalis,  Wlk.,  S.  circumscrip)ta, 
Wlk.,  S.  rohustalis,  Gu6n.,  Adrapsa  geometroides,  Wlk.,  Bocana 
silemisalis,  Wlk.,  Bertida  cassiusalis,  Wlk.,  B.  alphusalis,  Wlk., 
Nodaria  nigripes,  Hmpsn.,  N.  erecta,  Moore. 

Lybiantriid^. — Orgyia  nigrocrocea,  Wlk.,  Lymantria  similis, 
Moore,  L.  albicans,  Wlk.,  Euproctis  guttistriga,  Wlk.,  E.  guttu- 
lata,  Snell.,  Redoa  marginalis,  Wlk. 

Aganid^. — Asota  heliconia,  Butl. 

Sphingid^. — Baplinusa  ocellaris,  Wlk. 

Cymatophorid^. — Thyatira  batis,  L. 

NoTODONTiD^. — Phalera  sangana,  Moore. 

Geometrid^. — Peratophyga  venetia,  Swinh.,  Luxiaria  ditrota, 
Meyr.,  L.  undidataria,  Pag.,  L.  tiigripalparia,  Wlk.,  L.  turpisaria, 
Wlk.,  Zamarada  translucida,  Moore,  Hyposidra  talaca,  Wlk., 
OpJithalmodes  clararia,  Wlk.,  Boarmia  compactaria,  Wlk.,  B.  cos- 
taria,  Guen.,  B.  separata,  Wlk.,  Panathia  mactdifera,  Wlk.,  Po- 
masia  vernacidaria,  Guen.,  P.  conferta,  Swinh.,  Craspedia  ivalkeri, 
Butl.,  C.  actuaria,  Wlk.,  Problepsis  deliaria,  Guen.,  Agathea 
codina,  Swinh.,  Hemithea  graminea,  Hmpsn.,  Thalera  unifascia, 
Hmpsn. 

LiMACODiDiE. — Miresa  bracteata,  Butl. 

ZYGMmDiE. — Chalcosiaficta,  Wlk. 

Pyralidze. — Ramila  acciusalis,  Wlk.,  Vitessa  suradeva,  Moore, 
Ambia  marginalis,  Moore,  Piletocera  cegimiusalis,  Wlk.,  P.  telle- 
salis,  Wlk.,  Mabra  faucidalis,  Wlk.,  Eurrhyparodes  bracteolalis, 
Zell.,  Agrotera  effertalis,  Wlk.,  A.  barcealis,  Wlk.,  JEtholixflavi- 
basalis,  Guen.,  Ercta  elutalis,  Wlk.,  Bocchoris  telphusalis,  Wlk., 
Dichocrocis  clioalis,  Wlk.,  Z).  pandamalis,  Wlk.,  D.  megillalis, 
Wlk.,  Nacoleia  poeonalis,  Wlk.,  N.  insolitalis,  Wlk.,  N.  mario- 
nalls,  Wlk.,  Sylepta  multinealis,  Gu6n.,  Glyphodes  glaucidalis, 
Guen.,  G.  navalis,  Feld.,  Pilocrocis  anigrusalis,  Wlk.,  Pionea 
aureolalis.  Led. 

Among  insects  of  other  Orders  captured  or  noticed  were  the 
following : —        q  (^ 

PiHYNCHOTA. — Cicadidse  :  Scieroptera  crocea,  Guer.,  a,nd  Maua 
albiguttata,  Wlk.  I  think  it  was  another  example  of  this  latter 
species  that  I  tried  to  catch  on  a  branch  of  a  tree  whither  I  had 
been  attracted  by  its  shrill  song.  It  flew  off  and  continued  its  song 
for  a  moment  or  two  while  in  flight,  much  to  my  surprise,  as  I 


250  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

always  thought  a  position  of  rest  was  necessary  before  any 
Cicadas  could  make  a  noise.  It  returned  later  to  the  same  tree, 
but  I  again  missed  it  with  the  net,  although  it  allowed  me  to 
approach  near  enough  to  approximately  identify  it. 

Four  Fulgoridas  were  noted— Thessitus  nigronotatus,  Stal, 
'  ^ Pochazia  fuscata,  Fah:.^ Bicania  convergens,  Wlk.,  stna- JR.  limi- 
taris,  Wlk.  Also  five  Cercopidae— ^iwacarto  tricolor  basinotata, 
Bntl. pTricoscarta  delineata,  ^Nlk. ^hymatostetha  stellata,  Guer., 
<^P.  dislocata,  Wlk.,  a,n^ Opistharsotheus  simulans,  Schmidt.  Speci- 
mens of  the  two  common  Zsi^^idiQ,'^ Bhandara  semiclara,  Sign., 
an^Tettigoniellafarinosa,  Fab.,  were  brought  in  by  the  collectors. 
The  Pentatomids,  Chrysochoris  auratus,  Guer.,  Dalpada  ocidata, 
Fab.,  Plautia  fimhriata,  Fab. ;  the  Eeduviid,  Centrocnemis  signo- 
reti,  Stal ;  the  Coreid,  Serinetlia  ahdominalis,  Fab. ;  and  a  Lygseid, 
Narho  biplagiatus,  Wlk.,  were  taken. 

CoLEOPTERA. — Perhaps  the  most  striking  species  taken  were 
a  large  brilliant  green  Buprestid,  Chrysodema  jnjrosticta,  Vollen., 
and  a  fine  chocolate-brown  Curculionid,  which  I  found  walking 
on  a  large  rock  on  the  summit  of  the  hill ;  this  proved  to  be  a 
rare  species  recently  described  by  Dr.  K.  M.  Heller  as  Polrio- 
phoriis  stellatiis. 

Among  the  Longicorns  were— (Lamiidae),  Leprodera fimhriata, 
Chev. ;  a  large  brown-spotted  beetle,  lUmantoceraplumosa,  Oliv. ; 
Entclopes  glauca,  Guer.,  surely  a  mimic  of  some  Coccinellid- 
Cassid  combination  ;  Praonetha  quadraticollis,  Pasc.  ;  and  a  pair 
of  a  gorgeous  blue  species,  Glenea  celia,  Pasc,  which  I  took  in 
cop.  on  a  fallen  tree.  Mr.  Gahan  kindly  identified  it  for  me, 
and  I  understand  it  has  not  been  recorded  from  Borneo  before. 
(Cerambycidae),  the  common  red  Euryphagus  lundii,  Fab.,  Xylo- 
treclius  pedestris,  Pascoe,  and  X.  scenicus,  Pasc. 

The  brilliant  little  Cassidae  were  represented  by  Aspido- 
morpha  sarawacensis,  Spaeth,  and  Laccoptera  13-punctata,  Fab. 
Two  species  of  Carabidas  were  taken — Orthogonius  vittatus,  Main, 
and  Dischissus  cereus,  McL.,  the  latter  a  rare  species  in  Sarawak. 
The  pretty  little  Cicindelid,  Odontachila  {Heptadonta)  analis,  Fab., 
was  common  on  the  sandy  path  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain, 
flying  in  the  sun,  together  with  the  ubiquitous  Cicindela  auridenta, 
Fab.,  which  is  certainly  the  commonest  beetle  in  Sarawak. 

One  Endomychid,  Eumorphus  consohrinus,  Gerst.,  and  one 
Lampyrid,  Luciola  pallescens,  Gorh.,  were  taken. 

Sugaring  trees  was  tried,  but,  as  on  previous  occasions  out 
here,  proved  a  total  failure,  possibly  owing  to  moonlight  nights, 
but  more  likely  due  to  the  swarms  of  ants  which  were  always  in 
a  great  hurry  for  first  place.  Among  them  was  that  large 
species,  Camponotus  gigas,  Latr.,  of  which  the  big  headed  soldiers, 
measuring  an  inch  in  length  from  head  to  end  of  abdomen,  used 
to  appear  at  night,  though  we  never  saw  them  in  the  daytime. 
One  of  the  Dayak  collectors,  annoyed  at  seeing  several  visitors  of 


"where    WALLACE    TROD."  251 

this  kind  instead  of  the  desired  moths,  hit  one  with  a  stick,  burst- 
ing the  bladder-Hke  abdomen,  whereupon  some  fluid  squirted  out 
and  into  his  eye  !  He  had  a  very  painful  two  days  before  his 
eye  got  all  right  again.  A  few  earwigs  attended  the  sugar 
repast ;  they  were  Allodahlia  scahriuscula,  Serv.,  Corclax  forci- 
patus,  de  Haan,  Timomenus  vicinus,  Burr,  and  Opisthocosmia 
centurio,  Dohrn. — all  common  species  in  Sarawak. 
Sarawak:  April,  1912. 

Explanation  of  Plates  V.  &  VI. 

PI.  v.,   fig.  1. — Mr.  H.  W.  Smith  and  Dayaks  on  the  actual  site  occupied  hy 
Wallace  in  1856.     Note  two  posts  ol  house  in  foreground,  and  the 
density  of  jungle  grown  up  since  the  house  was  last  occupied. 
,,       fig.  2.  —The  same  spot  after  being  cleared  by  Dayaks.     Our  hut  in 
process  of  erection. 
PI.  VI.,  fig.  3. — Our  improvised  moth-trap.     Collector  (Sea-Dayak)  standing 
with  Land-Dayak  boy  seated  in  front. 
,,       fig.  4. — The  huge  rock  (referred  to  by  Wallace,  St.  John,  and  Beccari) 
under  which  we  obtained  water  for  drinking  and  bathing  purposes'. 


APPENDIX. 

By  W.  L.  Distant. 

Mr.  Moulton  has  asked  me  to  identify  the  four  following 
species  of  Rbynchota  which  he  collected  on  this  expedition,  two 
of  which  are  apparently  undescribed,  and  the  types  are  now 
in  the  British  Museum. 

Fam.  PENTAT0MID.E. 

Dalpada  trimaculata. 

Pentatoma  3-macnlata,  Westw.,  in  Hope  Cat.  i.  p.  41  (1837). 

Already  recorded  from  Java,  Sumatra,  Borneo,  and 
Philippines. 

Hippotiscus  scutellatus,  sp.  n. 

Body  above  ochraceous,  thickly  darkly  punctate ;  apex  of  scutellum 
cordately  ivory  white,  inwardly  margined  with  black ;  body  beneath 
pale  ochraceous,  the  segmental  incisures,  spiracles,  and  a  transverse 
line  beneath  them  dark  castaneous ;  presternum  punctured  with  cas- 
taneous  ;  legs  darker  ochraceous  ;  head  short,  broad,  almost  shorter 
than  broad  between  the  eyes,  rounded  at  apex,  the  margins  mode- 
rately laminately  reflexed,  the  lateral  lobes  slightly  longer  than  the 
central ;  first  joint  of  antennae  about  reaching  apex  of  head,  second 
longer  than  third,  fourth  and  fifth  longest  and  subequal,  first,  second, 
and  third  joints  ochraceous,  fourth  and  fifth  dark  castaneous  ;  rostrum 
castaneous,  not  extending  beyond  the  intermediate  coxae ;  pronotum 
with  the  lateral  margins  rounded  and  laminate,  anterior  angles  ob- 
tusely angulated,  basal  angles  rounded  and  subprominent ;  mem- 
branal  veins  simple  ;  abdomen  not  spined  at  base,  but  second  segment 


252  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

slightly  convexly  elevated  at  centre  ;  mesosternum  centrally  carinate. 
Long.  13  millim.     Exp.  pronot.  angl.  2  raillim. 

This  genus  was  previously  represented  by  a  single  Indian 
species. 

Halyomorpha  piais. 

Cijnex  picus,  Fabr.,  Ent.  Syst.  iv.  p.  115  (1794). 
A  species  common  to  the  Oriental  and  Malayan  regions,  and 
found  in  China  and  Japan. 

Glancias  montivagus,  sp.  n. 

Above  bright  olivaceous  green  ;  head  and  anterior  area  of  pro- 
notum — concavely  extending  to  the  lateral  angles — pale  testaceous  ; 
head  with  the  margins  narrowly,  a  puncture  on  each  side  of  the 
central  lobe  near  eyes,  and  about  four  small  spots  near  base,  black  ; 
pronotum  with  about  anterior  half  of  the  lateral  margin  blackly 
punctate,  a  few  scattered  black  punctures  on  the  pale  testaceous 
area,  and  a  series  of  black  punctures  on  the  anterior  margin  of  the 
olivaceous  green  basal  area  ;  antennae  with  the  first,  second,  and  third 
joints  virescent,  apex  of  the  third  black,  fourth  and  fifth  sub- 
testaceous,  about  apical  third  of  fourth  and  nearly  apical  half  of 
fifth  black,  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  joints  subequal  in  length  ;  body 
beneath  and  legs  virescent,  paler  than  above ;  abdomen  with  a  series 
of  small  black  spots  on  the  lateral  margins  at  the  apices  of  the  seg- 
mental incisures  ;  posterior  area  of  pronotum,  scutellum,  and  corium 
thickly  punctate  ;  membrane  pale,  hyaline  ;  rostrum  with  the  apical 
joint  mutilated  in  type,  second  and  third  joints  almost  equally  long  ; 
mesosternum  distinctly  carinate.  Long.  13  millim.  Exp.  pronot. 
angl.  7  millim. 

In  colour  and  markings  allied  to  Z.  beryllus,  Fabr.,  var  cmssa, 
Westw.,  but  a  smaller  species  with  the  head  more  slenderly 
elongate  and  considerably  more  narrowed  at  apex. 

COLEOPTERA    COLLECTED    ON    THE    J.  C.  MoULTON    EXPEDITION 

TO  SiRUNBU  (Sarawak). 
(Determined  by  C.  J.  Gahan.) 
LoNGicoRNiA. — Glenea  pustulata,  Thoms.  (one  female).  Ptcro- 
lophia  sp.  (one  male  ?)  ;  melanura,  Pasc,  var. 

Halticid^. — Chalanus  sp.  (one  male) ;  not  in  B.  M.  Coll. 
CARABID.E. — Lesticus  sp.   (two  males,    one  female) ;    not  in 
B.  M.  Coll. 

CuRCULiONiD.E. — Poteviophovus  boivringi,  Waterh.,  var. 

(Determined  by  J.  J.  Arrow.) 
RuTELiD.E. — Peltonotus    vittatiis,  Arrow.       The    two  female 
specimens  differ  slightly  in  marking  from  the  unique  type  in 
M.  Oberthiu''s  collection.      The  male  must  be  awaited  for  the 
positive  determination  of  the  species  (J.  J.  A.) 


The   Entomologist.   Septembef,   1912. 


Plate  VI 11. 


\N 


c 


F.  W.  Frohawk  del.  West.  N 

EARLY     STAGES     OF     HESPERIA     LINEA. 


253 

ON    THE     EGG-LAYING    AND    EARLY    STAGES     OF 

HESPERIA     LINE  A     {=  THAUMAS), 

By  F.  W.  Frohawk,  M.B.O.U.,  F.E.S. 

(Plate    VIII.) 

After  repeated  attempts  to  obtain  the  eggs  of  Hesperia  linea 
from  captive  females,  I  determined,  if  possible,  to  watch  this 
species  depositing  in  a  state  of  nature,  not  only  for  the  purpose 
of  securing  eggs,  but  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  so  many  failures 
in  trying  to  get  them  to  lay  in  captivity.  I  therefore,  in  com- 
pany with  my  friend  Mr.  Ed.  Goodwin,  visited  a  certain  locality 
on  the  Kentish  Hills,  where  this  butterfly  is  abundant,  pn  July 
17th  last,  purposely  to  make  observations  on  this  species,  and 
to  collect  the  larvae  of  Lycana  minima.  After  watching  Hesperia 
linea  for  a  short  time,  we  soon  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing 
three  females  deposit  between  3.45  and  4.30  p.m.,  and  found  the 
eggs  of  each.  To  lose  no  opportunity  I  made  a  sketch  on  the 
spot  of  the  first  female  we  saw  in  the  act  of  depositing,  the 
drawing  of  which  is  reproduced  in  the  accompanying  plate. 

The  two  species  of  grass  selected  by  the  butterflies  for  their 
eggs  were  cat's-tail  grass  {Phleum  pratense),  and  soft  creeping 
grass  {Holcus  mollis).  All  three  females  went  through  precisely 
the  same  performance  and  mode  of  depositing.  After  flying 
with  a  slow,  steady,  buzzing  flight  in  and  out  among  the  taller 
stems  of  the  mixed  grasses  growing  in  a  dense  mass  of  varied 
herbage  in  a  wild  uncultivated  sheltered  slope  on  a  chalk  hill, 
the  butterfly  now  and  again  settled  for  a  moment  on  a  grass- 
stem,  but  obviously  not  suited  for  its  eggs,  would  quickly  fly  off 
and  settle  on  another,  if  suitable ;  she  would  settle  on  the  upper 
sheath,  and  immediately  slide  down  tail  first,  and  at  once  start 
feeling  for  the  division  along  the  sheath  with  the  ovipositor, 
working  partly  or  wholly  round  it,  and  slowly  crawling  upwards 
during  the  process  until  it  found  the  exact  place  to  suit  its 
requirements,  in  the  choice  of  which  it  seemed  very  particular  ; 
it  then  rested  with  its  wings  closed  over  its  back,  antennae 
lowered  in  a  line  with  its  body,  and  the  abdomen  curved,  with 
the  extremity  closely  pressed  on,  or  just  in,  the  crevice  of  the 
sheath,  and  the  ovipositor  deeply  inserted.  In  this  attitude  she 
remained  for  three  or  four  minutes,  when  I  sketched  her.  While 
thus  resting  she  laid  four  eggs  in  a  row  along  the  inner  surface 
of  the  sheath  opposite  the  aperture,  quite  hidden  from  view. 

After  watching  this  one  we  noted  both  the  other  females 
behaved  precisely  the  same  in  their  actions.  The  first  one  laid 
four  eggs,  the  second  three,  and  the  third  one  three  ;  but  I  found 
six  were  laid  close  together  in  one  sheath,  but  afterwards  these 
proved  to  be  the  eggs  of  two  females,  as  three  of  them  hatched 
several  days  in  advance  of  the  others.      It  appears  that   the 

ENTOxM. SEPTEMBER,    1912.  X 


254  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

normal  number  of  eggs  laid  at  a  time  is  from  three  to  five,  as  I 
afterwards  gathered  some  grass-stems  in  which  I  found  fourteen 
more  eggs,  all  laid  in  rows  in  three  different  sheaths  of  five,  five, 
and  four  respectively.  After  depositing  the  butterfly  gradually 
raises  the  abdomen  from  the  grass-stem,  opens  its  wings,  and 
after  resting  about  a  minute  flies  off. 

I  also  captured  six  females  for  the  purpose  of  obtaing  more 
eggs ;  these,  as  well  as  others,  I  placed  on  growing  plants  of 
P.  pratense  and  H.  mollis.  On  July  31st  I  examined  the  plants, 
and  found  in  the  sheaths  over  fifty  eggs,  laid  in  a  similar  way  to 
those  laid  by  the  wild  females,  but  not  a  single  egg  was  laid  on 
any  other  part  of  the  plant. 

In  previous  trials  to  obtain  eggs  I  had  only  provided  the 
butterflies  with  younger  growing  plants  without  flowering  stems, 
and  as  this  species  will  only  deposit  its  eggs  in  the  sheaths  of 
the  flower-stalks,  the  cause  of  failure  is  at  once  apparent. 

The  egg  of  H.  linea  measures  g^j  in.  across  its  greater 
diameter,  of  a  compressed  oval  shape,  about  half  the  width  in 
height ;  it  is  much  more  rounded  in  form  than  either  H.  actaon 
or  H.  lineola.  The  micropyle  is  rather  sunken  and  finely  re- 
ticulated, and  the  rest  of  the  surface  is  covered  with  extremely 
delicate  reticulations  of  an  irregular  network  pattern,  which  is 
only  practically  visible  in  high  light ;  otherwise  the  shell  has 
the  appearance  of  being  smooth  and  glistening  with  rather  an 
opalescent  lustre. 

When  first  laid  it  is  pearly  white,  faintly  tinged  with  prim- 
rose-yellow. It  remains  unchanged  for  some  days,  and  then 
gradually  becomes  a  deeper  ochreous  yellow,  afterwards  again  be- 
coming paler,  of  a  greyish  pearly  hue,  when  the  larva  is  clearly 
visible  through  the  delicate  shell,  its  dark  head  showing  as  a 
leaden  blotch. 

Some  of  the  wild  eggs  found  on  July  17th  started  hatching 
on  August  3rd  ;  those  laid  on  that  day  (July  17th)  began  hatch- 
ing on  August  9th,  remaining  twenty-three  days  in  the  egg- 
state. 

The  young  larva  directly  after  emergence  measures  while 
crawling  ^^  in.  long.  The  head  is  pale  olive-ochreous,  roughly 
granular,  and  beset  with  a  few  white  hairs  ;  eyes  pale,  surrounded 
with  blackish  ;  the  clypeus  outlined  with  dark  brown.  The  body 
is  stoutest  in  the  middle  and  tapering  posteriorly ;  on  the  first 
segment  is  a  dorsal,  transverse,  chitinous  band  of  a  similar 
surface  and  colour  as  the  head.  The  segments  have  five 
subdivisions,  the  first  on  each  segment  being  the  widest ;  the 
second  one  runs  below  the  spiracle,  where  it  curves  and  runs  off 
to  the  anterior  segmental  division.  There  are  three  subdorsal 
shining  brown  discs,  each  bearing  a  minute  curved  hair,  placed 
in  a  triangle  on  each  segment  above  the  spiracle,  and  two  others 
below ;  a  few  minute  simple  hairs  are  scattered  over  the  ventral 


THE    EARLY    STAGES    OF    HBSPfJRIA    LINEA.  255 

surface  and  on  the  anal  extremity.  The  surface  is  roughly 
granulated,  and  of  a  pale  citron-yellow  colour. 

The  larva  eats  almost  all  the  shell  after  emerging,  only 
leaving  a  portion  of  the  base  adhering  to  the  surface  of  the 
sheath.  Shortly  after  emergence  the  young  larva  commences 
spinning  itself  over  with  silk  until  it  is  completely  enveloped  in 
a  little  dense,  elongated  oval,  white  cocoon,  spun  in  the  same 
spot  where  the  egg  is  laid,  so  that  a  row  of  cocoons  takes  the 
place  of  the  eggs,  the  little  larvae  not  moving  from  where  they 
hatched.  In  these  compact  cocoons  the  larvae  are  completely 
hidden  and  protected  for  hibernation.  In  this  respect,  except- 
ing its  near  ally,  H.  action,  which  I  shall  later  on  fully  describe, 
this  very  remarkable  habit  of  H.  linea  is  unique  among 
our  native  butterflies,  and  is  a  wonderful  provision  for  the 
preservation  of  the  species ;  as  the  eggs  are  but  slightly 
fixed  to  the  surface  of  the  sheath  on  which  they  are  laid, 
they  become  detached  if  only  very  lightly  touched,  and  upon 
the  decaying  of  the  grass  during  winter,  when  it  would  become 
fractured  and  split  up,  the  eggs  would  fall  out  and  perish  on  the 
ground  in  consequence ;  but  Nature  has  provided  safety  for  the 
species  by  the  self-preservation  of  the  larva  to  construct  an 
indestructible  covering  incapable  of  dislodgment  from  its  site,  in 
which  it  can  safely  remain  concealed  throughout  the  winter 
months,  and  in  the  spring,  when  the  fresh,  tender  blades  of  the 
grass-plant  spring  up  among  the  fallen  flower-stalks  and  sheaths, 
the  little  larva,  on  awakening,  can  then  find  its  natural  food — at 
least,  this  appears  to  me  to  be  the  obvious  reason  of  the  necessity 
of  this  wonderful  provision. 

In  Buckler's  'Larvae  of  British  Butterflies,'  pp.  195-6,  Hellins 
states  that  on  July  29th,  1865,  Dr.  Knaggs  sent  him  *'  the  eggs 
of  this  species  laid  in  a  row  in  folded  grass,  but  how  he  managed 
to  get  the  butterfly  to  lay  them  I  do  not  know.  The  larvae 
hatched  on  August  12th ;  most  of  them  soon  disappeared,  but 
one  survived  until  the  middle  of  November  ;  it  was  then  only 
about  2  mm.  in  length,  so  I  must  have  mismanaged  it."  Also 
he  mentions  being  unable  to  obtain  a  single  egg  from  numbers 
of  these  butterflies  in  captivity ;  but  the  first  egg  he  squeezed 
from  each  dead  butterfly  proved  fertile,  and  "  the  larvae  began  to 
hatch  August  15th ;  they  soon  spun  little  ropes  of  silk  across 
the  blades  of  grass,  and  made  little  web  coverings  for  them- 
selves, but  they  would  not  feed,  and  an  accident  soon  befel  their 
cage,  and  I  saw  them  no  more." 

Both  from  Hellins'  description  of  the  egg  and  his  account  of 
the  site  of  egg  and  habits  of  the  young  larvae,  it  is  not  at  all 
conclusive  if  he  had  under  observation  H.  linea  at  all,  although 
it  appears  impossible  that  he  could  be  mistaken  in  the  identity 
of  the  specimen  he  squeezed  eggs  from  ;  but  one  point  is,  I 
think,  certain,  viz.  he  described  the  egg  of  H.  action  for  that  of 

X  2 


256  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

H.  linea,  which  he  describes  *'  of  a  long  oval  figure  half  as  long 
again  as  wide,"  which  is  correct  for  the  egg  of  action,  that  so 
greatly  differs  in  this  respect  from  the  egg  of  H.  linea,  which  is 
so  very  much  rounder  in  form,  being  only  one-fifth  longer  than 
broad,  whereas  that  of  H.  cectceon  is,  as  Hellins  states,  half  as 
long  again  as  wide.  For  the  purpose  of  comparison  I  have 
given  figures  of  the  eggs  of  both  species.  As  will  be  seen,  the 
difference  in  shape  between  the  two  is  so  vastly  different  that  it 
affords  a  ready  means  for  immediate  identification. 
(To  be  continued.) 

Explanation  of  Plate  VIII. 

Fig.  1. — Hespcria  linea  depoeiting;  flower-stem  of  Phleum  pratense 
sketched  from  life,  3.45  p.m.,  July  17th,  1912. 

Fig.  2. — Flower-stem  sheath  of  Holcus  mollis  ;  arrow-head  denoting 
eggs  in  situ  within  sheath. 

Fig,  3. — Larval  cocoons  (natural  size) ;  sheath  opened  to  show  cocoons. 

Fig.  4. — Larval  cocoons,  enlarged  4  x  . 

Fig.  5. — Egg  of  H.  linea,  enlarged  29  x  . 

Fig.  6. — Egg  of  H.  act(eo7i,  enlarged  24  x . 


OVIPOSITION     OF     TAPINOSTOLA     CONCOLOR. 
By  G.  B.  Kershaw,  F.E.S. 

Whilst  working  for  this  insect  this  year,  about  8.45  p.m.  I 
came  across  a  female,  evidently  freshly  emerged,  clinging  to  a 
sedge-leaf.  At  9.30  p.m.  a  male  of  the  same  species  came  up 
and  paired  with  the  female.  After  an  interval  of  ten  minutes 
the  pair  were  very  carefully  secured  in  a  three-inch  glass- 
bottomed  pill-box,  together  with  the  sedge-leaf  on  which  they 
were  resting;  they  were  then  left  on  the  ground,  still  paired, 
until  1.30  a.m.  the  next  morning,  when  they  were  found 
separated. 

Both  the  insects  were  transferred  to  a  large  glass  jar  covered 
with  muslin  and  containing  a  good  supply  of  food-plant,  the 
cut  stalks  being  wrapped  in  wet  cotton  wool  to  avoid  shrivelling. 
On  examining  the  sedge-leaf  cut  off  by  the  pill-box  lid  (referred 
to  hereafter  as  "A"),  it  was  seen  to  be  dried  up,  and  the  edges 
were  curled  over  towards  the  middle  of  the  leaf  on  each  side ; 
on  gently  opening  the  curled-up  portions,  thirteen  ova  were 
found  concealed  on  one  side  of  the  leaf,  all  neatly  deposited  in  a 
row,  touching  each  other,  and  cemented  to  the  leaf. 

The  ova  were  globular,  glistening,  and  of  a  yellowish  white 
colour,  and  measured  about  one  thirty-second  of  an  inch  in 
diameter.  The  insects  in  the  glass  jar  were  placed  amongst 
herbage  during  the  day,  and  hid  up  amongst  the  sedge  close  to 
the  bottom  of  the  jar.  They  were  visited  several  times  during 
the  day,  but  did  not  move  until  about  9  p.m.  on  the  evening 


OVIPOSITION    OP    TAPINOSTOLA    CONCOLOE.  257 

following  their  capture,  when  one  of  the  insects  (the  male,  as  it 
subsequently  turned  out)  became  restless,  and  commenced 
"  buzzing  "  up  and  down  the  sedge-leaves,  the  female  remaining 
perfectly  quiescent.  The  male  was  then  removed  to  a  second 
glass  jar  supplied  with  sedge.  About  9.30  p.m.  the  female 
began  to  ascend  the  sedge,  creeping  quietly  about  examining  the 
blades,  and  having  finally  selected  a  particular  blade  as  being 
suitable  for  her  purposes,  commenced  ovipositing  about  one  and 
a  half  inches  from  the  extreme  tip,  and  along  the  very  edge  of 
the  leaf.  About  this  time  the  light  became  too  uncertain  for 
further  observation,  and  on  trying  to  observe  further  with  a 
lamp,  the  female  commenced  "  buzzing,"  so  she  was  left  undis- 
turbed, whilst  the  male  in  the  second  jar  was  killed.  The  fol- 
lowing day,  about  8  a.m.,  the  ova  which  I  had  seen  deposited  the 
previous  evening  were  invisible,  the  leaf  having  curled  over  and 
completely  hidden  them  from  view.  The  sedge  had  already 
dried  somewhat,  but  doubtless  the  cement  provided  by  the 
female  during  oviposition  hastened  during  its  setting  period  the 
curling  of  the  leaf. 

After  being  left  undisturbed  (after  a  railway  journey)  for  five 
days,  the  female  still  being  aUve  but  much  worn,  she  was 
removed  and  the  sedges  carefully  searched  for  ova.  Several 
batches  were  found,  five  in  all :  two  lots  (*'  B  "  and  "  C  ")  were 
laid  about  the  middle  of  a  blade,  and  three  ("D,"  "E,"  and 
*'  F  ")  about  one  and  a  half  to  two  inches  from  the  extreme  tip. 
In  batch  "B"  the  ova  (sixteen  in  all),  were  laid  in  two  rows 
parallel  to  and  touching  each  other,  and  this  was  also  the  case 
with  "  C,"  five  ova  being  laid.  With  respect  to  "  D,"  the  ova 
(seven)  were  similarly  placed  to  those  in  "A,"  but  with  "E  " 
and  "  F  "  (seven  and  eleven  respectively)  one  ovum,  although 
in  the  same  straight  line  as  the  others,  was  separated  from  the 
main  row  by  an  interval  of  one-eighth  of  an  inch. 

Several  of  the  ova  appeared  either  to  have  shrunk  or  to  have 
been  distorted  by  the  pressure  of  the  incurling  leaf,  and  this 
would  appear  to  afford  strong  presumptive  evidence  that  the 
cement  or  gum  greatly  accelerates  the  curling  tendency  of  the 
leaf,  since  one  might  reasonably  assume  that  the  distortion  of 
the  ova  occurs  soon  after  this  is  deposited,  i.  e.,  when  the  enve- 
lopes of  the  ova  are  still  delicate  and  flexible. 

The  double  row  of  ova  at  the  middle  of  the  leaf  "  B  "  {i.e., 
where  the  breadth  is  about  four  times  that  of  the  leaf  one  and 
a  half  inches  from  the  extreme  tip)  is  significant. 

With  reference  to  "E"  and  "F"  it  would  appear  possible 
that  the  female  inserted  her  ovipositor  into  the  blade  when  it 
was  already  somewhat  curled,  and  after  laying  one  egg  for 
purposes  of  taking  bearings  at,  so  to  speak,  the  limit,  withdrew 
the  ovipositor  an  eighth  of  an  inch  before  laying  the  remainder. 

The  weather  the  evening  the  insects  were  taken  was  very 


258 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 


warm  and  close,  following  heavy  rainfall,  the  shade  tempera- 
ture at  8  p.m.  being  68°  F. 

It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  it  will  be  possible  to  observe 
anything  further  with  regard  to  the  life-history  of  this  insect, 
since  the  accredited  food-plant  is  not  particularly  easy  to  obtain, 
and  difficult  to  transplant  when  met  with. 

West  Wickham,  Kent. 


NEW    SPECIES    OF    LEPIDOPTERA    FROM    FORMOSA. 

By  a.  E.  Wileman,  F.E.S. 

Geometrid^. 
Paradarisa  rantaizanensis,  sp.  n. 

(? .  Fore  wings  pale  brown,  freckled  with  darker,  clouded  with 
dusky  on  outer  third,  ochreous  tinged,  especially  on  costal  and  dorsal 
areas ;  antemedial  line  blackish,  double,  diffuse ;  postmedial  line 
blackish,  angled  opposite  cell,  bent  near  dorsum  ;  discoidal  mark 
hnear,  blackish,  some  blackish  specks  between  it  and  dorsum ;  sub- 
terminal  line  pale,  wavy,  indistinct ;  terminal  line  crenulate,  blackish, 
with  black  dots  on  it  between  the  veins.  Hind  wings  pale  brown, 
freckled  with  darker ;  antemedial  line  blackish,  only  distinct  on 
dorsal  area  ;  postmedial  line  blackish,  double,  not  extended  to  costa, 
shghtly  incurved  before  dorsum,  followed  by  a  dusky  shade  ;  sub- 
terminal  and  terminal  lines  as  on  fore  wings,  but  the  former  rather 
more  distinct.  _  Under  side  whitish,  clouded  with  dusky  on  outer 
third ;  all  the  wings  have  blackish  discoidal  spot  and  postmedial  line, 
the  latter  rather  faint. 

Expanse,  43  milhm. 

Collection  number,  789a. 

Allied  to  P.  comparataria,  Walker,  from  N.W.  Himalayas. 

A  male  specimen  from  Rantaizan,  May  8th,  1909. 

Arichanna  {?)  maculosa,  sp.  n. 
(?  .  Antennas  bipectinate.  Fore  wings  white,  thickly  sprinkled  with 
dark  brownish  ;  venation  brownish  ;  antemedial  and  postmedial  lines 
blackish,  double,  broad  and  rather  wavy,  interrupted  ;  a  blackish  band, 
on  which  is  a  black  discoidal  spot,  between  antemedial  and  postmedial 
lines,  but  nearest  the  latter,  interrupted  about  middle ;  subterminal 
and  terminal  hnes  blackish,  macular  ;  a  blackish  cloud  on  terminal  area 
near  apex.  Hind  wings  white,  finely  sprmkled  with  dark  brownish. 
Fringes  of  all  wings  whitish  checkered  with  blackish,  most  distinctly 
on  the  fore  wings.  Under  side  similar  to  above,  but  the  transverse 
markings  of  the  fore  wings  confluent. 

?  .     Except  that  the  hind  wings  are  more  densely  sprinkled  with 
dark  brownish,  similar  to  the  male. 

Expanse,  39  millim. 

Collection  number,  806. 

One  specimen  of  each  set  from  Arizan,  September  12th,  1906. 


NEW    SPECIES    OF    LEPIDOPTERA    FROM    FORMOSA.  259 

Vindusara  rectifascia,  sp.  n. 

5  .  Fore  wings  white  ;  antemedial  and  postmedial  bands  pale 
brownish,  powdered  with  white,  the  former  curved  and  the  latter 
straight ;  a  pale  brownish  spot  before  antemedial  line,  and  two 
similar  coloured  spots  on  costal  area  just  beyond  the  antemedial,  and 
two  or  three  others  beyond  the  postmedial  band.  Hind  wings  white, 
with  four  large  and  some  small  scattered  pale  brownish  spots  on  the 
basal  three-fourths  ;  postmedial  band  pale  brownish,  outwardly  edged 
by  a  yellowish  cloud  in  which  are  three  black  dots,  extending  to 
termen  between  vein  three  and  tornus.  Fringes  of  all  wings  brown. 
Under  side  similar  to  above,  but  there  are  more  spots  beyond  the 
postmedial  band  of  fore  wings. 

Expanse,  50  millim. 

Collection  number,  1561. 

A  female  specimen  from  Kanshirei,  May  7th,  1908. 

Pachyodes  taiivana,  sp.  n. 

(? .  Antennse  bipectinated,  except  apical  fourth  ;  abdomen  with 
flattened  tufts  of  brownish  hairs  on  middle  segments.  Whitish  grey, 
sprinkled  with  brownish  grey,  and  striated  with  blackish.  Fore 
wings  with  black  basal  and  antemedial  lines,  both  slightly  curved 
near  costa,  thence  almost  straight  to  dorsum,  space  between  the 
lines  without  black  striae ;  discoidal  mark  black,  linear ;  postmedial 
line  blackish,  wavy,  diffuse  towards  costa,  bluntly  angled  above 
middle,  incurved  below  middle  ;  subterminal  line  blackish,  indistinct, 
followed  by  whitish  patches  below  apex  and  about  middle ;  terminal 
line  black,  interrupted.  Hind  wings  have  blackish  discoidal  mark  and 
postmedial  line,  the  latter  bluntly  angled  at  vein  four,  thence  wavy 
to  dorsum ;  terminal  line  black,  interrupted.  Under  side  white ;  a 
black  postmedial  band  on  all  the  wings,  the  outer  edge  of  the  band 
irregular ;  a  black  discoidal  mark  on  fore  wings  similar  to  that  on 
upper  side. 

Expanse,  48-50  millim. 

Collection  number,  1555. 

Near  P.  crassistriga,  Warren. 

Two  male  specimens  from  Kanshirei,  April  28th,  1908. 

NoTODONTIDiE. 

Phalera  flavimacula,  sp.  n. 
^ .  Head  chocolate-brown,  crown  yellowish  buff,  collar  choco- 
late-brown mixed  with  grey  ;  thorax  pale  grey  flecked  with  darker ; 
abdomen  grey,  anal  tuft  yellowish  buff.  Fore  wings  pale  grey, 
striated  and  mottled  with  darker  grey,  clouded  with  dark  grey  on  the 
costal  area ;  some  black  dots  on  costa  before  apex  ;  reniform  and 
orbicular  spots  pale,  outlined  in  black ;  a  black  mark  below  the 
orbicular  spot ;  a  patch  of  yellowish  bufl"  on  terminal  area,  inwardly 
bordered  by  a  chocolate-brown  curved  band  ;  fringes  reddish  brown 
traversed  by  a  greyish  line,  preceded  by  a  connected  series  of  black 
lunules.  Hind  wings  whitish  suffused  with  fuscous,  except  on  dorsal 
area  ;  discoidal  spot  and  postmedial  line  dusky.     Under  side  blackish, 


260  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

with  yellowish  buff  patch  as  above,  on  fore  wings  ;  whitish,  freckled 
with  brown  chiefly  on  costal  area,  black  discoidal  spot,  and  blackish 
somewhat  interrupted  postmedial  line,  on  the  hind  wings. 

Expanse,  40  miUim. 

One  male  specimen  from  Arizan. 

NOCTUID^. 

Trachea  suhfusca,  sp.  n. 

S' .  Fore  wings  greyish  brown,  suffused  with  fuscous  ;  four  pale 
brown  dots  on  costa  towards  apex  ;  orbicular  and  reniform  stigmata 
hardly  paler  than  the  general  colour,  partly  outlined  in  black,  space 
between  them  blackish ;  antemedial  line  black,  sinuous,  indistinct 
towards  dorsum  ;  postmedial  line  black,  dentate,  curved  round  end  of 
cell,  outwardly  edged  with  pale  brown  ;  veins  marked  with  black  on 
terminal  area  ;  subterminal  line  pale  brown,  fairly  distinct  on  costa, 
continuation  indicated  by  dots  on  the  veins.  Hind  wings  pale  brown, 
suffused  with  blackish,  fringes  paler.  Under  side  pale  brown, 
powdered  with  darker,  chiefly  on  fore  wings  and  outer  area  of  hind 
wings  ;  a  dusky  postmedial  line  on  all  wings,  and  a  blackish  discoidal 
spot  on  hind  wings  ;  four  pale  brown  marks  on  costa  of  fore  wings 
beyond  postmedial. 

?  .  Similar  to  the  male,  except  that  the  antemedial  line  is  more 
distinct. 

Expanse,  $   46  millim. ;    $  48  millim. 

One  example  of  each  sex  from  Kansbirei ;  male,  August  14th, 
1907 ;  female,  August  17th,  1905. 


NOTES   ON    THE    BEITISH   MOSQUITOS   (CULICINiE). 
By  F.  W.  Edwards,  B.A.,  F.E.S. 

(Published  by  Permission  of  the  Trustees  of  the  British  Museum.) 
(Concluded  from  p.  220.) 

Genus  3.  Aedes. 

A.  cinerciis,  Mg. — Scales  of  head  broad  and  flat,  except  for  a 
patch  of  narrow  ones  behind,  extending  in  front  in  a  narrow 
median  area  to  the  eyes.  Scales  yellowish,  but  two  patches  of 
black  ones,  variable  in  size.  Thorax  reddish,  clothed  with 
golden-brown  scales.  Abdomen  blackish-brown  above,  sides 
and  venter  pale  ochreous.  Legs  and  wings  with  dark  brown 
scales,  femora  pale  beneath.     Average  length,  5  mm. 

Probably  fairly  common.  I  have  seen  specimens  from 
Wicken,  Chippenham,  and  Baitsbite  (Cambs)  ;  New  Forest ; 
Bournemouth ;  Studland  (Dorset) ;  Crymlin  Bog  (Glamorgan)  ; 
Ormesby  (Norfolk).  Mr.  J.  E.  Collin  has  it  from  Tuddenham 
(Suffolk)  and  Edinburgh. 


NOTES    ON    THE    BRITISH    MOSQUITOS.  261 

There  may  be  two  nearly  allied  species  here,  as  Theobald  de- 
scribes the  hind  claws  as  being  simple ;  this,  however,  is  very  likely 
an  error.  Kertesz  states  that  they  are  toothed,  and  this  agrees  with 
my  observations.  A  specimen  of  Zetterstedt's  Culex  nifjrituUis  lent 
to  me  for  examination  was  a  typical  A.  cinereus  ;  this  confirmed  a 
suspicion  I  had  previously  entertained  that  the  two  names  apply  to 
the  same  species. 

Genus  4.  TiENioRHYNCHUs. 

1.  T.  richiardii,  Fie. — A  rather  obscure-looking  insect,  but 
easily  distinguished  from  the  other  British  species  by  having  all 
the  wing-scales  rather  broad  ;  the  wings  are  speckled  as  in 
several  species  of  Ochleroiatus.  Thorax  reddish-brown,  with 
golden-brown  scales.  Abdomen  blackish,  unhanded,  but  with 
pale  lateral  spots.  Legs  speckled  ;  indistinct  pale  rings  at  the 
bases  of  the  tarsal  joints,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  metatarsi. 
Length  about  6  mm. 

Not  common.  Patching  and  Angmering  ponds,  Sussex,  and 
Littlesea,  Dorset  {Rev.  A.  E.  Eaton) ;  Cambridge  {F.  Jenkinson); 
Sutton  Cold  field  (it!.  C.  Bradley)  ;  Wye,  Kent,  and  Norwich 
(Theobald) . 

Theobald's  record  of  this  species  from  Toronto  really  refers  to 
T.  perturhans,  Walk.,  which  is  distinguished  from  T.  richiardii  by 
having  a  pale  ring  near  the  apex  of  the  tibiae.  The  name  of  this 
species  is  spelt  wrongly  in  Theobald's  monograph,  and  in  the  '  List 
of  British  Diptera'  (1901). 

Genus  5.  Theobaldia. 

1.  T.  annulata,  Schrank. — Wings  spotted  as  in  A.  maculi- 
pennis.  Gross-veins  in  one  line.  Femora  with  narrow  pale  rings 
near  the  tip.  Broad  whitish  rings  at  the  base  of  each  tarsal 
joint,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  metatarsi.  Segments  of  abdo- 
men brown  with  whitish  basal  bands,  the  second  segment  with 
a  median  whitish  longitudinal  stripe.     Average  length,  7*5  mm. 

Common.     A  particularly  bad  biter. 

2.  T.  morsitans,  Theo. — Wings  unspotted.  Cross-veins  sepa- 
rated by  nearly  the  length  of  the  posterior.  Proboscis  and  palpi 
of  female  black-scaled,  the  palpi  white-tipped.  Scales  of  thorax 
partly  dark  brown  and  partly  golden,  the  golden  ones  tending  to 
be  arranged  in  longitudinal  lines.  Abdomen  dark  brown,  the 
segments  with  broad  whitish  basal  bands.  Femora  without  pale 
rings.  Tibiae  and  metatarsi  striped  with  yellowish  white  on  the 
sides.  Tip  of  metatarsus  and  second  tarsal  joint  narrowly 
yellowish,  broader  yellowish  areas  at  the  bases  of  the  first  three, 
narrower  ones  at  the  bases  of  the  last  two  tarsal  joints.  Meta- 
tarsus of  the  front  legs  of  the  male  distinctly  longer  than  the 
remaining  four  joints  together  (120 :  105).  About  seven  teeth  in 
the  pecten  of  the  air-tube  of  the  larva,  no  spines  beyond  the 
pecten.     Average  length,  6*5-7*5  mm. 


262 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 


Probably  common.  Eochford,  Essex;  Patching  and  Ang- 
mering,  Sussex  ;  Woking,  Surrey  ;  Brockenhurst,  Hants  ;  Long- 
ner  Hall,  Shrewsbury. 

3.  T.  theohaldi,  Meij. — The  adults  are  difficult  to  separate 
from  those  of  T.  morsitans,  though  the  larvse  are  very  distinct. 
In  the  male  of  T.  theohaldi  the  front  metatarsus  is  scarcely  at  all 
longer  than  the  remaining  four  joints  together.  In  the  female 
the  proboscis  has  numerous  pale  scales,  especially  in  the  middle 
at  the  sides.  Eight  or  nine  teeth  in  the  pecten  of  the  larval 
air-tube,  placed  more  transversely  than  in  T.  morsitans  ;  five  or 
six  spines  beyond  the  pecten.  Meijere  states  that  the  larva  is 
yellowish  or  greenish  white,  while  that  of  T.  morsitans  is  blackish 
grey.  He  also  says  that  the  air-tube  of  the  larva  of  this  species 
is  relatively  shorter  and  broader,  but  I  do  not  find  this  to  be  the 
case.     Figures  3  and  4  represent  the  larval  air-tubes  of  T.  morsi- 


Thcobaldia  theohaldi  (Meij.).     Air-tube  of  larva. 


Fig.  4. — Theobaldia  morsitans  (Theo.).    Air-tube  of  larva. 


tails  and  T.  theohaldi  respectively ;  they  were  drawn  by  my  wife 
from  specimens  taken  in  the  New  Forest  by  Mr.  C.  0.  Water- 
house,  and  mounted  in  balsam. 

Quite  as  common  as  T.  morsitans.  Has  been  taken  in  Scot- 
land at  Dingwall,  Cromarty  {Lt.-CoL  Yerhury). 

The  specimens  described  by  Theobald  (Men.  Cul.  i.  p.  335)  as 
Culex  ficalhii  (so  named  by  Prof.  Grassi)  are  T.  theohaldi,  and  were 
certainly,  I  think,  wrongly  named,  as  C.  ficalhii  was  originally  de- 
scribed as  having  spotted  wings.  Specimens  answering  Noe's  descrip- 
tion have  been  received  at  the  British  Museum  from  the  Punjab  ;  one 
of  these  was  recorded  by  Theobald  as  G.  anmdatus.  It  is  improbable 
that  the  true  Th.  annnlata  occurs  in  India. 


NOTES    ON    THE   BRITISH    MOSQUITOS.  263 

Genus  6.  Culex. 

1.  C.  pipiens,  L. ;  the  Common  Gnat. — Thorax  brick-red  to 
dark  reddish-brown.  Abdomen  dark  brown,  the  segments  with 
basal  yellowish  bands.  Legs  dark  brown,  the  femora  pale 
beneath.  First  fork-cell  very  long,  quite  four  times  as  long  as 
its  stem.     Average  length,  5  mm. 

Common  everywhere. 

A  small  dark  variety  (?)  of  this  species  has  been  described  by 
Theobald  as  CiUex  nigritulm,  Zett.  It  is  certainly  not  G.  nicjritulus, 
which  is  a  synonym  of  A'edes  cinereus,  Mg.  At  first  sight  this  variety 
appears  to  be  totally  distinct  from  C.  pipiens,  as  it  is  much  smaller 
(only  3-3-5  mm.  in  length)  and  darker,  the  thorax  being  without  any 
reddish  tint.  No  external  structural  differences,  however,  are  ob- 
servable, and  after  carefully  comparing  the  larvae  of  this  and  typical 
C.  pipieiis  I  could  find  no  differences  whatever.  However,  it  seems 
worthy  of  a  name,  varietal  if  not  specific,  and  I  propose  to  call  it 
C.  pipiens  var.  doliorwn  (nov.).  I  found  it  swarming  in  water-barrels 
at  Kingswear,  South  Devon,  last  autumn ;  all  the  adults  were  of  uni- 
form small  size  and  dark  grey-brown  colour.  The  male  genitalia 
differ  from  those  of  typical  G.  pipiens  in  having  the  basal  process  of 
the  harpes  quite  well  developed ;  I  cannot  detect  the  small  third 
plate  of  the  harpagones  described  by  Dyar  and  Knab  as  characteristic 
of  C.  pipiens. 

Keputed  British  Species. 

Stephens  records  the  following  as  British,  but  no  recent 
examples  have  been  found  : — Cidex  calopus,  Mg. ;  C.  ornatus, 
Mg.  ;  C.  domesticm,  Germar  ;  G.  bicolor,  Mg.  ;  C.  punctatus, 
Mg.  ;  C.  lutesceiis,  F.;  C.  rufiis,  Mg.  With  the  exception  of  the 
first  two,  these  have  not  been  recognized  by  any  recent  author. 
Theobald  regards  C.  punctatus  as  synonymous  with  C.  rusticus, 
Eossi,  and  it  was  included  in  the  last  British  List  under  this 
name. 

Culex  fumipennis,  Stph.,  and  C.  marginalis,  Stph.,  were  origi- 
nally described  from  Britain,  but  are  probably  unrecognisable 
unless  from  types. 

Key  to  the  known  Larv^  of  British  Culicin^. 

1.  Air-tube  absent A.  maculipcnnis. 

Air- tube  present 2. 

2.  Air-tube  quite  six  times  as  long  as  its  breadth  in 

middle 3. 

Air-tube  at  most  four  times  as  long  as  its  breadth 
in  middle    ........  5. 

3.  Several  scattered  hair-tufts  on  air-tube  .         .  Gulex  pipiens. 
Only  one  tuft  of  long  hairs  close  to  base        .         .  4. 

4.  Five  or  six  smooth  spines   on   air-tube   beyond 

pecten Th.  theohaldi. 

No  spines  on  air-tube  beyond  pecten     .         .         .     Th.  morsitcms. 


264  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

5.  Hair-tuft  close  to  base  of  air-tube ;  pecten  teeth 

hair-like Th.  annulata. 

Hair-tuft  near  or  beyond  middle  of  air-tube ;  pecten 
teeth  not  hair-like 6. 

6.  Air-tube  quite  four  times  as  long  as  broad  ;  hair- 

tuft  well  beyond  middle A.  cincreus. 

Air-tube  less  than  four  times  as  long  as  broad ;  hair- 
tuft  near  middle  ......  7. 

7.  Pecten  of  air-tube  with  detached  teeth  outwardly 

0.  vcxans  (sylvestris). 
Teeth  of  pecten  evenly  spaced        ....  8. 

8.  Hair-tuft  in  a  line  with  the  pecten         ...  9. 
Hair-tuft  not  in  a  line  with  the  pecten           .         .     0.  diver sus. 

9.  Pecten  with  about  24  teeth,  each  with  4-6  serra- 

tions . 0.  cantans. 

Pecten  with  about  18  teeth,  each  with  1-2  serra- 
tions ......      0.  nemorosus  and  0.  dorsalis. 

The  above  table  is  mainly  drawn  up  from  specimens  pre- 
served in  balsam  by  Mr.  C.  0.  Waterhouse,  taken  in  the  New 
Forest  and  at  Burnham  Beeches.  The  larvae  of  0.  vexans  have 
not  been  found,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  in  Europe,  but  as  the 
North  American  sylvestris  is  almost  certainly  the  same,  I  have 
made  use  of  the  characters  given  for  it  by  Dyar  and  Knab. 


NOTES    FEOM    AN    ESSEX    LEPIDOPTERIST'S    DIARY 
FOR    1911. 

By  Paymaster-in-Chief  Gervase  F.  Mathew,  R.N.,  F.E.S.,  &c. 

(Continued  from  p.  229.) 

August  23rd  was  fine  and  warm.  A  boy  brought  me  a  fine 
large  female  Sphinx  convolvidi  which  he  bad  found  on  a  bush. 
It  was  in  a  large  wide-mouthed  pickle  bottle,  had  sustained 
no  injury,  and  looked  as  if  it  had  only  just  emerged.  The  first 
T.  amataria  of  the  brood  mentioned  on  the  15th  inst.  appeared 
on  the  23rd.  Eleven  others  were  bred  subsequently,  and  the 
remaining  larvae  are  hibernating. 

Of  two  rather  large  broods  of  larvae  of  Acidalia  emutaria, 
from  ova  laid  by  females  taken  early  in  July,  only  six  larvae  fed 
up ;  the  first  moth  came  out  on  the  24th,  and  the  last  not 
until  Sept.  26th.  The  other  larvae  are  hibernating.  I  do  not 
think  that  this  is  an  easy  species  to  get  through  the  winter,  as  I 
have  tried  several  times  and  have  always  failed ;  some  kind  of 
fungus  attacks  the  larvae.  Another  L.  favicolor  was  bred  on 
the  24th  ;  in  all  I  bred  twenty-eight,  the  last  one  as  late  as 
Nov.  8th. 


NOTES    FROM    AN    ESSEX    LEPIDOPTERIST's    DIARY.  265 

The  26th  was  fine  and  warm,  with  sun  and  cloud  and  a  liglit 
westerly  breeze.  A  female  P.  napi  which  was  sent  to  me  alive 
from  the  South  of  Ireland  deposited  about  forty  eggs  upon  a 
plant  of  black  mustard,  and  I  hope  I  may  breed  one  or  two  of 
the  dark  bryonice-looking  females  next  spring.  As  it  was  a  very 
favourable  evening  for  sugaring  I  went  to  the  lanes  and  marshes, 
and,  as  I  anticipated,  moths  swarmed,  twenty  to  forty  on  each 
patch  of  sugar,  the  ground  below  being  sprinkled  with  those  that 
had  fallen  off.  The  most  numerous  were  pallens,  c-nigrum,  and 
xanthographa — the  two  former  very  small  examples,  particularly 
the  pallens,  some  of  which  are  smaller  than  any  I  have  ever  seen. 
This  seems  to  be  the  result  of  the  hot  dry  summer,  causing 
perhaps  a  shortage  of  food ;  the  larvae  fed  up  more  rapidly  than 
usual,  second  broods  appearing  earlier  tlais  year  than  they 
generally  do.  Among  the  p)allens  were  several  of  the  red  variety, 
some  of  them  very  bright.  Other  species  seen  or  taken  were 
iV.  plecta,  A.  siifftisa,  A.  segetum,  G.  libatrix,  M.  maura,  C.  nupta, 
A.  tragopogonis,  C.  vetnsta,  P.  metiadosa,  T.  promiha,  X.  polijodon, 
H.  micacea,  H.  paludis  (very  much  worn),  and  four  of  the  red 
variety  of  L.favicolor  (second  brood). 

The  28th  was  another  favourable  night  for  sugar,  very  warm 
and  oppressive,  with  a  little  fine  rain  occasionally.  Moths  were 
in  the  greatest  abundance ;  I  have  never  seen  anything  like  it 
before,  the  patches  of  sugar  were  quite  hidden  by  them,  and  they 
kept  fighting  and  pushing  each  other  about,  but  they  seemed  to 
be  rather  light- shy  and  flew  off  in  swarms  directly  the  rays 
of  the  lamp  were  turned  on  them.  It  was  also  difficult  to  box 
any  particular  insect  I  wanted  among  the  crowd,  for  as  often  as 
not  when  the  box  was  held  under  it  three  or  four  undesirables 
would  flop  in  at  the  same  time.  A  great  many  were  attracted 
to  my  light,  and  when  I  placed  it  on  the  ground  while  boxing 
an  insect  off  a  blade  of  grass,  &c.,  dozens  would  come  dashing 
against  the  glass.  These  were  chiefly  Luperina  testacea  and 
Epineuronia  popidaris.  The  swarms  to-night  consisted  of  the 
same  species  that  I  obtained  on  the  26th ;  the  best  were  three 
L.favicolor,  there  might  have  been  others,  but  among  the  crush 
it  was  difficult  to  distinguish  them. 

The  30th  was  a  fine  warm  night.  I  went  to  the  lanes  and 
marshes  again.  There  were  scores  of  moths  on  the  sugar,  but 
nothing  like  the  number  there  had  been  on  the  28th.  They 
were  mostly  the  same  species,  with  the  addition  of  Amathes 
{Orthosia}  circellaris,  Agrotis  saucia,  and  Calamia  lutosa.  It  was 
rather  early  for  the  latter,  but  it  had  been  out  for  some  days,  as 
its  wings  were  rubbed  and  split. 

The  first  day  in  September  was  fine,  bright  and  hot.  I  went 
to  a  lucerne  field  in  the  morning,  where  I  saw  and  caught  two 
Pyrameis  cardiii — one  very  fine,  the  other  damaged  ;  these  were, 
I   suspect,  immigrants,  as  was  also  Plusia  gamma,  of  which  I 


266  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

noticed  a  good  number  flying  among  the  flowers — there  were 
none  about  a  day  or  two  earher.  There  were  a  lot  of  fresh 
Vajiessa  urticcB  and  Chrysophanus  pJdceas  and  another  brood  of 
Acidalia  incanaria.  I  fancy  there  is  a  succession  of  broods  of 
this  little  species  in  warm,  dry  summers. 

On  the  2nd  I  took  three  more  P.  cardui  on  flowers  of  sea- 
aster — two  were  good,  the  other  torn.  The  larvae  of  Euclidia  mi 
were  now  full-grown  on  seeds  of  coarse  grasses ;  they  are  some- 
times easy  to  see  when  stretched  out  to  their  full  length  on  a 
stem,  but  are  best  obtained  by  sweeping. 

On  the  3rd  the  larvae  of  C.  phlceas  that  hatched  out  on  the 
16th  of  last  month  were  now  spinning  up.  Amathes  litura  was 
bred. 

On  the  4th  I  sugared  on  the  coast,  where  Noctaa  xantho- 
(jrapha  was  in  such  countless  numbers  it  drove  everything  else 
"off.  The  other  species  present  were  the  same  as  noted  on 
previous  nights,  with  the  addition  of  two  Agrotls  vestigialis,  one 
of  which  is  the  smallest  example  of  this  species  I  have  ever 
met  with. 

On  the  5th  I  saw  six,  and  netted  five,  P.  cardui ;  also  saw 
three  P.  atalanta,  the  first  noticed  this  year.  C.  phlcBas  was  out 
in  large  numbers. 

The  6th  was  a  bright  hot  duy.  I  visited  some  lucerne  fields. 
Saw  three  P.  cardui  and  netted  two,  also  two  fresh  V.  io.  This 
butterfly  has  been  very  scarce  this  year,  though  it  swarmed  last 
season.  I  noticed  a  small  white  Noctua  flying  among  the  lucerne 
flowers,  and  upon  netting  it  found  it  was  a  very  small  L.  pallens. 
From  fleabane  I  beat  a  very  small  Ebulea  crocealis,  evidently 
one  of  a  second  brood. 

On  the  7th  a  large  male  Sphinx  convolvuli,  which  had  been 
taken  in  one  of  the  machine  shops  at  Parkeston,  was  brought  to 
me,  but  it  was  too  much  damaged  to  be  of  any  use.  I  saw  three, 
and  captured  one  P.  cardui  on  the  salterns  on  flowers  of  sea- 
aster,  also  one  P.  atalanta,  a  very  worn  specimen.  C.  jMceas 
was  very  numerous  on  the  aster  flowers  ;  I  always  examine  them 
carefully  on  the  chance  of  a  variety,  and  got  a  nice  dark 
ab.  eleus.  [The  female  Dasychira  pudibunda  which  I  took  on 
May  27th  laid  a  lot  of  eggs ;  these  I  sleeved  out  in  the  wood  on 
June  2nd,  and  upon  examining  the  larvae  on  June  27th  found 
them  very  small,  and  brought  about  a  dozen  home.  On  July  31st 
I  examined  the  sleeve  again,  and  found  the  larvfe  were  still  very 
small,  and  nearly  all  the  leaves  were  eaten,  so  I  brought  them 
home,  and  they  were  still  feeding  on  Sept.  7th — some  nearly  full- 
grown  while  others  were  small.  How  many  times  does  this 
larva  change  its  skin?  they  seem  to  be  always  doing  it.]  I 
visited  the  woods  this  evening  ;  it  was  still  and  close  with  a 
bright  moon  and  heavy  dew  and  a  slight  ground  fog  in  the 
valleys.     A  good  many  common  species  visited  the  sugar,  also 


NOTES    FROM    AN    ESSEX    LEPIDOPTERIST's    DIARY.  267 

one  Acronycta  rumicis — a  second  or  third  brood,  several  T.  pro- 
nuha  and  L.  pallens,  and  a  few  Hadena  protea. 

8th. — A  female  *S'.  convolvuli  in  a  very  rubbed  condition  was 
brought  to  me ;  it  bad  been  taken  off  some  palings.  I  went  to 
the  marshes  and  reedy  dykes  at  dusk.  Moths  were  swarming 
on  the  reed-blossom,  but  it  was  rather  hard  to  distinguish  them, 
as  there  was  a  strong  breeze  and  the  reeds  kept  swaying  to  and 
fro.  As  far  as  I  could  make  out,  they  were  chiefly  Noctiia 
xanthographa,  N.  c-nigrum,  and  L.  pallens,  with  an  occasional 
H.  micacea,  H.  paludis,  and  A.  siifusa. 

On  the  12th  another  fine  female  S.  convolvidi  was  brought  to 
me.  It  had  been  taken  off  some  washed  clothes  hanging  up  to 
dry  in  a  backyard.  I  took  a  rather  nice  variety  of  C.  phlceas 
with  extra  large  blue  marginal  spots  on  hind  wings.  The  larvae 
of  Homoeosoma  senicionis,  or  hincsvella,  were  now  rather  numerous 
spun  up  in  flowers  of  ragwort ;  both  species  occur  here. 

On  the  13th  another  S.  convolvuli  was  brought  in.  It  was 
taken  resting  on  a  coal-truck  at  Parkeston,  and  had  been  very 
roughly  handled.  One  Gortyna  Jlavago,  one  Ennomos  tiliaria, 
and  two  Tortrix  podana  were  taken  at  the  electric  lights,  Parkes- 
ton ;  the  latter  must  be  a  second  brood. 

The  15th  was  fine,  sun  and  cloud,  getting  cooler.  I  saw 
several  T.  podana  in  our  garden  amongst  Euonymus  bushes,  also 
many  fresh  Pararge  megai'a  on  an  old  railway-bank — these  must 
have  been  a  partial  third  brood.    I  had  seen  several  A.  incanaria. 

On  the  17th  the  first  C.  phlaas  was  bred  from  ova  laid  by 
the  female  taken  the  beginning  of  August ;  about  fifty  were  bred 
from  this  brood,  the  last  appearing  on  October  10th,  and  there 
was  not  a  decent  variety  among  them.  Macroglossa  stellatarum 
was  seen  in  our  garden.  This  is  a  rare  moth  here,  and  I  have 
not  met  with  one  for  some  years.  Its  favourite  food-plant,  Galium 
veruni,  does  not  occur  here. 

The  19th  was  fine  and  bright  and  warmer.  I  went  to  the 
woods  to  look  for  larvae  among  young  aspens,  but  there  were 
hardly  any  to  be  seen ;  I  only  found  one  Notodonta  ziczac,  one 
Dasychira  pudibunda,  and  one  Nephopteryx  hostilis,  and  scarcely 
any  larvae  are  to  be  obtained  by  beating.  I  had  a  great  surprise, 
namely,  at  seeing  six  or  seven  fresh  Limenitis  sibylla.  (An 
account  of  this  appeared  in  the  '  Entomologist '  for  October  last, 
p.  327.) 

The  20th  was  rather  overcast  and  cool.  I  tried  sugar  in  the 
evening ;  there  were  very  few  moths,  but  I  noticed  Amathes 
pistacina  for  the  first  time,  and  several  of  a  second  brood  of 
Agrotis  puta. 

The  23rd  was  fine  and  bright  in  the  morning,  but  clouded 
over  during  the  afternoon,  and  rain  set  in  at  10  p.m.  At  the 
end  of  July  I  had  obtained  a  batch  of  ova  of  A.  emarginata,  of 
which  the  larvse  fed  up  well  upon  knotgrass,  and  the  first  moths. 


268  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

four  in  number,  emerged  to-day.  (About  forty  were  bred  alto- 
gether, the  last  appearing  on  October  17th.  None  of  the  larvje 
attempted  to  hibernate.)  Larvae  of  Eupithecia  assimilata  were 
now  numerous  on  wild  hop,  also  a  few  small  P.  chrysitis.  I  tried 
sugar  in  lanes  and  marshes,  and  obtained  several  A.  pistacina, 
A.  lunosa,  A.  litura,  Calocampa  exoleta,  also  seven  Calamia  lutosa 
at  rest  on  reeds,  but  the  rain  drove  me  home. 

The  25th  was  fine,  bright,  and  warmer.  A  good  many 
Pararge  megcera,  C.  phlceas,  and  L.  icariis  were  still  about.  The 
two  latter  were  most  abundant  this  autumn.  I  went  to  the 
woods  in  the  evening.  A  good  many  moths  visited  my  sugar — 
A.  riifina,  fine  and  very  fresh,  A.  pistacina,  A.  lunosa,  L.  pallens, 
X.  cerago,  T.  orhona,  A.  suffusa,  &c. 

The  27th  was  a  warm  dark  night,  with  moderate  westerly 
wind.  I  sugared  in  lanes  and  marshes.  Moths  were  rather 
plentiful.  C.  lutosa  were  swaying  to  and  fro  on  the  reed-blossom 
in  some  numbers,  but  were  mostly  worn.  On  the  sugar,  in 
addition  to  plenty  of  A.  pistacina,  A.  puta,  &c.,  were  four  worn 
C.  nupta,  and  one  each  of  B.  rhomhoidaria  and  H.  prohoscidalis. 
It  was  rather  late  in  the  year  for  these. 

(To  be  continued.) 


THE     SECOND    INTERNATIONAL     CONGRESS    OP 
ENTOMOLOGY,     OXFORD,    AUGUST,    1912.* 

By  H.  Rowland-Brown,  M.A.,  F.E.S. 

The  Second  International  Congress  of  Entomology  follows 
the  inaugural  Congress  held  two  years  since  at  Brussels.  In 
the  ordinary  course  of  events,  it  was  intended  to  make  the  reunion 
triennial.  In  1910,  however,  it  was  expected  that  the  British 
Association  would  proceed  to  Australia  in  1913,  and  as  many 
entomologists  had  announced  their  intention  of  going  with  them, 
it  was  decided  to  anticipate  events.  Yet,  although  no  more  than 
two  years  have  passed  since  the  last  meeting,  the  attendance  at 
Oxford  is  striking  proof  of  the  keen  interest  taken  by  scientists 
in  entomology,  though  the  actual  number  of  members  subscribing 
is  lower  than  it  was  on  the  previous  occasion. 

Not  far  short  of  two  hundred  took  part  in  the  session,  which 
lasted  from  Monday,  August  5th,  to  Friday,  the  9th,  for  the  list 
published  at  the  beginning  of  the  week  was  supplemented  by 
many  who  found  it  convenient  to  attend  only  on  certain  days. 
It  is,  however,  a  matter  for  regret  that  the  British  Field  Natural- 

■•'  A  part  of  this  notice  appeared  in  the  '  Times'  of  Monday,  August  12th, 
under  the  heading  "  Congress  of  Entomology — a  Retrospect." — H.  R.-B. 


The  Entomologist,  October,  1912. 


Plate    X. 


PRESIDENT    OF    THE     SECOND    INTERNATIONAL    CONGRESS    of    ENTOMOLOGY, 
OXFORD,     1912. 


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EDWARD       BAGNALL      POULTON, 

D.SC.    M.A..    F.R.S.,    F.E.S.,    ETC. 

Hope   Professor  of  Zoology   in  the   University  of  Oxford.        President  of  the   Entomological 
Society  of  London   1903—4.      President  of  the  Linnean  Society  1912. 


THE    SECOND    INTERNATIONAL    CONGRESS    OF    ENTOMOLOGY.      269 

ist  Societies  did  not  take  up  the  Congress  with  more  zest ;  and 
there  were  absent  quite  a  number  of  ardent  workers  who  would 
have  been  a  welcome  addition  to  the  forces.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  international  element  was  well  sustained  ;  the  United  States 
leading  the  way  with  eighteen  members,  Germany  following  with 
thirteen,  Belgium  with  nine,  while  I  think  the  only  European 
States  of  the  west  and  north  unrepresented  were  Italy,  Portugal, 
Russia,  and  Norway.  Against  this  it  is  gratifying  to  note  that 
the  remoter  countries — Turkey  (2),  Spain  (4),  and  Egypt  (1) — 
all  sent  delegates,  and  Dr.  R.  C.  L.  Perkins,  of  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  and  Professor  Carlos  E.  Porter,  of  Chile,  may  be  con- 
gratulated on  having  come  from  "the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth." 
Proceedings  opened  in  the  beautiful  hall  of  New  College 
on  Sunday  evening  (4th)  with  an  informal  gathering  to  meet  the 
President,  Professor  E.  B.  Poulton,  F.R.S.,  and  then  the 
charming  badges  designed  by  Professor  Selwyn  Image,  Slade 
Professor  of  Art,  were  distributed  to  members,  and  the  various 
orders  of  the  day  circulated.  The  badge  consisted  of  a 
circular  gilt  brooch,  with  the  arms  of  the  University,  our  hosts, 
in  blue  enamel,  and  the  legend  "  Congr  :  Entomol :  Internat : 
Oxon  :  1912."  This  served  as  a  pass  throughout  the  week  to  all 
the  meetings  and  festivities.  And  here  I  may  be  permitted  to 
offer  a  word  of  grateful  thanks  to  those  who  were  responsible  for 
the  organization  of  the  Congress,  the  indefatigable  Secretaries, 
Mr.  H.  Eltringham  (whose  exhibition  of  Acraeines  was  one  of  the 
clous  of  the  Museum  *)  and  Mr.  G.  H.  Grosvenor,  who  stepped 
into  the  breach  when  Dr.  Malcolm  Burr  was  unavoidably  pre- 
vented from  completing  his  work,  and  attending  the  first  days ; 
Professor  Poulton  and  Dr.  F.  A.  Dixey,  who  invented  the  de- 
lightful cafe  in  the  gardens  of  Wadham  College — where  members 
lunched,  teaed,  and  met  after  dinner  under  shelter  of  Mr.  Moon's 
large  marquee — and  made  the  arrangements  for  the  final  banquet 
when  the  Christ  Church  rendezvous  was  perforce  abandoned. 
A  hundred  and  forty  members  and  guests  were  present  in  Wad- 
ham  College  Hall  on  this  occasion — the  college  which  is  actually 
the  cradle  of  the  Royal  Society,  where  the  original  F.R.S.  assem- 
bled under  Warden  Wilkins  (1648-59), f  and  where  for  the  first 
time  in  history  a  lady  replied  to  the  toast  of  "  The  Ladies."  Mean- 
while, the  great  majority  of  members  were  housed  for  the  week 
in  the  several  colleges  of  Wadham,  New,  Merton,  and  Magdalen, 
and  our  foreign  friends  were  thus  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of 

"'=  A  grand  collection  of  Acraeinse,  models  for  the  figures  of  Mr. 
Eltvingham's  "  Monograph  of  the  African  Species  of  the  Genus  Achrcea, 
Fab.,  with  a  supplement  on  those  of  the  Oriental  Region,"  Trans.  Ent. 
Soc.  Lond.,  Part  1,  July  12th,  1912.  Dr.  Dixey  also  exhibited  an  equally 
comprehensive  series  of  Pierinae. 

f  See  '  The  Early  Connexion  of  the  Royal  Society  with  Wadham  College 
and  the  University  of  Oxford,'  by  F.  A.  D.     Oxford,  1912. 

ENTOM. — SEPTEMBER,    1912.  Y 


270  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

the  Oxford  breakfast  and  "bedder,"  and  given  an  opportunity  to 
inspect  the  matchless  silver  treasured  within  these  ancient 
*'  homes  of  peace."  Among  eminent  lepidopterists  may  be 
mentioned  M.  Charles  Oberthiir,  of  Rennes,  paying  a  first  visit 
to  England,  and  Professor  J).  A.  Seitz,  of  Darmstadt ;  of  other 
branches,  Dr.  A.  Handlirsch  (Vienna),  Professor  A.  Lameere 
(Brussels),  President  in  1910,  Dr.  E.  Olivier  (Moulins),  Professor 
H.  J.  Kolbe  (Berlin),  Professor  Dr.  J.  F.  Van  Bemmelen  (Gro- 
ningen).  Dr.  G.  Horvath  (Budapest),  Father  Lunginos  Navas 
(Barcelona),  Professor  Y.  Sjostedt  (Stockholm),  of  Kilimanjaro 
fame  ;  and  a  fully  representative  body  of  workers  from  America, 
including  Professor  J.  H.  Comstock  (Ithaca),  Dr.  L.  0.  Howard 
(Washington),  Professor  V.  L.  Kellogg  (Stanford  University),  Dr. 
H.  Skinner  (Philadelphia),  and  Professor  W.  M.  Wheeler  (Har- 
vard) ;  economic  entomology  in  the  Canadian  Commonwealth 
being  safe  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  C.  Gordon  Hewitt  (Ottawa)  and 
Mr.  H.  H.  Lyman  (Montreal). 

Presidential  Address. 

The  Presidential  Address  was  delivered  on  Monday  morning. 
Professor  Poulton  laying  special  stress  on  the  claim  of  the 
Oxford  University  Museum  as  a  place  of  meeting.  For  it  was 
under  this  same  roof  that  the  early  struggles  between  the 
"  Darwinians "  and  the  older  schools  of  thought  took  place  ; 
that  Ruskin  preached  the  doctrines  of  natural  beauty  ;  and  that 
from  early  beginnings  in  1849  the  Hope  Department  under 
Westwood  took  form  and  shape  as  leader  and  teacher  in  the 
world  of  entomological  discovery  and  thought. 

By  means  of  numerous  examples  he  then  traced  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  female  butterfly  Papilio  dardanus  from  Madagascar 
across  the  continent  of  Africa.  In  the  island  the  female  closely 
approaches  the  male  in  the  coloration  and  markings  of  the 
wings.  But  on  the  continent  at  the  Rift  Valley  escarpment, 
British  East  Africa,  and  in  its  westward  localities  it  assumes  a 
variety  of  forms  corresponding  with  the  several  distasteful  species 
of  other  genera  found  or  known  to  exist  in  these  localities.  Thus 
on  the  north-east  and  north-west  Nyanza  the  males  are  still 
unchanged  in  appearance,  yet  the  female  butterfly  exhibits  wings 
of  several  patterns.  But  while  the  males  retain  their  ancestral 
coloration,  the  females  mimic  various  Danaine  species.  In 
Nigeria  the  female  occurs  principally  in  a  black  and  white  form 
(=  hippocoon),  mimicking  the  dominant  black  and  white  Danaine 
of  that  region.  Eastward  again  from  the  Rift  Valley  escarp- 
ment, from  Mombasa  into  German  East  Africa,  the  usual  models 
are  of  the  Danaine  group,  though  one  form  of  the  female 
{= planimoides)  has  developed  the  pattern  of  a  member  of  the 
Acraeine  genus  Planema,  and  in  South-east  Rhodesia  the  black 


THE    SECOND    INTERNATIONAL    CONGRESS    OF    ENTOMOLOGY.       271 

and  white  (hippocoon)  form  predominates,  and  the  butterfly  is 
found  to  fly  together  with  the  black  and  white  species  of  other 
groups.  At  Durban  three  forms  of  the  female  {hippocoon, 
trophonius,  and  cenia)  occur,  and  all  of  them  have  been  bred 
from  eggs  laid  by  the  same  parent,  together  with  a  fourth  form 
[leighi),  named  after  the  discoverer,  the  late  Mr.  Leigh. 

Other  papers  upon  evolution,  bionomics,  and  mimicry,  and 
bearing  on  the  subject  of  evolutionary  processes  as  observed  in 
insects  were  contributed  by  the  President,  who  gave  an  account 
of  Mr.  C.  A.  Wiggin's  and  Dr.  G.  H.  Carpenter's  researches  in 
mimicry  in  the  forest  butterflies  of  Uganda;  by  the  Rev. 
K.  St.  A.  Rogers ;  and  by  Mr.  R.  G.  L.  Perkins,  wlio  .described 
and  compared  the  colour-groups  of  Hawaiian  Odyneras  (wasps) 
found  on  the  two  neighbouring  islands,  Oahu  and  Kauai.  In  the 
section  of  philosophic  entomology  Professor  J.  F.  Van  Bemmelen 
(Netherlands)  explained  the  phylogenetic  significance  of  the 
development  of  the  butterfly  wing,  illustrating  the  development 
of  the  colour  pattern  in  the  pupal  and  imaginal  phases,  and 
showing  how  by  the  ancestral  pattern,  traced  in  this  way,  species 
widely  differing  in  appearance  may  be  identified  and  classified 
as  members  of  the  same  family. 

Distribution. 

Several  important  papers  were  read  on  the  subject  of  insect 
distribution,  and  the  assistance  rendered  to  science,  especially 
to  palaeontology,  by  a  closer  knowledge  of  the  subject.  Professor 
Kolbe  explained  "Die  Differenzierung  der  zoogeographischen 
Eleraente  der  Kontinente,"  showing  how  the  elements  of  the 
existing  insect  fauna  of  Europe  consist  of  circumpolar  groups, 
relics  of  ancient  geological  periods,  and  lately  arrived  groups 
from  Western  and  Central  Asia  and  the  tropics :  the  same 
process  being  observable  in  North  America,  where,  as  in  the 
Old  World  also,  over  the  southern  continents  are  to  be  found 
elements  of  the  northern,  of  the  tropical  zone  and  of  the  antarctic 
continents.  Dr.  Handlirsch  dwelt  on  the  relations  between  pale- 
ontology, phylogeny,  and  "  animal  geography,"  and  attempted 
the  solution  of  several  interesting  problems  by  statistical  methods, 
demonstrating  thereby  that  many  of  the  hypothetical  "  land 
bridges  "  lately  constructed  between  Africa,  America,  and 
Australia  will  not  stand  scientific  criticism  on  these  lines. 
While  Dr.  P.  Speiser  insisted  on  the  importance  of  determining 
how  far  their  presence  might  be  due  to  human  agency  in  fixing 
the  antiquity  of  species  in  a  given  locality. 

Economic  and  Pathological. 

In  none  of  the  Sections  was  greater  interest  shown  than  in 
the  Economic  and  Pathological,  where  methods  of  combating 

Y  2 


272 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 


insects  destructive  to  agriculture  and  forest  were  dealt  with  by 
many  delegates  appointed  by  our  Colonial  and  by  foreign  Govern- 
ments. The  paper  read  by  Sir  Daniel  Morris  on  behalf  of  Mr. 
W.  A.  Ballou  (Imperial  Department  of  Agriculture),  "Some 
Entomological  Problems  in  the  West  Indies,"  demonstrates 
beyond  dispute  how  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  life-histories 
of  insects  may  be  put  to  practical  uses,  and  how  by  the  intro- 
duction of  the  natural  jDarasite  of  an  immigrant  pest  the  attacks 
of  the  pest  may  be  controlled  and  even  defeated  altogether.  For 
example,  in  the  sugar-canes  of  Barbados  a  root-boring  weevil, 
Diaprepes  ahbreviatiis,  has  become  a  pest ;  in  St.  Kitts  termites, 
?  Termes  flavipes,  have  attacked  the  ripening  stalk  ;  in  Barbados 
the  red  maggot.  Perry condyla  gossypii,  in  Antigua  the  flower-bud 
maggot,  Contarinia  gossypii,  and  in  all  the  cotton  islands  except 
Barbados  the  leaf-blister  mite,  Eriopliyes  gossypii,  have  done 
great  injury  to  the  growing  plants,  but  by  the  destruction  of  old 
plants  at  the  end  of  the  season,  and  picking  off  and  destroying 
infested  leaves,  a  satisfactory  crop  has  been  ensured.  Yet  the 
control  of  some  of  these  pests  by  their  natural  enemies  has 
proved  even  more  effective.  In  Barbados  black-scale,  which 
wrought  widespread  havoc,  is  now  completely  controlled  thereby. 
By  the  use  of  the  shield-scale  fungus  the  scale  insects,  which  are 
accompanied  by  the  black  blight,  have  been  much  reduced.  In 
St.  Vincent  the  cotton  worm,  Alabama  argillacea,  has  been  sub- 
jected successfully  to  several  predacious  insects,  especially  the 
"  Jack  Spaniard,"  Polistes  annularis. 

The  question  of  international  action  to  check  generally  the 
importation  of  pests  was  raised  in  the  discussion  of  Mr.  A.  G.  L. 
Eogers's  paper  on  "The  Necessary  Investigation  with  relation  to 
Insect  and  Fungus  Enemies  of  Plants,  Preliminary  to  Legis- 
lation." Mr.  Eogers  pleaded  for  the  consideration  and  establish- 
ment of  principles  upon  which  such  action  might  be  made 
feasible.  So  far,  he  said,  regulations  of  the  kind,  while  hamper- 
ing international  trade,  had  in  no  case  been  successful  in 
preventing  the  introduction  of  disease,  the  truth  being  that 
the  pest  had  anticipated  the  law.  But  the  real  cause  of  the 
failure  is  due  to  ignorance  of  the  conditions  under  which  the 
pests  spread  rapidly  enough  to  become  a  serious  danger,  and  of 
their  distribution  throughout  the  world ;  experience  proving  it 
impossible  to  foretell  which  species  will  fail  to  establish  them- 
selves, and  vice  versa.  Thus,  although  the  potato  moth  is 
harmless  in  Italy,  it  became  a  pest  when  introduced  into  India  ; 
while  several  Continental  pests  have  failed  to  establish  themselves 
in  England.  A  close  study  of  the  pest  in  the  mass,  and  of 
the  aggregate  injury  caused  by  a  congregation  of  destructive 
insects  in  their  maximum  intensity,  would  prove  the  most  useful, 
and  each  country  should  be  invited  to  compile  a  black  list  of 
those    present   in   sufficient  numbers   to  be    characterized   as 


THE    SECOND    INTERNATIONAL    CONGRESS    OF    ENTOMOLOGY.       273 

epidemic ;  to  prepare  maps  of  areas  infected,  and  to  communicate 
these,  with  the  records,  to  all  Governments  interested.  Mr. 
Eogers's  practical  suggestions  were  accepted  and  endorsed  by 
the  Congress,  which  at  a  later  stage  unanimously  resolved  to 
support  cordially  the  proposed  formation  by  the  International 
Institute  of  Agriculture  at  Kome  of  an  International  Commission 
to  deal  with  these  problems,  as  the  best  means  to  secure  the 
greatest  amount  of  protection  with  the  least  injury  to  inter- 
national trade  in  natural  products. 

As  a  further  practical  demonstration  of  the  place  of  bio- 
nomics— the  study  of  life-history — in  economic  entomology,  a 
paper  on  "Aphides  Attacking  Cultivated  Peas"  may  be  men- 
tioned. Professor  F.  V.  Theobald  declares  that  he  has  failed  to 
find  in  this  country  a  single  instance  of  pest  control  by  natural 
enemies,  and  regards  birds  as  our  most  valuable  allies,  even  the 
much- abused  sparrow  coming  in  for  special  tribute  as  a  greedy 
consumer  of  green -fly,  in  company  with  such  insectivorous 
species  as  the  whitethroats  and  smaller  tits.  He  had  discovered, 
however,  that  the  suspected  pea-pests  of  the  genus  Macrosiphum 
contained  more  species  than  was  supposed,  some  of  which  were 
harmless  to  the  plants  in  question,  while  a  study  of  the  life-history 
of  the  destructive  green-pea  aphis  revealed  the  fact  that  its  earlier 
phases  are  passed  upon  clover.  In  Canada  this  aphis  is  also  very 
injurious,  but,  as  Dr.  Gordon  Hewitt  pointed  out,  the  conditions 
there  appear  to  be  different,  and  it  is  usually  controlled  by  a 
small  Braconid  parasite.  On  the  subject  of  locust  destruction, 
Mr.  J.  Jablonowski  (Budapest)  presented  an  extremely  instruc- 
tive series  of  lantern- slide  pictures  to  illustrate  the  methods 
employed  by  the  Hungarian  Government  to  combat  the  ravages 
of  the  species  known  as  Stauronotus  maroccanus,  showing  the 
systematic  division  of  infected  areas  within  canvas  screens,  the 
way  in  which  the  insects  were  driven  towards  them,  and  how, 
when  they  attempted  to  surmount  the  fences,  they  were  des- 
troyed and  burned.  He  said  that  by  means  of  the  apparatus 
employed  the  total  cost  of  the  operations  had  been  reduced  from 
something  ai^proaching  three  million  krone  to  about  270,000 
krone,  contrasting  more  than  favourably  with  that  incurred 
by  the  British  Government  in  Cyprus  under  similar  con- 
ditions. 

In  the  pathological  department  Dr.  Stephen  A.  Forbes 
(U.S.A.)  contributed  a  valuable  series  of  observations  on  "  Sinm- 
Hum  and  Pellagra  in  Illinois,  U.S.A."  We  are  accustomed  to 
associate  this  terrible  human  scourge  in  Europe  with  rural  Italy, 
and  hitherto  the  transmission  of  the  disease  germs  has  been 
attributed  to  the  agency  of  a  species  of  sand-fly,  breeding  in 
streams  and  running  water,  but  never,  like  the  mosquito,  in 
stagnant  pools.  Dr.  Forbes,  however,  has  failed  to  associate 
directly  the  many  cases  of  pelagra  investigated  in  his   State 


274  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

with  insects  of  this  genus,  and  at  present,  therefore,  the  case 
against  Simidium  must  be  regarded  as  not  "  proven." 

Nomenclature. 

In  the  present  state  of  chaos  and  conflicting  opinions  upon 
the  subject  of  nomenclature  it  is  gratifying  to  note  that  the 
Congress  has  indicated  a  system  and  rules  which  may  lead  to 
finality.  All  entomologists  are  agreed  that  the  time  is  ripe  for 
action.  The  difficulty  hitherto  has  been  the  adoption  of  methods 
calculated  to  bring  about  the  desired  end.  Those  who  heard 
M.  Charles  Oberthiir's  eloquent  appeal,  "  Pas  de  bonne  figure  a 
I'appui  d'une  description,  pas  de  nom  valable,"  cannot  fail  to 
have  been  struck  at  once  by  the  sincerity  of  the  speaker  and  the 
splendour  of  his  ideas.  But  British  entomologists  cannot 
accept  the  proposition,  even  when  M.  Oberthiir  is  prepared  to 
concede  a  photograph  instead  of  a  coloured  figure,  and  though, 
in  parliamentary  phrase,  the  motion  was  not  pressed  to  a 
division,  the  feeling  of  the  Congress  was  obviously  in  favour  of 
"  words  "  as  opposed  to  **  pictures,"  and  the  arguments  brought 
forward  in  Mr.  L.  B.  Prout's  paper  "  On  the  Place  of  Figures  in 
Descriptive  Entomology,"  In  the  end,  therefore,  the  resolutions 
sent  up  by  the  Entomological  Society  of  London  were  adopted 
in  principle,  and  it  was  decided  to  institute  an  International 
Committee  to  deal  with  the  subject  of  entomological  nomen- 
clature. The  Congress  also  advised  the  formation  of  national 
committees  in  each  country,  to  be  elected  by  the  various  ento- 
mological societies,  to  collect  opinions  and  consider  changes 
required  in  the  International  Code ;  and  further  commissioned 
the  International  Committee  to  communicate  their  resolutions 
to  the  International  Committee  on  Zoological  Nomenclature. 


Other  Papers. 

I  regret  that  in  the  space  at  my  disposal  I  can  do  no  more 
than  mention  the  titles  of  some  of  the  other  papers  read.  They 
include  the  fascinating  study  by  Professor  J.  H.  Comstock, 
"  The  Silk  of  Spiders,  and  its  Uses  "  ;  "  Scent  Organs  in  the 
Lepidoptera,"  Dr.  F.  A.  Dixey,  M.D.,  F.R.S.;  "Sex  Limited 
Inheritance  in  Insects,"  Professor  L.  Doncaster;  "On  the  Vivi- 
parity of  PolyctenidsB,"  Dr.  K.  Jordan ;  "  On  the  Founding  of 
Colonies  by  Ants,"  Mr.  H.  St.  J.  Donisthorpe  and  Mr.  W.  C. 
Crawley  ;  "  How  does  the  Insect  See  the  World  ?  "  Dr.  Adalbert 
Seitz  ;  Professor  Kellogg's  suggestive  researches  on  "Distribu- 
tion and  Species-forming  among  Ectoparasites"  ;  and  Mr.  S.  A. 
Neave's  vivid  resume  of  his  "  Travels  as  an  Entomologist  in 
Eastern  Africa." 


by  the  way.  275 

National  Reserves. 

Nor  must  I  omit  to  mentioD,  among  the  less  technical 
subjects  brought  before  the  Congress,  that  none  met  with  a  more 
sympathetic  reception  than  the  Hon.  N.  C.  Rothschild's  plea  for 
the  institution  of  National  Reserves  throughout  the  United 
Kingdom  in  suitable  localities,  wherein  the  insect  fauna  and 
flora  of  these  islands  may  be  preserved  for  the  common  enjoy- 
ment of  the  student  and  the  general  public.  A  "  Society  for  the 
Promotion  of  National  Reserves "  has  been  formed,  and  will 
presently  publish  its  "  prospectus."  In  the  United  States  vast 
territories  have  been  allowed  to  remain  in  a  state  of  primitive 
nature  ;  in  Sweden,  latterly,  the  Government  has  "  enclosed  " 
certain  threatened  areas  of  Lapland ;  and  in  Hungary  official 
permits  are  required  of  collectors  in  favourite  localities.  Years 
ago  Oxford  led  the  way  with  the  "  Ruskin  Plot,"  while  a  portion 
of  Wicken  Fen  has  already  been  reserved  to  the  nation  for  ever. 

Social. 

Lastly,  despite  the  rain  of  surely  the  wettest  August  on 
record,  the  excursions  arranged  for  Wednesday  afternoon  were 
both  extremely  successful,  large  parties  enjoying  the  welcome 
accorded  them  by  the  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies,  Mr. 
L.  Vernon  Harcourt,  M.P.,  in  his  lovely  Nuneham  House  ;  and 
the  picnic  in  Bagley  Wood,  at  the  invitation  of  the  President  and 
Fellows  of  St.  John's  College ;  while  we  shall  not  soon  forget  the 
concluding  entertainment  of  the  entire  Congress  at  luncheon, 
and  in  the  Museum  at  Tring,  by  the  Hon.  Walter  Rothschild, 
F.R.S.,  to  whose  support,  coupled  with  that  of  the  *'  Carnot  "  of 
our  organization.  Dr.  K.  Jordan,  we  owe  it  largely  that  the  Inter- 
national Congress  of  Entomology  is  established  and  permanent. 
Meanwhile,  the  next  meeting  is  fixed  to  take  place  at  Vienna  in 
1915,  under  the  presidency  of  Dr.  A.  Handlirsch. 


BY  THE  WAY. 


Westwood  is,  and  will  ever  be,  a  name  to  conjure  with 
among  us,  for  never  again  can  an  individual  possess  so  complete 
a  grasp  of  the  whole  gamut  of  entomological  lore.  He  was  "  a 
man  of  culture  and  intelligence  and  a  distinguished  entomolo- 
gist," as  says  the  current  '  Strand  Magazine  ' ;  yet  "  he  never 
succeeded  in  pronouncing  the  letter  'h.'"  He  once  asked  his 
friend  Mansel  who  was  St.  Bee  ?  Remembering  his  peculiarity, 
Mansel  replied  that  he  was  a  near  kinsman  of  St.  'Ives.  At  an 
electoral  contest  between  Mr.  Gladstone  and  Mr.  Hardy,  West- 
wood,  coming  in  late,  hurried  and  breathless,  announced  his 
vote  for  •'  Glad— no,  no— I  mean  'Ardy."     Henry  Smith  claimed 


276  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

the  vote  for  Gladstone.  "  Why,"  said  the  Vice-Chancellor,  "  he 
only  pronounced  the  first  syllable  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  name." 
**  Yes,  sir  ;  but  he  did  not  pronounce  the  first  letter  of  Mr. 
Hardy's."  The  same  Magazine  has  an  interesting  article  on 
*'  The  Lore  and  Legend  of  Japanese  Fire-Flies,"  and  their 
"  Hunting  Song  "  : — 

"  Hotarii  koi,  Hotaru  koi, 
Ando  no  hikari  wo  choito  mite  koi." 

reminds  one  of  our  "  Lady-bird,  Lady-bird,  fly  away  home." 
These  naturally  become  Golden-bugs  in  the  land  of  the  almighty 
dollar.  

A  newspaper  notice  just  the  other  day  informed  all  and 
sundry  that  "  The  State  of  California  has  recently  discovered  the 
great  value  of  the  ladybird  as  a  destroyer  of  the  plant-lice  that 
kill  the  fruit  buds  "  :  William  Kirby  discovered  the  same  thing — 
about  1820.  The  State  wanted  quantities,  and  their  collectors 
could  find  "  cast-off  shells  "  (presumably  of  pupae)  only.  But, 
on  returning  to  the  shells  in  the  winter,  they  came  across  "  a 
peculiar  snowball,  with  a  nucleus  of  twigs  and  pine-needles. 
The  ball  was  broken  open,  and  inside  was  found  a  squirming 
mass  of  ladybirds.  Four  hundred  pounds  of  ladybirds  were  dug 
up  in  one  day  from  under  the  snow  and  sent  to  Sacramento." 
Whether  the  ball  was  made  by  Coccinellse  or  Aphides  is  not 
stated,  but  we  should  suspect  the  former  to  have  rather  devoured 
the  latter  than  that  they  themselves  be  a  gall-making  species, 
and  to  have  a  penchant  for  a  common  prey  rather  than  true 
gregariousness.  

Lincolnshire  is  an  extremely  neglected  county  entomologi- 
cally,  and  we  have  never  met  anyone  who  had  collected  aught 
but  Lepidoptera  there.  So  we  took  a  rush  through  it  last  June 
to  see  its  possibilities.  Approaching  from  the  south  we  slept  at 
Spalding  and  Boston,  both  considerable  towns  in  the  lap  of  very 
thoroughly  drained  fens  ;  these  fens  stretch  through  the  eastern 
half  of  the  county,  and  have  been  cultivated  so  long  that  we 
failed  to  find  in  them  a  single  fen,  or  uncommon,  insect ;  to  the 
north-east  Boston  has  some  common  agricultural  country.  The 
fens  dogged  us  through  Wainfleet  to  Skegness,  a  modern  seaside 
resort  with  nothing  to  appeal  to  us  but  the  sandhills  and  a  little 
heathy  ground  extending  some  five  miles  south,  covered  with 
Hippophce  rhamnoides,  with  its  peculiar  Psylla  ;  the  sand  here  is 
very  pale,  and  the  Diptera  frequenting  it  decidedly  paler  than 
the  same  species  are  at  Deal.  At  Mablethorpe  we  met  the  same 
sand,  though  the  height  of  the  Roman  sea-wall  sheltered  addi- 
tional insects.  Two  nights  we  stayed  at  Louth,  a  delightful 
old-world  town  surrounded  by  charming  country,  of  which  the 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  277 

Elkington  Woods  afforded  capital  collecting.  Thence  a  run  to 
see  the  Grimsby  shipping  was  hurriedly  followed  by  a  volte-face 
to  Market  Easen,  a  small  market-town  with  the  usual  midland 
complement  of  wood  and  lane  collecting  :  the  day  was  fine  and 
insects  abundant.  At  Lincoln  it  poured  torrentially.  But  we 
thought  eighteen  hundred  specimens  not  a  bad  week's  bag, 
though  many  were  common  kinds. 

C.  M. 


NOTES     AND     OBSERVATIONS. 

Note  on  Stephens's  Culicid^. — Since  writing  my  notes  on  the 
British  mosquitos  I  have  been  surprised  to  discover  that  Stephens's 
collection  of  Culicidge  is  not  only  still  in  existence,  but  the  specimens 
are  still  in  a  fair  state  of  preservation  in  the  British  Museum.  Of 
the  species  Stephens  described  himself,  C.  affinis  is  represented  by 
six  male  Tlwohaldia  anmdata;  G.  fwnipennis  by  one  female  Theo- 
baldia  theobaldi;  C.  marginalis  by  one  male  and  one  female  G.inpiens  ; 
and  G.  concinnus  by  one  female  0.  nemorosus  (?).  The  dark  margins 
of  the  abdominal  segments  referred  to  by  Stephens  in  C.  marginalis 
are  the  posterior  borders,  not  the  lateral  ones,  as  might  be  inferred 
from  the  description  ;  the  colour  is  on  the  integument  and  is  not 
due  to  scales  :  such  a  condition  occurs  not  uncommonly  in  female 
G.  pipiens,  but  there  are  no  structural  differences.  The  specimen  of 
G.  concinnus  was  not  so  labelled,  but  answers  perfectly  to  Stephens's 
figure ;  it  is  just  possible  it  may  eventually  prove  distinct  from 
0.  nemorosus,  but  I  prefer  at  present  to  leave  it  as  a  synonym  or 
variety  of  Meigen's  species.  The  name  Theohaldia  fumijJcnnis 
(Steph.)  will  have  to  replace  T.  theobaldi  (Meij.).  Of  the  remaining 
specimens  in  the  collection,  those  named  sylvaticus,  lutesceus,  jjunc- 
tatus,  ricfiis,  and  bicolor  are  all  more  or  less  rubbed  C.  pipiens. 
G.  ornatus  is  represented  by  one  female  0.  lateralis  and  one  male 
0.  diversus  ;  C.  Jiavirostris  by  one  female  C.  pipiens  and  one  male  A. 
maculipennis. — F.  W.  Edwards  ;  British  Museum  (Natural  History). 

Egg  of  Eustroma  reticulata. — Having  recently  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  observing  the  ova  of  Eustroma  reticulata  deposited  under 
natural  conditions,  a  brief  description  of  the  egg  may  be  of  interest 
to  complete  my  previous  notes  on  the  life-history  of  this  species  (vide 
'  Entomologist,'  March,  1912,  p.  85).  Size,  large  for  the  size  of  the 
moth  ;  shape,  a  blunt  oval ;  colour,  pearly  white,  decidedly  opale- 
scent; surface,  smooth,  and,  under  moderate  magnification,  without 
"pitting"  or  pattern;  attached  to  the  under  side  of  the  balsam-leaf 
in  apparently  no  precise  situation  ;  rarely  more  than  one  egg  on  a 
leaf. — Frank  Littlewood  ;  10,  Aynam  Eoad,  Kendal,  Westmorland, 
August  7th,  1912. 

Argynnis  euphrosyne,  ab. — A  short  time  since  my  friend  Mr. 
C.  J.  Bellamy  showed  me  a  variety  of  the  above-named  butterfly  he 
had  been  fortunate  in  capturing  in  the  New  Forest  this  season.  The 
usual  tawny-brown  ground  colour  of  the  wings  is  replaced  tJy  a  pale 


278  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

creamy  tint,  which  gives  the  specimen  a  semi-transparent  appearance, 
and  consequently  the  usual  black  spots  and  bars — which  appear  to 
be  normal — show  up  conspicuously,  and  the  dark  blotches  at  the 
base  of  the  wings  are  very  obvious.  At  the  anal  angle  of  hind  wings 
there  is  a  shaded  indication  of  the  usual  tawny  hue.  The  specimen 
is  apparently  a  male  in  very  fair  condition,  although  I  should  imagine 
when  seen  on  the  wing  it  might  have  been  mistaken  for  a  very  worn 
spedmen. — G.  B.  Corbin  ;  Eingwood. 

COLIAS    EDUSA,   PyRAMEIS   CARDUI,  AND  P.  ATALANTA   IN   THE    IsLE 

OF  Wight. — The  weather  of  late  has  been  most  unfavourable  with 
us  for  entomology.  The  early  part  of  the  season  was  good  for 
G.  edusa,  P.  cardui,  and  P.  atalanta.  I  bred  the  two  former  from 
ova,  and  of  the  latter  larvae  were  found  in  plenty  on  nettle.  I  took 
females  of  P.  cardui  in  March  which  deposited  ova,  from  which  fine 
specimens  were  reared  in  May  and  June.  I  obtained  ova  of  C.  edusa 
in  May,  and  had  a  very  fine  series  from  these.  I  now  have  another 
family  of  C.  edusa  feeding  up  in  my  greenhouse.  I  am  afraid  that 
this  species  has  fared  badly  in  the  open,  as  we  have  had  ground  frost 
and  continuous  rains. — G.  Nobbs  ;  North  Lodge,  East  Cowes,  Isle 
of  Wight,  August  17th,  1912. 

CoLiAs  EDUSA  IN  WILTSHIRE.  —  A  fine  male  specimen  of  this 
butterfly  was  captured  near  Fordingbridge  on  August  5th,  1912. — 
A.  S.  Corbet  ;  Bournemouth. 

Capture  of  Pontia  daplidice  in  Norfolk.  —  On  Wednesday 
morning,  July  17th,  I  captured  a  specimen  of  Pontia  daplidice  near 
Norwich;  it  was  a  female,  and  in  good  condition.  The  17th  was 
warm  and  sunny,  with  rather  a  strong  north-easterly  wind,  which 
had  been  blowing,  more  or  less,  for  the  two  previous  days,  and 
common  butterflies  were  plentiful  on  the  sheltered  flowery  railway- 
bank,  along  which  I  happened  to  be  walking,  luckily,  however,  with 
a  net.  The  daiilidice  was  amongst  a  good  many  Pieris  rapes,  flying 
very  sluggishly  and  feebly  from  flower  to  flower,  eventually  setthng 
on  a  plant  of  knapweed,  from  which  I  caught  it.  A  month  previously 
I  had  been  watching  the  strong  swiftly-flying  daplidice  in  Hungary, 
but  the  climate  of  Hungary  is  not  that  of  Norfolk,  and  doubtless  this 
specimen  was  more  or  less  torpid  and  chilled  by  the  cold  of  the  early 
morning.  I  am  glad  to  say  that  this  record  is  an  addition  to  the 
Norfolk  list  of  butterflies,  as  P.  daplidice  has  not  previously  been 
taken  in  the  county,  though  it  is  reported  to  have  been  captured  at 
Fehxstowe  and  near  Aldeburgh,  in  Sufl'olk. — Gerard  H.  Gurney  ; 
Keswick  Hall,  Norwich. 

Phryxus  (Deilephila)  livornica.  —  A  specimen  of  Phryxiis 
livornica  was  taken  at  dusk  at  rhododendrons  in  a  garden  at  Park- 
stone,  Dorset,  on  May  19th  last. — Cyril  Adams  ;  Penn  Hall, 
Parkstone. 

Deilephila  galii  in  Inverness-shire. — I  took  a  very  large  and 
beautiful  female  example  of  this  species  at  dusk  here  on  the  24th 
instant,  as  it  was  hovering  before  some  honeysuckle. — Gervase  F. 
Mathew;  Gairlochy,  Spean  Bridge,  N.B.,  July  29th,  1912. 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  279 

LiTHOSIA   LUTAEELLA   (pYGM^OLA)    AND    CrAMBUS    FASCELINELLUS 

IN  Norfolk. — When  collecting  on  the  Norfolk  coast  with  the  Eev. 
J.  E.  Tarbat,  I  noticed  a  small  moth  fall  from  a  spike  of  marram 
grass  on  to  the  sand.  My  surprise  and  dehght  were  great  when  on 
boxing  the  insect  I  found  it  to  be  a  fine  male  lutarella.  A  subsequent 
visit  at  night  to  the  sam^e  spot  showed  that  the  moth  was  there  in 
some  plenty,  over  a  score  of  specimens  being  taken.  A  new  locality 
for  this  local  little  moth  seems  worth  recording,  as  hitherto  it  has, 
I  believe,  only  been  taken  at  Deal.  In  the  same  district  we  also 
took  a  fine  series  of  Crambus  fascelinellus.  The  capture  of  the  first 
example  was  rather  by  way  of  a  lucky  chance,  as  it  was  disturbed 
from  an  overhanging  sand-hill,  which  we  subsequently  found  was  not 
its  usual  haunt  in  the  day-time.  Later  we  discovered  that  the  moth 
sits  by  day  in  the  small  sand-pits  and  cart-tracks  on  the  more  settled 
parts  at  the  back  of  the  sand-hills.  By  sweeping  the  net  over  the 
sand  the  insect  could  be  induced  to  fly  if  the  sun  was  shining.  Each 
rose  to  settle  again  a  few  yards  off,  where  it  was  easily  captured.  A 
few  were  taken  on  the  wing  at  night,  but  nearly  the  whole  of  a  long 
series  was  taken  in  the  above  manner. — John  W.  Metcalfe  ;  Ottery 
St.  Mary,  August,  1912. 

DiPTERYGiA  scABRiuscuLA  IN  Hyde  Park. — I  caught  in  Hyde 
Park,  on  July  25th,  an  example  of  Dq)terygia  scabrmsciUa.  Is  this 
species  of  regular  occurrence  in  London?  —  N.  C.  Rothschild; 
Arundel  House,  Kensington  Palace  Gardens,  W. 

Metrogampa  margaritaria  and  Thyatira  batis  in  Isle  op 
Skye. — In  your  '  Moths  of  the  British  Isles  '  (ser.  ii.  p.  270)  you 
except  the  Hebrides  from  the  distribution  of  the  light  emerald 
(Metrocamjpa  viargaritaria).  Perhaps  it  may  interest  you  and  your 
readers  to  know  that  this  moth  has  been  exceedingly  plentiful  this 
year  (I  cannot  speak  for  earlier  ones)  at  Kyleakin,  Isle  of  Skye.  It 
is  true  we  are  here  very  near  the  mainland  of  Ross-shire,  or  per- 
haps your  reservation  refers  only  to  the  Outer  Hebrides. =■■  I  have 
also  lately  captured  three  fine  specimens  of  Thyatira  batis  at  sugar 
in  a  small  wood  round  the  house. — (Rev.)  Arthur  S.  Hoole  ;  Kyle 
House,  Kyleakin,  Isle  of  Skye,  July  25th,  1912. 

Collecting  in  Westmorland,  1911. — Argynnis  adipiie  seemed 
to  be  just  beginning  on  July  23rd,  although  one  of  the  three 
specimens  caught  had  evidently  been  flying  for  some  days.  Males 
of  Epinephele  ianira  were  plentiful,  and  three  females  were  noted. 
Reed  flowers,  on  the  6th,  on  some  low-lying  marshy  ground, 
produced  Leucania  impura,  Plusia  festucce,  P.  arenosa,  Coremia 
munitata,  and  Gcenocalpe  vittata.  On  the  9th,  a  very  hot  day, 
Aphantojms  hyperanthus  was  present  in  limited  numbers  in  its 
restricted  haunt.  Several  var.  arete  and  one  good  example 
of  var.  obsoleta  were  taken.  Dusking  on  the  13th  yielded 
Lygris  populata,  Cidaria  pyraliata,  C.  fulvata,  Acidalia  aversata,  A. 
bisetata,  and  P.  flavofasciata.     OrthoUtha  limitata  appeared  on  the 

'•  Yes,  the  outer  group  of  isles  was  intended.  M.  margaritaria  has 
been  previously  recorded  from  the  Isle  of  Skye. — R.  S. 


280  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

16th,  together  with  second  brood  examples  of  P.  najn  and  Chiasmia 
clathrata.  A  female  Geometra  jMyilionaria  netted  at  10  p.m.  on 
the  18th  gave  me  thirty-nine  eggs,  four  of  them  laid  on  the  under 
side  of  a  birch  leaf,  the  remainder  on  the  muslin  cover  of  the  flower- 
pot in  which  she  was  confined.  A  visit  to  the  "  moss  "  on  the  23rd 
found  C.  imbiUata  (male)  common,  and  with  neither  sun  nor  wind, 
easy  to  net.  Eain  came  on,  but  still  they  "  lifted "  freely ;  the 
reverse  being  the  case  with  Selidosoma  ericetaria,  which  seems  to 
like  the  sunshine,  and  is  sluggish  and  difficult  to  move  in  dull 
weather.  L.  cegon  was  common,  but  looking  passe.  Some  of  the 
females  are  nicely  splashed  with  blue. 

On  the  30th  some  twenty  newly  emerged  P.  hrassiccR  were  noted 
feeding  on  knapweed  flowers  on  the  roadside,  and  on  the  31st  Cilix 
spimila  was  netted  freely  in  the  neighbourhood  of  blackthorn,  and 
about  a  dozen  Anartis  jj/a(/mto  flying  at  dusk  over  a  small  patch  of 
St.  John's  Wort.  Eggs  of  the  latter  hatched  on  August  16th,  and 
the  larvae  fed  as  long  as  the  leaves  remained,  and  are  now  sitting 
motionless  on  the  dead  stems.  The  same  night  found  imagines  of 
Stilbia  anomala  plentiful,  but  rather  the  worse  for  wear,  on  isolated 
patches  of  ragwort  growing  amongst  the  loose  stones  of  the  bare 
limestone  fell.  Tlie  sexes  were  about  equally  common.  Tliough  by 
no  means  shy  of  the  lamplight,  this  moth  is  a  difficult  one  to  box  off 
the  flower  head.  If  tiie  flower  is,  by  one's  clumsiness,  jarred  or 
shaken  the  males  usually  fly  and  may  be  netted,  but  the  females 
either  drop  to  the  ground  or  dive  into  the  flower  head.  We  found  it 
a  good  plan  to  gently  touch  the  ragwort  stem  with  the  rim  of  the 
net,  and  catch  them  as  they  either  flew  or  fell.  It  is  a  restless  insect 
in  the  pillbox,  and  should  be  killed  immediately.  The  species  seemed 
to  be  peculiarly  local ;  an  equally  attractive  looking  group  of  ragwort 
heads  at  the  other  side  of  the  wall  failed  to  yield  a  single  specimen, 
and  the  same  thing  was  noticed  on  succeeding  nights.  In  addition, 
the  ragwort  produced  Agrotis  lucernea,  N.  umhrosa,  T.  pronuba,  A. 
oculea,  G.  obscurata,  L.  oUvata,  C.  truncata,  C.  bilineata,  C.  uniden- 
taria,  and  a  number  of  "  pugs." 

Heather  bloom  was  not  very  productive,  for  during  August  the 
exti-eme  heat  of  the  summer  day  was  followed  frequently  by  a 
distinctly  chilly  night.  The  only  captures  were  Noctua  xantho- 
grapha,  N.  castanea,  A.  agathina  (four),  N.  glareosa,  N.  dalilii  (one), 
C.  graminis,  G.  salidagmis  (three),  numerous  C.  testata,  and  0. 
filigrammaria  (three)  (Sept.  1st). 

Up  to. 9  a.m.  on  August  J 3th  Vanessa  io  could  be  taken  freely, 
feeding  on  the  flowers  of  hemp  agrimony,  but  after  that  hour  they 
apparently  found  some  other  occupation.  The  same  morning  I  netted 
a  freshly  emerged  male  Gonepteryx  rliamni.  This  species,  formerly 
considered  one  of  our  "  common  "  butterflies,  is  getting  scarcer  each 
year.  Tapinostola  fulva  was  out  in  good  time  this  season,  four  fresh 
males  being  taken  on  August  14th.  Mr.  Mallinson  reported  Charceas 
graminis  and  Epineuronia  popularis  abundant  at  the  Windermere 
lamps,  accompanied  by  second  brood  examples  of  L.  camelina,  N. 
ziczac,  and  P.  dictceoides.  Sugar,  which  had  been  unprofitable  all 
the  summer,  now  began  to  look  more  hopeful.     Our  first  essay,  on 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  281 

September  4th,  produced  one  Amathes  litura,  one  T.  inonuha,  one 
Amphipyra  tragopogonis,  and  one  beautifully  fresh  E.  nigra — a 
sample  lot,  but  enlivened  by  the  presence  of  the  last-named  species. 
A  second  attempt  on  the  6th  added  another  E.  nigra,  one  fresh 
M.  brassiccs  (second  brood),  and  one  A.  ypsilon.  Subsequent  syste- 
matic sugaring  throughout  the  month  was  rewarded  by  the  capture 
of  a  fine  series  of  E.  nigra  in  bred  condition ;  about  a  dozen 
A.  ypsilon,  an  abundance  of  A.  aprilina,  E.  satellitia,  A.  litura, 
A.  helvola,  C.  lignea,  G.  vaccinii,  A.  circellaris,  A.  macilenta,  M. 
oxyacanthm,  and  var.  capucina  (some  very  dark) ;  a  few  H.  protea, 
A.  lota,  C.  quadripnnctata ;  three  A.  segetum,  one  A.  exclamationis, 
one  P.  chi,  one  N.  c-nigrum,  and  one  H.  nictitans.  Two  specimens 
of  C.  vetiista,  and  about  a  dozen  C.  exoleta  were  added  in  early 
October.  Agriopis  aprilina  varies  considerably  in  the  distribution 
of  the  black  on  the  fore  wings — some  are  very  dark  and  striking. 
An  interesting  peculiarity  of  this  species  appears  in  the  extreme  and 
permanent  rigidity  of  the  joints  of  the  fore  legs  after  death  (pricked 
with  oxalic  acid),  making  it  a  matter  of  considerable  difficulty  to 
extend  and  set  these  limbs.  The  muscular  development  of  the 
femora  is  abnormal,  but  I  have  looked  in  vain  for  the  reason.  Other 
insects  killed  in  the  same  way  were  not  affected.  Among  hundreds 
of  Conistra  vaccinii  I  was  lucky  to  find  two  good  examples  of  the 
var.  sujfusa  (Tutt),  a  form  I  do  not  remember  noticing  before. 
Autumnal  sugaring  presents  some  difficulties,  the  chief  being 
(perhaps)  the  necessity  of  completing  one's  round  well  before 
dusk.  All  the  moths  come  in  the  first  hour  or  so,  and  after  that 
may  be  looked  for,  not  on  the  patches,  but  round  the  back  of  the 
tree  and  higher  up  on  the  branches.  We  frequently  saw  them  later 
in  the  night  as  high  as  12  ft.  from  the  ground. 

The  conditions  that  go  to  make  a  good  night  are  still  a  mystery  ; 
a  bright  moon  and  cold  north  wind  were  not  invariably  found  to  be 
detrimental  to  success,  but  the  slightest  touch  of  frost  in  the  air  was 
fatal,  and  put  an  end  to  the  flight.  At  this  time  of  year,  however,  it 
is  possible  to  work  in  a  couple  of  rounds  and  make  a  repectable 
catch  in  the  early  part  of  the  night  before  the  frost  air  is  felt. 
Moths  seem  to  anticipate  an  approaching  storm,  and  an  apparently 
ideal  night,  precursory  to  a  cliange  in  the  weather,  will  prove  un- 
productive. The  entomologist  is  not  the  only  one  to  take  toll  of  the 
visitors  to  "  sugar."  Night  after  night  bats  could  be  seen  circling 
the  baited  trees,  and  several  toads  were  observed  actually  standing 
on  their  hind  legs  beneath  the  patches  with  an  air  of  blissful 
expectancy  that  was  truly  ludicrous.  0.  clilutata  appeared  on 
October  3rd,  and  was  flying  commonly  by  the  16th,  when  several 
nice  melanic  females  were  taken. — Prank  Littlewood  ;  10,  Aynam 
Koad,  Kendal. 

Butterfly  Collecting  in  Sicily  and  Calabria  in  1911. — 
The  first  week  in  May  was  very  disappointing.  My  records  are : 
May  1st  (Labour  festa)  dull  and  showery,  with  occasional  slight 
glimpses  of  rain ;  the  following  day  (May  2nd)  began  :  "  morning 
bright  and  sunny,  spring  butterflies  out,  fine  fresh  specimens  including 
cyllarus  and  rubi,"  and  ended,  "  wet  afternoon  and  evening."     The 


282 

1 

heavy  ram 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 


•est  of  the  week  was  dull  and  cloudy,  interspersed  with  showers  and 
.leavy  rain. 

The  second  week  in  May  proved  little  better ;  I  decided  to  make 
a  tour  to  Southern  Sicily,  and  took  train  to  Licata,  the  port  famous 
for  the  export  of  sulphur,  which  faces  Africa.  I  had  visions  of 
African  "migrants."  The  further  south  I  got  the  country  became 
more  barren,  more  rocky,  and  more  uninviting.  Licata  is  a  non- 
sanitary,  dirty  town,  and  especially  dispiriting  when  a  drizzlincr  rain 
persists  in  falhng.  Next  day  I  decided  to  proceed,  or  rather  to 
return  home,  by  a  different  route,  and  took  the  train.  Here  the 
people  are  so  poor  that  the  trains  run  at  half  the  fares  charged  north 
of  Syracuse  and  on  the  mainland,  so  travelHng  is  cheap,  and  it  is 
unnecessary  to  add  slow,  as  the  gradients  are  very  steep.  I  booked 
to  Eagusa,  a  town  of  20,000  inhabitants,  and  the  line  runs  throu^rh  a 
rocky,  treeless  district,  where  miles  and  miles  of  thick  stone  walls 
enclose  small  patches  of  rocky  ground,  and  where  a  little  ve^Jetation 
struggles  through,  but  I  saw  no  cattle  in  the  fields.  Kagusa'ls  built 
on  each  side  of  a  torrent  bed,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  rocky  district 
where  asphalte  is  obtained.  I  could  find  no  decent  place  to  sleep  at 
and  was  recommended  to  take  the  last  train  on  to  Modica  with 
40,000  inhabitants,  and  where  there  is  an  hotel.  On  reachin^^  there 
I  had  to  walk  from  the  station,  as  recent  rains  had  washed  away  the 
bridge  and  part  of  the  roadway  and  stopped  the  cabs.  I  was 
welcomed  at  the  hotel  in  Sicilian  fashion,  and  was  given  a  room 
to  myself  large  enough  for  a  troop  of  soldiers,  containing  four  beds 
quite  lost  in  the  four  corners  of  the  immense  chamber.  My  bill  was 
reasonable,  and  next  morning  I  had  the  novel  experience  as  I  left  of 
finding  the  whole  of  the  hotel  staff,  including  the  landlady,  assembled 
to  say  good-bye  and  wish  me  a  pleasant  journey.  Fortunately  mv 
stock  of  small  coins  sufficed  to  satisfy  everybody,  including  the  land- 
lady Some  of  the  staff  I  had  not  even  seen.  From  Modica  which 
much  resembles  Eagusa,  and  seemed  much  too  rocky  and  barren  for 
collecting  purposes,  I  took  the  first  train  on  to  the  coast  and  arrived 
at  Pozzallo,  the  asphalte  seaport,  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon 
I  had  a  pleasant  walk,  and  the  sun  shone.  I  saw  edusa  in  the  oHve 
gardens,  and  the  humming-bird-hawk  moth  in  numbers  flyincr  near 
the  stone  walls  warmed  by  the  sun;  but  the  district  is  not  fertile 
though  _  better  than  round  Modica  and  Eagusa.  In  the  afternoon 
clouds  intervened,  and  I  took  train  to  Syracuse.  On  my  iourney  at 
a  place  called  Avola,  I  found  myself  looking  on  a  fertile  district  thlt 
i  should  like  to  revisit.  At  Syracuse  I  was  of  course  dependent  on 
the  weather,  which  turned  out  unfavourable.  I  took  a  loner  walk 
towards  Fort  Buryalos  (a  good  entomological  locahty),  on  my  wav 
looking  into  a  famous  satomia  (stone  quarry),  very  interesting  to  an 
archaeologist,  but  as  I  saw  no  butterflies  I  took  train  to  mv  old 
quarters  on  Mount  Etna.  I  spent  a  day  near  Eandazzo,  niainly 
waiting  for  the  clouds  to  break,  which  eventually  they  did  for  exactly 
an  hour.  I  had  then  reached  the  locality  where  Euchloe  damone  and 
Ihaispolyxena  occur,  and  these  both  appeared  directly  the  sun  shone 
and  also  disappeared  with  the  advent  of  clouds.  I  got  nothing  after- 
wards except  larvae  of   Vanessa  urticcB,  which  was  common      The 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  283 

following  morning  (May  14th)  Mount  Etna  was  hidden  by  clouds, 
and  I  returned  to  Messina  with  a  very  poor  opinion  of  "  Sunny 
Sicily." 

Again  I  braved  the  elements,  and  on  May  14th  went  with  my  son 
to  Eeggio  in  Calabria  by  ferryboat  for  a  day  on  the  hills.  It  was  an 
eye-opener  to  come  into  contact  with  poverty  unequalled  anywhere 
I  have  been ;  the  men  had  not  even  a  spare  sou  to  spend  on  their 
favourite  indulgence — tobacco — and  the  women  slave  at  carrying 
heavy  burdens  for  the  merest  pittance.  We  had  forgotten  our 
customary  "  tin  of  sardines,"  and  could  get  no  eggs  even  at  the 
wine  shop,  only  bread  and  wine,  so  did  not  stop  long.  The  geological 
strata  were  most  striking,  and  entomological  possibilities  great ;  but 
the  day  was  sunless,  and  not  a  butterfly  was  seen.  The  records  for 
the  third  week  in  May  are  chiefly  "  cloudy,"  and  also  include 
"  scirocco "  and  "  cold  and  boisterous."  The  month  practically 
kept  up  its  bad  reputation  to  the  end.  True,  on  May  23rd,  I  visited 
Mount  Etna,  and  stopped  three  nights.  During  short  intervals  of 
sun  I  captured  sufficient  specimens  of  Euchloe  clamone  to  complete 
my  series,  but  I  obtained  no  fresh  species,  and  several  that  I  had 
taken  before  were  not  in  evidence.  Excursions  near  Messina  were 
also  made  without  success,  owing  to  lack  of  sunshine.  My  most 
fatiguing  day  was  May  31st.  I  took  train  to  Scaletta  (twelve  miles) 
at  the  foot  of  Monte  Scuderi  (4000  ft.).  It  was  cloudy,  but  I  had 
hopes  the  clouds  would  break,  so  I  walked  up  in  order  to  reach 
uncultivated  ground  where  it  is  possible  to  wander  about  quite  freely. 
I  reached  the  part  where  only  the  goatherd  and  his  flock  are  met 
with,  noting  on  the  way  a  possible  "  marble  white  "  locality.  The 
goatherd  pointed  out  to  me  the  only  available  natural  fountain  of 
drinking  water,  carefully  protected  by  his  class,  and  I  was  able  to  eat 
my  lunch  there  comfortably.  Then  I  was  tempted  to  go  to  the  top, 
a  thankless  task,  for  the  top  is  bare  rock,  and  increasing  clouds  shut 
out  entirely  the  view.  I  decided  to  return  quickly,  but  half  way 
down  I  was  enveloped  in  the  cloud,  and  soon  was  unable  to  see  my 
way.  Only  those  who  have  been  in  a  cloud  know  what  it  is  like.  I 
missed  the  track,  got  amongst  long  grass,  and  when  the  rain  came 
I  had  to  sit  down  and  wait.  In  common  with  the  vegetation  I  was 
soaked  through.  After  a  seemingly  interminable  walk  I  was  very 
glad  at  the  first  wine  shop  to  swallow  hurriedly  a  glass  of  their 
"  cheap  and  nasty  "  wine  to  gain  a  little  Dutch  courage  to  help  me 
to  the  station. 

The  first  week  in  June  was  a  continuation  of  the  May  weather, 
but  on  the  5th  I  started  a  campaign  to  look  for  "  marbled  whites." 
I  crossed  the  straits  to  Scylla,  in  Calabria,  to  search  for  Melanargia 
arge  ;  I  reached  an  apparently  suitable  locality,  but  met  with  no 
success.  Possibly  I  was  too  early,  the  season  being  late,  or  the 
"  scirocco  "  stopped  its  flight.  My  captures  were  egea,  one  ;  dorilis, 
one;  mera,  a  few;  and  others. — J.  Platt  Barrett;  "  Westcroft," 
South  Eoad,  Forest  Hill,  London,  S.E. 

(To  be  continued.) 


284  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 


SOCIETIES. 

The  South  London  Entomological  and  Natural  History 
Society. — May  9th. — A.  E.  Tonge,  F.E.S.,  President,  in  the  chair. — 
Mr.  J.  E.  Gardner,  of  Upper  Clapton,  was  elected  a  member. — Mr.  Jiiger 
exhibited,  for  Miss  Edwards,  a  series  of  Hyhernia  leucophcBaria  from 
East  Grinstead,  with  which  a  large  percentage  of  var.  marmorinaria 
had  occurred  this  year. — Mr.  R.  Adkin,  specimens  of  Dianthcecia 
luteago,  and  read  notes  on  the  two  varietal  forms  barrettii  &ndficklini. 
— Mr.  R.  Adkin  then  read  a  paper  entitled  "  Labelling  Entomological 
Specimens,"  after  which  a  considerable  discussion  took  place. 

June  27th.— Mv.  A.  E.  Tonge,  F.E.S.,  President,  in  the  chair.— Mr. 
Sothern  Dekter,  of  Lee,  was  elected  a  member. — Mr.  Gahan  exhibited 
some  sycamore  leaves  showing  the  mines  of  the  larvaB  of  the  sawi3y 
Phyllotoina  aceris,  and  the  remarkable  cases,  in  the  form  of  little 
circular  discs,  constructed  by  the  larvae.  These  cases  become  detached 
and  move  on  the  ground  by  little  hops,  somewhat  like  the  Mexican 
jumping  bean. — Mr.  A.  Sich,  specimens  of  the  rare  Micro-Lepido- 
pteron  Coleophora  agramella,  from  Hailsham. — Mr.  R.  x\dkin,  a  short 
series  of  Biston  hirtaria  bred  from  Aviemore  larvee,  which  fed  up  in 
1908.  The  imagines  exhibited  emerged  in  March  and  April  of  this 
year. — Mr.  Edwards,  a  pair  of  the  beautiful  Lycaenid  Eumceus 
debora,  from  Mexico,  and  a  fine  specimen  of  the  rare  Epiphele 
eriopsis,  from  Bogota.  —  Mr.  Gowham,  a  fine  regular  variety  of 
Abraxas  grossulariata  taken  in  his  garden ;  the  usual  yellow 
markings  were  almost  absent,  and  the  black  markings  were  of 
smaller  area  and  very  symmetrical. — Mr.  Dods,  a  cocoon  of  Flaty- 
somia  cecropia,  from  which  the  imago  had  emerged  by  the  wrong 
end. — Mr.  Goff,  somewhat  heavily  marked  specimens  of  Brcnthis 
euphrosijne  from  Kent  and  Surrey. — Mr.  H.  Moore,  a  huge  tick  taken 
from  a  tortoise  from  North  Africa. — Mr.  Step  read  the  Report  of  the 
Delegates  to  the  Congress  of  the  South-Eastern  Union  of  Scientific 
Societies  held  at  Folkestone  in  June. —  Hy.  J.  Turner  {Hon.  Bep. 
Sec). 

The  Manchester  Entomological  Society. — March  Qth. — Mr. 
J.  H.  Watson  exhibited  a  drawer  of  the  varieties  of  Parnassius 
mnemosyne,  notably  vars.  haltares,  hartmanni,  and  melaina.  He 
also  showed  a  larva  of  the  hybrid  between  Cricula  anclrei  and 
C.  trifenestrata. — Mr.  A.  E.  Salmon  showed  examples  of  West 
African  insects  found  in  a  Manchester  rubber-works. — Mr.  A.  W. 
Boyd  showed  Golias  edusa  taken  in  Cheshire  in  1912,  a  blue 
female  Lyccena  icarus  from  Killarney,  and  a  blotched  Boarmia 
gemmaria  from  Altrincham,  Cheshire. — Mr.  H.  S.  Leigh  read  a  paper 
on  the  "  Life-history  of  the  Leaf-Insect  Pulchriphyllium  critri- 
folium  and  Mantis  Spodromantis  guttata."  He  gave  the  results  of 
his  valuable  personal  observations  of  the  life-history  and  habits  of 
these  two  insects. — A.  W.  Boyd,  M.A.,  Hon.  Secretary. 


The   Entomologist,  October,  1912. 


Plate  IX. 


\ 

;  'W 

y 

I                      i 

t 

1  ,} 

6 

1 

1 

Appendages  of  Tapinostola  concolor  ?  and  T.  hellmanni  y  and  Ova. 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST 


Vol.  XLV.]  OCTOBEE,    1912.  [No.  593 

NOTES   ON   THE   LIFE -HISTORIES   OF    TAPINOSTOLA 
CONCOLOR    AND     T.     HELLMANNI. 

By  H.  M.  Edelsten,  F.E.S.,   &  R.  G.  Todd,  F.E.S. 
(Plate  IX.) 

Mr.  Kershaw's  notes  on  the  oviposition  of  Tapinostola  con- 
color  ('  Entomologist,'  xlv.  p.  256)  remind  us  of  our  promise  to 
record  the  life-histories  of  these  species  (*Ent.  Record,'  Oct.  1910, 
vol,  xxii.  p.  240).  We  had  been  discussing  the  nomenclature  of 
T.  concolor  with  the  late  J.  W.  Tutt,  but  his  lamentable  death 
put  a  stop  to  our  researches,  and  the  notes  got  put  on  one  side. 

Tapinostola  concolor. 

Ova  laid  between  July  3rd  and  7th,  1909.  Ovum  round, 
I  mm.  in  diameter,  of  a  shining  dirty  white  colour,  covered  with 
a  glutinous  substance,  no  markings  visible.  The  pressure  of  the 
sheathing-leaf  slightly  flattens  the  ova.  Commenced  to  hatch 
July  20th,  1909. 

Larva.  July  25th. — Length  2^  mm.  Yellowish  white,  head 
rather  large,  and  of  a  brownish  yellow  colour.  Thoracic  segments 
whitish.  First  five  abdominal  segments  yellowish,  rest  whitish  ; 
anal  plate  blackish ;  body  tapering  from  head  downwards.  A 
few  small  bristles  from  tubercles.  Larva  full-fed.  May  16th, 
1910. — Rather  stumpy,  swollen  in  the  middle  and  tapering 
towards  head  and  tail,  but  rather  more  towards  the  head.  Head 
yellow-brown,  shining  and  rather  indented,  and  partly  withdrawn 
into  prothoracic  segment.  Plate  on  prothoracic  segment  shining 
ochreous ;  plate  on  anal  segment  also  of  same  colour,  and  ex- 
tending to  thirteenth  segment.  Colour  of  larva  creamy  white 
with  a  slight  pinkish  tinge  along  the  back.  Spiracles  black. 
True  legs  yellowish  ;  prologs  white  ;  hooks  blackish.  Tubercles 
with  black  bristles.     Length  20  mm. 

Pupa. — 12^  mm.  long,  shining  brown.  Kremaster  with  two 
sharp  bristles  curved  outwards,  enclosed  in  a  stout  earthen 
cocoon. 

Parasite. — Ccelinius  gracilis,  Hal. 

The  eggs  are  laid  in  bat( 

ENTOM. — OCTOBER,    1912. 


286  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

flower-stem  of  Calamagrostis  epigeios,  and  the  larva  enters  the 
stem  and  feeds  downwards,  and  hybernates  towards  the  base  of 
the  stem.  In  the  spring  when  the  grass  begins  to  shoot  again, 
it  feeds  low  down  among  the  basal  shoots.  It  enters  several 
plants  before  it  is  full-fed.  When  about  to  pupate,  it  enters  the 
earth  and  spins  a  strong  cocoon. 

Tapinostola  hellmanni. 

Ova  laid  August  8th-12th,  1909.  Ovum  round,  ^  mm.  in 
diameter,  colour  creamy  white,  covered  with  a  glutinous  sub- 
stance, no  markings  visible,  except  some  very  slight  ribbings, 
but  these  were  most  likely  caused  by  the  pressure  of  the  grass- 
stem.     Commenced  to  hatch  August  18th,  1909. 

Larva. — Length  2|^  mm.,  of  a  shining  whitish  colour;  head 
rather  large  and  of  a  light  yellowish  brown  colour;  prothoracic 
plate  creamy  ;  anal  plate  blackish  ;  body  covered  with  fine  hair. 
Larva  full-fed,  June  15th,  1910. — Length  about  20  mm.,  tapering 
from  middle  to  head,  rather  less  towards  tail.  Colour  creamy 
white ;  head  brown.  Prothoracic  plate  ochreous ;  anal  plate 
ochreous,  except  the  front  part  of  it,  which  is  blackish,  and  it 
extends  to  thirteenth  segment.  True  legs  yellowish  ;  prolegs 
creamy  with  black  hooks  ;  spiracles  black.  A  few  bristles  from 
tubercles.     A  good  many  bristks  on  anal  plate. 

Pupa. — 12  mm.  long,  shining  yellow.  Kremaster  with  two 
long  straight  spines,  and  two  short  hooks  curved  outwards, 
enclosed  in  a  stout  earthen  cocoon. 

The  eggs  are  laid  in  batches  within  the  sheathing-leaf  of  the 
flower-stem  of  Calamagrostis  lanceolata  and  C.  epigeios,  and  the 
larva  enters  the  stem  and  feeds  downwards,  and  hybernates 
towards  the  base  of  the  stem.  In  the  spring  it  feeds  in  several 
plants  before  it  is  full-fed.  It  leaves  the  plant  when  about  to 
pupate,  and  spins  a  strong  earthen  cocoon. 

The  larvae  of  concolor  and  hellmanni  are  so  very  much  alike 
that  it  is  difficult  to  tell  them  unless  one  has  them  side  by  side. 
They  feed  in  identically  the  same  way,  and  their  habits  are 
similar.  They  cause  the  leaves  to  turn  yellowish  and  wither, 
but  are  hard  to  find,  as  there  are  all  the  old  leaves  about  in  the 
spring.  The  only  way  to  find  the  larvae  is  to  seek  for  isolated 
plants,  part  the  herbage  right  down  to  the  root  and  see  if  there 
is  any  frass  or  a  yellowish  leaf.  The  larvae  are  more  often  than 
not  just  below  the  surface  of  the  ground,  as  Calamagrostis  is 
a  deep  rooting  plant.  Buckler's  figure  of  the  larva  of  fidva 
(vol.  4,  Noctuae,  pt.  i.  plate  Ix.  fig.  4)  gives  an  excellent  idea  of 
the  shape  of  the  larvae  of  both  concolor  and  hellmanni.  Concolor 
is  on  the  wing  at  the  end  of  June  and  early  July.  Hellmanni 
appears  in  Wicken  Fen  about  the  first  week  in  August,  but  in 
Huntingdonshire  and  Northamptonshire  it  appears  at  the  same 
time  as   concolor.      The   Wicken  specimens   of   hellmanni    are 


AS    OTHERS    SEE    US. 


287 


generally  paler  than  the  Hunts  and  Northants  specimens,  which 
are  of  a  much  deeper  colour.  The  anal  appendages  of  female 
concolor  and  hellmamii  are  admirably  suited  for  prizing  open  the 
sheathing-leaves  of  Calamagrostis  stems  whilst  the  ovipositor  is 
thrust  within.  The  photographs  show  them  flat  out.  In  the 
living  insect  they  are  folded  together  and  are  just  visible.  We 
are  indebted  to  Mr.  Main  and  Mr.  Tonge  for  the  photographs, 
and  to  Eev.  C.  R.  N.  Burrows  for  the  preparations. 


Explanation  of  Plate  IX. 
1.    Appendages   of   T.    hellmanni,   female,    x  50.      2.    Appendages   of 
T.  concolor,   female,   x  50.      3.   Ova  of   T.  hellmanni,  x  5.      4.    Ova  of 
T.  concolor,  x  10. 


AS    OTHEES     SEE     US. 


The  following  account  of  the  Second  International  Congress 
of  Entomology,  published  in  the  '  Berliner  Tageblatt,'  of  August 
24th  last,  is  from  the  pen  of  one  of  the  German  members, 
Herr  Fritz  N.  Wichgraf  :— 

The  first  international  assemblage  of  entomologists  which 
took  place  in  Brussels  two  years  ago  has  been  followed  by  a 
Second  Congress  in  Oxford. 

It  was  a  most  happy  thought  to  welcome  the  solitary  members 
to  certain  of  the  colleges,  of  which  there  are  twenty-five  in  the 
town  ;  whilst  the  married  couples  found  the  friendliest  hospi- 
tality in  the  houses  of  the  University  Professors.  I  had  the 
good  fortune  to  be  quartered  in  Wadham  College,  close  to  the 
Museum  which  was  the  scene  of  our  activity,  and  nothing 
more  charming  could  be  imagined  than  my  bedroom  and  sitting- 
room,  with  its  panelled  ceilings  of  old  oak  and  every  modern 
comfort  in  its  tasteful  furniture.  The  great  bay-window  in  front, 
with  its  broad  window-seat,  looked  on  to  the  broad  lawn  of  the 
cloister-courtyard,  I  might  almost  say ;  whilst  another  com- 
manded a  glimpse  of  the  green  trees  of  the  garden.  No  motors, 
no  electric  tram.     What  an  ideal  spot  for  study  ! 

We  can  scarcely  have  a  conception  of  these  gardens,  or 
rather  parks,  of  the  colleges.  Each  might  be  a  corner  of 
"  Sans  Souci,"  but  with  ancient  trees  of  every  species  in  an 
extraordinary  state  of  healthy  vitality,  and  a  luxuriance  of 
vegetation  which  seemed  almost  tropical.  The  box  becomes  a 
veritable  tree,  whilst  an  infinite  variety  of  conifers,  notably 
cedars  and  araucarias,  flourish  in  profuse  perfection.  This  is 
accounted  for  by  the  richness  of  the  soil  and  the  damp  warmth 
of  the  climate,  for  we  had  heavy  showers  every  day. 

But  for  the  opening  festival  the  sun  shone  brightly,  and  at 
ten   o'clock   the  crowd  of  members  assembled   full  of  mutual 

z  2 


288  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

interest.  In  all  directions  there  was  a  cheerful  Babel  of  greet- 
ings from  those  who  had  last  met  at  Brussels,  and  as  to  the 
Englishmen,  who  were  naturally  in  the  majority,  it  seemed  as  if 
the  freshness  of  their  climate  had  affected  the  character  of  their 
j&ne  heads  and  active  figures,  whether  in  white-haired  age  or 
the  vigour  of  youth.  In  the  large  assembly-hall,  full  of  ladies 
and  gentlemen.  Professor  Poulton  made  a  punctual  appearance. 
The  Curator  of  the  Museum  and  President  of  the  Congress  has 
a  white  Bismarcldan  moustache,  and  thick  conspicuous  eyebrows 
standing  out  crescent-wise.  Mounting  the  rostrum  he  spoke 
a  few  impressive  words  as  to  the  importance  of  the  Congress, 
and  in  a  brief  retrospect  reviewed  the  history  of  the  Hope 
Museum,  and  the  untiring  industry  of  his  predecessors,  displayed 
in  its  different  sections.  He  called  attention  to  the  highly  inte- 
resting special  exhibits,  which,  indeed,  bear  brilliant  witness  to 
the  lofty  standard  entomology  maintains  in  England,  the  classic 
home  of  this  science.  They  must,  indeed,  operate  materially  in 
spreading  the  knowledge  of  subjects  connected  with  natural 
history. 

After  the  Secretary  had  read  the  list  of  future  proceedings, 
Professor  Poulton  took  the  materials  in  his  hands  for  his 
striking  demonstration  concerning  the  group  of  Pa\nlio  dar- 
danus,  Brown,  in  Africa  (a  white  "  swallow-tail  ").  The  female 
gives  astounding  proof  of  the  power  of  mimicry  of  her  species, 
for  she  appears  in  red,  black,  and  yellow,  and  without  a  tail,  in 
inexhaustible  varieties,  seeming  to  belong  to  groups  remote  from 
those  of  her  male.  In  Madagascar  alone  she  remains  true  to 
type.     Is  that  to  be  pronounced  the  limit  to  its  operation  ? 

The  next  speaker  was  the  younger  son  of  Lord  Eothschild 
(specialist  in  fleas),  who  solicited  support  for  the  institution 
of  a  society  to  be  founded  for  the  general  establishment  of 
Nature  Reserves  to  check  the  damaging  effect  of  ever-encroach- 
ing cultivation  upon  the  insect-world  struggling  for  life  with  an 
ever-increasing  difficulty,  often  terminating  in  the  extinction  of 
an  entire  species. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  give  a  full  report  of  the  work  of  the 
next  few  days,  or  rather,  it  may  be  said,  of  the  quintessence  of 
years  of  tireless  industry  and  patient  research.  8ui£ce  it  to  say 
that  no  aspect  of  the  marvellous  secrets  showing  the  incessant 
activity  of  Nature  was  neglected,  whether  from  an  economic, 
pathological,  geographical,  or  systematic  standpoint.  And  that 
evolution,  bionomics,  the  theory  of  mimicry,  morphology,  and 
anatomy  are  not  neglected,  the  guides  of  the  Hope  Museum,  so 
ably  competent  for  their  tasks,  gave  ample  testimony.  Nomen- 
clature is  always  a  knotty  point,  and  it  was  a  satisfaction  to  me 
to  find  that  hard  German  heads  were  ready  for  argument.  The 
general  debate  gave  a  shining  example  of  unanimity,  and  this 
unanimity  bids  fair  to  lead  to  definite  results.     It  was  all  the 


A    HOLIDAY    IN    NOEFOLK,  289 

more  pleasing  because  so  many  peoples  and  languages  were 
represented.  England  was  naturally  in  the  majority,  then 
North  America,  Germany,  Belgium,  France,  Austria,  Holland, 
Spain,  Sweden,  Switzerland,  Luxembourg,  Egypt,  Chile,  Canada, 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  British  East  Africa,  and  Borneo. 

By  a  vote  of  the  General  Committee  at  the  end  of  the  Con- 
gress, a  Central  Commission  was  established  in  all  the  leading 
countries,  in  connection  with  local  societies,  to  unite  them, 
and  to  supply,  if  possible,  definite  answers  to  all  entomological 
questions  by  recognized  authority.  This  is  an  important  step 
forward,  and  gives  assurance  of  sound  basis  which  can  be  relied 
upon  to  end  the  disunion  and  misunderstandings  formerly  too 
frequent. 

Finally,  there  was  the  visit  to  the  seat  of  Lord  Eothschild  at 
Tring,  with  the  splendid  and  unique  Museum  of  his  son  and 
heir.  Greeting  his  guests  in  three  languages,  he  paid  a  most 
grateful  tribute  to  his  old  friend  and  counsellor,  Dr.  Albert 
Giinther,  whom  he  had  to  thank  for  turning  a  boyish  love  for 
catching  butterflies  to  an  earnest  resolve  to  devote  his  life  to  the 
study  of  Nature,  especially  concerning  birds  and  butterflies. 
What  he  has  accomplished  is  well  known  to  us,  notably  in  his 
classical  work  upon  Sphingidae,  and  here  we  were  strikingly 
reminded  of  it.  He  also,  like  his  comrades  at  Oxford,  had  pro- 
vided us  with  special  examples  of  the  richness  and  variety  of 
specimens  contained  in  the  Museum.  It  was  the  Ornithoptera 
of  New  Guinea  and  the  Indian  Archipelago,  in  all  their  gorgeous 
colourings,  to  which  attention  was  specially  directed.  Where 
less  favoured  mortals  think  themselves  lucky  in  possessing  a 
single  pair,  here  were  magnificent  rows  exhibiting  every  possible 
variety. 

A  walk  through  the  beautiful  garden,  radiant  with  flowers,  a 
glance  at  the  superb  stables,  a  drive  of  twenty  minutes  to  the 
station,  and  the  Second  International  Entomological  Congress 
was  at  an  end. 

Fritz  N.  Wichgraf.     (Translated  by  L.  E.-B.) 


A    HOLIDAY    IN     NOEFOLK. 
By  the  Eev.  W.  G.  Whittingham,  M.A.,  F.E.S. 

In  a  year  which  will  long  be  remembered  for  the  wettest 
and  most  disastrous  August  in  our  memories,  an  account  of  a 
collecting  holiday  which  was  in  some  respects  distinctly  successful, 
and  had  some  unusual  features,  will  perhaps  be  read  with  more 
interest  than  it  would  afford  under  more  ordinary  conditions. 

An  idea  had  been  in  my  mind  for  a  year  or  two  of  taking  a 
collecting  holiday  on  the  Broads  by  the  aid  of  a  boat  ;  and  when 


290  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

my  friends,  Eev.  J.  W.  Metcalfe  and  Kev.  J.  E.  Tarbat,  proposed 
a  joint  expedition,  the  opportunity  for  putting  one's  idea  into 
practice  presented  itself.  Accordingly  we  engaged  a  twelve-ton 
yacht,  and  on  July  29th  I  arrived  at  Potter  Heigham  on  a  most 
uninviting  da,y,  after  a  journey  from  Leicester,  during  which  it 
had  rained  hard  the  whole  time.  My  friends,  who  had  already 
spent  a  week  on  the  coast,  where  "Mr.  Metcalfe  had  made  the 
interesting  discoveries  of  Lithosia  pygmceola  and  Crambus  fasceli- 
nellus  he  has  already  recorded,  had  established  themselves  on 
the  boat  and  laid  in  stores.  They  described  the  consternation 
of  the  skipper  when  they  arrived  with  their  luggage,  and  his 
dismay  when  they  told  him  the  man  who  was  coming  would  have 
much  more.  Our  first  proceeding  was  to  go  through  a  process 
of  unpacking  and  sorting  and  stowing  of  necessaries  into  lockers ; 
portmanteaux  and  bags  and  whatever  could  be  dispensed  with 
being  despatched  by  carrier  to  Wroxham,  where  we  expected  our 
expedition  to  end.  Even  thus  the  spare  bunk  (there  were  four) 
was  loaded  with  setting-boxes,  lamps,  and  other  paraphernalia, 
and  we  felt  it  was  not  altogether  a  matter  for  regret  that  a 
fourth  member  had  not  been  persuaded  to  join  our  party.  The 
boat  was,  however,  well  equipped  with  many  ingenious  contri- 
vances, and  answered  our  purpose  admirably  ;  and,  as  for  the 
skipper,  we  could  not  have  had- one  more  pleasant  and  reliable, 
whose  interest  in  our  proceedings  was  genuine  and  increasing, 
although  there  was  a  smile  in  the  background,  especially  in  the 
presence  of  his  mates  ;  and  if  he  did  his  best  to  make  sailors  of 
us,  he,  for  his  part,  was  ready  to  learn  something  about  moths. 
As  soon  as  we  were  settled  we  took  stock  of  the  wind,  and 
decided  that  it  would  be  wise  to  go  first  up  the  Thurne  to  the 
purlieus  of  Hickhng  Broad  and  Horsey  Mere.  We  lay  up  a 
little  before  dusk  in  a  promising  spot,  and  after  supper  set  out 
with  our  hand-lamps.  The  evening  was  still  though  cold,  and  a 
certain  amount  of  cloud  gave  hopes  of  a  propitious  start,  but  as 
the  night  came  on  the  clouds  dispersed  and  banks  of  white  mist 
lay  here  and  there.  It  was  the  kind  of  evening  when  nothing 
would  ily,  and  searching  at  first  only  revealed  a  Scoparia  pallida 
or  two  and  Crambus  culmellus,  though  a  few  Leucania  straminea 
and  Calamia  phragmitidis  were  netted.  The  marshes  were 
horribly  wet,  two  or  three  inches  of  water  everywhere,  though 
later  experience  led  us  to  regard  that  as  comparatively  dry 
ground.  Mr.  Metcalfe,  who  has  intuitions  of  the  right  thing  to 
do,  had  his  attention  attracted  to  a  number  of  heaps  of  cut 
rushes  that  had  evidently  lain  for  a  few  weeks  and  had  not  been 
carried,  and  he  soon  shouted  that  here,  creeping  out  of  the  heaps, 
was  Nonagria  neurica  {arundineta).  We  all  set  to  work  searching 
the  heaps,  and  after  a  couple  of  hours  we  had  secured  between 
us  two  or  three  dozen.  Chilo  phragmitellus  and  a  single  Ap)amea 
leucostigma  were  virtually  all  the  other  moths  we  saw. 


A    HOLIDAY    IN    NOEFOLK.  291 

This  success  with  an  insect  that  on  previous  occasions  had 
only  been  picked  up  in  twos  and  threes  determined  us  to  stop  for 
another  night  in  the  same  place.  The  evening  of  the  30th  was 
more  promising,  with  more  cloud  and  a  fair  breeze  blowing,  and 
we  got  out  our  sheets  and  lamps  and  had  our  meal  early.  While 
this  was  preparing,  one  of  our  number,  strolling  out  with  a  net, 
shouted  that  N.  neurica  was  already  there.  We  had  our  meal, 
and  netted  a  few  Coenohia  rufa  before  the  more  serious  work 
commenced.  We  had  high  expectations,  but  none  of  us 
dreamed  of  the  extent  of  our  realization  ;  neurica  may  be  said 
to  have  been  swarming.  Nearly  every  heap  of  rushes  produced 
one  or  two  at  least ;  most  of  them,  especially  in  the  wetter 
places,  produced  them  in  dozens  and  scores.  Several  were 
paired.  The  best  heaps  took  us  into  very  wet  ground,  and  two 
of  us  went  into  holes  half-way  up  our  thighs  and  took  an  in- 
voluntary seat  in  cold  water,  but  such  incidents  were  of  small 
account.  We  stopped  at  last  almost  ashamed  of  taking  so  many 
and  got  our  lamps  alight  at  the  sheets,  but  here  there  was  little 
result.  The  moon  was  shining  now,  and  a  couple  of  Nonagria 
hrevilinea,  a  bright  red  Spilosoma  fuliginosa,  with  a  few  more 
C.  phragmitidis,  C.  phragmitellus,  and  S.  pallida  were  all  that 
came  to  our  nets. 

The  presence  of  this  insect  in  such  large  numbers  in  the  cut 
reeds  was  very  remarkable.  Some  of  them  had  certainly  pupated 
there,  for  we  found  one  or  two  with  the  wings  hardly  dry.  They 
could  hardly,  however,  have  crawled  away  from  the  reed-beds 
and  found  out  the  heaps  for  the  express  purpose  of  pupating  in, 
in  such  numbers.  The  probability  is  that  those  which  emerged 
there  were  already  pupse  at  the  time  when  the  reeds  were  cut. 
The  presence  of  newly-emerged  females,  though  in  small  numbers, 
would  naturally  attract  males ;  but  if  this  were  the  only  expla- 
nation one  would  have  expected  to  find  a  large  preponderance 
of  males,  whereas  the  two  sexes  were  in  approximately  equal 
numbers.  Probably  the  coincidence  of  two  or  three  causes 
brought  about  the  result  which  proved  so  interesting  to  us — a 
specially  good  year  for  N.  neurica  (later  experience  bore  this  out), 
delay  in  the  carrying  of  the  cut  reeds,  some  of  which  contained 
puppe,  and  the  rough  weather,  which  sent  numbers  of  insects  to 
them  for  shelter.  A  few  other  moths  were  found  in  the  same 
place.  The Jemales  varied  greatly  in  size;  the  largest  I  have 
measures  29  mm.  from  tip  to  tip  across  the  expanded  wings,  and 
the  greatest  breadth  of  the  fore  wings  is  5^  mm. ;  the  smallest 
is  barely  20  mm.  across,  and  the  breadth  is  3^  mm.  The  males 
are  more  uniform,  but  invariably  small. 

W^e  resolved  that  next  morning  we  would  be  off  to  new 
ground,  but  next  day  brought  a  gale  of  wind  and  torrents  of 
rain  which  made  sailing  out  of  the  question,  and  with  our  hands 
full  of  insects  to  set  we  were  content  to  stay,  hoping  to  get  off 


292  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

in  the  afternoon.  But  the  rain  held  till  six  o'clock,  and  we 
finally  decided  to  make  another  night  of  it  where  we  were.  That 
evening  it  blew  hard,  though  the  rain  stopped,  and  we  made  our 
way  with  sugaring-tin  to  the  shelter  of  a  clump  of  alders  and 
oaks,  and  sugared  the  flower-heads.  In  the  shelter  of  the  trees 
all  the  moths  out  were  flying,  and  there  we  had  our  solitary 
successful  night  with  sugar.  We  took  a  number  of  Apamea 
leucostigma,  including  some  good  var.  fibrosa.  Flying  were  a 
few  L.  straminea  and  Lithosia  griseola  and  stramineola.  Such 
moths  as  Apamea  didyma,  Triphcena  comes,  and  Leucania  impura 
were  in  some  numbers,  as  well  as  what  appeared  less  likely  on 
the  marshes,  Agrotis  nigricans  and  A.  tritici.  Calamia  phragmi- 
tidis  was  again  present,  and  Leioptilus  microdactylus  was  taken 
from  the  flowers  of  the  Eupatoriiim ;  and  on  our  way  back  (our 
consciences  having  quieted  themselves  since  the  previous  night) 
we  got  a  few  more  neurica  from  the  reed-heaps,  as  well  as  one  or 
two  flying. 

_  At  whatever  cost  we  decided  to  leave  the  next  day,  but  our 
skipper  had  a  new  sail  which  he  had  no  intention  of  reefing  if  he 
could  avoid  it,  and  as  it  blew  very  hard  again,  we  waited  till  the 
afternoon.  Two  or  three  larvae  of  Arsilonche  albovenosa  were 
found  during  the  day,  and  a  Plusia  festucce  which  emerged 
after  pupating,  on  September  14th.  At  four  o'clock  we  got 
under  weigh.  The  wind  fell  into  a  dead  calm,  and  some 
"  quanting "  and  towing  were  necessary,  and  we  finally  lay 
up  near  St.  Benet's  Abbey  at  nightfall.  We  made  hurried 
prejDarations,  but  the  night  proved  unpropitious,  and  with  one 
exception,  which  from  other  causes  was  a  failure,  all  the  remain- 
ing nights  were  clear  and  cool,  with  heavy  dews,  and  hardly 
anything  flew.  Sugar  and  sheet  were  alike  unproductive.  At 
St.  Benet's  our  hand-lamps  gave  us  some  A'^.  hrevilinea,  in  good 
condition  for  the  most  part,  a  few^.  leucostigma,  several  Tapino- 
stola  fulva,  both  pale  brown  and  a  bright  red  form.  Epione  api- 
ciaria  was  in  numbers,  as  it  was  in  most  places,  and  we  also  took 
Phibalapteryx  vittata,  Eupithecia  tenuiata,  Peronia  shepherdana, 
and  Pcedisca  semifuscana,  the  last  very  varied,  including  the 
striking  variety  with  white  inner  margin. 

The  next  night  we  lay  at  Ranworth,  and  now  we  had  hopes 
of  Lithosia  muscerda — hopes  which  were  doomed  to  disappoint- 
ment. N.  brevilinea  was  again  netted  and  taken  at  rest,  together 
with  most  of  the  other  moths  already  mentioned,  including 
N.  neurica,  and  in  addition  the  following: — Apamea  ophio- 
gramma,  Coremia  designata,  Acidalia  immiitata  and  emarginata, 
Drepana  falcataria,  Selenia  bilunaria  var.  juliaria,  Ditula  semi- 
fasciana,  Penthina  betulcetana,  Phoxopteryx  sicidana,  and  Grapho- 
liilia  nisella  and  G.  penkleriana.  A  batch  of  Peucedanum  gave 
larvae  of  Papilio  machaon,  mostly  full  grown.  A  couple  of  pupae 
were  also  found,  which  emerged  later  in  August. 


A   HOLIDAY   IN   NORFOLK.  293 

On  August  3rcl  we  lay  at  Horning,  and  here  we  had  our 
solitary  really  cloudy  night,  and  spent  a  hour  before  dusk  before 
an  alder-car,  in  the  hope  of  seeing  Lithosia  muscerda  fly,  but 
none  made  its  appearance,  though  a  Norwich  collector  netted 
one  on  the  road  opposite  the  ferry.  There  was  an  east  wind, 
and  rain  came  on  with  the  dark.  When  it  ceased  we  again 
found  N.  brevilinea  and  other  Noctuse  by  searching.  P.  vittata 
came  to  light  in  some  numbers,  with  A.  immutata,  a  single 
Eugonia  alniaria,  Nudaria  senex,  and  Pyrausta  aurata.  We  had 
worked  for  Tor  trices  in  the  afternoon,  but  little  appeared  except 
a  few  of  those  already  mentioned  and  Grapholitha  ramella. 

On  Sunday  morning  we  were  at  Ranworth  Church,  with  its 
beautiful  screen,  and  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  river  was  alive 
with  yachts,  which  add  so  much  to  the  interest  and  charm  of  a 
Broadland  holiday,  we  started  to  go  up  the  Ant  to  Barton  and 
Stalbam  for  Nonagria  cannce.  Our  skipper  warned  us  to  "  stow 
well,"  but  as  the  boat  lay  over,  the  table  in  the  cabin,  against 
which  our  insect-boxes  were  resting,  broke  away,  and  one  of  us 
went  into  the  cabin  to  preserve  order.  Then  came  an  amusing 
and  for  the  moment  alarming  incident.  A  sudden  gust  of  wind 
laid  the  boat  with  unreefed  mainsail  right  over,  and  brought  the 
water  well  over  the  combings  up  against  the  cabin-side.  One  of 
us  on  the  stern  counter  drew  up  his  legs  and  hung  on  for  dear 
life,  while  the  man  in  the  cabin  was  bombarded  with  insect- 
boxes,  lamps,  a  7-lb.  tin  of  carbide,  and  various  impedimenta, 
and  sudden  spasms  shot  through  us  at  the  prospect  of  all  those 
neurica  coming  to  a  miserable  end.  We  ran  the  bows  ashore, 
and  lay  on  for  the  wind  to  moderate,  and  a  rapid  inspection 
showed  that  beyond  the  loss  of  a  few  pins  no  damage  was  done. 
We  were  soon  able  to  proceed,  and  after  lowering  the  mast  to  go 
under  Ludham  Bridge  we  ran  up  the  Ant  under  the  jib.  A  look 
round  with  the  hand-lamps  gave  us  again  a  N.  neurica  or  two 
fluttering  among  the  reeds. 

The  next  day  we  took  the  dinghy,  and,  landing,  set  to  work 
at  the  bulrushes  for  the  pupse  of  N.  canncs.  Our  first  results 
came  from  the  stems  of  Typha  angustifolia,  working  from  the 
back — that  is,  the  shore  side ;  but  presently,  coming  across  a 
small  clump  of  T.  latifolia  not  more  than  a  few  yards  square,  we 
found  a  dozen  in  as  many  minutes.  They  were  mostly  pupae, 
but  we  found  three  or  four  larvse  that  had  not  yet  pupated,  one 
of  which,  at  all  events,  has  safely  pupated  since.  Nonagria 
arimdinis  was  naturally  very  abundant.  Altogether  we  found 
two  or  three  dozen  N.  canna.  It  is  advisable  not  to  cut  the 
rushes  at  first,  but  to  pull  away  carefully  the  outside  leaves,  and 
when  the  pupa  is  seen  to  cut  away  the  piece  of  stem  containing 
it.  The  pupae  were  subsequently  laid  on  damp  flannel,  and  at 
the  time  of  writing  several  have  successfully  emerged,  also  some 
ichneumon  flies ! 


294 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 


From  a  large  number  of  rushes  the  pupse  or  larvae  had  been 
eaten  out.  Is  it  rats  or  duck  that  eat  them  out  in  this  way  ?  It 
is  always  a  little  above  the  water-line,  and  the  stem  is  well 
mauled.  Cannce  larvae  appear  to  feed  on  the  fringe  nearest  the 
shore,  arundinis  right  into  the  deeper  water  ;  but  in  a  wet  season 
like  this  all  the  marsh  is  water-logged,  and  we  were  often  knee- 
deep  in  getting  them. 

At  night  we  added  to  our  captures  again  N.  hreviUnea,  red 
T.fulva,  a  large  number  of  P.  semifuscana,  a  single  example  of 
the  bright  Norfolk  form  of  Celcena  haworthii,  and  more  Niidaria 
senex,  P.  vittata,  &c.  Two  full-fed  larvae  of  Chcerocampa  elpenor 
were  found  during  the  day,  one  of  the  green  and  one  of  the  brown 
form. 

In  the  expectation  of  a  strong  wind,  we  were  roused  at 
4.30  a.m.  next  day,  and  it  was  well  we  came  away  as  we  did,  as 
a  boat  lying  near  us,  which  started  a  few  hours  later,  lost  her 
jib  and  got  into  difficulties.  Five  hours'  hard  work  saw  us  again 
at  Kanworth  with  keen  appetites  for  breakfast. 

During  the  afternoon  our  skipper,  whose  interest  in  Lepi- 
doptera  was  growing  apace,  offered  to  row  us  round  in  the  dinghy 
to  find  more  pupae  of  N.  caiince.  The  search  proved  fruitless,  but 
the  skipper,  who  was  working  on  his  own  account,  produced  a 
damaged  typha  pupa,  and  what  he  termed  "  a  wriggler,"  which 
proved  to  be  the  larva  of  a  mosquito.  It  was  summarily 
executed,  but  the  serious  toll  of  blood  and  subsequent  irritation 
must  be  taken  into  account  when  collecting  from  a  yacht. 

The  evenings  became  less  and  less  productive.  On  this  our 
last  but  one  we  took  nothing  but  three  or  four  N.  hrevilinea,  a 
single  neurica,  and  a  few  C.  phragmitidis.  On  our  final  evening 
we  lay  off  Wroxham  Broad,  probably  in  too  cultivated  a  region 
for  the  best  results.  The  day  promised  well,  but  the  heavy 
clouds  and  close  atmosphere  which  raised  our  hopes  resulted  in 
what  Norfolk  people  call  a"  tempest,"  with  drenching  rain  late  in 
the  afternoon,  but  afterwards  it  cleared  up,  cold  and  still,  and 
stars  were  visible.  The  solitary  moth  that  came  to  light  was  a 
Noctua  rubi,  but  in  addition  to  adding  to  our  captures  of  P. 
vittata,  A.  immutata,  &c.,  we  took  a  good  series  of  Cramhus  sela- 
selliis  and  a  Lohophora  viretata. 

This  was  a  poor  enough  ending,  but  on  the  whole,  in  spite  of 
bad  weather,  of  which  we  had  every  variety,  wind  and  wet  and  cold, 
we  had  little  reason  to  regard  the  holiday  as  other  than  success- 
ful. Miiscerda,  indeed,  we  did  not  take,  nor  did  we  see  a  sign  of 
such  insects  as  Schoenobius  mucronellus  or  gigantellus  or  Calamo- 
tropha  paludella.  The  special  Broadland  Micro-Lepidoptera 
were,  with  the  exception  of  Peronea  shepherdana  and  Pcedisca 
semifuscana,  absent ;  Tortrices  as  a  whole,  indeed,  were  very 
little  in  evidence,  and  common  Noctuae  few  in  number,  but 
Nonagria  cannce,  neurica,  and  hrevilinea  were  in  themselves  a 


A    HOLIDAY    IN    NOKFOLK.  295 

good  return,  and  the  extraordinary  take  of  neurica  is  a  thing  to 
remain  among  the  great  collecting  memories. 

At  the  end  of  the  cruise  my  friends  left  me,  and  I  had  a  fort- 
night on  the  coast  without  them.  A  little  bit  of  isolated  marsh 
produced,  among  other  things,  Coenobia  rufa  in  abundance,  the 
second  brood  of  Eupisteria  obliterata,  and  some  Orohena  strami- 
nalis.  On  the  sandhills  the  coast  Noctuse  were  not  so  plentiful 
as  usual,  and  by  day  these  regions  seemed  almost  devoid  of 
insect-life.  At  night,  however,  there  were  many  interesting 
insects  to  be  seen.  Agrotis  tritici,  chiefly  light,  bright  forms, 
but  with  some  interesting  dark  varieties,  was  most  frequent. 
A.  vestigiaUs  was  also  in  some  numbers,  and  A.  cursoria  more 
rarely.  Apamea  didyma  and  Miana  bicoloria,  which  are  gene- 
rally abundant,  were  in  quite  small  numbers.  There  were  some 
Leucania  littoralis  and  a  few  Tapinostola  elynii,  but  this  last  was 
in  poor  condition,  and  scarcely  worth  taking.  At  rest  on  the 
marram -grass  were  several  Lithosia  complana,  and  sometimes 
this  species  flew  to  the  light.  In  the  same  way  Aspilates 
ochrearia  (in  plenty),  Anerastia  lotella,  Cr ambus  genicideiis,  and 
some  C.  pinellus  were  found.  This  last  insect,  which  hardly 
ever  appears  in  any  number,  turns  up  in  very  unexpected  places. 
I  do  not  remember  seeing  it  on  coast  sandhills  before. 

By  far  the  most  interesting  insect  that  I  captured  on  the 
coast  was  Crambus  alpinellus.  I  came  across  it  in  considerable 
numbers,  nor  did  I  find,  as  Barrett  records,  that  it  was  loth  to 
appear  during  the  day.  It  was  the  solitary  insect  that  flew 
before  sunset  on  the  part  of  the  coast  where  I  found  it.  Un- 
fortunately it  deteriorated  rapidly  in  the  rough  weather  pre- 
vailing. 

It  was  seldom  worth  while  putting  up  the  sheet.  One  night, 
however,  which  gave  more  promise  than  most,  there  flew  to 
light,  together  with  L.  complana,  some  of  the  commoner  Nocture, 
Notodonta  ziczac,  and  curiously  (as  there  was  no  oak  for  a  con- 
siderable distance),  Drepana  binaria,  once  more,  of  all  things,  a 
specimen  of  Nonagria  neurica !  Who  would  have  looked  for 
this  on  a  sandhill  ?  There  were,  of  course,  drained  marshes 
not  far  away,  the  grazing-ground  of  cattle  and  sheep,  and  in  the 
ditches  and  by  them  a  few  lines  and  patches  of  reed  remained, 
but  mere  fragments.  It  is  curious  that  such  an  obscure  insect 
should  have  found  enough  cover  to  hold  its  own,  and  have  flown 
up  to  light  away  among  the  marrams. 

Of  Tortrices  I  beat  out  a  few  Sericoris  bifasciana  and 
Eupoecilia  atricapitana,  and  from  a  cluster  of  pines  a  number 
of  Retinia,  whether  sylvestrana  or  posticana  I  have  not  deter- 
mined ;  they  were  a  good  deal  worn.  In  either  case  they  are 
interesting  insects  for  the  county  and  date. 

After  the  deluge  of  the  26th,  which  left  the  county  in  such  a 
deplorable  plight,  little  was  to  be  done,  though  I  found  Crambus 


296  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

alpineUus  had  survived  it,  and  Aspilates  ochrearia  was  still  in 
excellent  condition.  I  was  surprised  also  to  take  off  sugared 
marram  one  example  of  Dianthoecia  cucubali  and  one  of  D.  carpo- 
phaga,  in  each  case  in  very  good  order.  I  spent  the  last  two 
days  in  inspecting  some  of  the  results  of  the  flood,  and  in  having 
a  last  determined  search  (I  had  made  three  previous  expeditions) 
for  the  larvae  of  Eupithecia  extensaria.  On  my  last  day,  and 
literally  in  the  last  hour,  for  it  was  five  o'clock,  and  I  was  several 
miles  from  the  place  at  which  I  was  staying,  I  came  across  it. 
It  was  quite  a  satisfactory  ending  to  a  holiday. 


NOTES    FROM    AN    ESSEX    LEPIDOPTERIST'S    DIARY 
FOR    1911. 

By  Paymaster-in-Chief  Gervase  F.  Mathew,  R.N.,  F.E.S.,  &c. 

(Concluded  from  p.  268.) 

There  was  a  good  deal  of  wind  and  rain  for  the  first  half  of 
the  month  of  October,  and  very  little  outdoor  work  could  be  done. 
On  the  10th  I  noticed  that  about  forty  larvae  of  C.  phlcsas,  which 
had  been  hibernating  under  dead  leaves,  &c.,  suddenly  began  to 
feed  again,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  days  rapidly  increased  in 
size,  and  I  thought  they  were  going  to  spin  up  and  produce 
butterflies  at  the  end  of  the  month.  One  spun  up,  but  failed  to 
change  to  a  pupa  ;  the  others  ceased  to  feed  after  about  a  week, 
and  eventually  they  all  died.  The  mild  weather  during  the 
middle  of  the  month  must  have  affected  them.  Collix  spartiata 
began  to  appear  in  breeding-cages  on  14th.  The  18th  (St.  Luke's 
Day)  was  beautifully  bright  and  warm,  and  the  next  day  much 
the  same  up  to  noon,  after  which  it  clouded  over.  However,  it 
felt  very  mild,  and  there  was  a  soft  south-westerly  breeze ;  so  I 
went  to  the  woods  and  tried  sugar.  Moths  were  plentiful,  par- 
ticularly C.  vaccina  ;  the  others  seen  or  taken  were  Agriopis 
aprilina,  Amathes  rujina,  Scopelosoma  satellitia,  Agrotis  segetum, 
and  Miselia  oxyacanthce ;  also  Oporabia  dilutata  came  fluttering 
round  my  lamp  once  or  twice.  This  was  my  last  night  in 
the  woods,  as  the  weather  became  colder,  and  we  had  a 
spell  of  east  and  north-east  winds.  On  the  20th  C.  miata  was 
taken  at  rest  on  a  wall.  On  the  25th  there  was  a  good  deal  of 
sun,  though  it  was  by  no  means  warm.  I  saw  P.  atalanta  flying 
in  a  sheltered  place.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  rain  and  wind 
throughout  November,  but  it  was  mild  for  the  most  part,  the 
only  frosts  being  on  nights  of  11th,  22nd,  and  23rd.  O.  dilutata 
was  bred  on  the  1st,  Hyhernia  defoliaria  on  10th,  and  H.  auran- 
tiaria  on  17th.  December,  generally  speaking,  was  mild,  with  a 
large  amount  of  rain  and  occasionally  heavy  gales.     The  only 


NOTES   FROM    AN    ESSEX    LEPIDOPTERIST's    DIARY.  297 

frosts  were  on  the  nights  of  6th,  11th,  and  22nd,  and  they  were 
very  slight.  The  last  four  days  of  the  mouth  were  remarkably 
mild,  with  a  densely  overcast  sky,  and  thick  drizzly  fogs  on  28th 
and  31st.  On  30th  there  was  a  little  sun,  and  I  saw  bluebottles 
flying  about,  and  spiders  were  spinning  their  webs.  H.  defoliaria 
was  bred  on  16th,  a  very  dark,  almost  unicolorous,  male ;  and 
on  29th  I  noticed  a  dead  larva  of  L.  favicolor  hanging  to  the 
muslin  hood  of  its  breeding-cage.  All  my  breeding-cages  are 
kept  in  an  open  shed  out  of  doors  facing  north-east.  A  mild, 
muggy  winter  is  fatal  to  many  hibernating  larvae ;  I  have  often 
come  across  them  dead  and  flaccid  when  I  have  been  pupa- 
digging,  so  they  appear  to  suffer  just  as  much  in  a  state  of 
nature  as  they  do  in  confinement,  in  open  weather. 

Taking  it  all  round,  the  very  remarkable  year  of  1911, 
almost  certainly  the  hottest  and  most  brilliant  on  record,  has 
not  been  an  exceptionally  favourable  one  for  the  lepidopterist. 
Many  species  that  are  usually  plentiful  in  ordinary  seasons  were 
either  very  scarce  or  not  seen  at  all.  In  the  spring  the  hiber- 
nating Vanessids  were  hardly  seen.  I  only  noticed  one  or  two 
examples  of  urtica  and  io,  and  not  a  single  polychloros,  atalanta, 
or  cardui,  and  in  the  autumn  they  only  appeared  in  small  num- 
bers. Polychloros  I  have  not  met  with  for  some  years.  The 
Pierids,  too,  were  far  from  numerous,  either  in  the  spring  or 
autumn.  On  the  other  hand,  the  second  and  third  broods  of 
L.  icarus  and  C.  phlcBas  were  in  great  profusion.  Bombyces, 
Noctuae,  Geometrae,  Pyrales,  and  Tortrices  were,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  few  species,  certainly  far  below  their  usual  numbers. 
One  of  the  chief  features  of  the  season  was  the  abundance  of 
individuals  of  some  of  the  second  and  third  broods  (notably 
L.  pallens,N.  c-nigriLm,  N.  ruhi),  and  the  smallness  of  the  speci- 
mens, and,  among  the  Geometry,  T.  amataria  and  A.  emarginata. 
Sugar  seemed  to  have  no  attraction,  except  on  the  marshes, 
until  long  after  midsummer,  on  account  of  the  immense  amount 
of  honeydew,  which  was  so  thick  on  the  leaves  that  an  ordinary 
shower  failed  to  remove  it.  It  was  also  a  very  poor  year  for 
larvae.  In  the  spring  the  hibernating  Noctuae  and  Geometrae 
were  by  no  means  plentiful,  and  later  on,  at  the  end  of  May, 
such  species  as  H.  defoliaria,  H.  aurantiaria,  O.  dilutata,  C. 
hrumata,  &c.,  were  very  scarce.  The  oaks  and  undergrowth  in 
woods,  which  are  often  stripped  of  their  leaves,  showed  very 
slight  signs  of  having  been  eaten,  and  the  usually  abundant 
Porthesia  similis,  Malacosoma  neustria,  Lasiocampa  querciis,  &c., 
were  few  and  far  between.  At  the  end  of  summer  and  early 
autumn  there  was  no  improvement.  I  did  not  notice  any 
Hadena  oleracea,  which  in  most  years  swarms  on  the  tamarisk, 
and  only  one  or  two  H.  pisi,  two  Ciicullia  asteris  (often 
common  on  sea-aster),  and  very  few  Smerinthus  populi  on  the 
poplars.     The  most  common  larva  was  that  of  Phalera  bucephala. 


298  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

In  the  woods  it  was  just  the  same  ;  nothing  was  to  be  found  on 
the  aspens  and  sallows,  and  even  in  the  cottage  gardens,  where 
in  an  ordinary  season  many  of  the  cabbage  and  broccoli  plants 
exhibit  nothing  but  their  ribs,  the  leaves  last  year  were  almost 
all  intact. 

Lee  House,  Dovercourt :  Jan.  9th,  1912. 


NOTES    AND    OBSEEVATIONS. 

Correction. — By  some  oversight  the  legends  to  the  figures  of 
larval  siphons  in  my  paper  on  British  Mosquitos  in  last  month's 
'  Entomologist '  were  reversed.  Fig.  4  represents  Theohaldia  fumi- 
pemiis  (Stph.)  (=  theohaldia,  Meij.),  and  fig.  3  is  Th.  morsitans 
(Theo.).  I  should  have  stated  that  these  two  species  belong  to  the 
group  Culicella,  now  included  by  Dyar  and  Knab  in  Culex.  In  my 
opinion,  however,  the  structure  of  the  male  palpi  and  genitaha  and  of 
the  legs  places  them  rather  in  Theohaldia. — F.  W.  Edwards  ;  British 
Museum  (Natural  History),  September  24th,  1912. 

Lyc^na  argiades  (Life-history  of)  :  an  Amendment.  —  My 
attention  has  recently  been  called  to  a  footnote  on  p.  78,  vol.  iii., 
Tutt's  '  British  Butterflies,'  which  criticises  my  statements  referring 
to  the  cannibalistic  habits  of  Lyccena  argiades  larvae  as  follows  : — 
"  Erohawk's  details  of  this  (Entom.  xxxvii.  p.  245)  must  be  taken 
with  caution.  On  p.  246  he  states  that  '  all  the  eggs  hatched  on  the 
same  day,  July  30th,  1904,'  and  that  'the  first  moult  took  place  on 
August  3rd.'  On  p.  243  he  stated  that  he  '  noticed  one  larva,  after 
the  first  moult,  feeding  on  a  newly  hatched  larva,  which  it  had  seized 
as  it  emerged  from  the  egg,'  which  is  very  wonderful,  if  both  state- 
ments be  studied  together."  These  facts  are  easily  explained,  as  I 
find,  on  reference  to  my  note-book  regarding  this  species,  an  entry 
stating,  "I  received  from  Mr.  Hugh  Main,  July  21st,  1904,  some 
larvae  and  ova  laid  by  a  female  taken  by  Dr.  Chapman,  South 
France."  The  larva  alluded  to,  after  the  first  moult  (Entom.  p.  248), 
is  one  of  those  received  on  July  21st,  which  I  had  placed  with  the 
newly  hatched  larvae  on  July  30th.  I  admit  I  might  have  m^ade  the 
statement  clearer  by  mentioning  the  fact  I  had  larvae  already  feeding 
previous  to  those  tliat  hatched  (July  30th)  from  the  second  lot  of  eggs 
received  on  July  26th. — F.  W.  Frohawk, 

Notes  on  Colias  edusa,  Pyrameis  cardui,  &c.  —  The  present 
year  gave  promise  of  yielding  large  numbers  of  Colias  edusa  and 
Pyrameis  cardui.  I  do  not  know  how  far  the  promise  has  held  good, 
but  my  own  experience  has  been  disappointing.  The  first  appearance 
of  British-bred  specimens  that  I  noted  was  on  July  20th,  at  Dover, 
where  two  male  C.  edusa  and  one  var.  helice  put  in  an  appearance. 
At  the  field  meeting  of  the  South  London  Entomological  and  Natural 
History  Society  at  Otford,  on  July  27th,  I  personally  saw  three  male 
edusa.  From  that  tirae  until  August  1 7th  I  had  no  opportunity  of 
observation,  but  on  that  date  I  went  to  South  Devon  until  September 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  299 

11th.  The  weather  during  my  stay  was  unsuitable  for  butterflies, 
to  express  it  mildly,  but  there  was  some  sunshine,  and  I  saw  nine 
specimens  of  edusa  altogether,  the  last  on  September  7th.  Pyrameis 
atalanta  was  very  plentiful,  and  there  were  a  few  P.  cardui,  Vanessa 
io,  and  V.  urticcR  to  be  found,  with  considerable  numbers  of  Pararge 
egeria,  P.  mcegera,  Epine2:)hele  ianira,  E.  titJionus,  and  other  common 
butterflies,  and  mostly  in  battered  condition.  Insects  were  appa- 
rently somewhat  out  of  date,  for  Abraxas  grossulariata,  Lasiocampa 
{Bomhyx)  quercus,  and  Hydriomena  furcata  (elutata)  were  not  un- 
common, and  Argynnis  paphia  was  seen  at  Tavistock  on  September 
2nd.  Local  variation  was  disappointing  ;  E.  ianira  difl'ered  little,  if 
at  all,  from  Kentish  specimens,  and  the  only  species  which  showed 
signs  of  having  been  interesting  was  E.  tithonus.  Sugar  proved  at- 
tractive, yielding  many  common  species  in  abundance,  and  Geometers 
were  fairly  plentiful  in  the  hedges,  but  nothing  appeared  that  I  should 
not  have  expected  in  early  to  mid-August.  The  only  fresh  emergences 
I  noted  were  Pararge  egeria  and  Mesoleuca  ocellata.  No  doubt  the 
unseasonable  weather  accounted  for  this,  and  has,  I  fear,  sadly 
lessened  the  numbers  of  edusa  and  cardui. — B.  W.  Adkin  ;  8,  Hope 
Park,  Bromley,  Kent. 

CoLiAs  EDUSA  var.  HELiCE  IN  Kent.— I  am  glad  to  record  two 
very  fine  specimens  of  Colias  edusa  var.  helice,  taken  by  Mr.  Bristowe, 
of  this  neighbourhood,  during  the  last  week  in  August  near  Minster- 
on-Sea,  Kent,  He  saw  one  or  two  more  during  the  fitful  sunshine 
we  had  about  then,  but  was  unable  to  take  them.  —  Stanley  A. 
Blenkabn,  F.E.S.  ;  Norham,  Cromwell  Road,  Beckenham,  September 
17th,  1912. 

CoLiAs  EDUSA  var.  HELICE,  &c.,  IN  CHANNEL  IsLANDs. — It  may  be 
of  interest  to  record  the  capture  of  tv^o  fresh  specimens  of  G.  edusa 
var.  helice,  on  August  2nd,  in  Alderney.  The  typical  form  was  very 
common.  I  also  secured  a  fresh  specimen  of  Macroglossa  stellatarum 
on  August  12th.  In  Guernsey  I  met  with  a  newly  emerged  H.  jacohace, 
on  August  22nd.  This  is  rather  a  late  emergence,  I  believe. — Hugh 
G.  Le  Eay;  11,  Wontner  Eoad,  Upper  Tooting  Park,  S.W.,  September 
4th,  1912. 

COLIAS  EDUSA,  PyRAMEIS  ATALANTA,  AND  P.  CARDUI  AT  FOLKE- 
STONE.— All  these  species  were  common  at  Folkestone  in  July  from 
the  26th  to  27th.  Larvae  of  Macroglossa  stellatarjim  obtained  at  the 
same  time  and  place  duly  pupated,  and  the  moths  are  now  emerging. 
— H.  Fleet,  Junb.  ;  7,  Park  Road,  Esher,  September  14th,  1912. 

CoLiAs  EDUSA  IN  SOMERSET. — I  saw  One  male  C.  edusa  yesterday 
in  a  stubble-field,  the  only  one  I  have  seen  this  year. — Waldegrave  ; 
Chewton  Priory,  Chewton  Mendip,  Somerset,  September  24th,  1912. 

Abundance  op  Pyrameis  atalanta  Larv^. — There  has  been  a 
remarkable  abundance  of  P.  atalanta  larvae  this  year  in  our  local 
nettle-beds.  I  could  get  as  many  as  I  liked  in  July,  and  so  widely 
extended  is  the  brood  (or  is  it  a  real  double  brood  ?)  that  to-day 
(September  22nd)  I  have  just  brought  home  two  pupae  and  several 
larvae,  not  all  full-fed.     But  they  seem  delicate  insects  to  rear ;  of 


300  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

those  I  had  barely  40  per  cent,  reached  the  final  stage.  Many  died 
off  in  the  change  from  the  larval  to  the  pupal  stage,  while  some 
apparently  healthy  pupae  shrivelled  up.  I  have  never  found  the  same 
difficulty  with  other  species  of  the  Vanessae.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I 
obtained  this  year  about  a  score  of  P.  carclui  larvae.  They  all  fed  up 
rapidly,  and  produced  100  per  cent,  of  imagines. — J.  S.  Carter  ; 
Warren  Hill,  Eastbourne,  September  22nd,  1912. 

Catocala  nupta,  ab. — On  September  13th  last  a  gardener  at 
Uxbridge  handed  me  a  specimen  of  the  above  with  the  under  wings 
almost  entirely  black,  the  usual  red  bands  being  scarcely  distinguish- 
able, a  mere  trace  of  very  faint  pink  representing  the  lower  of  them. 
The  fore  wings,  body,  and  thorax  are  also  darker  than  usual ;  a  very 
fine  melanic  variety  in  excellent  condition  luckily,  although  it  had 
been  put  in  a  match-box. — Francis  B.  Woodbridge  ;  The  Briars, 
Gerrards  Cross,  Bucks. 

Cabiptogramma  pluviata  and  Phryxus  livornica  at  Lewes. 
— On  the  17th  inst.  I  took  a  nice  fresh  specimen  of  this  insect  near 
Lewes  at  rest  on  a  grass-stem.  Unfortunately  it  was  a  male.  On 
May  27th  last  one  of  my  brothers  had  a  specimen  of  P.  livornica  fly 
into  his  house  at  Lewes  about  8.45  p.m.,  attracted  by  the  light.  The 
capture  was  noticed  at  the  time  in  a  local  paper,  but  has,  I  think,  not 
yet  appeared  in  the  '  Entomologist. — Hugh  J.  Vinall  ;  "  Torbay," 
Park  Road,  Lewes,  September  25th,  1912. 

Deilephila  galii  :  a  Correction.  —  I  regret  to  say  I  made  a 
mistake  in  recording  the  finding  of  D.  galii  larvae  at  Burnham 
(antea,  p.  231).  The  larvae  were  those  of  Phryxus  [D.)  livornica,  and 
the  first  imago  emerged  to-day.  The  fact  of  the  larvae  feeding  on 
bedstraw  misled  me. — H,  Doidge  ;  The  Bank,  High  Street,  Taunton, 
September  18th,  1912. 

Notes  on  Agrotis  exclamationis,  &c. — The  larvae  of  A.  exclama- 
tionis  have  been  very  abundant  in  this  neighbourhood  during  the  past 
month,  and  have  caused  considerable  damage  in  kitchen  gardens 
among  vegetables.  They  attack  almost  everything.  I  planted  a 
quantity  of  young  lettuces  at  the  beginning  of  this  month,  dusting 
the  surface  of  the  ground  with  quicklime  after  the  plants  were  put  in, 
but  in  spite  of  this  in  a  week  there  were  none  left.  The  larvae — which 
at  this  time  varied  from  half-grown  to  nearly  full-fed — attack  the 
plants  just  on  a  level  with  the  ground,  destroying  the  crown  and 
causing  the  leaves  to  drop  off.  During  the  day  they  hide  in  the  soil 
about  an  inch  below  the  surface.  I  have  turned  up  as  many  as  eight 
or  nine  at  the  roots  of  a  single  plant.  Carrots,  onions,  parsnips,  kc, 
have  been  riddled,  and  stems  of  young  broccoli,  Brussels  sprouts, 
savoys,  &c.,  seriously  injured.  Tlae  larvae  that  produced  the  first 
brood  were  also  rather  numerous  when  the  ground  was  being  dug 
over  in  the  early  spring.  Local  gardeners  and  labourers  call  them 
"  leather-jackets,"  and  it  is  a  good  name,  too,  for  their  skins  are 
remarkably  tough,  a,s  anyone  can  see  who  tries  to  crush  them  be- 
tween his  finger  and  thumb.  They  require  to  be  dealt  with  with  a 
sharp  trowel.     I  have  killed  some  hundreds  lately.     There  is  only 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  301 

one  thing  that  can  be  said  in  their  favour,  and  that  is  that  they  are 
just  as  fond  of  the  roots  of  weeds  as  they  are  of  those  of  vegetables,  and 
the  roots  of  that  dreadful  garden  pest,  the  lesser  bindweed,  are  their 
special  favourites.  At  the  end  of  June  and  beginning  of  July  a 
smaller  larva  with  similar  habits  was  nearly  as  plentiful.  These 
produced  A.  nigricans,  of  which,  fortunately,  there  appears  to  be 
only  one  brood. — Geevase  F.  Mathew  ;  Dovercourt,  Essex,  August 
19th,  1912. 

ToRTRix  PEONUBANA. — Last  year  I  was  able  to  record  the  occur- 
rence of  this  moth  at  Weymouth.  This  year  I  can  do  the  same  for 
Bournemouth,  where  it  seems  to  occur  in  fair  numbers.  The  first 
specimen  emerged  on  September  4th,  the  second  on  September  18th. 
— (Kev.)  W.  Claxton  ;  Navestock,  Romford. 

New  Forest  Notes,  1911.  —  Having  been  interested  in  the 
fauna — especially  the  Lepidoptera — of  the  New  Forest  and  neigh- 
bourhood for  many  years,  before  some  of  the  young  fir  plantations 
were  planted,  it  was  with  pleasure,  and  I  trust  profit,  that  I  perused 
the  communications  on  pages  126  and  158  of  the  present  volume.  I 
recollect  the  time  when  all  three  species  of  butterflies,  viz.  Aporia 
cratcegi,  Leucophasia  sinapis,  and  Melanargia  galatea,  were  to  be 
had,  but  I  never  knew  of  either  species  being  in  very  great  abundance, 
even  in  their  most  favoured  localities.  I  have  taken  A.  cratcegi 
amongst  the  thorns  near  Boldre  Wood,  and  the  last  I  saw  alive  were 
near  Vinney  Ridge  many  years  ago,  when,  with  the  late  Dr.  Rake, 
we  were  searching  for  the  sword  lily  {Gladiolus  illyricus)  at  the  end 
of  July  ;  we  saw  specimens  of  the  butterfly  in  a  very  tattered  con- 
dition settling  on  the  thistle-heads,  and  little  supposed  it  would  be  a 
final  view ;  I  believe  that  was  in  1874.  L.  sinajns  I  have  taken  in 
several  parts,  but  never  commonly ;  perhaps  the  best  locahty  was 
"  Stubby,"  where  its  poor  weak  flight  was  to  be  seen  in  the  grassy 
"  ridings  "  of  the  "  copse,"  where  the  dingy  but  then  much  sought- 
for  A.  caliginosa  rose  in  a  nervous  flutter,  soon  to  descend  into  its 
former  hiding-place  amongst  the  dry  grass-stems,  where  its  plain 
colour,  so  like  its  surroundings,  made  it  difficult  to  find.  Melanargia 
galatea  I  have  seen  near  Boldre  Wood,  and  in  a  damp  open  space 
between  that  place  and  Lyndhurst,  but  never  in  any  great  numbers, 
such  as  are  seen  in  its  favoured  localities.  As  to  "  chalk-loving  " 
species  being  sometimes  found  in  the  Forest,  I  may  mention  that  on 
one  occasion  I  took  a  fine  male  Lyccena  corydon  there.  I  recollect 
once  finding  the  moon-wort  fern  {B.  lunaria)  growing,  and  a  botanical 
friend  was  so  sceptical  on  the  point  that  he  would  not  believe  in  the 
"chalk-loving  plant,"  as  he  called  it,  being  found  there  until  I 
brought  home  some  roots  for  him,  so  that  there  seems  to  be  no 
absolute  rule  as  to  the  locality  where  insect  or  plant  may  be 
occasionally  met  with. 

The  Satyrinse,  such  as  Epinephele  ianira  and  its  kindred;  the 
small  fritillaries,  and  others  are  still  plentiful ;  and  that  fine  butterfly, 
Argynnis  paphia,  is  still  a  glorious  spectacle  as  he  majestically  sweeps 
about  the  blossoming  brambles,  always  ready  to  fight  or  frolic  with 
a  comrade;  and  since  the  earlier  stages  of  the  lethargic  ZepJnjrus 

ENTOM. — OCTOBER,  1912.  2   a 


302  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

betulcB  are  better  known  to  the  present  genei'ation  of  collectors, 
perhaps  more  specimens  than  formerly  reach  the  setting-board.  But 
are  A.  adii^pe  and  a  few  others  as  common  as  they  were?  whilst  some 
seasons,  such  as  S.  megara  seem  to  disappear  altogether,  and  if  we 
turn  our  thoughts  to  the  moths  perhaps  a  more  marked  diminution 
is  observable.  We  seldom  hear  of  large  "takes"  of  Diacyda  oo, 
or  Leucania  turca,  or  CEnectra  qtiadra,  and  still  less  of  the  little 
L.  assella,  which  old  Charles  Turner — the  "beetle  man" — once  took 
so  commonly.  I  well  recollect,  too,  the  numbers  of  the  pretty  little 
burnet,  Zygana  meliloti,  I  once  saw  floating,  like  small  dark  bees, 
over  the  bright  patches  of  the  golden-flowered  bird's-foot  trefoil  near 
the  railway.  I  understand  none  are  there  now,  and  if  an  inference 
may  be  drawn  from  the  fact  that  at  that  time  every  possible  specimen 
was  netted  and  boxed  by  a  very  tall  man  (a  dealer,  I  suspect),  we 
need  not  wonder  at  the  species  becoming  scarce.  From  the  few 
foregoing  facts  it  is  clear  that  several  species  of  butterflies  (and 
motlis)  have  disappeared  and  others  become  less  common  than 
formerly ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  is  not  Plusia  moneta  a  compara- 
tively new  species  to  the  neighbourhood  ?  for,  if  I  may  judge  from 
the  number  of  its  yellow  cocoons  found  amongst  monkshood,  lark- 
spur, &c.,  in  some  of  the  old  gardens  in  the  Forest,  the  moth  has 
become  quite  an  established  "  native  "  ;  thus  some  shght  compensation 
seems  to  be  offered  for  our  losses,  and  if  we  try  to  investigate  or  find 
a  cause  for  such  changes,  we  come  face  to  face  with  an  apparently 
insoluble  problem.  The  greed  of  collectors,  parasitism,  and  our 
changing  cHmate,  cold,  and  damp  have  been  advanced  and  discussed ; 
and  in  a  lesser  degree  the  frequent  and  extensive  fires,  and  even  the 
increase  of  our  small  birds  has  borne  some  of  the  blame  (but  have 
they  increased  ?) ;  and  as  each  point  seems  to  arrive  at  some  definite 
conclusion,  do  we  not  often  find  the  experience  of  the  following  year 
"knocks  the  bottom"  out  of  the  argument?  Some  years  ago  the 
large  white  (P.  brassicoB)  had  become  very  scarce  hereabouts,  and  my 
friend,  the  late  J.  W.  Fowler,  said  undoubtedly  it  had  gone  like 
cratagi,  but  the  very  next  season  all  the  cabbage  tribe  and  nasturtiums 
were  skeletonized  by  the  enormous  number  of  the  high-smelling 
larvae  of  that  particular  species,  and  many  pupae  were  to  be  seen 
suspended  by  tail  and  waist-belt  from  almost  every  available  position, 
and  consequently  a  more  than  usual  invasion  of  brassiccB  was  pre- 
dicted for  the  following  season ;  but  this  did  not  come  true,  for  in 
due  course  the  various  pupae  were  found  to  be  almost  covered  with 
the  tiny  yellow  cocoons  of  the  ichneumon  whose  work  of  destruction 
was  complete — so  much  for  parasitism.  The  extreme  heat  and 
unusual  drought  of  1911  during  several  months  of  the  summer 
induced  many  ordinary  single-brooded  species  to  become  double- 
brooded,  and  even  a  third  family  was  produced  in  some  cases, 
because,  I  suppose,  the  conditions  were  favourable  for  the  stages  in 
the  early  development,  and  it  seems  reasonable  to  argue  that  this  is 
at  least  one  of  the  chief  factors  in  the  future  scarcity  or  abundance 
of  any  species.  We  are  all  well  aware  that  in  rearing  insects  a 
whole  brood  may  be  very  healthy  throughout  their  changes  up  to 
the  pupa  state,  and  then  the  entire  family  will  die  most  miserably 
without  any  apparent  cause ;  perhaps  from  a  lack  of  something,  in 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  303 

our  ignorance,  we  are  unable  to  supply.  When  hybernating  larvae 
are  exposed  to  the  many  changes  and  mishaps  by  which  they  are 
surrounded,  it  is  extraordinary  that  so  large  a  proportion  should 
survive,  hence  the  enormous  fecundity  of  many  species  ;  possibly  in 
some  cases  not  one  in  a  thousand  reaches  maturity.  It  sometimes 
happens  that  an  insect  gradually  becomes  scarce,  and  each  successive 
year  witnesses  a  decrease.  In  my  collecting  days  the  beautiful 
CallimorpJia  dominula  was  very  common  here,  the  moths  in  their 
heavy  and  undulating  flight  being  often  seen  in  the  street,  whilst  the 
larvae  were  common  upon  the  nettles  in  the  lanes,  though  their  most 
usual  food  was  the  comfrey  and  meadowsweet  by  the  river-side. 
Gradually  the  species  disappeared,  and  now,  as  far  as  I  can  gather, 
it  is  quite  extinct  in  its  old  haunts.  It  is  obvious  that  the  number  of 
larvte  taken  and  bred  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  the  yellow  variety  of 
the  moth  must  have  helped  the  decrease.  But  there  were  certain 
parts  of  the  river  where  the  larv£e  perhaps  were  most  abundant,  and 
where  collectors  were  forbidden  to  go  ;  there  the  large  rough  leaves 
of  comfrey  grow  as  abundantly  as  ever,  and  the  scent  of  the  flossy 
meadowsweet  fills  the  air,  but  not  a  vestige  of  dominula  anywhere 
in  any  stage.     Will  it  ever  occur  again  ? — G.  B.  Corbin  ;  Eingwood. 

Butterfly  Collecting  in  Sicily  and  Calabria  in  1911. — 
Oh  June  7th  I  took  train  to  Syracuse  (113  miles)  with  the 
intention  to  work  back.  I  broke  my  journey  at  the  junction 
station  of  Valsavoia,  and  spent  three  hours  on  the  limestone 
slopes  near  the  shore  of  Lake  Lentine,  but  took  nothing  fresh. 
At  Syracuse  next  day  I  found  Melanargia  galathea  (var.  syracusana, 
Zell.)  in  plenty,  but  the  other  species  I  took  are  not  worthy  of 
mention  except  one  fine  helice.  On  the  morning  of  June  8th  I 
alighted  from  the  train  at  Megara  Hyblea,  a  solitary  station  where 
the  trains  stop  to  get  water  for  the  engines.  The  station  master 
strongly  protested  against  my  getting  out,  and  urged  me  to  go  on  to 
the  next  station,  assuring  me  there  was  nothing  to  eat  there.  I 
merely  touched  my  bag  and  held  my  ground.  The  station  is  well 
protected  by  netting  from  mosquitoes,  and  the  only  building  near  is 
an  immense  old  ruin,  the  town  being  situated  on  the  low  hills  miles 
away.  Passing  the  station  in  1910  I  had  noticed  here  a  swarm  of 
Melanargia  galathea,  and  in  the  field  between  the  station  and  the  sea 
I  found  the  var.  syracusana  very  common.  By  moving  about  a 
little  I  obtained  specimens  of  circe  fresh  out,  helice,  and  liho^he ;  and 
within  the  old  ruins,  where  vines  are  planted,  pairs  of  podalirius, 
machaon  and  Vanessa  were  chasing  each  other.  I  had  a  most 
enjoyable  day,  and  left  early  for  a  less  malarial  locality.  At  Catania 
a  friend  joined  me,  and  we  spent  the  week-end  at  the  village  of 
Zaffarano,  on  the  southern  slope  of  Mount  Etna.  Mainly  owing  to 
the  weather  our  visit  was  not  the  success  we  hoped  for,  our  best 
capture  being  gordius,  rather  common. 

We  had  an  unexpected  festa  on  June  15th,  and  my  son  could 
join  me  for  a  day.  I  chose  Scaletta,  where  I  had  my  drenching, 
being  keen  on  "  marbled  whites,"  and  I  had  spotted  a  possible 
locality  there.  We  hired  the  only  cab  to  take  us  as  far  as  the  road 
went  up  Monte  Scuderi,  and  were  soon  set  down  at  a  village  called 


304  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

Italia.  At  a  distance  it  is  most  picturesque,  and  worthy  the  atten- 
tion of  an  artist.  At  close  quarters  the  illusion  vanishes,  and  dirt 
and  gloom  reign  supreme.  Being  a  festa  the  people  were  all  at 
home,  and  were  very  civil  and  courteous  to  us.  On  leaving  the 
village  the  path  soon  became  very  steep,  and  a  typical  little  Sicilian 
lad  of  about  seven  offered  to  show  us  the  best  waj  up — he  was  going 
to  the  "  family  "  patch  of  grovmd  where  his  father  was  feeding  the 
animals.  We  had  to  climb  in  some  places,  and  presently  my  son, 
who  was  first  with  his  net,  shouted  to  me  there  was  a  lot  of 
"  marbled  whites."  I  hurried  up  and  just  caught  a  glimpse  of  one 
as  it  flew  away,  the  rest  had  all  gone.  I  recollected  japygia  and  its 
being  always  in  a  hurry,  so  we  sat  down  and  waited  for  the  return  of 
the  fugitives  ;  they  presently  returned,  after  having  circled  round, 
coming  up  the  hill  to  us.  When  captured  they  proved  to  be  a  very 
large  form  of  japygia.  Higher  up  the  path  skirted  a  wheatfield,  and 
here  we  were  puzzled  by  taking  galathea  almost  as  large  as  japygia. 
On  reaching  the  ridge  of  the  slope  we  were  on  the  wind  was  blowing 
a  gale,  and  we  had  to  take  shelter  a  few  yards  down  the  shady  side, 
where  we  were  able  to  take  both  species  in  plenty.  In  the  afternoon 
we  braved  the  gale,  and  descended  into  the  next  gorge  by  an  almost 
impassable  pathway — only  suitable  for  goats — to  the  village  of 
Artolia.  Below  the  breeze  was  not  felt,  and  we  found  ourselves 
in  the  centre  of  the  Sicilian  silkworm  industry.  We  were  freely 
admitted  into  the  rooms  to  see  the  worms  and  cocoons,  and  an 
attempt  was  made  to  initiate  me  into  the  art  of  buying  ova,  rearing 
worms,  and  selling  cocoons,  in  order  to  make  a  profit.  At  the  same 
time  I  noticed  that  one  man  was  told  off  to  follow  us  everywhere  we 
went,  a  duty  he  performed  until  he  had  seen  us  safely  off  in  the 
train.  Well,  a  couple  of  foreigners  with  nets,  who  arrive  by  a  goat 
track  down  the  mountain  side,  might  well  incur  a  little  suspicion. 
The  dirty  inns,  dirtier  tablecloth,  and  poor  food,  together  with  (to  me) 
unpalatable  wine,  will  not  attract  me  there  often. 

Summer  suddenly  set  in  in  the  middle  of  June,  bright  sun  and 
intense  heat,  which  lasted  until  I  had  had  enough  of  it  at  the  end  of 
the  month,  when  I  left  for  England. 

On  June  16th  we  went  to  Gioja  Tauro,  Calabria,  to  spend  the 
week-end,  the  attraction  being  a  good  hotel — the  nearest  hotel  south 
is  thirty  miles,  and  north  over  fifty  miles — between  are  only  dirty 
wine  shops.  Next  day  we  visited  the  woods  skirting  the  shore, 
known  as  the  "  Bosco  di  Gioja  Tauro  and  Rossana."  The  heat  was 
intense,  and  insect  life  in  great  abundance.  The  hair-streak  ilicis 
was  flying  by  dozens,  and  the  herbage  swarmed  with  a  green  beetle, 
while  the  small  oak  trees  were  denuded  of  leaves  by  various  hued 
larvae  of  monaclia.  Giant  heaps  of  dead  green  beetles  at  the  side  of 
the  path  through  the  wood  puzzled  us  until  we  learnt  that  the  work- 
people collect  the  beetles  from  the  vines  in  the  adjoining  vineyards, 
put  them  in  narrow  necked  jars,  cork  them  up,  and  next  day,  when 
the  beetles  are  asphyxiated,  they  empty  them  in  heaps  in  the  wood. 
Owing  to  the  oven-like  heat  our  "  bag "  of  butterflies  was  small, 
perhaps  the  most  interesting  species  being  Melanargia  galathea,  very 
large  and  very  dark,  approaching  var.  turcica.  The  following  day 
we  rested  during  the  heat  of  the  day,  and  on  June  18th  I  decided  to 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  305 

visit  the  nearest  hill  in  preference  to  another  day  on  the  plain.  This 
was  Monte  Elia,  at  Palmi,  the  next  station  on  the  railway.  At 
1000  ft.  altitude  with  a  breeze  the  heat  was  just  bearable.  On 
reaching  the  ruined  lighthouse  at  the  top  a  fine  specimen  of  jasms 
was  a  conspicuous  object  flying  round  like  a  bird,  and  this  caused  me 
to  waste  a  lot  of  time  trying  to  capture  it.  It  had  several  narrow 
escapes  before  it  flew  right  away.  Lathonia  was  very  common,  but 
its  quick  jflight,  owung  to  the  heat  I  suppose,  made  its  capture  very 
hard  work  ;  galathea,  small  and  very  dark,  was  also  plentiful,  and  a 
couple  or  more  worn  arcje  disappointed  me,  as  I  wanted  fresh 
examples.  I  rested  next  day,  and  on  the  following  (21st)  I  quietly 
walked  up  our  own  torrent  bed  and  was  content  to  watch  podalirius 
floating  in  the  breeze,  and  galathea  var.  procida  in  its  special  valley. 
Then  I  descended  to  the  cataract  (cattarati),  on  my  way  picking  up 
a  series  of  the  lovely  burnet  moth  [carnioUca)  just  out.  Next  I 
climbed  the  hill  leading  to  Cammari  by  a  mule  track,  until  I  reached 
the  spot  where  I  first  took  japjgia  in  1909  (one  specimen  only)  and 
failed  to  get  in  1910.  After  a  long  search,  and  when  I  had  almost 
given  it  up,  I  disturbed  a  "  marbled  white,"  which  flew  off  sharply, 
but,  knowing  its  habit,  I  followed  it  quietly  and  captured  a  fresh 
specimen  of  jajjygia.  The  next  day  I  went  again  and  caught  a  fine 
series.  Desirous  of  making  the  best  use  of  the  last  week  of  my  stay, 
I  went  to  Scylla  on  the  24:th  and  Reggio  (both  in  Calabria)  on  the 
26th.  At  the  former  place  I  found  the  headquarters  for  argc,  but  by 
this  date  the  specimens  were  worn.  Some  cossus  eaten  trees  attracted 
swarms  of  Vanessa,  especially  polychloros  and  including  io,  and  in 
the  wood  fresh,  dark  galathea  and  worn  euphrosyne  were  abundant ; 
while  in  the  open  lathonia  was  plentiful  and  very  active.  At  Reggio 
on  the  26th  the  heat  in  the  lemon  gardens  near  the  shore  was  over- 
powering, and  the  day  was  given  up  to  Charaxes  jasms.  I  had  the 
good  fortune  to  catch  the  first  specimen  we  saw,  but  after  that  we 
were  unlucky,  and  the  numerous  specimens  we  saw  kept  out  of  our 
reach.  On  the  following  day,  the  27th,  I  visited  Monte  Cicci  and 
captured  two  jasius  out  of  three  that  I  saw.  I  may  mention  that 
earlier  in  the  year  my  friends  and  I  carefully  searched  for  larvae  of 
jasius  without  success,  as  it  is  much  best  bred.  On  June  29th  three 
of  us  climbed  Monte  Cicci  to  look  for  Libythea  celtis  (I  took  this 
species  here  in  1909),  and  for  more  jasius.  We  saw  no  celtis,  and 
only  one  jasius,  which  escaped  our  combined  forces.  The  higher 
slopes  teemed  with  local  butterflies,  of  which  we  had  already  secured 
specimens.  On  my  last  day  in  Sicily,  June  30th,  I  was  charmed 
with  a  new  brood  of  podalirius  with  abdomens  suggestive  of  var. 
zancleus,  on  the  lower  slope  of  Monte  Cicci. 

On  my  way  back  to  England  I  broke  my  railway  journey  at  two 
places.  First  at  Pracchia  (between  Florence  and  Bologna)  in  the 
Apeninnes,  a  grand  butterfly  locality,  the  lovely  Apennine  fields 
being  very  charming,  and  second  at  the  Swiss  frontier  Iselle,  for 
the  purpose  of  walking  over  the  Simplon  Pass.  The  heat  was 
intense  at  Iselle,  and  butterflies  were  common,  including  apollo, 
just  outside  the  station.  Seeing  it  for  the  first  time  the  flight  of 
some  specimens  struck  me  as  very  peculiar.  They  seemed  to  brush 
the  herbage  on  the  ground  with  their  abdomens  as  they  flew  along, 


306  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

quite  different  to  the  flight  of  other  butterflies,  and  it  occurred  to  me 
that  this  may  be  the  female's  method  of  depositing  her  ova,  in  which 
action  the  horny  pouch  is  of  use.  The  Alps  is  by  far  the  most 
prolific  butterfly  locality  I  have  visited  as  regards  species,  but  I 
need  not  enter  into  details,  as  numerous  writers  have  already  done 
so,  except  to  say  that  I  captured  local  forms  of  galathea  at  Berisal 
(5000  ft.)  and  at  Brigne  (2000  ft.)  to  compare  with  Sicilian,  Calabrian, 
and  Apennine  forms.  I  reached  home  on  July  8th  with  the  heat- 
wave in  full  force. — J.  Platt  Barrett  ;  "  Westcroft,"  South  Eoad, 
Forest  Hill,  London,  S.E. 

A  Public  Benefactor. — Henry  Watson  Stockman,  of  Boling- 
broke  Grove,  Wandsworth  Common,  was  summoned  before  Mr.  de  Grey 
at  the  South-Western  Police  Court  yesterday  for  damaging  a  growing 
tree  on  Putney  Heath.  The  under-keeper  said  that  he  saw  the  de- 
fendant with  a  hammer  knock  off  the  bark  of  a  birch-tree.  He  told 
the  witness  that  he  wanted  to  remove  the  caterpillars  from  their 
holes  in  the  trees.  Mr.  de  Grey:  "Oh!  he  is  a  naturalist."  The 
defendant :  "  Yes,  sir.  The  keeper  is  quite  ignorant  of  the  damage 
done  to  trees  by  this  particular  kind  of  caterpillar."  Mr.  de  Grey  : 
"  The  authorities  ought  to  be  very  much  obliged  to  you^  and  you  can 
go  away.  At  the  same  time  you  must  not  do  it  again,  for  others  may 
follow  your  example  till  there  are  no  trees  left."  (Addressing  the 
keeper),  "  You  may  not  know,  perhaps,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  if  this 
kind  of  caterpillar  remains  in  the  tree  it  would  eventually  destroy  it." 
The  summons  was  dismissed. — ('  Westminster  Gazette,'  Sept.  21st.) 


SOCIETIES. 


The  South  London  Entomological  and  Natural  History 
Society.— ilfa?/  23rd.— Mr.  W.J.  Kaye.F.E.S.,  Vice-President,  in  the 
chair.  —  Mr.  H.  W.  Andrews  exhibited  specimens  of  the  Dipteron 
BrachyoiKV  hicolor,  a  Syrphid,  from  Bexley,  with  the  Anthomyiid, 
Hyctodesia  scutellaris,  which  it  closely  resembled. — Mr.  Alfred  Sich, 
specimens  of  Ptycholoma  lecheana,  bred  on  May  23rd  from  larviE 
taken  at  Eichmond  on  May  11th. — Mr.  Cowham,  a  cocoon  of  Dicra- 
nura  bifida,  from  which  he  had  observed  the  imago  emerge  after 
softening  a  portion  with  a  fluid  which  it  had  secreted.  —  Dr.  Chap- 
man, a  larva  of  Scolitantides  orion,  in  its  first  instar,  mining  between 
the  cuticles  of  a  leaf  of  Seduvi  telephiuvi. — Mr.  A.  E.  Gibbs,  a  large 
number  of  species  of  the  genus  Ccenonymjjha,  and  read  notes  on 
variation,  characteristics,  and  distribution  of  the  various  species  in 
the  PalaBarctic  and  Nearctic  areas. —  Mr.  Kaye,  the  genus  Conno- 
nympJia,  referring  particularly  to  the  large  size  and  minute  ocelli  of 
the  under  sides  in  Irish  specimens  of  C.  tipJion.  —  Mr.  E.  Adkin, 
C.  tiphon  from  English,  Scotch,  and  Irish  localities,  and  remarked  on 
their  general  local  characteristics,  and  C.  panqjhilus,  referring  to  the 
varied  development  of  the  eye-spots. — Mr.  Sheldon,  fine  series  of  the 
rarer  species,  G.  liera,  C.  cedippus,  and  C.  iphioides,  and  remarked  on 
the  unaccountable  absence  from  Britain  of  the  extremely  common 
European  species,  C.  arcania. — Mr.  Curwen,  long  and  varied  series 


RECENT    LITERATURE.  307 

of  C.  pamphihis  and  C.  dorus,  and  called  attention  to  the  occasional 
development  of  a  row  of  submarginal  spots  on  the  fore  wing. — Mr. 
Edwards,  series  of  several  species,  including  dark  C.  arcania,  and 
species  of  the  allied  genus  Ilypocistina  from  Australia. — Mr.  Turner, 
series  of  various  Palaearctic  and  Nearctie  species,  including  G.  elko 
from  Vancouver. — Hy.  J.  Turner  {Hon.  Bep.  Sec). 


RECENT     LITERATURE. 


Polymorphism  in  a  Group  of  Mimetic  Butterflies  of  the  Ethiopian 
Nymphaline  Genus  Pseudacraa. 

Under  the  above  title  there  appears  in  '  Nature '  (Macmillan  & 
Co.),  for  September  12th,  Professor  Poulton's  latest  contribution  to  a 
subject  which  exercises  a  pecuhar  fascination  over  the  mind  of  the 
naturalist  concerned  with  the  interpretation  of  mimicry  based  on 
natural  selection.  Two  years  ago  Dr.  Karl  Jordan  communicated  to 
the  Entomological  Congress  at  Brussels  his  studies  of  the  male 
genital  armature  of  the  Pseudacrseas,  and  deduced  therefrom  the 
specific  identity  of  a  large  group  made  up  of  P.  euryttis,  L.,  and  its 
numerous  allies  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  of  Neave's  hobleyi,  terra, 
and  obscnra  in  Uganda,  of  Trimen's  rogersi  in  Mombasa,  and  his 
imitata  in  Natal.  As  a  further  result  this  involved  the  remarkable 
conclusion  that  "  the  sexually  dimorphic  P.  hobleyi,  mimicking  the 
sexually  dimorphic  Planema  macarista  in  the  Entebbe  district,  was 
the  same  species  as  the  two  monomorphic  Pseudacrseas  flying  in  the 
same  forests  with  it,  viz.  P.  terra,  and  P.  obscura  mimicking  respec- 
tively the  sexually  monomorphic  Planema  tellus  and  P.  paragea. 

This  identity  of  species  i-emained  to  be  confirmed  by  a  complete 
knowledge  of  the  life-history  of  the  species,  and  in  this  extremely 
interesting  paper  Professor  Poulton  now  informs  us  that  Dr.  Car- 
penter, working  in  one  of  the  islands  of  the  Victoria  Nyanza,  has 
succeeded  in  breeding  out  from  a  female  obscnra  "with  a  touch  of 
hobleyi"  the  butterfly  known  as  terra,  Neave.  This  welcome  and 
conclusive  proof,  however,  was  not  forthcoming  in  time  for  Professor 
Poulton  to  convey  it  to  the  Oxford  Congress,  the  cablegram  with  the 
single  word  "terra"  from  Entebbe  arriving  about  a  fortnight  after  the 
President's  communication  of  "  Messrs.  C.  A.  Wiggins'  and  Dr.  Car- 
penter's researches  on  mimicry  in  the  forest  butterflies  of  Uganda." 
But  with  this  evidence  before  us  we  may  now  be  sure  that  the  cospeci- 
fication  of  all  the  forms  of  the  hobleyi  group  thereabouts  will  presently 
be  confirmed,  and  this  in  such  a  way  as  to  place  beyond  all  doubt 
the  genetic  relationship  subsisting  between  them.  This  means  that 
quite  twelve  species  sink  as  mimetic  forms  of  one ;  and,  as  it  may 
reasonably  be  doubted  whether  so  remarkable  a  case  will  ever  again 
be  presented,  we  may  echo  Professor  Poulton's  congratulations  to  Dr. 
Jordan,  Mr.  Wiggins,  Mr.  Neave,  and  Dr.  Carpenter  on  the  parts  they 
have  played  in  solving  a  bionomic  problem  of  extraordinary  interest 
and  complexity. 

H.  R.-B. 


308  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

Proceedings  of  the  South  London  Entomological  and  Natural  History 
Society,  1911-12.  Pp.  i-xvi,  1-104,  with  four  plates.  Pub- 
lished by  the  Society,  Hibernia  Chambers,  London  Bridge,  S.B. 
The  '  Proceedings  '  of  this  Society  for  the  past  Session  contain  an 
interesting  Presidential  Address  by  Mr.  W.  J.  Kaye,  F.E.S.,  dealing 
with  the  effect  of  last  summer's  abnormal  temperatures  upon  the 
abundance  or  otherwise  of  insect-life,  and  also,  shortly,  with  many 
very  interesting  facts  connected  with  Mimicry,  chiefly  among  Lepi- 
doptera.  We  notice  with  regret  that  beyond  a  short  but  interesting 
paper  by  Mr.  Lucas  on  "  The  Bracken,"  and  some  "  Notes  on  the 
Season  "  by  Mr.  Adkin,  there  is  a  dearth  of  those  papers  which 
usually  so  greatly  enhance  the  scientific  value  of  the  Society's  pub- 
lication. There  is,  however,  a  large  mass  of  very  interesting  observa- 
tions recorded  in  the  Eeports  of  the  Meetings  well  worth  perusal, 
and  we  must  not  forget  the  excellent  Index.  N   D  "R 

Catalogue  of  the  Lepidoptera  Phalcence  in  the  British  Museiim.  Vol.  xi. 
By  Sir  George  F.  Hampson,  Bart.  London  :  Printed  by  Order 
of  the  Trustees.     1912. 

The  Eutelianse,  StictopterinaB,  Sarrothripinae,  and  Acontianae  are 
treated  in  the  present  volume. 

In  the  first  subfamily  there  are  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
species,  and  these  are  assigned  to' twelve  genera,  Eutelia,  Hiibn.,  and 
PcBCtes,  Hiibn.,  receiving  over  one  hundred  species  between  them. 

Eurhipia,  Boisd.  (t.  adulatrix,  Hb.),  Pencillaria,  Guen.  (t.  ahla- 
trix,  Guen.),  Eleale,  Walk.  (t.  plusioides,  Walk.),  Bipogemis,  Grote 
(t.  imlcherrima,  Grote),  Phalga,  Moore  (t.  sinuosa,  Moore),  Zobia, 
Saalm.  (t.  snelleni,  Saalm.),  Targallodes,  Holl.  (t.  oculatrix,  Saalm.), 
Silacida,  Swinh.  (t.  inextricata,  Moore),  Atacira,  Swinh.  (t.  ajjproxi- 
mata,  Walk.),  and  Alotsa,  Swinh.  (t.  discistriga,  Walk.),  are  all  merged 
in  Eutelia,  Hiibn.  (t.  adulatrix,  Hiibn.). 

Thirty-four  species  are  referred  to  Stictoptera,  Guen.  (t.  cuculloides, 
Guen.),  and  thirty-five  to  Lophoptera,  Guen.  (t.  squammigera,  Guen.). 
The  remainder  of  the  species,  forty-three  in  number,  belonging  to  the 
second  subfamily,  are  distributed  among  eight  other  genera,  including 
Stenosticta,  Hamp.,  a  new  genus,  the  type  of  which  is  grisea,  sp.  n., 
from  British  East  Africa. 

Sarrothripus,  Curt.  (t.  revayana.  Scop.)  comprises  only  twenty- 
four  of  the  three  hundred  and  thirty  species  placed  in  the  third  sub- 
family. Of  the  other  fifty-seven  genera  twenty-one  are  new,  and  as 
regards  fifteen  of  them  have  been  founded  for  single  species. 

In  the  fourth  subfamily  there  are  six  species  fewer  than  in  the 
preceding,  but  the  number  of  genera  extends  to  seventy,  of  which  at 
least  sixteen  are  new.  The  largest  genus  appears  to  be  Carea,  Walk, 
(t.  varipes.  Walk.),  with  forty-five  species,  and  next  to  this  is  Earias, 
Hiibn.  (t.  chlorana,  Linn.),  with  twenty-four  species. 

Altogether  nine  hundred  and  forty- one  species  are  presented  in 
this  volume,  which  is  the  eighth  of  the  series  dealing  with  Noctuidas. 
This  brings  the  total  number  of  species  in  this  family  so  far  considered 
up  to  something  over  seven  thousand  species. 

An  Atlas  of  eighteen  beautiful  plates  accompanies  the  volume. 


X 
o 


■^  ■"  '*  '^'T'*;!^' 


O     w 
Q      I 


The  Entomologist,   November,   1912. 


Plate  XII 


West,  Newman  proe. 


FORMS     OF     SCANDINAVIAN     DIURNl. 


Fig.  1. — Erehia  disa,  Thnbg.,  typical  ^  .     Bossekop,  June  'ilst,  1912. 

Fig.  2. — E.  disa,  Thnbg.,  S' ,  fib.  ohscwra.     Bossekop,  June  19th,  1912. 

Fig.  'd.—E.  disa,  Thnbg.,   ?  ,  ab.  addenda.     Bossekop,  June  19th,  1912. 

Fig.  4. — Colias  liecla  var.  siilitchna,  Aur. ;   2  >  under  side.    Laxelv,  July  11th,  1912. 

Fig.  5.-6'.  hecla,  $  ,  ab.  distiiicta  (dark  border).     Laxelv,  July  11th,  1912. 

Fig.  6.— a.  hecla,  $  ,  ab.  ochrea-sitffusa.     Laxelv,  July  11th,  1912. 

Fig.  7. — C.  hecla,  $  ,  ab.  (Zis^inc^a  (light  border),     Laxelv,  July  14th,  1912. 

Fig.  8.—C.  hecla,  ?  ,  ab.  ohscura.     Laxelv,  July  11th,  1912. 


The  Entomologist,  November,  1912. 


Plate  XIV. 


West,  Newman  proc. 


FORMS     OF     SCANDINAVIAN      DIURNI. 


Fig.  l.—Brentliis  freija,  Thnbg.,  typical  $  .     Abisko,  June  25th,  1911. 

Fig.  2.— S./m'/rt,  Thnbg.,  2  (underside),     Abisko,  June  18th,  1911. 

Fig.  o.—B.  freija  {ib.  fasciata,  3_.     Abisko,  July  3rd,  1911. 

Fig.  4.  —  Pleris  luqn,  L.,  ab.  arcfica.     Bossekop,  June  19th,  1912. 

Fig.  5. — Brentliis  'polaris,  Bsd.,   J  .     Kolvik,  June  28th,  1912. 

Fig.  6.— -B.  polaris,  $  (under  side).     Kolvik,  Julv  3rd,  1912. 

Fig.  l.—B.frigga,  Thnbg.,  2  •     Laxelv,  July  12th,  1912. 

Fig.  8.—B.frigga,  Thnbg.,  5  .     Jemtland,  June  5th,  1911. 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST 


Vol.  XLV.]  NOVEMBBE.    1912.  [No.  594 

THE  LEPIDOPTERA  OF  THE  NORWEGIAN  PROVINCES 
OF     ODALEN     AND    FINMARK. 

By  W.  G.  Sheldon,  F.E.S. 
(Plates  XI.-XIV.) 

The  expedition  which  I  made  into  Scandinavia  in  1911  (see 
*  Entomologist,'  vol.  xliv.  p.  357)  did  not  enable  me  to  observe 
certain  species  of  Diurni  which  then  evaded  my  search  ;  these 
included  Colias  hecla,  Erebia  disa,  Bi^enthis  polaris,  B.  chariclea, 
MeliUea  iduna,  and  Latiorina  orbitulus  var.  aquilo.  The  last 
four  of  these,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  have  never  been  seen  alive  by 
my  fellow-countrymen,  whilst  the  only  British  record  of  Erebia 
disa  I  can  find,  is  that  Dr.  Chapman  took  a  few  worn  examples 
at  Bossekop  in  1896,  and  it  was  to  get  acquaintance  with  some 
at  least  of  these  species  that  I  was,  in  part  at  any  rate,  induced 
to  make  another  journey  to  the  far  north  this  year.  I  thought 
also,  having  worked  out  something  of  the  life-history  of  Colias 
nastes,  var.  toerdandi  (see  'Entomologist,'  vol.  xlv.  p.  122),  I 
would  like  to  try  if  I  could  not  do  something  with  that  of  the 
other  purely  Arctic  species  of  this  genus,  C,  hecla. 

Of  course  there  are  many  reasons  why  an  expedition  to  Arctic 
Norway,  to  which  district  I  decided  this  year  to  extend  my 
operations,  is  one  that  has  charms,  apart  from  the  Lepidoptera. 
The  wonderful  experience,  perhaps  unique  throughout  the  world, 
of  sailing  for  five  days  and  nights,  from  Stavanger  to  the  North 
Cape,  through  channels  and  fjords,  passing  thousands  of  islands, 
often  approaching  within  a  few  feet  of  the  precipitous  shores 
towering  many  hundreds  of  feet  above,  the  view  continually 
changing  the  whole  time ;  the  beauty  of  the  scenery,  the  great 
wealth  of  life  continuously  around  one — birds,  seals,  and  ceta- 
ceans— the  bracing  air,  the  perpetual  daylight,  and  the  charming 
Norwegian  people,  so  honest,  kindly,  and  obliging ;  all  tend  to 
impel  one  who  has  once  been  there  to  pay  another  visit. 

I  crossed  over  from  Hull  to  Christiania  on  June  1st  in  the 
good  ship  'Eskimo,'  and,  wishing  to  see  something  of  certain 
southern  Norwegian  Lepidoptera,  spent  a  few  days  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  well-known — to   Lepidopterists — bog  of 

ENTOM. — NOVEMBER,    1912.  2  B 


310  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

Disenfen,  in  the  Province  of  Odalen.  This  bog  has  been  worked 
by  several  British  entomologists,  and  its  fauna  recorded.  I 
could  not  find  accommodation  at  Sseterstoen,  where  my  pre- 
decessors had  stayed,  but  I  discovered  a  fair  inn  at  Aarnes,  the 
next  station  to  Sseterstoen  on  the  Christiania  side,  and  a  con- 
venient train  night  and  morning  to  convey  me  to  my  hunting- 
ground. 

Being  favoured  with  good  sun  on  June  4th  and  oth,  I  found 
plenty  of  butterflies.  (Eneis  jutta  was  in  great  numbers  and 
fine  condition ;  the  males  one  found  at  rest  on  the  pine-trunks 
just  on  the  edge  of  the  bog,  flying  wildly  therefrom  when 
approached;  females,  less  in  number,  were  mostly  disturbed 
from  the  ground.  An  hour  or  two  amongst  this  species  sufficed 
to  obtain  all  I  required.  In  the  two  days  I  managed  to  acquire 
half  a  score  fine  examples  of  Hesperia  centaurece ;  they  frequented 
the  edge  of  the  bog,  in  clearings  amongst  the  last  trees.  The 
other  speciality  of  Disensen,  Erebia  embla,  I  nearly  missed,  for 
I  had  expected  to  find  it  either  out  in  the  open,  or  amongst  the 
last  trees  ;  but  about  an  hour  before  the  sun  went  in  on  June 
5th  I  happened  to  cut  across  a  thick  belt  of  pine  wood  some  fifty 
yards  from  the  open,  and  here  I  found  this  fine  species  plentiful. 
As  many  examples  as  I  required,  some  twenty  in  number,  were 
quickly  obtained  ;  they  included  four  var.  succulenta  and  one  var. 
unicolor.  Of  the  other  species  seen,  the  most  interesting  was 
Chrysophanus  amphidamas,  of  which  I  netted  several  worn  ex- 
amples on  the  railway  bank  between  Saeterstoen  and  Disenaen, 
a  few  hundred  yards  from  the  former  railway  station.  This  is 
interesting,  because  Herr  Sparre  Schneider  writes  me  that  this 
species  has  never  been  taken  in  South  Norway  by  Norwegians, 
only  by  Englishmen,  and  as  the  only  account  of  its  capture  there 
by  an  Englishman  that  I  can  find  is  that  of  the  one  example 
recorded  in  'Entomologist,'  xxxi.  p.  215,  by  Mr.  E.  S.  Standen, 
the  confirmation  is  satisfactory  and  conclusive.  Amongst  other 
butterflies  seen  were  Euchloe  cardamines,  Coenonympha  pamphilus, 
Hesperia  malv(B,  Pieris  napi,  Leptosia  sinapis,  Pararge  hiera, 
Celastrina  argiolus,  Glaucopsyche  cyllarus,  and  Bumicia  phlceas, 
all  fairly  plentiful  on  the  railway  bank.  Females  of  Brenthis 
freija  were  busily  ovipositing  out  in  the  open  bog,  yards  away 
from  anything  but  mosses  and  lichen.  An  interesting  and  an 
unusual  sight  to  me  was  the  number  of  Hemaris  tityus  {bomby- 
liformis)  that  were  flying  over  flowers  of  a  species  of  Vicia,  eight 
or  ten  examples  being  in  sight  at  once. 

I  fear  that  the  fine  bog  of  Disensen  will  soon  be  a  thing  of  the 
past.  It  has  at  present  an  area  of  several  hundred  acres,  and  is 
crossed  in  the  middle  by  the  railway.  On  the  north  side  the 
swamp  is  still  in  its  pristine  condition,  but  the  southern  half  has 
deep  dykes  cut  in  it,  and  the  surface  at  the  time  of  my  visit  was 
being  turned  rapidly  into  arable  .land,  and  I  apprehend,  from 


NORWEGIAN    LEPIDOPTERA.  811 

what  I  heard  at  Aarnes,  that  the  northern  portion  will  follow 
suit  very  shortly. 

On  June  8th,  the  weather  having  temporarily  broken  up,  I 
returned  to  Christiania,  and  calling  upon  the  tourist  agents 
respecting  my  passage  to  the  far  north,  found  I  was  confronted 
with  a  state  of  affairs  which  threatened  to  wreck  my  expedition 
at  its  outset.  It  appears  there  had  been  for  some  time  dissatis- 
faction amongst  the  engine  men  on  the  Norwegian  coasting 
steamers,  and  a  strike  of  the  whole  of  them  was  then  imminent ; 
the  last  steamer  that  would  go  north  for  an  unknown  period 
having  left  Bergen  the  previous  evening.  This  was  not  a  plea- 
sant prospect  and  required  consideration  ;  but  I  finally  decided  to 
risk  being  stranded  somewhere  in  the  vicinity  of  the  North  Cape 
indefinitely,  and  taking  the  night  express  for  Trondhjem,  caught 
the  Bergen  steamer,  the  *  Richard  With,'  there  early  on  the 
morning  of  June  9th,  and  sailed  in  her  to  Hammerfest,  where 
we  arrived  in  the  small  hours  of  the  12th. 

Here  the  strike  had  taken  effect,  and  the  local  steamers  were 
all  lying  in  a  melancholy  row  in  the  harbour,  with  crews  paid 
off,  and  fires  raked  out.  For  some  time  after  my  arrival  I  was 
nonplussed,  and  how  to  get  to  my  destination,  Bossekop,  in  the 
Alten  Fjord,  some  fifty  miles  distant,  I  did  not  know.  Fortunately 
I  had  heard  whilst  on  board  the  '  Richard  With '  that  there  was 
a  military  station  somewhere  in  the  Alten  Fjord,  and  coming 
across  an  army  officer  in  the  street,  with  whom  I  had  travelled 
on  the  steamer  from  Trondhjem,  I  ventured  to  explain  to  him 
my  dilemma,  and  my  troubles  were  at  once  at  an  end  for 
the  time  being,  for  this  gentleman,  who  I  afterwards  found 
was  the  commander  of  the  battalion  in  the  Province  of  Fin- 
marken,  Oberstloitenant  Nyquist,  with  the  kindness  and  obliging- 
ness which  are  inborn  in  a  Norwegian,  insisted  that  I  should  come 
as  the  guest  of  himself  and  a  brother  officer  in  a  motor-boat 
they  had  chartered,  and  in  which  they  were  proceeding  to  Alten. 
We  left  Hammerfest  about  noon  and  reached  Bossekop  shortly 
before  midnight,  my  hosts  most  kindly  landing  me  there  before 
proceeding  to  their  destination.  After  some  difficulty  I  got 
myself  and  my  luggage  to  the  small  hotel,  but  the  good  people 
were  gone  to  bed  and  I  did  not  get  any  supper  that  night. 

At  Bossekop  I  remained  until  June  23rd,  on  which  day, 
taking  advantage  of  the  presence  of  a  cargo  motor-boat,  I  pre- 
vailed upon  the  captain  to  allow  me  to  travel  in  her  back  to 
Hammerfest. 

Bossekop  and  the  Alten  Fjord  are  by  far  the  best  known 
localities  for  Lepidoptera  in  Arctic  Norway.  Zetterstedt  was 
there  in  the  first  half  of  the  last  century,  and  in  1860  Drs. 
Staudinger  and  Wocke  collected  from  May  until  August.  A  very 
complete  account  of  the  locality  by  Staudinger  is  to  be  found  in 
the  '  Entomologists'  Annual '  for  the  year  1864,  and  the  record 

2b  2 


312 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 


of  captures  is  detailed  in  the  *  Stettin  Eutomologische  Zeitung,' 
1861.  In  1896  Dr.  Chapman  and  Mr.  Lloyd  paid  a  visit,  and 
in  1906  Mr.  Kowland-Brown  was  there. 

My  chief  reason  for  visiting  Alten  was  to  see  a  place  so 
famous  entomologically  and  botanically,  for  the  flora  for  the 
latitude  is  very  rich,  but  also  I  hoped  to  get  specimens  of 
Colias  hecla  and  Erebia  clisa,  both  of  which  occur  there.  I  did 
not  see  the  former  species,  but  was  fortunate,  after  several  days' 
search,  to  stumble  across  a  locality  in  which  the  latter  occurred 
in  some  abundance. 

In  the  small  hours  of  June  26th,  the  strike  having  by  this 
time  fortunately  ended,  I  left  Hammerfest  on  board  the  small 
forty-year  old  trading  steamer  *  Kong  Eystein,'  on  what  turned 
out  to  be  the  rolliest  and  yet  the  most  enjoyable  voyage  I  have 
ever  made.  We  steered  first  north-west  to  the  island  of  Soro, 
then  north-east  to  Rolfso,  Ingo,  Hjelmso,  and  Maaso,  going 
outside  these  islands  and  calling  at  innumerable  quaint  little 
fishing  stations,  dropping  here  a  little  cargo,  or  a  few  passengers, 
taking  up  there  some  dried  fish,  a  horse,  or  a  cow,  or  some 
hardy  fisher  folk  on  travel  intent.  At  Hjelmso  we  passed  close 
under  a  cliff  haunted  by  millions  of  fowl  of  different  species,  and 
as  the  syren  was  sounded  by  the  orders  of  the  obliging  captain 
for  my  edification,  the  air  was  darkened  by  their  countless 
numbers.  The  swell  of  the  Arctic  Ocean,  accentuated  by  the 
currents  between  the  islands,  made  the  little  vessel  rock  fearfully 
and  wonderfully,  but  she  took  the  seas  like  a  duck,  and  it  was 
delightful  to  be  on  her  deck  amongst  the  marvellous  surroundings 
the  whole  of  the  day. 

About  9  p.m.  we  rounded  that  wonderful  headland,  the  North 
Cape,  where  so  many  tourists  go  to  see  the  midnight  sun,  and 
from  which  so  few  actually  behold  it,  for  this  district  is  notorious 
for  cloud  and  haze,  even  during  midsummer.  We  steamed  close 
under  the  gigantic  cliffs,  sheer  and  over  one  thousand  feet  in 
height,  and  passed  Hornviken  Bay  into  what  is,  in  a  sense,  un- 
known Norway;  that  is  to  say,  unknown  to  the  tourist,  who 
almost  invariably  stops  at  the  North  Cape,  or  who  occasionally 
journeys  in  the  large  steamers  through  the  Magerp  Sound  to 
Vadso,  in  the  Varanger  Fjord,  where  the  voyage  of  these 
ships  ends. 

Baedeker  is  silent  respecting  the  intervening  fjords,  and, 
except  for  a  solitary  traveller  journeying  at  intervals  of  years  up 
the  Porsanger  Fjord  to  Karasjok,  the  capital  of  Norwegian  Lap- 
land, which  is  situated  some  hundred  miles  in  the  interior,  or 
an  occasional  salmon  fisher,  the  only  people  are  those  who  dwell 
on  their  shores. 

The  inhabitants  are  chiefly  Lapps  or  Finns,  or  a  mixture  of 
these  races,  with  a  very  few  Norwegian  families. 

The  Porsanger  Fjord,  which  was  the  one  I  proposed  to  visit, 


NORWEGIAN    LEPIDOPTERA.  313 

is  the  one  immediately  east  of  the  North  Cape.  It  was  discovered, 
entomologically,  by  the  Norwegian  lepidopterist,  Herr  W.  M. 
Scboyen,  who  spent  a  considerable  time  there  in  1878  and  1879. 
Since  that  date,  except  that  his  son,  Herr  T.  Scboyen,  visited 
the  fjord  in  1907,  and  Herr  Sparre  Schneider  in  1907  and  1908, 
in  which  years,  owing  to  bad  seasons,  the  results  were  not  good, 
I  am  not  aware  that  anything  has  been  done  with  the  Lepi- 
doptera. 

In  the  early  hours  of  June  27th  the  *  Kong  Eystein  '  entered 
the  quiet  waters  of  the  Porsanger  Fjord,  and  a  little  before  noon, 
on  the  west  side,  about  half-way  down,  in  a  little  haven  known 
as  Kolvik,  I  found  a  delightful  place  of  rest.  Kolvik  is  the  head- 
quarters of  Herr  A.  Bye,  the  Porsanger  Whiteley,  who,  in 
addition  to  selling  everything  the  inhabitants  of  the  district 
require,  and  buying  everything  they  have  to  sell,  runs  an  excel- 
lent private  hotel,  the  frequenters  of  which  are  entirely  his 
acquaintances  and  customers  who  may  have  occasion  to  pass  up 
and  down  the  fjord. 

I  spent  a  considerable  time  at  Kolvik,  making  it  my  head- 
quarters, and  never  was  unintroduced  foreigner  welcomed  with 
greater  kindness,  or  more  charmingly,  than  was  the  writer  by 
Herr  Bye,  his  family,  and  his  guests. 

The  vegetation  in  the  Porsanger  is  quite  as  luxurious,  if  not 
more  so,  than  that  of  the  much  better  known  Alten  Fjord.  _  There 
is  a  great  quantity  of  birch  clothing  the  hillsides,  which  in  shel- 
tered places  attains  a  height  of  thirty  or  even  forty  feet.  With 
this  is  a  sprinkling  of  mountain  ash  and  black  poplar.  At  the 
south  end  stunted  Scotch  firs  begin  to  appear,  and  I  am  in- 
formed that  a  few  miles  further  up  country  this  tree  attains 
a  good  size. 

There  is  a  very  peculiar  band  of  dolomite  rock,  several  miles 
wide,  which  extends  on  both  sides  of  the  fjord,  and  which  in- 
cludes several  islands.  In  all  there  are  about  one  hundred 
islands  scattered  about,  the  resort  of  countless  flocks  of  geese, 
duck,  gulls,  cormorants,  divers,  waders,  &c.,  which  resort  to 
them  to  breed.  Whales  are  frequent,  and  were  seen  on  several 
occasions. 

After  remaining  at  Kolvik  for  a  week,  I  took  advantage  of 
the  visit  of  the  local  steamer  to  cross  to  Borselv,  on  the  east 
side.  The  population  of  this  village  is  entirely  Lappish,  and 
quarters  were  found  at  the  postmaster's,  who  has  a  wooden 
house  of  two  rooms,  about  twelve  feet  by  eight  feet,  and  six  feet 
high,  in  one  of  which  he  and  his  family  lived  and  cooked  and 
slept ;  the  other  was  the  post-office,  and  this  I  occupied  during 
my  stay,  sharing  it  during  a  portion  of  the  time  with  another 
individual. 

A  quaint  incident  occurred  here.  I  had  noticed  on  arrival 
my  host  regarding  me  not  altogether  with  approval ;  a  little 


314  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

later  on  I  found  that  the  reason  was  that  his  only  spare  bed- 
stead was  but  five  feet  six  inches  long  over  all,  and,  as  it  had 
raised  solid  wooden  head  and  foot,  it  was  obviously  not  a  suitable 
place  of  repose  for  a  man  something  over  sis  feet  in  length  ! 
However,  he  was  energetic  and  obliging,  and  during  the  evening 
the  district  was  ransacked,  with  the  result  that  shortly  before 
midnight  he  was  seen  approaching,  with  a  neighbour,  bearing  in 
triumph  a  bedstead  of  a  size  almost  long  enough  to  accommodate 
King  Og  of  olden  time,  and  in  which  I  was  installed  with  great 
ceremony  in  due  course.  It  proved  to  be  a  very  comfortable 
couch  ;  in  point  of  fact,  I  passed  most  of  my  time  on  it  whilst 
at  Borselv,  for  the  weather  at  this  period  was  the  worst  I  have 
ever  experienced  in  any  country — an  icy  cold  north-west  gale 
blowing,  with  squalls  of  rain,  almost  the  whole  of  my  stay.  I 
did  eventually  get  a  few  hours  of  sun,  during  which,  however, 
I  could  not  find  the  particular  species  that  was  the  chief  reason 
of  my  visit — Latiorina  orbitulus,  var.  aquilo,  which  Schoyen  met 
with  abundantly  in  1879.  With  good  weather,  Borselv  is  a 
very  desirable  place  to  stay  at,  and  I  should,  with  these  condi- 
tions, expect  to  find  there  most  of  the  Diurni  occurring  in  the 
district. 

There  is  a  good  driving  road  from  Kolvik  to  Laxelv,  which  is 
situated  at  the  extreme  southern  end  of  the  fjord,  some  thirty- 
five  kilometres  from  the  former  place.  On  July  10th  I  hired  a 
Lapp  to  drive  me  to  Laxelv ;  the  journey  is  vividly  impressed 
on  my  memory  by  the  eccentricities  of  the  driver,  who,  after 
subjecting  me  to  several  hairbreadth  escapes  from  disaster  and 
the  loss  of  my  umbrella,  succeeded  in  overturning  the  cart 
within  one  hundred  yards  of  my  destination.  Fortunately  I  had 
not  liked  the  appearance  of  that  particular  stretch  of  road,  and 
did  not  happen  to  be  in  the  cart  just  then,  or  my  wanderings 
would  most  probably  have  come  to  an  end — at  any  rate,  for  a 
time.  All  my  luggage,  except  my  boxes  of  specimens  which  I 
was  carrying,  was  thrown  out,  and  came  within  an  ace  of 
floating  down  the  Elv,  which  was  only  a  few  feet  away  from  the 
scene  of  the  upset. 

At  Laxelv  I  found  quarters  with  the  schoolmaster,  Herr 
Nilsen,  whose  house  is  romantically  situated  on  an  island  formed 
by  two  branches  of  the  river,  birch-clad,  but  with  glades  and 
meadows  of  charming  Arctic  flowers,  and  in  every  respect  a 
delightful  retreat.  From  Herr  Nilsen  and  his  excellent  Fru 
I  received  every  kindness,  and  morning  and  afternoon  there  was 
always  one  of  his  numerous  family  of  frank  and  friendly  small 
children  ready  to  ferry  me  across  the  Elv.  It  did  not  in  the 
least  matter  whether  it  was  a  boy  or  a  girl ;  they  were  equally 
efficient  in  piloting  me  safely  across  the  turbulent  waters. 

Laxelv  will  always  dwell  vividly  in  my  memory.  It  was  here, 
on  July  11th,  I  first  saw  that  exquisite  Arctic  butterfly,  Colias 


THE    GENUS   ITHYSlA.  315 

hecla,  which  was  in  such  abundance  that  I  selected  over  sixty 
perfect  specimens  in  a  few-hours  out  of  perhaps  three  times  that 
number  netted.  It  will  be  understood  what  a  treat  it  was  to  a 
lepidopterist  to  see  the  swarms  of  this  beautiful  species,  after  a 
week  of  storm  and  rain,  passed  chiefly  in  a  Lapp  hut,  with  a 
diet  of,  for  the  most  part,  sweet  coarse  rye  bread  and  goat- 
cheese. 

My  return  journey  to  Kolvik,  on  July  17th,  also  nearly 
resulted  in  disaster,  for  at  one  of  the  two  rivers  which  have  to  be 
crossed  in  a  ferry-boat  a  cord  slipped  just  as  the  cart  containing 
the  whole  of  my  possessions  was  being  got  aboard,  causing  it  to 
slide  down  the  bank — which  shelved  rapidly — into  the  water 
and  to  come  within  an  ace  of  being  engulfed.  By  strenuous 
exertions,  however,  the  driver  and  I  managed  to  get  my  luggage 
out  and  placed  in  safety  on  the  bank  just  in  time. 

(To  be  continued.) 


THE     GENUS    ITHYSIA     (Hubner). 
By  J.  W.  H.  Harrison,  B.Sc. 

As  Mr.  Prout  has  shown  that  the  correct  generic  name  of 
this  group  is  Ithysia,  I  am  adopting  it  in  place  of  the  more 
commonly  used  Nyssia  (Dup.),  which  includes,  in  addition,  the 
species  I  have  included  in  my  genus  Poecilopsis. 

It  was  not  my  intention  to  supplement  my  notes  on  the 
Bistoninae,  published  in  the  '  Entomologist '  for  July,  1910, 
until  I  had  completed  my  work  on  the  group,  but  I  have  been 
compelled  by  force  of  circumstances  to  publish  the  result  of  my 
investigations  on  this  genus.  As  the  genus  now  stands  in  our 
lists,  it  includes  the  three  species,  Ithysia  zonaria,  I.  alpina,  and 
I.  grcecaria,  or,  as  we  now  call  them,  Nyssia  zonaria,  &c. ;  but  I 
find  that  there  are  four  species  in  the  genus.     These  are  : — 

Ithysia  zonaria  (Schiff.). 

I.  alpina  (Sulzer). 

I.  italica,  sp.  n. 

I,  (jfrcccana  (Bdv.-Staudinger). 

To  simplify  the  descriptions  of  the  species  it  will  be  well  to 
give  here  the  scheme  I  have  adopted  in  dealing  with  the  various 
hybrids  I  have  reared  in  this  family. 

I  look  upon  the  fore  wings  in  the  "  ideal "  species  as  being 
crossed  by  three  transverse  lines,  which  may  or  may  not  be 
obsolete  in  any  given  specimen.  The  first  three,  viz.  first, 
median,  and  second,  are  dark  coloured.  The  fourth  or  sub- 
terminal  I  look  upon,  for  the  sake  of  simplicity,  as  the  white  or 
pale  band,  which  is  generally  followed  or  preceded  by  a  strong 


316  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

blackish  or  brownish  sufTusion.  The  hind  wings  are  much  the 
same,  except  that  the  first  hne  is  only  exceptionally  present. 
Both  wings  have  a  white  discal  spot,  surrounded  by  a  blackish 
ring  on  the  transverse  vein.     These  spots  may  be  absent. 

I  have  previously  suggested  that  alpina  and  grcecaria  should 
be  separated  from  zonaria,  but  I  am  sure  now  that  the  separa- 
tion, as  far  as  alpina  is  concerned,  was  premature.  This  species 
I  consider  to  be  generically  the  same  as  zonaria.  There  are  a 
few  structural  points,  such  as  the  stronger  antennal  pectinations 
and  the  absence  of  cornuti  on  the  vesica  in  the  genitalia,  which 
might  be  used  to  separate  the  two  species  italica  and  grcecaria 
from  Ithysia  under  the  generic  name  Melanocoma,  but  I  prefer 
to  call  all  four  Ithysia. 

The  relation  between  the  forms  or  species  has  been  very 
obscure  in  the  past,  partly  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  obtaining 
them,  and  partly  on  account  of  their  great  variability.  I  hope 
that  this  paper  will  clear  up  this  confusion.  I  shall  deal  with 
the  males  of  each  species  separately,  but  for  the  purpose  of 
comparison  I  shall  treat  of  the  females  as  a  whole. 

Ithysia  zonaria  (Schiff.). — This  species  has  caused  no  con- 
fusion, as  it  is  very  widely  distributed,  being  found  throughout 
North  and  Central  Europe,  and  extending  even  to  Armenia.  The 
type  of  the  species,  as  found  in  Central  Europe,  has  very  dark 
markings^ — so  dark,  indeed,  are  they  that  they  are  nearly  black. 
Our  specimens  (var.  hritannica,  mihi)  have  much  greyer  mark- 
ings, which  tend  to  be  obsolete  inward  from  the  prsesubterminal 
suffusion. 

In  var.  rossica  (mihi),  from  the  Ural  Mountains,  the  specimens 
are  very  small,  with  strong  dark  markings  and  a  line-like  sub- 
terminal  band. 

For  the  British  form,  almost  totally  suffused  with  smoky 
black,  I  propose  the  name  obscura. 

I.  ALPINA  (Sulzer). — I.  alpina  was  first  described  by  Sulzer  in 
1776  from  specimens  taken  in  Switzerland,  but  when  the  plates 
were  reissued  by  Eoemer  in  1789,  he  "  emended  "  Sulzer's  name 
to  "  alpinaria,"  and  this  name  was  used  by  Herrich-Schiiffer  in 
1850,  and  MiUiere,  in  1864,  for  the  same  species.  In  1840, 
however,  Boisduval  described  the  species  as  bombycaria,  and  in 
this  he  was  followed  by  De  la  Harpe  in  1852.  Guenee,  too, 
used  the  same  name. 

Alpina  is  most  readily  differentiated  from  the  others  struc- 
turally by  its  very  weakly  pectinated  antennae.  The  pectina- 
tions themselves  are  exceedingly  short,  and  at  least  six  joints 
are  without  them,  and  those  on  the  seventh  are  barely  dis- 
cernible. The  ground  colour  of  the  wings  is  a  slightly  glossy 
white,  very  faintly  speckled  with  brown  in  some  specimens.  The 
fore  wings  are  traversed  as  usual  by  the  three  lines  and  the 
subterminal  white  band.     All  of  the  lines  are  thickened,  more 


THE    GENUS    ITHYSIA.  317 

especially  on  the  veins  and  before  vein  one.  This  thickening  is 
especially  marked  on  the  median  line,  and  extends  for  a  space 
of  3  mm.  at  the  costal  end  of  the  line.  The  directions  of  the 
first  and  median  lines  call  for  little  comment,  but  that  of  the 
second  line  is  exceedingly  important.  It  proceeds  from  the 
inner  margin,  through  the  lower  angle  of  the  cell,  to  the  fifth 
vein,  and  then  proceeds  with  a  sweeping  curve  almost  the  exact 
quadrant  of  a  circle  to  the  costa.  In  most  specimens  the  median 
line  is  much  nearer  to  the  second  line  than  to  the  first. 

There  is  generally  a  white  discal  spot  surrounded  by  a  blackish 
ring.  The  subterminal  white  band  has  a  strong  brown-black 
sufl'usion  before  it,  and  a  weaker  one  after.  In  a  fair  percentage 
of  the  specimens  the  terminal  suffusion  is  absent,  and  then  the 
insects  assume  a  very  different  appearance.  I  call  this  form 
ab.  extincta.  The  same  type  of  markings  holds  on  the  hind 
wings,  except  that  the  first  line  is  absent,  and  the  median  one 
nearly  so.  The  discal  spot  and  pupil  are  clearly  marked  on  the 
hind  wings.  In  all  wings  the  veins  tend  to  be  outlined  in  dark 
fuscous.  The  termina  of  all  are  quite  rounded,  giving  us  a 
crescent  of  almost  perfect  shape  as  the  outline  of  the  fore  wings, 
and  a  semicircle  for  that  of  the  hind  wings.  The  thorax  is 
densely  covered  with  almost  white  fur  above,  tending  to  brownish 
below,  and  the  patagia  may  be  outlined  in  brown.  The  body  is 
dark  brown,  more  or  less  densely  covered  with  greyish  hairs  or 
fur.  The  genitalia  are  very  simple,  but  are  quite  satisfactory, 
for  they  afford  us  excellent  characters  for  separating  the  species. 
The  valves  are  very  short  for  the  size  of  the  insect,  i.  e.  when 
compared  with  other  members  of  the  group.  The  upper  margin 
is  concave,  whilst  the  lower  is  slightly  so  for  five-sixths  of  its 
length,  when  we  have  a  strong  upward  curve  to  the  rounded  tip, 
giving  the  valve  roughly  the  outline  of  a  pruning-knife.  The 
costal  ridge  on  the  valve  is  wide,  and  is  slightly  raised. 

The  uncus  is  much  the  same  as  in  the  other  species,  except 
that  the  point  is  longer.  The  gnathos  (the  broad  chin-like  plate 
below  the  uncus)  is  wide,  with  a  broad  and  shghtly  roughened 
tip,  and  is  notched  at  the  base.  Its  surface  is  squamous.  The 
oedeagus  is  short  and  stout,  whilst  the  vesica  is  provided  with  a 
few  claw-like  cornuti.  The  tergite  of  the  eighth  abdominal  seg- 
ment is  slightly  thickened,  and  is  divided  into  two  lobes. 

I.  iTALiCA,  sp.  n. — This  species  has  been  assigned  to  both 
alpina  and  grcecaria  by  various  authors,  a  fact  that  seems  strange 
until  one  is  acquainted  with  the  fact  that  very  few  of  the  older 
authors  possessed  all  the  forms.  The  first  author  who  dealt  with 
this  form  was  Scriba  (*  Beitrage '  iii.  p.  215  (1793)),  who 
imagined  he  was  dealing  with  Sulzer's  species,  and  used  Eoemer's 
emended  name  "alpinaria"  for  it.  In  this  he  was  followed  by 
Esper  (Band  v.  Heft  9)  in  1803,  Hubner  in  1796,  and  later  by 
Duponchel.     It  is  noteworthy  that  Esper's  form  was  the  darker 


318  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

form  venamed  flore7itina  by  Stefanelli  in  1882,  and  treated  by 
him  as  =  grcecaria,  Boisduval-Staudinger.  As  alpinaria,  Bork- 
Scriba,  was  the  first  form  described  and  the  name  is  invalid,  I 
propose  the  name  italica  for  the  species. 

The  ground  colour  of  italica  is  a  somewhat  glossy  grey 
slightly  mixed  with  light  brown  scales. 

We  have  the  usual  four  lines,  but  the  first  and  median  are 
only  faintly  marked  except  on  the  costa,  where  they  are  suffused. 
In  the  direction  of  the  second  line  we  have  a  most  important 
character  to  distinguish  this  species  from  its  congeners.  All 
the  lines  start  from  the  basal  half  of  the  inner  margin  and  then 
strike  very  obliquely  outward  until  vein  one  is  reached.  This 
point  is  perfectly  reliable  to  separate  italica  in  all  its  forms  from 
gracaria  and  alpina.  After  vein  one  the  first  two  lines  go  as  in 
the  other  species.  The  second  line,  as  in  alpina,  then  strikes 
across  the  wing  to  the  lower  angle  of  the  cell,  and  then,  unlike 
that  species,  it  continues  parallel  to  the  termen,  which  is  not 
strongly  curved  near  the  costa.  The  median  line  is  midway 
between  the  first  and  second  line.  None  of  the  lines  are  thickened, 
but  become  darker  as  they  cross  the  veins. 

The  subterminal  band,  owing  to  the  weakness  of  the  suffusions 
and  the  lines,  is  not  so  broad  and  rarely  shows  up  so  well  as  in 
alpina.  The  same  differences  are  observable  in  the  lines  on  the 
hind  wings,  but,  owing  to  the  difference  in  shape  in  the  hind 
wings  of  the  two  species,  both  the  median  and  second  lines  are 
nearer  the  base  of  the  wings  and  are  more  parallel,  with  the 
result  that  very  often  the  thickened  second  line  crosses  and 
obliterates  the  discal  spot. 

In  shape  the  wings  are  very  characteristic.  The  fore  wings 
are  markedly  longer  than  the  hind  ones,  and  the  termen  is  much 
less  rounded  than  in  alpina.  In  the  hind  wings,  as  the  upper 
angle  is  much  produced,  the  wings  are  much  broader  than  in 
either  alpina  or  gracaria. 

The  antennae  are  markedly  different  from  those  of  either 
alpina  or  grcecaria,  being  very  long  and  having  very  strong 
pectinations,  which  extend  to  the  apex  on  the  outer  side,  but  are 
absent  for  the  first  four  joints  on  the  inner  side.  The  pectina- 
tions, as  well  as  being  longer,  are  thicker  and  blacker  than  those 
of  grcecaria.  The  thorax  is  broad,  and  is  covered  with  grey  fur, 
whilst  the  abdomen  is  brown  and  is  more  or  less  covered  with 
greyish  hairs.  The  genitalia,  too,  are  very  distinct.  The  valves 
are  much  longer  and  broader  than  those  of  alpina.  The  upper 
margin  is  not  concave,  as  in  that  species,  but  for  about  two-fifths 
of  its  length  is  straight.  There  is  then  a  slight  dip  followed  by 
a  rapid  outward  curve.  The  outer  margin  is  very  slightly 
hollowed  ;  then  it  turns  upward,  not  with  a  bold  curve,  but  with 
a  slightly  concave  sweep  until  it  reaches  the  downward  curve  of 
the  upper  margin.     The  costal  ridge  is  narrow. 


THE    GENUS   ITHY8IA.  319 

The  point  of  the  uncus  is  very  short.  The  gnathos  is  much 
narrower  than  that  of  alpina,  and  instead  of  being  indented  at 
the  base  proceeds  outward  in  a  straight  hne  until  the  curved 
extremity  is  reached.  It  is  much  more  strongly  squamous  than 
in  alpina.  In  general  shape  it  is  not  unlike  some  forms  of  the 
shells  of  the  genus  Pecten.  The  cedeagus  is  short  and  stout, 
and  the  vesica  is  merely  thickened  where  the  cornuti  ought  to 
be,  for  they  are  absent.  The  eighth  abdominal  tergite  is  not 
thickened. 

I.  iTALicA  var.  FLORENTiNA  (Stof.  nec  GR^cARiA,  Bdv.-Staud.). 
— In  this  form  the  ground  colour  is  strongly  •  suffused  with  light 
brown,  whilst  the  markings  and  suffusions  are  much  stronger 
than  in  the  type.     The  thorax  is  quite  brown. 

I.  ITALICA  var.  CARNiOLicA,  nov. — In  this  variety  the  ground 
colour  is  grey  heavily  suffused  with  blackish  scales,  whilst  the 
markings  and  suffusions  are  colder  in  tone  and  much  stronger 
than  in  the  type.     The  thorax  is  dark  grey. 

I.  GR^CARiA  (Bdv.-Staudinger). — This  species  was  erected  by 
Staudinger  definitely  in  1870,  as  Boisduval's  name  was  without 
definite  description,  although  proposed  in  1840. 

The  ground  colour  of  the  wings  is  a  dead  grey,  slightly  mixed 
with  yellow  or  brownish  scales  in  the  type,  and  in  this  deadness 
of  the  colour  we  have  a  contrast  to  the  gloss  of  alpina  and  italica. 
The  yellowness  of  the  ground  is  stronger  in  the  hind  wings.  On 
the  fore  wings  the  first,  median  and  second  lines  are  all  present, 
as  well  as  the  subterminal  band.  The  median  line  is  very  near 
the  second  one,  which,  at  the  fifth  vein,  takes  a  rapid  inward 
sweep  to  strike  the  costa  nearly  at  right  angles.  The  sub- 
terminal  white  band  has  both  of  the  usual  suffusions,  and  is 
broader  and  less  prone  to  be  scalloped  than  in  the  other  two 
species.  The  markings  on  the  hind  wings  have  the  same 
characteristics.  Both  the  suffusions  and  the  lines  on  all  the 
wings  are  more  line-like  than  in  the  other  species,  and  this 
character  in  the  second  line  of  the  hind  wings  is  very  important. 
The  veins  are  not  outlined  in  black  or  brown. 

The  shape  of  the  wings  in  this  species  is  quite  different  from 
that  of  alpina  and  italica,  for  the  fore  wings,  in  proportion  to  the 
hind  wings,  are  much  shorter.  In  the  hind  wings  the  inner 
margin  is  not  markedly  less  than  the  costal  margin,  so  that  the 
upper  angle  of  the  wing  does  not  project  as  far  as  in  italica,  but 
is  even  rounded  and  turned  in  toward  the  base.  The  termen  of 
the  fore  wings,  too,  is  more  rounded  than  in  italica. 

The  thorax  is  grey,  slightly  brown  mixe4,  and  is  not  very 
broad,  whilst  the  abdomen  is  brown  with  paler  hairs.  The 
antennse  are  shorter  than  those  of  italica,  and,  while  more 
strongly  pectinated  than  those  of  alpina,  are  less  strongly  so 
than   in  italica.      The    pectinations,   too,   are    thinner.      The 


320  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

antennae  are  not  pectinated  to  the  apex,  for  five  joints  possess 
no  pectinations,  whilst  on  the  four  before  these,  those  on  the 
inner  side  are  much  shorter  than  those  on  the  outer  side.  The 
genitalia  come  next,  The  valves  are  of  a  totally  different 
type  to  the  others.  They  are  much  broader.  The  edges  are 
parallel,  the  upper  side  being  slightly  hollow  and  the  lower 
convex.  Instead  of  having  a  tendency  to  being  hooked  at  the 
extremity  they  are  evenly  rounded,  like  the  end  of  one's  middle 
finger.  They  are  actually  broader  toward  the  end  than  in  the 
middle.  The  costal  ridge  is  very  broad,  and  is  scarcely  defined. 
The  gnathos  is  broad,  squamous  and  rounded,  and  more 
like  that  in  alpina  than  that  in  italica,  but  it  is  only  slightly 
indented,  not  notched  at  the  base.  The  oedeagus  is  shorter  and 
stouter  than  in  italica,  and,  as  in  that  species,  the  vesica  lacks 
cornuti. 

I.  GRiECARiA  var.  isTRiANUS,  Staudinger, — This  form  is  much 
whiter  than  the  type,  and  the  markings  are  weaker  generally, 
although  variable  in  this  respect. 

2Vie  Females. 

The  female  of  zonaria,  owing  to  the  golden  yellow  bands,  is 
readily  separated  from  the  others,  although  I  possess  an  abso- 
lutely black  female  (ab.  nigra)  from  Eussia. 

The  females  of  the  other  three  species,  at  first  sight  so  much 
alike,  are  easy  to  distinguish  after  a  little  practice.  In  all,  the 
bodies  are  black,  more  or  less  closely  covered  with  white  hairs. 
The  rudimentary  wings  are  white  above,  and  are  darker  below. 
The  tips  and  base  are  well  supplied  with  strong  white  hairs. 

Alpina  is  the  easiest  to  separate,  for  sometimes  the  fur  is 
yellowish,  and,  in  all  cases,  the  insect  is  more  thickly  covered 
with  pale  hairs.  The  great  point  of  difference  is,  however,  that 
the  face  and  collar  are  white,  whereas  they  are  black  in  the 
others. 

At  first  sight,  to  recognize  the  other  two  seems  a  difficult 
problem,  but  close  examination  soon  removes  the  difficulty. 
The  most  obvious  point  of  difference  is  that  the  thorax  of  italica 
is  much  broader  than  that  of  grcecaria,  and,  like  the  rest  of  the 
body,  is  covered  with  fewer  and  shorter  white  hairs.  The  wings, 
too,  are  clearly  less  hairy,  and,  although  in  both  species  they 
are  white  above,  in  italica  they  are  jet-black  beneath,  whereas  in 
greecaria  the  under  sides  are  blackish  slightly  mixed  with  whitish 
scales.  The  tips  of  the  wings  in  italica  are  more  pointed.  The 
antennae  in  grcecaria  are  slender  and  the  joints  are  well  marked, 
but  in  italica  they  are  thicker  and  the  joints  are  masked  by 
the  close  covering  of  scales.  Compared  with  grcecaria,  italica 
possesses  enormously  stout  and  strong  legs,  and  the  difl'erence 
is  nowhere  more  definitely  seen  than  in  the  femora  and  the 


THE    FEEDING   HABITS   OF    SCORPION-FLIES.  321 

tibiae.      However,   the   differences   are   better    taken   point  by 
point,  thus  : — 


grcBcana. 
Femora  and  tibige  weak. 

Both  white  and  black  scales  on 

legs. 
Scales  strongly  toothed. 
Spurs  cone-shaped,  not  thick. 
Femora  concave  on  upper  edge. 

Tibias  not  strongly  haired. 


italica. 
Femora  and  tibias  much  broader, 

but  less  strongly  scaled. 
Scales  on  legs  all  black. 

Scales  weakly  toothed. 
Spurs  ninepin-shaped,  thick. 
Femora  somewhat  regularly  club- 
shaped. 
Tibiae  weakly  haired. 

In  the  legs,  alpina  and  gracaria  resemble  each  other,  but  in 
alpina  the  femora  and  tibise  are  even  weaker  than  in  grcecaria, 
although  the  scales  are  a  trifle  broader. 

I  shall  now  close  my  paper  by  giving  a  list  of  the  localities 
whence  the  various  forms  I  have  described  were  received  :— 
I,  zonaria.     Central  Europe. 

var.  britannica.     England, 
var.  rossica.     Ural  Mountains, 
var.  obscura.     England. 
/.  alpina.     Switzerland,  Tyrol. 
I.  italica.     N.  Italy. 

var.  fiorentina.     Florence,  Modena. 
var.  carniolica.     Carniola. 
I.  grcBcaria.     Greece. 

var.  istrianus.     Carniola. 


THE     FEEDING    HABITS    OF     SCORPION-FLIES 
(PANOPiPID^). 

By  F.  W.  &  H.  Campion. 

During  the  present  year  we  made  a  few  experiments  with  the 
object  of  discovering,  for  our  own  satisfaction,  the  kind  of  food 
consumed  by  scorpion-ilie^  in  their  adult  condition.  At  Ickenham, 
Middlesex,  we  obtained  a  living  pair  of  Panorpa  communis  on  May 
19th,  and  placed  them  in  separate  glass-bottomed  boxes.  At 
7  p.m.  on  the  following  day  a  live  Aphid  and  a  small  live  Muscid 
were  introduced  into  the  box  containing  the  male  Panorpa,  and  a 
live  Aphid  and  a  small  dead  Muscid  into  that  holding  the  female. 
The  next  day,  May  21st,  the  female  was  observed  to  be  feeding 
on  the  dead  Muscid.  The  male  did  not  interfere  at  all  with  the 
living  insects  in  its  own  box,  but  feeding  soon  took  place  when 
the  dead  Muscid,  previously  fed  upon  by  the  female,  was  offered 
to  it.  By  nightfall  on  May  21st  both  the  Panorpa  were  in  a 
moribund  condition,  and  were  therefore  killed  off. 


322  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

At  Oxshott,  Surrey,  on  May  29th,  a  male  of  P.  germanica 
was  enclosed  in  a  box  with  a  small  living  spider.  Apparently, 
each  arthropod  was  afraid  of  the  other,  and,  as  the  Panorpa 
refused  to  feed,  the  spider  was  killed  and  replaced  in  the  box. 
The  scorpion-fly  was  then  repeatedly  observed  to  be  feeding  with 
manifest  relish  upon  the  dead  spider,  moving  its  wings  and 
abdomen  while  doing  so. 

On  May  31st  a  living  micro-lepidopteron  (probably  Catoptria 
ulicitana)  was  presented  to  another  male  of  P.  germatiica,  also 
at  Oxshott.  Both  insects  were  shy  of  each  other,  but,  an  hour 
after  the  moth  had  been  killed  and  again  presented,  the  Panorpa 
was  found  to  be  feeding,  and  its  meal  lasted  fully  half  an  hour. 
By  that  time  the  abdomen  of  the  moth  was  entirely  consumed. 
In  this  case  feeding  was  not  accompanied  by  movement  of  the 
wings  or  abdomen.  Later  on  the  same  day  a  killed  moth 
{Bupalus  piniaria)  was  given  to  the  Panorpa,  but  the  scorpion- 
fly  died  without  feeding  having  been  observed. 

Our  observations  tend  to  show,  therefore,  that,  although  the 
timid  scorpion-flies  are  undoubtedly  carnivorous  insects,  they 
feed  upon  dead  animal  matter,  and  do  not  catch  and  devour 
living  prey.  Mr.  W.  J.  Lucas  has  also  arrived  at  the  conclusion 
that  "  it  is  perhaps  established  that  in  the  imago  stage  they  suck 
the  juices  of  dead  or  injured  animals,  but  do  not  hunt  them 
down  themselves"  (Entom.  xliii.  p.  186  [1910]).  It  is  not  at 
all  clear,  however,  whether  adult  Panorpidae  are  really  as  short- 
lived as  they  appear  to  be,  or  whether,  in  a  state  of  nature,  they 
get  nourishment  at  more  frequent  intervals  than  did  the  subjects 
of  oar  experiments. 
58,  Ranelagh  Road,  Ealing:  October  9th,  1912. 


NOTES    ON    SEITZ'S    '  MACRO-LEPIDOPTERA   OF    THE 
WOELD.' 

By  T.  D.  a.  Cockerell. 

I  HAVE  just  obtained  Seitz's  magnificent  work,  so  far  as 
published  to  date,  and  am  truly  astonished  at  its  excellence  and 
cheapness.  It  is  a  great  privilege  to  be  living  at  the  time  of 
publication  of  such  a  book.  Going  through  the  several  parts  I 
have  noted  a  few  things  which  may  be  of  interest ;  relatively 
trifling  matters,  but  perhaps  deserving  notice  at  this  time. 

Pieris  brassicce  var.  ohsciirata  is  nearly  the  same  as  var. 
nigrescens  (Entom.  xxii.  p.  55),  which  is  based  on  the  form 
from  near  Perth  described  by  Newman  and  in  Entom.  iv.  p.  258. 
The  original  publication  of  the  name  nigrescens  is  hardly 
sufficiently  explicit. 

Anthocharis  cardammes  var.  minor  (Entom.  xxii.  p.  176)  is 


SEITZ'S    '  MACRO-LEPIDOPTERA    OF    THE    WORLD.'  323 

not  turritis,  but  is  the  dwarfed  form  (hesperidis).  The  name 
minor  has  priority.  The  form  of  the  male  with  yellow  instead 
of  orange  tips  is  aureoflavescens  (Entom.  xxi.  p.  189  ;  Entom. 
Amer.  v.  p.  34). 

Colias  hyale  var.  ■pallida  was  originally  applied  by  Robson  and 
Gardner  (and  also  in  Entom.  xxii.  pp.  4,  56)  to  the  light  form  of 
the  female,  properly  the  typical  form.  The  variety  pallida, 
Tutt,  may  be  named  pallidior. 

C.  electa  var.  aurivillius  is  the  same  as  var.  pallida  (Entom. 
xxii.  p.  5). 

C.  tviskotti  alexandra,  Stgr.,  if  a  subspecies,  is  unfortunately 
named,  since  there  is  an  American  species  with  the  same  name. 

C.  edwardsii  is  not  from  Virginia.  The  white  female  of  C. 
philodice  was  named,  long  ago,  pallidice,  Scudd.,  alba,  Maynard 
(c/".  Entom.  xxii.  p,  5)..  Similarly  the  white  female  of  C.  eury- 
theme  has  earlier  names,  one  of  which  is  pallida  (West  Amer. 
Sci.  1887,  p.  217) ;  see  also  Scudder's  *  Butterflies  of  New 
England  '  for  full  details. 

C.  (Meganostoma)  cesonia  var.  rosea,  Stgr.,  appears  from 
Skinner's  catalogue  to  be  preoccupied  by  var.  rosea,  McNeill, 
1889  ;  but  McNeill  wrote  rosa. 

G.  croceus  var.  poveli  is  pseudomas  (Entom.  xxii.  p.  26),  and 
the  later  ohsoleta,  Tutt. 

C.  croceus  var.  pyrenaica  is  probably  minor  (Entom.  xxii. 
p.  176).  The  ab.  cceridea  is  evidently  close  to  purpurascens 
(Entom.  xxii.  p.  3). 

Neophasia  princetonia  is  from  Arizona,  not  from  Illinois. 

Epinephele  tithonus  vars.  subalbida,  Verity,  and  albida,  Russel, 
are  pallescens  and  albidus,  Entom.  xxii.  p.  3,  but  there  rather 
insufficiently  indicated.  For  pallescens  see  also  Entom.  xix. 
p.  230. 

Pyrameis  cardui  var.  minor,  Canad.  Entom.  1890,  p.  57 ; 
Ent.  Rec.  1890,  p.  60,  appears  to  have  priority  over  var.  minor, 
Cann. 

Limenitis  Camilla  var.  nigrina  =  nigra,  Entom.  xxii.  p.  54, 
the  first  doubtless  earlier.  See  also  nigra,  Mosl.  1886,  without 
description.  The  ab.  obliterata,  Shipp,  is  doubtless  the  one 
named  obliterata,  Robs.  &  Gard. 

Chrysophanus  phlceas  vsiY.fasciata,  Ckll.  (Entom.  xxii.  p.  99) 
is  the  banded  form  ;  var.  fasciata,  Streck.,  is  the  corresponding 
variety  of  the  American  race  (hypophlaas) . 

Zygcsna  filipendulce  ab.  flava  =  ceiinus,  Robs.  &  Gard. 
Z.  lavandidce  has  a  yellow  ab.  lutesens  (Entom.  xxii.  p.  128). 

Spilosoma  urticce  ab.  radiata  was  perhaps  first  named  in 
Entom.  xxii.  p.  147. 

Arctia  caia  ab.  lutescens,  credited  to  Tutt,  appears  to  have 
been  first  named  in  Entom.,  June,  1887,  pp.  150-152. 


324  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

NOTES    AND     OBSERVATIONS. 

Papilio  dardanus  var.  Leighi,  and  Danais  cheysippus-dorippus 
IN  Natal. — By  a  slip  of  the  pen  in  our  note  on  Professor  Poulton's 
remarks  in  'Nature'  on  "Polymorphism  in  a  Group  of  Mimetic 
Butterflies"  {antea,  p.  271),  we  mentioned  the  assistance  given  the 
author  by  "  the  late  "  Mr.  C.  F.  Leigh.  We  had  in  mind  the  late 
Mr.  A.  D.  Millar,  of  Durban,  and  offer  our  apologies  to  Mr.  Leigh, 
whose  many  friends  in  this  country  will  be  glad  to  hear  that  not 
only  is  he  alive  and  well,  but  that  he  is  continuing  his  successful 
breeding  experiments.  Under  date,  September  28th,  he  writes  that 
"  he  bred  on  September  25th  the  finest  example  of  the  leiglii  form  of 
the  Papilio  dardanus  that  he  has  yet  reared.  This  specimen — the 
seventh  known  to  exist — was  reared  from  ova  obtained  from  a 
variety  of  the  troplmims  form  of  the  female,  and  is  now  in  the 
collection  of  Mr.  D.  Longsdon,  of  London."  Mr.  Leigh  also  asks  us 
to  announce  the  occurrence  of  the  doripims  form  of  the  female  of 
Danais  chrysippus  in  some  numbers  in  and  near  Durban  this 
season,  after  not  being  seen  for  some  years. — (H.  R.-B.) 

Apparent  Autumnal  Migration  of  Pyrameis  atalanta. — During 
the  middle  and  latter  part  of  September,  when  the  settled  weather 
for  which  we  had  looked  so  long  came  at  last,  a  number  of  Pyrameis 
atalanta  frequented  a  long  bed  of  China  asters  in  my  garden.  An 
atteinpt  by  my  boy  to  catch  one  resulted  in  a  torn  hind  wing,  which 
served  to  identify  the  individual.  On  the  look-out  for  the  particular 
insect  thus  marked,  I  noticed  an  apparent  migration  of  the  butterflies. 
Thus  on  September  12th  there  were  two,  one  with  a  torn  hind  wing ; 
on  September  13th  three ;  on  September  16th  the  torn  one  had 
disappeared,  leaving  two;  on  September  17th  there  were  three  again, 
but  the  torn  one  was  not  among  them.  On  the  19th  there  were 
three,  and  one  of  these  had  again  a  torn  hind  wing,  but  this  was  not 
the  same  insect  that  had  been  previously  noted,  as  the  opposite  wing 
was  damaged.  In  two  days  this  also  had  disappeared.  On  the 
following  few  days  four  butterflies  were  seen,  but  none  of  them  had 
an  injured  wing.  Then  they  were  reduced  to  three,  increased  to 
four  again,  reduced  to  two,  and  finally  disappeared  altogether  early 
in  October.  It  seemed,  therefore,  that  a  migration  was  going  on 
which  the  occurrence  of  two  injured  insects  enabled  one  to  follow. — 
(Rev.)  W.  G.  Whittingham  ;  Knighton  Vicarage,  Leicester. 

Occurrence  of  Second  Broods  of  Pyrameis  atalanta  and 
P.  cARDUi. — In  reference  to  Mr.  Carter's  note  on  the  abundance  of 
P.  atalanta  larvaB  this  season  in  Kent  (antea,  p.  299),  I  may  state 
that  larvge  of  this  species  also  occurred  very  abundantly  in  this 
district  in  June.  Some  hundred  that  I  collected  were  full-fed  by  the 
beginning  of  July,  and  every  individual  produced  a  butterfly  later. 
Imagines  commenced  to  emerge  July  18th,  and  by  this  time  larvae 
had  disappeared  from  the  nettle-beds  in  the  lanes ;  they  were  not  in 
evidence  again  until  about  September  14th,  when  they  commenced  to 
appear,  and  by  the  beginning  of  October  were  quite  as  abundant 
as  in  June.  At  the  time  of  writing  this  note  I  have  larvae  as  small 
as  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  length,  while  others  are  preparing  to 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  325 

pupate.  I  am  quite  sure  from  my  own  experience  that  there  is  a 
second  brood  of  P.  atalanta,  at  least  of  larvae,  every  year,  as  I  have 
found  them  in  October  for  the  past  four  years ;  but  in  my  opinion 
very  few  of  these  late  larvas  survive  in  a  state  of  nature.  Two  years 
ago  I  made  experiments  with  some  of  these  late  larvae.  Some  were 
fed  in  a  cage  in  the  open  air,  and  others  in  an  unheated  room. 
Every  one  of  those  under  the  latter  conditions  fed  up  and  pupated, 
and  the  imagines  appeared  in  due  course,  the  last  one  emerging  as 
late  as  the  end  of  November ;  all  were  exceptionally  fine  specimens. 
The  larvae  kept  out  of  doors  fed  much  slower,  and  most  of  them 
shrivelled  up,  as  Mr.  Carter  states  happened  to  those  he  had.  Of 
the  few  that  did  pupate,  the  imagines  formed  in  every  case,  but  only 
two  emerged,  and  the  wings  of  these  were  so  deformed  as  to  be 
useless  for  flight.  The  occurrence  of  P.  cardui  was  almost  identical 
with  that  of  P.  atalanta,  excepting  that  P.  cardui  was  not  so 
abundant ;  larvae  occurred  in  June,  and  produced  imagines  in  July, 
and  larvae  again  appeared  in  September.  My  latest  record  is  of  six 
larvae,  half  an  inch  in  length,  taken  October  9th.  It  seems  natural 
for  these  two  species  of  butterfly  to  go  on  reproducing  their  kind 
and  not  to  hibernate  in  any  stage,  so  that  were  it  not  for  the 
periodical  arrival  of  immigrants,  the  species  would  soon  become 
extinct  in  this  country,  as  the  larvae  seem  unable  to  survive  the 
cold.  I  believe  there  is  no  authentic  record  of  either  P.  atalanta  or 
P.  cardui  having  been  found  in  hibernation  in  this  country,  and  the 
fresh  condition  of  specimens  seen  in  the  spring  could  hardly  be 
possible  if  they  had  weathered  the  vagaries  of  our  English  winter. — 
A.  T.  PosTANS ;  Southsea,  Portsmouth,  October  14th,  1912. 

Anaeta  myrtilli  reared  in  July  prom  June  Larvje. — I  do 
not  know  if  the  following  is  worth  recording.  On  June  17th  I 
obtained  locally  twelve  larvse  of  A.  myrtilli — some  full-fed,  others 
about  half-grown.  Moths  emerged  from  seven  pupte  about  the  end 
of  July,  and  yesterday  (Oct.  14th)  another  emerged,  whilst  the  other 
four  are  still  in  the  pupal  stage.  It  seems  to  me  that  this  species 
must  be  double- brooded,  although  I  believe  most  books  state  that 
the  imago  flies  in  May.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  I  think,  that  the 
full-fed  larvae  I  had  were  from  parents  which  emerged  in  May,  and  the 
fact  that  seven  out  of  twelve  emerged  at  the  end  of  July  really  seems 
to  point  to  the  fact  that  in  nature  the  insect  is  double-brooded.  I 
shall  be  interested  to  notice  how  the  remaining  four  pupae  fare. 
What  is  your  opinion  on  the  matter  ? — G.  Talbot  Thorne  ;  53,  Acland 
Eoad,  Bournemouth,  October  15th,  1912. 

[It  is  quite  conceivable  that,  even  in  the  open,  A.  myrtilli  may  in 
certain  favourable  seasons  pass  through  two  life  cycles  during  the 
year.  Mr.  Thome's  interesting  observation  is  evidence  that  the 
species  can  do  this  in  confinement.  The  statement  has  been  made 
that  the  late  as  well  as  the  early  specimens  seen  in  the  same  year 
are  alike  individuals  of  one  generation,  but  it  would  seem  to  be  more 
probable  that  specimens  on  the  wing  after  July  are  the  offspring  of 
parents  which  were  flying  in  the  late  spring  or  early  summer  of  the 
year.  Mr.  Thorne  notes  that  he  still  has  four  pup^  from  the  June 
larvae.     Possibly  moths  from  these  may  not  emerge  until  next  year, 

ENTOM. — NOVEMBER,    1912.  2  C 


B26  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

and,  if  so,  this  fact  would  seem  to  indicate  that  A.  myrtilli  does  not 
usually  attain  the  imago  state  twice  in  the  year,  although  when 
conditions  are  suitable  it  may  do  so.  At  the  same  time  it  continues 
to  be,  in  part  at  least,  a  one  cycle  species. — Ed.] 

Late  Emergence  of  Apatura  iris. — In  the  February  number 
of  the  '  Entomologist '  {antea,  p.  79)  I  reported  the  emergence  of  a 
specimen  of  Apatura  iris  as  a  second  brood.  The  other  larvae,  with 
one  exception,  fed  up  in  a  normal  manner,  the  perfect  insects 
emerging  last  July.  One  lagged  behind  the  others,  and  by  the  time 
they  had  pupated  it  was  only  about  one-third  grown.  Eventually  it 
changed  to  a  chrysalis  on  September  1st,  and  the  imago — a  very 
small  female — emerged  on  October  2nd. — Edward  Goodwin  ;  Canon 
Court,  Wateringbury,  Maidstone,  October  4th,  1912. 

Pyrameis  atalanta,  ab. — On  Sept.  6th  my  little  son  captured  a 
fine  variety  of  the  above-named  butterfly  in  the  rectory  garden  here. 
The  normal  red  of  the  bands  on  the  hind  wings  is  replaced  by  yellow 
for  a  third  of  the  length  on  the  left  side,  and  two-thirds  on  the  right. 
South,  in  '  The  Butterflies  of  the  British  Isles,'  p.  81,  records  that 
"  a  specimen  with  the  bands  of  hind  wings  marked  with  yellow  has 
been  noted,"  but  I  have  been  unable  to  trace  the  reference. — (Eev.) 
Alfred  T.  Stiff  ;  Grantham,  Victor  Drive,  Leigh-on-Sea,  Essex. 

Leucania  unipuncta  in  Isle  of  Wight.  —  On  Sept.  7th  last, 
whilst  sugaring  in  the  Isle  of  Wight  I  took  what  seemed  to  be  a  very 
unusual  looking  L.  Uthargyria.  By  the  light  of  day  next  morning  1 
was  convinced  that  I  had  something  much  better  than  that  common 
object  of  the  country,  and  I  now  find  that  my  capture  was  a  very 
fine  male  L.  ttnijnmcta  (extranea).  It  was  taken  at  sugar  about 
8  p.m.  on  a  dull  cold  night  when  very  few  other  insects  were 
about. — D.  Dewar  ;  Altyre  House,  Stanley,  E.S.O.,  Co.  Durham, 
October  21st,  1912. 

Dasypolia  templi  in  Lincolnshire.  —  I  took  a  specimen  of 
Dasypolia  templi  at  rest  on  a  gas-lamp  on  the  evening  of  October 
10th.  This  is  the  first  authentic  record  of  its  occurrence  in  Lincoln- 
shire.— G.  W.  Mason  ;  Barton-on-Humber. 

ToRTRix  PRONUBANA,  Hb. — About  the  middle  of  last  month  I  paid 
a  short  visit  to  the  spot  where  the  late  Mr.  G.  H.  Conquest  found 
T.  promihana  last  year,  and  having  secured  the  few  larvae  and  pupae 
I  required  to  enable  me  to  complete  my  own  short  series  and  that  of 
a  friend,  I  thought  I  would  see  what  other  food-plants  I  could  find  it 
on.  All  the  above,  it  should  be  stated,  were  on  Euonyvms  japonicus. 
I  found,  after  a  long  search,  two  pupas  in  spun-together  privet-leaves, 
and  one  on  Bohinia  pseudacacia  ;  in  this  last  instance  the  larva  had 
spun  the  last  pair  of  leaflets  to  the  terminal  one,  forming  a  covering 
of  a  rough  triangular  outline.  Although  Bohinia  is  well  known 
abroad  as  one  of  its  very  numerous  food-plants,  I  am  not  aware  that 
the  larva  of  T.  pronubana  has  been  found  on  it  in  this  country  before. 
The  insect  is  well  established  in  that  part  of  Essex,  and  I  am  quite 
prepared  to  find  it  on  this  side  of  the  county  at  any  time.  It  seems 
perfectly  marvellous  how  this  pretty  moth  has  spread  about  in  the 
past  six  or  seven  years,  for  so  conspicuous  an  insect  is  hardly  likely 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  327 

to  have  eluded  entomological  eyes  for  any  length  of  time  previously. 
It  might  be  of  interest  to  mention  that  I  found  larvte,  pupae,  and 
imagines  (two  males)  on  the  same  day. — A.  Thurnall;  Wanstead, 
Essex,  October  1st,  1912. 

Eetinia  (Ehyacionia)  purdeyi  IN  Norfolk.  —  The  Eev.  W.  G. 
Whittingham  has  very  kindly  given  me  two  specimens  of  the  Betinia 
mentioned  in  his  article  (antea,  p.  295).  These  I  find  are  i-eferable 
to  B.  purdeyi,  Durrant,  a  species  quite  recently  described  from 
specimens  captured  by  Mr.  W.  Purdey  at  Folkestone,  in  Kent,  about 
the  third  week  in  July,  1911.  The  Norfolk  specimens  were  netted, 
as  they  flew  about  pine-trees,  in  the  afternoon  of  August  20th  last. — 
Eichard  South  ;  96,  Drakefield  Eoad,  Upper  Tooting,  S.W. 

Arctic  Dragonplies. — Mr.  W.  G.  Sheldon  was  good  enough  to 
give  me  three  dragonflies  which  he  took  this  summer  beyond  the 
North  Cape — one  male  ^schna  carulea  (=  borealis)  and  two  male 
Soviatochlora  alpestris.  The  former  occurs,  not  commonly,  in  the 
Highlands  of  Scotland  ;  the  latter  is  not  British,  but  is  found  in 
Switzerland.  All  the  specimens  Mr.  Sheldon  saw  were  at  about 
sea-level  in  that  latitude.  Somatochlora  alpestris  was  generally 
distributed  in  the  Porsanger  Fjord  wherever  there  were  pools  of 
water.  The  first  specimen  was  taken  at  Kolvik  on  June  27th,  and 
several  others  of  this  species  were  seen  there  during  the  ensuing 
week.  At  Laxelv,  at  the  southern  extremity  of  this  fjord,  it  was 
quite  common,  probably  because  there  were  here  many  pieces  of 
stagnant  water.  Mr.  Sheldon  saw  examples  also  at  Kistrand  on  the 
west  and  at  Borselv  on  the  east  side  of  the  fjord.  JE.  ccerulea  he 
saw  only  at  Laxelv — perhaps  half  a  dozen  examples  in  all.  They 
were  very  wary,  and  the  specimen  he  gave  me  was  the  only  one  he 
got  a  chance  at ;  it  was  taken  on  July  13th.  He  did  not  see  any 
Odonata  at  Bossekop,  in  the  Alten  Fjord,  where  he  stayed  from 
June  12th  to  June  28th,  nor  at  Abisko,  in  Swedish  Lapland,  at 
which  place  he  spent  from  June  16th  to  July  18th,  1911,  although  he 
kept  a  sharp  look-out  for  them  at  both  these  places. — W.  J.  Lucas  ; 
Kingston-on-Thames. 

T^NIORHYNCHUS  RICHIARDII,  Fic,  IN  MIDDLESEX  AND  HAMP- 
SHIRE.— Two  new  records  can  now  be  added  to  the  short  list  cited 
by  Mr.  F.  W.  Edwards  for  this  uncommon  British  mosquito  {antea, 
p.  261).  That  gentleman  has  been  good  enough  to  identify  two 
females  collected  by  myself  at  Ealing  on  July  12th  and  26th,  1912, 
respectively.  He  has  also  shown  me  a  female  which  he  took  at 
Hook,  Hants,  on  the  17th  of  the  same  month,  and  has  kindly  per- 
mitted me  to  publish  his  record  with  my  own. — Herbert  Campion  ; 
58,  Eanelagh  Eoad,  Ealing,  September  25th,  1912. 

Further  Eecords  of  Colias  edusa  in  England. — On  August 
28th,  at  Eeading,  I  captured  one  male  G.  edusa,  and  next  day  saw  a 
female  but  failed  to  secure  it. — Douglas  H.  Butler  ;  293,  Oxford 
Eoad,  Eeading. 

Colias  edusa  appeared  in  limited  numbers  in  the  clover  fields 
around  Chichester  on  sunny  days  during  July  and  August.  The  first 
specimen,  a  female,  was  taken  by  Mr.  Gilbert  Humphry  on  July  24th. 
— Joseph  Anderson  ;  Aire  Villa,  Chichester, 


328  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

Panorpa  cognata  in  Surrey. — On  July  4th,  1903,  Mr.  E.  South 
took  at  Ockham,  Surrey,  a  male  scorpion-fly,  which  he  believed  to 
belong  to  the  scarce  species  Panorpa  cognata,  Eamb.  Mr.  K.  J. 
Morton  has  novv  been  kind  enough  to  examine  the  specimen,  and  he 
informs  us  that  the  identification  is  correct.  A  female  taken  by  Mr. 
W.  J.  Lucas  at  Byfleet,  in  the  same  county,  on  July  23rd,  1904,  has 
been  already  recorded  (Entom.  xhii.  p.  187  (1910) ).— F.  W.  and  H. 
Campion  ;  58,  Eanelagh  Eoad,  EaHng,  October  9th,  1912. 

Note  on  Pyrameis  cardui. — On  July  2nd,  at  -St.  Leonard's-on- 
Sea,  I  found  several  dozen  larvae  of  P.  cardui.  At  the  same  time 
worn  specimens  of  the  butterfly  were  on  the  wing.  On  July  7th 
several  of  the  larvae  had  pupated  ;  two  imagines  emerged  July  19th  and 
the  last  emerged  July  29th.  One  specimen  has  a  white  spot  in  the  red 
portion  of  the  wing,  two  have  an  additional  white  spot  in  the  apical 
region  of  the  fore  wing,  as  mentioned  in  Barrett's  'Lepidoptera,'  and 
one  has  a  black  spot  in  the  red  portion  of  the  wing. — W.  E.  Butler  ; 
Hayling  House,  Oxford  Eoad,  Eeading,  October  16th,  1912. 


SOCIETIES. 


Entomological  Society  of  London.  —  Wednesday,  May  1st, 
1912. — Mr.  A.  H.  Jones,  Vice-President,  in  the  chair.  —  The  Eev. 
B.  Adrian  Woodruffe-Peacock,  F.L.S.,  F.G.S.,  Cadney  Vicarage, 
Brigg,  Lincolnshire,  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Society.— Mr.  A.  H. 
Jones  exhibited  three  examples  of  Aglais  urticce  var.  ichmisa  showing 
the  absence  of  scales  in  the  centre  of  the  wings,  where  the  central 
spots  are  present  in  the  type.  Also  examples  of  Eilchloe  damone  from 
Asia  Minor  and  Sicily,  showing  the  difference  in  the  depth  of  colour  of 
the  transverse  black  streak  on  fore  wings  and  in  the  tone  of  colour  of 
under  sides. — Dr.  G.  B.  Longstaft',  a  series  of  twelve  specimens  (five 
males  and  seven  females)  of  the  rare  white  butterfly,  rinacopteryx 
doxo,  Godart  (venatus,  Butler),  from  the  White  Nile.  —  Mr.  x\lfred 
Sich,  two  specimens,  with  their  cases,  of  Goleophora  trigeminella, 
Fuchs,  and  one  specimen  of  C.  hadiipermella,  Dup.,  with  its  case  for 
comparison.  —  Mr.  W.  J.  Kaye,  three  small  groups  of  Ithomiine 
butterflies  that  had  been  taken  by  himself  in  S.  Brazil.  —  Mr. 
Hamilton  H.  Druce,  male  and  female  of  the  new  Mimacraa  eltring- 
hami,  captured  by  Mr.  S.  A.  Neave  in  the  Bugoma  Forest,  Unyoro, 
Uganda ;  also  another  new  Miviacraa,  which  he  proposed  to  name 
costleyi,  after  its  discoverer  Mr.  Costley- White,  at  Mlanji,  Nyasaland, 
which  appeared  to  be  allied  to  M.  viarshalli,  Trimen,  a  specimen  of 
which  was  also  shown  for  comparison.  Mr.  S.  A.  Neave  described 
the  capture  of  these  specimens.  This  species  in  common  with  several 
others  flies  very  high,  and  he  said  that  it  was  often  necessary  to 
employ  small  native  boys  perched  at  the  top  of  the  trees  and  armed 
with  nets. — Mr.  A.  E.  Gibbs  exhibited  a  drawer  of  butterflies  received 
from  Dr.  Davis,  of  Belize,  collected  in  British  Honduras  and  the 
neighbouring  Eepublic  of  Guatemala.— Mr.  C.  B.  Williams,  a  speci- 
men of  the  male  Megalothrips  nobilis,  Bagnall,  from  Wicken  Fen, 
taken  April  11th,  1912.     This  is  the  largest  European  species,  and, 


SOCIETIES.  329 

since  first  taken  by  Dr.  Sharp  in  1894,  has  not  been  recorded.- — Mr. 
S.  A.  Neave,  some  of  the  Tabanidae  collected  during  his  recent  tour 
in  East  Africa,  on  behalf  of  the  Entomological  Eesearch  Committee 
of  the  Colonial  Office.  He  called  attention  to  the  male  individuals 
exhibited,  and  expressed  the  opinion  that  their  rarity  in  collections 
was  perhaps  due  to  the  fact  that  they  were  short-lived.  Mr.  G.  A.  K. 
Marshall  observed  that  probably  many  of  the  Fellows  present  would 
hardly  realize  the  importance  of  Mr.  Neave's  exhibit.  Even  amongst 
the  English  Tabanidie  by  no  means  all  the  males  were  known,  and 
this  sex  was  hitherto  unknown  in  the  large  majority  of  the  species 
then  exhibited.  —  Mr.  E.  M.  Prideaux  brought  for  exhibition  seven- 
teen ova  of  G.  rhaumi.iound  in  a  cluster  at  Brasted  Chart,  on  April 
28th,  on  a  shoot  of  Bhamnus  francjula. — Professor  Poulton  said  that 
he  had  long  been  struck,  especially  in  the  collections  of  butterflies 
received  from  Uganda  and  British  East  Africa,  with  the  immense 
development  of  mimicry  in  Lepidoptera  from  the  forest  as  compared 
with  the  open  country.  It  occurred  to  him  that  probably  this 
difference  v/as  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  difference  between  the 
insect-eating  animals  in  these  two  types  of  locality,  lizards  being 
probably  the  great  vertebrate  insect-eaters  of  the  open,  birds  of  the 
forest.  Mr.  S.  A.  Neave  said  that  he  had  recently  had  an  interesting 
experience  near  Entebbe.  On  January  12th,  1912,  at  Gabunga's, 
near  Enteblie,  he  had  watched  a  wagtail,  most  probably  Motacilla 
capensis,  catching  butterflies  on  a  small  patch  of  damp  sand  in  the 
bed  of  a  forest  stream.  The  bird  was  so  tame  that  he  stood  within 
three  or  four  yards  of  it.  In  less  than  half  an  hour  this  bird  captured 
and  ate  nineteen  butterflies  and  failed  to  catch  many  others.  The 
butterflies  eaten  were  nearly  all  small  Lycaenids.  —  Professor  Poulton 
drew  attention  to  a  few  observations  which  supported  the  conclusion 
that  birds  possessed  the  extraordinarily  acute  and  far-reaching  vision 
required  by  the  Batesian  and  Miillerian  theories  of  mimicry. — The 
following  paper  was  read  :  "  On  the  Colour  Groups  of  the  Hawaiian 
Wasps,"  by  Dr.  E.  C.  L.  Perkins,  M.A.,  D.Sc,  F.Z.S.,  F.E.S.  In  illus- 
tration of  the  paper.  Prof.  Poulton  exhibited  the  specimens  referred  to 
by  Dr.  Perkins.  The  colour-groups  vi^ere  arranged  in  the  order  of  the 
islands,  from  Kauai  in  the  north-west  to  Hawaii  in  the  south-east. 

Wednesday,  June  5th,  1912.  —  The  Eev.  F.  D.  Morice,  M.A., 
President,  in  the  chair.  —  Mr-  Henry  Francis  Carter,  Assistant 
Lecturer  and  Demonstrator  in  Medical  and  Economic  Entomology, 
Liverpool  School  of  Tropical  Medicine,  University  of  Liverpool, 
was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Society.  —  The  President  announced 
that  it  was  requested  that  for  the  future  the  names  of  intending 
exhibitors  should  be  handed  in  at  the  beginning  of  the  meeting, 
in  order  that  they  might  be  called  upon  from  the  chair. — The  Eev. 
G.  Wheeler  read  the  follovv'ing  report  of  the  Committee  on  Nomen- 
clature: — "The  Committee  appointed  on  April  3rd,  1912,  to  con- 
sider the  subject  of  nomenclature,  and  report  to  the  June  meeting 
with  a  view  to  the  coming  International  Congress,  has  endeavoured 
to  deal  carefully  and  minutely  with  the  matter  entrusted  by  you  to 
its  attention.  In  accordance  with  the  powers  conferred  on  members 
by  resolution  of  the  Society,  they  added  Mr.  L.  B.  Prout  to  their 
number  after  their  first  meeting.     Your  Committee  probably  thus 


330  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

represented  almost  every  form  of  divergent  opinion  on  the  subject  of 
nomenclature,  but  nevertheless  arrived  at  a  unanimous  report  which 
they  recommend  to  the  Society  for  presentation  to  the  International 
Congress.  It  will  be  evident  that  if  these  recommendations  are 
adopted  by  the  Society,  and  the  suggestions  of  the  Society  by  the 
International  Congress,  an  opportunity  will  be  afforded  for  putting 
before  the  International  Committee  the  different  views  on  matters  of 
detail  held  by  the  members  of  your  Committee,  or  by  any  other 
entomologists."  The  report,  which  is  signed  by  every  member  of  the 
Committee,  is  as  follows : — "  The  present  independent  and  irre- 
sponsible methods  of  giving  and  adopting  names  having  resulted  in 
much  unnecessary  synonymy,  and  even  graver  abuses,  the  Entomo- 
logical Society  of  London  feels  that  the  time  has  arrived  when  some 
check  should  be  placed  upon  the  practice,  of  more  weight  than  that 
which  can  be  exercised  by  any  single  individual,  society,  or  publica- 
tion, and  would  urge  upon  the  International  Congress  the  establish- 
ment of  a  permanent  International  Committee  to  deal  with  questions 
of  nomenclature  as  affecting  Entomology ;  to  consider  what  elucida- 
tions, extensions  or  emendations,  if  any,  are  required  in  the  Inter- 
national Code,  and  to  confer  with  the  International  Commission  of 
Zoological  Nomenclature.  The  Entomological  Society  of  London 
recommends  that  the  International  Entomological  Committee,  when 
formed,  shall  take  such  action  as. to  ensure  the  adequate  representa- 
tion of  Entomology  on  the  International  Zoological  Commission. 
The  Society  also  recommends  that,  considering  the  difficulty  of 
frequent  International  meetings,  the  leading  Entomological  Society 
of  each  country  be  invited  to  appoint  a  Committee,  whose  duty  it 
shall  be  to  deal  with  all  questions  arising  in  their  own  country, 
subject  to  reference  to  the  International  Committee ;  and  suggests 
that  the  International  Committee  be  composed  of  two,  or  three, 
members  of  each  of  the  National  Committees,  elected  either  by  the 
Committees,  or  directly  by  the  electing  Societies.  (Signed)  Chas.  O. 
Waterhouse,  Chairman ;  G.  T.  Bethune-Baker,  T.  A.  Chapman,  Jno. 
Hartley  Durrant,  Louis  B.  Prout,  Hy.  J.  Turner,  George  Wheeler." 
The  report  was  adopted. — Mr.  J.  E.  Collin  exhibited  a  series  of 
thirteen  specimens  of  Physocephala  nigra,  De  G.,  the  largest  British 
species  of  the  Conopidae,  caught  on  Studland  Heath  (Dorset- 
shire) during  the  last  week  in  May,  when  Colonel  Yerbury,  Mr. 
C.  J.  Wainwright,  and  himself  took  some  twenty-four  specimens  ; 
though  widely  distributed,  the  species  was  always  considered  a 
great  rarity,  and  its  occurrence  in  such  numbers  had  never  before 
been  recorded.  —  Dr.  T.  A.  Chapman,  a  specimen  of  Hydrcecia 
burroiosi,  Chpn.,  a  new  species  that  has  turned  up  (from  Vladivo- 
stock)  since  Mr.  Burrows' s  paper  on  the  group ;  also  a  specimen  of 
L.  (Albulina)  i^heretcs,  female,  bred  at  Eeigate  from  the  egg,  supposed 
to  be  the  first  (and  only)  bred  specimen  of  the  species. — Dr.  G.  B. 
Longstaff,  two  uncommon  Sudanese  butterflies,  Calopieris  enliinene 
and  Teracolus  pleione. — Mr.  S.  A.  Neave,  some  specimens  of  the 
Asilid  genus  Hyperechia,  representing  three,  perhaps  four,  species,  all 
taken  during  his  recent  tour  in  East  Africa ;  also,  for  comparison, 
four  common  species  of  Xylocopa,  bees  to  which  the  flies  bore  a 
marked  superficial  resemblance ;  also  a  remarkable  new  nymphaline 


SOCIETIES.  331 

butterfly,  probably  belonging  to  tbe  genus  Pseiidacrcea,  taken  on 
Mt.  Mlanji,  Nyasaland.  He  pointed  out  tbat  it  bore  a  marvellous 
superficial  resemblance  to  Amauris  lohengula  ivhytei,  Butler,  the 
Danaine  which  occurred  in  the  same  place.  He  further  exhibited  a 
number  of  unnamed  Lycsenids,  principally  from  Uganda.  —  Mr.  H. 
Main,  series  of  Pieris  napi  and  var.  bryonicB,  and  pointed  out  that  the 
latter,  reared  from  ova  received  both  from  Lapland  and  Switzerland, 
had  produced  a  partial  second  brood. — Mr.  K.  G.  Blair,  larvae  of 
Cebrio  sp.  (?  gigas)  from  Sicily,  received  from  Mr.  J.  P.  Barrett. — 
Prof.  Poulton,  the  females  of  two  families  of  Hypolimnas  misippus, 
reared  in  1911,  from  female  parents  of  the  type  form,  by  Rev.  K.  St. 
Aubyn  Rogers,  M.A.,  F.E.S.,  which  confirmed  the  conclusions  drawn 
from  his  earlier  work  that  misippLis  was  dominant  and  inaria 
recessive.  Also  the  fragments  of  a  Glossina  identified  by  Mr.  E.  E, 
Austen  as  a  female  of  G.  caliginea,  Aust.  ;  the  specimen  had  been 
bitten  and  rejected  by  a  monkey.  He  also  exhibited  several  families 
of  butterflies  bred  by  Mr.  W.  k.  Lamborn  in  the  Lagos  district,  and 
referred  to  the  strong  fight  which  was  thrown  by  them  upon 
different  biological  problems.  Also  a  specimen  of  the  Eupterotid, 
or,  as  Aurivilfius  considers,  the  Notodontid  moth,  Anaphe  infracta, 
concerning  which  Mr.  W.  A.  Lamborn  had  written  from  Oni  Camp, 
April  22nd,  1912: — "The  moths  undoubtedly  possess  urticating  hairs. 
The  female  Mona  was  allowed  to  steal  one.  She  smelt  it,  rubbed  off 
the  hairs  and  scales,  then  dropped  it  and  in  a  few  minutes  was 
rubbing  all  four  feet  on  the  ground.  I  made  some  sympathizing 
remarks  with  the  result  that  she  suddenly  sprang  on  to  my  bare  neck 
and  I  have  been  troubled  with  skin  irritation  all  the  evening."  Prof. 
Poulton  said  that  Mr.  A.  Hamm  had  found  hairs  from  the  anal  tuft 
of  tlie  exhibited  specimen  produced  irritation  on  his  hand  and  face. 
Mr.  Eltringham  had  found  that  the  hairs  of  the  female  but  not  of  the 
male  tuft  were  covered  with  minute,  excessively  fine  spicula-like  teeth. 
Prof.  Poulton  also  exhibited  the  imagines  and  cocoons  of  Chryso- 
23sycha  varia  sent  to  him  by  Dr.  G.  D.  H.  Carpenter  from  Damba 
Island.  The  larval  skin  was  still  projecting  from  some  of  the  cocoons 
and  showing  its  blue  spots. — Dr.  T.  A.  Chapman  remarked  that  the 
hairs  covering  the  eggs  of  Porthetria  dispar  are  also  urticating.  He 
also  observed  that  there  are  other  species  of  moths  w^iich  extrude  the 
larval  skin,  but  in  these  cases  it  was  from  flimsy  cocoons.  Mr.  J.  H. 
Durrant  also  gave  instances  of  this  fact. — -Prof.  Poulton  exhibited 
the  larvae,  pupae  and  imagines  of  "  Callioratis  "  pactolicus,  sent  by 
Dr.  G.  D.  H.  Carpenter,  to  illustrate  the  warning  colours  of  this 
Hypsid  moth  in  all  its  stages.  He  said  that  Dr.  G.  D.  H.  Carpenter 
had  left  Damba  in  December,  1911,  and  after  spending  Christmas  at 
Entebbe  had  gone  in  January  to  Bugalla  Island,  in  the  Sesse  Archi- 
pelago, and  had  found  there  representatives  of  all  the  Planema- 
Pseudacrcea  associations.  The  disproportion  between  Planema  and 
PseudacrcBci  is  even  greater  here,  so  much  so  that  Sesse  confirms  the 
Damba  records,  the  results  being  still  more  striking.  The  following 
papers  were  read : — "  Studies  in  the  Blattidae,"  by  R.  Shelf ord, 
M.x\.,  F.E.S. ;  "  Polyommatiis  alexins,  Freyer,  a  good  Species,"  by 
T.  A.  Chapman,  M.D.,  F.Z.S.,  F.E.S. —George  Wheeler,  M.A., 
Ho7i.  Secretary. 


332  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 


OBITUARY. 

William  Rickman  Jeffrey,  who  passed  away  on  October  14th 
last,  was  born  at  Ashford,  in  Kent,  in  April,  1836.  He  was  the  son 
of  J.  F.  Jeil'rey,  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  In  1845  he 
was  sent  to  a  boarding  school  at  Croydon  and  often  recalled  the 
bitter  winter  day,  when  as  a  small  boy  he  travelled  by  the  South 
Eastern  Railway  (not  then  opened  to  Dover)  in  an  exposed  carriage 
without  a  roof !  His  health  being  somewhat  delicate,  he  left 
school  in  1848,  and  the  next  three  years  he  spent  at  Folkestone, 
where,  often  roaming  over  the  then  much  less  frequented  Warren,  he 
caught  buttertiies,  &c.,  and  acquired  that  taste  for  the  pursuit  of 
Natural  History  which  he  followed  throughout  his  life. 

In  1851  he  was  apprenticed  to  the  late  Thomas  Nickalls,  watch- 
maker, at  Reigate.  Here  it  was  his  good  fortune  to  receive  the 
kindly  notice  of  the  late  H.  T.  Stainton,  in  the  early  days  of  the  '  In- 
telligencer ' ;  when  our  great  and  genial  lepidopterist  frequently  came 
to  Reigate  overnight,  and  rising  next  morning  before  the  people 
at  the  hotel  were  about,  he  pursued  his  practical  field  work  in  the 
early  morning  hours,  returning  to  London  in  time  to  superintend  the 
publishing  of  his  weekly  and  other  works.  These  pleasant  hours 
before  business  were  much  valued  by  W.  R.  Jefl'rey,  when  invited 
to  join  in  the  rambles;  and  were  often  recalled  in  the  correspondence 
which  followed  in  after  years. 

In  1857  he  was  at  Scarborough,  where  the  late  Thomas 
Wilkinson  was  then  working  out  the  life-histories  of  some  of  the 
micro-lepidoptera.  After  a  few  years  spent  at  Scarborough,  and  at 
Guisboro',  and  afterwards  at  Saffron- Walden,  he  returned  to  his 
native  place,  Ashford,  Kent.  Here  life-histories  of  several  of  the 
Pyrales  w'ere  worked  out,  in  conjunction  with  the  late  William 
Buckler,  with  whom  he  was  in  frequent  correspondence.  Readers 
of  Buckler's  '  Larvae '  will  find  Jeffrey's  name  frequently  mentioned 
in  that  work.  Mr.  Buckler  was  so  much  excited  by  the  emergence  of 
an  imago  of  H.  stagnata,  that  he  sent  a  telegram  (which  was 
amusingly  hashed  in  transit)  announcing  that  it  was  out. 

In  1876  he  met  with  a  specimen  of  Pachetra  leticophaa,  which 
afterwards  led  to  the  taking  of  a  number  of  that  species,  so  that 
it  is  now  represented  in  most  collections.  (First  notice  in  the 
'  Intelligencer  for  April  18th,  1857,  when  at  Reigate.)  Whilst  at 
Scarborough  the  larva  of  Dasypolia  templi  was  discovered,  and  at 
Saffron -Walden  that  of  Gelechia  atrella  in  May  1866. 

x\t  Ashford  he  was  one  of  the  first  to  find  the  larva  of 
Hypercallia  christicrnella.  W.  R.  Jeffrey  also  turned  his  attention 
to  the  Coleoptera,  and  had  a  good  collection  of  beetles.  He  was 
also  an  ardent  botanist ;  of  late  years  the  study  of  the  Cryptogams 
took  much  of  his  spare  time,  and  he  had  many  long  rambles  in  his 
search  for  mosses,  liverworts,  and  fungi.  One  of  his  two  sons  is 
Curator  of  the  Herbarium  at  the  Royal  Botanic  Garden,  Edinburgh. 
He  leaves  a  widow,  two  sons,  and  three  daughters.  He  was 
gathered  to  his  people,  at  the  Friends'  burial  ground  at  Kennington, 
near  Ashford,  on  October  16th. — C.  V, 


THE    ENTOMOLOGIST 


Vol.  XLV.]  DECEMBER,    1912.  [No.  595 


EREBIA   MELAMPUS,  Fuessl.,  IN    CENTRAL   FRANCE, 
AND  A  NOTE  ON  E.  EPIPHRON  var.  CASSIOPE,  Fabr. 

By  H.  Rowland-Brown,  M.A.,  F.E.S. 

While  overhauling  my  this  year's  captures  at  Brenner,  and 
transferring  the  Erebias  to  the  cabinet,  I  observed  among  an 
extended  series  of  Erebia  epiphron  var.  cassiope  from  the  Central 
Alps,  Pyrenees,  &c.,  two  unmistakable  males  of  E,  melampus, 
taken  by  me  on  the  Plomb  du  Cantal  on  July  31st,  1909 
{cp.  "Butterflies  of  Cantal  and  Lozere,"  Entom.  xlii.  p.  267). 
Apparently  this  butterfly  has  never  before  been  recorded  from 
the  volcanic  regions  of  Central  France,  though  the  higher 
mountain  slopes,  where  not  grazed  too  closely  by  cattle,  are 
affected  by  some  other  members  of  the  genus.  M»  Oberthiir 
('  Lepid.  Compar6e,'  fasc.  iii.  p.  288)  tells  us  that  melamp)us  is 
absent  from  the  Pyrenees,  despite  Staudinger's  assertion  to  the 
contrary  (as  quoted  by  Mr.  H,  J.  Elwes  in  his  "Butterflies  of 
the  French  Pyrenees"*),  and  neither  I  nor  the  many  English 
entomologists  who  have  explored  the  range  more  recently  have 
come  across  it.  Staudinger,  in  fact,  only  repeats  the  brothers 
Speyer  ('  Schmett.  Deutsch  u.  der  Schweiz.'  p.  94),  who  themselves 
copied  a  previous  erroneous  report.  Meanwhile,  also,  both 
Guenee  and  Sand  overlooked  melampus  at  Le  Lioran,  nor  is  it 
included  in  Guillemot's  '  Catalogue  des  Lepids.  du  Puy-de-Dome,' 
and  it  would  be  as  well,  therefore,  for  collectors  in  Auvergne  to 
keep  a  sharp  look-out  for  the  species.  Erehia  oeme  was  discovered 
by  Bellier  de  la  Chavignerie  in  the  Forez  Mountains,  somewhat 
south-east  of  the  Pierre-sur-Haute  (5380  ft.),  the  furthest-west 
locality  ascertained.  But  no  one  to  my  knowledge  has  since 
hunted  in  the  beautiful  hills  that  watch  over  the  valley  of  the 
Dore,  and  the  noblest  of  Benedictine  Abbeys,  La  Chaisse  Dieu. 
At  sufficient  altitudes  hereabouts  melampus  may  precede  its 
larger  congener,  for  oeme  is  usually  over  before  it  is  on  the  wing. 
The  dry  mountains  of  the  southern  Cevennes  and  Lozere,  how- 
ever, are  less  suggestive  of  missing  links  in  the  "life  line"  of 
the  species. 

-  Trans.  Ent.  Soc.  Lond.  1887,  p.  396. 
ENTOM. — DECEMBER,    1912.  2  D 


334  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

What  is  Erebia  epiphron  var.  cassiope,  Fabr.  ? 

While  on  this  subject,  I  should  like  to  draw  the  attention  of 
British  lepidopterists  to  M.  Charles  Oberthiir's  remarks  (loc.  cit. 
pp.  284-88)  on  the  relation  of  Erehia  epiijliron,  Knoch,  to  its 
so-called  variety  cassiope,  Fabricius. 

"In  what  respect,"  he  asks,  "  does  it  actually  differ  from 
cassiope  ?  According  to  Staudinger  and  Eebel,  because  of  the 
extracellular  (antemarginal)  rusty  band,  and  the  white-pupilled 
black  eye-spots  in  the  female  epiphron ;  in  cassiope  the  eye-spots 
are  blind,  and  the  rusty  bands  obsolete  ;  but  on  the  same  moun- 
tains are  found  examples  of  epiphron  and  cassiope.  Epiyhron, 
then,  only  designates  one  local  race  as  cassiopte  designates  another. 
There  may  be  localities  where  cassiope  predominates,  e.g.  the 
Grisons  ;  but  I  think  cassiope  is  to  be  found  in  all  places  where 
epiphron  exists,  and  vice  versa.''  * 

British  epiphroUy  he  continues  (note  they  are  called  by  the 
type  name),  are  relatively  large.  .  .  .  They  most  resemble 
the  form  of  the  Vosges  (which,  by  the  way,  is  a  reputed  head- 
quarters of  the  type),  in  that  each  black  eye-spot  in  the  ante- 
marginal  series  of  the  fore  wings  is  surrounded  by  a  sort  of 
reddish  brown  circle  (this  suggests  mnemon,  Haw.),  instead  of 
being  placed  in  the  middle  of  a  reddish  brown  band,  the  exterior 
contours  of  which  are  irregular,  and  do  not  form  a  ring.  In  the 
classification  of  the  form  cassiope,  then,  should  we  not  denominate 
it  rather  as  var.  et  ab.,  or  even  only  ab.  of  epiphron'}  Or  does 
the  male  cassiojje  in  its  numerous  forms  differ  so  materially  from 
the  male  epiphron  as  to  entitle  it  to  varietal  rank  at  all  ? 
M.  Oberthiir  suggests  that  it  does  not  differ  so  materially  ;  and 
if,  as  he  says,  and  I  have  found  to  be  the  case,  the  female  with 
the  unpupilled  ocellations  occurs  on  the  same  ground  as  the 
female  with  the  white-pupilled  eye-spots,  would  it  not  be  more 
correct  to  describe  the  "  unpupilled  "  cassiope  as  epiphron  var.  et 
ab.  female  cassiope  only  ? 

In  this  connection  the  genesis  of  the  names  epiphron  and 
cassiope  is  exceedingly  interesting.  Knoch  ('  Beitnige,'  iii. 
p.  178),  without  differentiating  the  sexual  forms,  is  emphatic  : — 
"  Alse  superiores  ante  ocellis  duobus,  seu  pluribus  saepius  maculis 
tantum  vel  punctis  nigris ;  post  eadem  ratio.  Inferiores  supra 
ocellos  tres  infra  totidem  plures(q)ue  seu  maculas  exhibent." 

But,  on  turning  to  the  beautifully  executed  figure  of  the 
butterfly,  tab.  vi.  fig.  7,  it  will  at  once  be  seen  that  the  figure  is 

-  For  example,  Mr.  B.  C.  S.  Warren,  collecting  with  me  in  the  moun- 
tains above  Eaux  Bonnes  in  the  western  Pyrenees  in  July,  1911,  took  one 
of  these  white-pupilled  females  of  "  cassiope " ;  but  all  others  seen  or 
captured  by  us  were  of  the  usual  form  (cp.  Entom.  vol.  xliv.  p.  337)  ;  and  in 
the  British  Museum  there  is  another  similar  female  from  the  Leach  collec- 
tion among  the  others  taken  by  Sir  George  Hampson  on  the  mountains 
above  Luchon. 


EREBIA    MELAMPUS  AND    E.    EPIPHRON    VAR.   CASSIOPE.  335 

that  of  a  female  white-pupilled  on  all  the  wings,  and  therefore 
typical  female  epiphron ;  in  fact,  I  think,  in  all  authors  down 
to  a  comparatively  recent  period,  wherever  epiphron  is  figured, 
this  female  of  Enoch's  is  copied  and  adapted  (?)  to  the  male. 
Thus  we  find  Godart  and  Duponchel  ('  Diurnes,'  vol.  ii.  pi.  xvi. 
figs.  3-4)  figuring  both  male  and  female  studded  with  silvery- 
white  spots  on  the  rufous  bands  of  both  wings,  and  the  examples 
are  as  large  in  size  as  E.  ceto  at  least.  Nor  does  the  text  suggest 
the  absence  of  the  white  pupils  in  the  male  :  "La  bande  des  pre- 
mieres ailes  offre  de  deux  a  quatre  yeux  noirs  a  prunelle  blanche." 

Herrich  Schaeffer  figures  the  male  epiphron  with  continuous 
antemarginal  bands  on  all  the  wings  filled  with  white-pupilled 
spots  (Schmett.  von  Europa.  pi.  xx.  figs.  92,  93)  ;  but  he  shows 
us  no  more  than  the  under  side  of  the  female  (fig.  94)  with  the 
spots  on  the  abbreviated  ante-marginal  band  of  the  hind  wings 
only  pupilled  white.  Spuler,  also  (Schmett.  Europas.  1910,  pi.  ix. 
fig.  7),  figures  the  male  epiphron,  curiously  enough  ignoring  the 
typical  female  altogether  as  well  as  both  sexes  of  cassiope  ;  and 
there  is  nothing  in  his  figure  to  distinguish  it  from  such  male 
cassiope  as  one  may  take  in  the  Scotch  mountains ;  at  all  events, 
in  my  copy  of  this  work  I  can  detect  no  white  pupilling  of  the 
eye-spots  ;  and  I  say  "  curiously,"  because  it  seems  strange  that 
in  a  German  work  of  the  kind,  the  female,  which  should  be  the 
characteristic  German  (Harz  and  V^sges)  epiphron,  is  omitted 
altogether.  Dr.  Seitz,  however,  illustrates  both  sexes,  and  in 
my  opinion  correctly  :  the  female  with  white  pupils  to  the  eyes, 
the  male  with  none.  Lang,  also,  figures  the  male  only  ('Butter- 
flies of  Europe,'  pi.  Iviii.  fig.  1) ;  nor  does  he  insist  in  the  text 
on  the  white  pupils  as  a  sexual  character  of  the  female  type  form 
alone,  but  implies,  apparently,  that  these  may  occur  in  both  sexes. 

I  have  carefully  gone  through  the  series  of  epiphron  and  its 
forms  in  the  National  Collection  at  South  Kensington,  including 
the  soi-disant  var.  cassiope,  and  not  until  I  arrived  at  Mr.  H.  J. 
Elwes's  var.  rhoclopensis  from  the  Balkan  Rilo  Dagh  (6500  ft.), 
could  I  detect  a  trace  of  white  pupillation  in  a  single  male.  In 
this  variety,  which  is  more  strongly  reminiscent  of  E.  medusa  by 
the  brilliance  of  the  ocellation  in  the  female,  there  are  males 
with  two  tiny  apical  ocellations  on  the  fore  wings,  and  a  smaller 
pair  nearest  the  costal  margin  of  the  hind  wings  distinctly  white- 
pupilled.  On  the  other  hand,  none  of  the  males  from  the  Harz 
and  the  Silesian  Alps,  or  the  Vosges  (with  white-pupilled  females 
in  each  case)  show  a  trace  of  white,  so  that  we  may  fairly  con- 
clude that  the  typical  male  epiphron,  known  to  entomologists 
who  have  more  than  a  book  knowledge  of  the  species,  is  a  plain 
black  spotted  form,  and  that  Staudiuger  is  right  in  his  short 
diagnosis  limiting  the  white  pupilled  form  to  the  female  .  .  . 
"fascia  {maculis)  extrema  rufa  ocellis  (  ?  )  albopunctatis." 

I  do  not  think  many  British   entomologists,  however,  will 

2d2 


336  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

agree  with  his  version  of  var.  cassiope  :  "  maculis  rufis  obsoletis, 
ocellis  nigris  caecis  "  (unless  he  means  to  imply  that  the  band 
is  simply  broken  up).  We  have  always  regarded  our  insular 
forms  as  cassiope,  but  of  the  number  met  with  how  many  can 
be  said  to  have  the  band  on  the  fore  wings  entirely  obsolete  ? 
A  very  small  percentage,  I  think  ;  and  these  in  any  case  referable 
either  to  var.  (et  ab.)  nelamus,  Bsdv.,  or  Tutt's  more  complete 
ab.  ohsolcta. 

Mr.  Wheeler  ('  Butterflies  of  Switzerland,'  p.  123)  describes 
cassiope  as  differing  from  the  type  in  that  the  fulvous  band  on 
the  upper  side  of  the  hind  wings  is  replaced  by  three  or  four  black 
dots  in  fulvous  rings,  which  corresponds  more  with  Fabricius's 
description,  but  not  with  Staudinger's.  But,  though  he  does 
not  say  so,  I  gather  that  he  also,  when  he  was  writing  on  the 
subject,  regarded  the  male  epiphron  as  white-pupilled,  the  male 
cassiope  as  lacking  these  eye-spots. 

Meanwhile,  Fabricius,  who  is  cited  as  the  author  of  the 
name  cassiope  (' Mantissa  Insectorum,'  1787),  gives  us  a  de- 
scription totally  at  variance  with  Staudinger's  conclusions : — 

"  Alis  integris  fuscis  ;  fascia  riifa  ;  punctis  tribus  ocellaribus 
nigris,  posticis  subtus  punctis  solis. 

"  Habitat  in  Austria  Gramine  Dom.  Schieffermyler  "   (sic). 

The  italics  are  my  own,  for  I  think  from  what  follows,  and 
from  Fabricius's  limitation  of  cassiope  to  the  Austrian  Alps  (?), 
that  he  may  have  meant  a  different  insect  altogether.  "  Prace- 
denti  affinis  at  pauUo  minor,"  he  says.  But  the  preceding  species 
is  not,  as  one  might  expect,  epiphron;  it  is  pyrrha,  F.  (=  manto, 
Esp.)  ;  and  I  think  that  any  one  acquainted  with  the  smaller 
forms  of  manto  transitional  to  var.  pyrrhula,  Frey,  which  occurs 
in  the  Austrian  Tyrol,  and  generally  in  the  higher  alps  of  the 
East,  would  not  find  it  hard  to  square  Fabricius's  cassiope  with 
some  forms  of  that  extremely  variable  species  {cp.  Mr.  Lowe's 
remarks  on  Erebia  manto,  and  its  Varieties,  antea,  p.  145). 

Dr.  F.  J.  Buckell,  who  deals  with  the  subject  at  some  length 
in  his  admirable  study  of  'Erebia  Epiphron  and  its  Named 
Varieties '  (Ent.  Record,  vol.  v.  pp.  161-165),  hazards  no 
suggestion  of  this  possibility.  He  does  not  mention  the  fact 
that  Fabricius  associated  his  cassiope  with  manto — the  type  form 
of  which  butterfly  is  surely  so  entirely  different  in  appearance,  and 
everything  else — habits  and  flight — from  our  "  Small  Mountain 
Einglet."  For  whereas  in  my  experience  cassiope  is  on  the  move 
only  when  the  sun  is  shining,  manto  will  fly  even  on  the  greyest 
days.  Dr.  Buckell  may,  indeed,  have  been  unacquainted  with 
the  forms  of  manto  in  the  eastern  alps. 

We  know,  then,  what  we  mean  by  cassiope  in  Britain  and 
Ireland.  What  we  want  to  make  sure  of  is  what  Continental 
authors  and  collectors  mean  by  male  epiphron  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  the  male  of  the  so-called  variety. 


337 

THE  LEPIDOPTEBA  OF  THE  NORWEGIAN  PEOVINCES 
OF     ODALEN     AND     FINMAEK. 

By  W.  G.  Sheldon,  F.E.S. 

(Continued  from  p.  315.) 

From  July  18tli  I  spent  five  days  at  Kistrand,  the  principal 
village  in  the  district,  and  the  residence  of  the  only  clergyman, 
doctor,  and  herdsman  in  the  Porsanger  Fjord.  I  found  excellent 
quarters  with  Herr  Lillebo,  the  local  merchant.  Schoyen,  in 
1879,  captured  here  some  examples  of  the  very  rare  Brenthis 
chariclea,  flying  in  swampy  meadows  with  B.  -pales.  The  first 
four  days  of  my  stay  the  sun  did  not  appear,  but  on  July 
23rd  it  shone  briUiantly  ;  B.  pales  on  this  day  was  not  un- 
common, but  the  rarer  species  could  not  be  turned  up.  On  the 
evening  of  this  day  I  left,  with  much  regret,  the  most  interesting 
Porsanger  district,  and,  traveUing  in  the  local  steamer  to  Hornig- 
svaag,  the  next  day  boarded  the  mail  boat  there,  in  a  perfect 
hurricane.  Fortunately  the  passage  is  partly  sheltered  by 
islands,  and  thus  we  did  not  get  the  full  effect  of  the  storm,  but 
what  we  did  get  was  more  than  sufficient  for  almost  the  whole  of 
the  passengers. 

On  my  return  journey  I  stayed  three  days  at  Tromso,  chiefly 
to  see  the  Museum,  but  partly  also  to  do  some  collecting.  Un- 
fortunately the  sun  did  not  shine  during  my  stay,  and  conse- 
quently I  did  not  see  there  a  single  butterfly. 

From  Tromso  I  travelled  direct  to  Trondhjem,  at  which  port 
I  booked  a  passage  to  England  on  the  Hull  boat. 

I  suppose  the  weather  dui-ing  my  stay  within  the  Arctic 
Circle  was  about  an  average  of  what  is  to  be  found  there  in  June 
and  July,  and  certainly  it  was  much  better  than  what  I  expe- 
rienced in  1911  in  one  respect— the  number  of  perfect  days 
enjoyed  ;  though  in  other  ways  there  was  not  much  difierence  in 
the  two  years.  On  turning  up  my  diaries  I  find  that  in  1911 
I  spent  thirty-three  days  in  Lapland ;  out  of  these  only  two 
were  cloudless.  On  twenty  there  was  more  or  less  broken  sun- 
shine, and  on  eleven  the  sun  did  not  break  through  the  clouds. 
This  year  I  was  in  Finmarken  forty-two  days,  of  which  fifteen 
were  perfect,  ten  not  perfect,  and  seventeen  cloudy  throughout ; 
unfortunately,  five  of  the  perfect  days  were  wasted — from  a 
lepidopterist's  point  of  view — by  my  having  to  travel  on  them 
from  Bossekop  to  Kolvik,  a  distance  as  the  crow  flies  of  about 
fifty  miles,  but  through  swamps,  over  mountains,  and  through 
roadless,  uninhabited,  and  impossible  country. 

In  addition  to  the  Porsanger  there  are  three  other  fjords 
in  Arctic  Norway  east  of  the  North  Cape  ;  of  these  the  most 
easterly,  the  Varanger  Fjord,  is  well  known  entomologically, 
but  the  other  two,  the  Laxe  and  Tana  Fjords,  have,  I  believe, 


338  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

never  been  explored  for  Lepidoptera.  I  understand  there  is 
accommodation  to  be  fomid  in  both  of  them,  and  I  was  informed 
at  Kistrand,  by  Pastor  Astrup,  that  the  vegetation  is  even  more 
hixuriant  there  than  is  the  case  in  the  Porsanger  Fjord. 

Mosquitoes  were  not  much  in  evidence  at  Bossekop,  Kolvik, 
and  Kistrand,  but -at  Laxelv  they  were  in  countless  millions  in 
the  forest,  and  my  experience  there  was  the  worst  I  have  ever 
had  to  put  up  with  in  this  respect. 

The  utter  impossibility  of  accurately  forecasting  the  date  on 
which  one  should  be  on  the  collecting  ground  in  Arctic  Scandi- 
navia was  strikingly  exemplified  by  my  receiving  a  letter  from 
Herr  Sparre  Schneider,  which  was  written  in  May,  and  in  which 
he  stated  that  the  season  at  Tromso  promised  to  be  an  early 
one,  whereas  when  I  got  to  Bossekop  in  early  June,  I  found  that 
in  consequence  of  a  cold  spell  everything  was  very  backward 
and  the  season  a  late  one. 

I  had  a  good  opportunity  of  testing  the  effect  of  the  perpetual 
dayhght  upon  the  flight  times  of  Lepidoptera,  and  the  result  of 
my  observations  was  that  I  found  the  Diurni  were  not  on  the 
wing  before  8  a.m.  and  that  the  flight  was  practically  stopped 
by  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  I.  was  out  at  6  a.m.  on  several 
bright  sunny  mornings,  but  although  an  occasional  Erebia 
lajjpoiia,  or  Gilneis  noma  was  to  be  kicked  up  between  7  o'clock 
and  8  o'clock,  they  did  not  fly  of  their  own  accord  until  the  latter 
hour.  The  Geometry  flew  fairly  freely  in  the  afternoon,  but 
their  natural  flight  time  was  from  6  p.m.  to  midnight  and  after. 
It  was  very  striking  to  see  a  large  Geometer  such  as  Gnophos 
sordaria,  a  species  resembling  our  G.  ohfuscata,  flying  gently  in 
the  full  light  at  midnight,  depositing  ova.  The  Nocture  I  saw 
consisted  mostly  of  Anartas.  These  flew  in  the  bright  sunlight 
of  mid-day.  But  the  same  habit  obtained  in  the  other  species  I 
came  across,  includng  Plusia  hochemcarthi,  and  Pachnohia 
hyperborea. 

The  species  of  Lepidoptera  I  met  with  in  Finmark  are  as 
follows : — 

Pieris  napi. — This  species  was  rare  at  Bossekop ;  perhaps  it  was 
not  fully  out,'  for  it  is  usually  abundant  there.  It  was  not  un- 
common at  Kolvik.  The  chief  characteristic  of  the  Northern 
Scandinavian  P.  napi  appears  to  be  the  profusion  of  dark  shading  on 
the  veins  on  the  under  side  of  all  the  wings,  more  especially  on  the 
inferiors.  This  tendency  culminates  in  certain  of  the  males,  in 
which  the  shading  on  the  veins  almost  covers  the  inferiors,  and  on 
all  wings  terminates  on  the  outer  margins  in  broad  wedges,  not 
gradually  tapering  to  a  point,  as  is  the  case  in  Central  European 
forms.  This  extreme  form,  of  which  I  have  examples  from  Bossekop 
and  Kolvik,  and  also  from  Abisko  in  Swedish  Lapland,  is  figured  on 
Plate  xiv.,  fig.  4,  and  I  propose  for  it  the  name  arctica,  n.  ab. 
The  females,  which  are  of  course  all  var.  bryonies,  have  a  strong 
tendency  to  ochreous,  especially  on  the  under  side  of  the  inferiors. 


NOEWEGIAN    LEPIDOPTERA.  339 

As  far  as  I  could  ascertain,  the  food-plant  in  Finmark  is  Draba 
incana,  which  is  almost  the  only  crucifer  I  came  across  there. 

Colias  hecla. — This  most  beautiful  species  was  apparently  not 
out  at  the  time  of  my  visit  to  Bossekop,  where  previous  observers 
had  found  it  not  uncommon.  I  was  fortunate  enough,  however,  to 
come  across  it  in  great  abundance  in  the  open  meadows  lying  on 
both  sides  of  the  river  at  Laxelv  (see  Plate  xi.),  flying  swiftly  with  the 
customary  Colias  flight  and  often  settling  on  and  sucking  at  the 
flowers  of  Astragalus  alpimis,  which  to  my  surprise  I  found  to  be 
the  food-plant  of  the  larva,  and  which  thus  in  addition  furnishes 
the  imago  with  sustenance.  It  will  be  remembered  that  last  year 
I  found  the  food-plant  of  the  other  arctic  species  of  this  genus 
C.  nastes  at  Abisko  to  be  A.  alpiniis  also.  The  imago,  especially  the 
male,  by  its  swift  low  flight  amongst  the  plants  of  Vaccinhmi, 
Empetrum,  &c.,  which  grow  in  its  habitat,  soon  gets  damaged,  and 
on  the  day  on  which  I  first  came  across  it,  July  11th,  I  had  to 
exercise  a  good  deal  of  selection  to  get  good  specimens.  Ova  were 
plentiful,  and  I  now  have  larvae  hibernating  in  the  third  stage. 

The  series  of  about  one  hundred  examples  I  brought  home  is  a 
very  variable  one ;  the  males  vary  in  size  from  42-50  mm.,  and  the 
females  from  44-54  mm. 

On  looking  over  the  European  series  in  the  National  Collection  I 
find  that  a  few  of  the  males  have  a  rosy  sufiusion  on  the  upper 
sides  of  all  the  wings,  similar  to  that  which  is  found  in  some  male 
Colias  eclusa ;  in  my  series  fully  seventy-five  per  cent,  have  this 
rosy  suffusion,  which  is  very  pronounced  and  beautiful  in  some 
specimens ;  for  this  form  I  propose  the  name  rosea,  n.  ab.  The 
ground  colour  of  the  male  varies  very  much,  the  majority  are  of  a 
rich  red  orange,  but  a  few  are  of  a  much  lighter  orange  tint,  not 
darker  than  in  typical  C.  edusa,  whilst  one  example  has  the  entire 
upper  side  of  the  brown  colour  of  typical  male  C.  heldreichi,  the 
darker  margins  being  brown,  also  of  a  darker  tint ;  this  specimen  is, 
however,  not  freshly  emerged,  and  one  suspects  abnormal  conditions 
after  emergence  have  caused  what  is  certainly  a  remarkable  form. 

There  is  a  tendency  in  some  of  the  males  for  the  light  veins 
crossing  the  dark  margins  to  be  reduced  in  number  and  distinctness, 
some  specimens  being  entirely  without  them ;  there  are  examples 
in  the  National  Collection  of  this  form  labelled  Kvickjock,  and 
Lapland ;  a  suitable  name  for  it  appears  to  be  ab.  su'iypressa,  n.  ab. 
Professor  Aurivillius  who  is  responsible  for  the  European  specimens 
being  named  var.  sulitelma,  has  only  described  the  female  as  "  above 
rather  more  vivid  in  tint,  brown  or  sometimes  rose-flushed,  much  less 
suffused  with  black."  He  does  not  mention  some  of  the  most 
characteristic  features  of  this  sex,  for  instance,  the  prominent  light 
blotches  in  the  dark  marginal  band,  described  by  Lefebvre  in  '  An- 
nales  de  la  Soci^te  Entomologique  de  France,'  tome  v.,  p.  386 — the 
original  description  of  C.  hecla — to  be  seven  in  number  in  the  front, 
and  four  on  the  hind  wings,  and  therefore  one  can  only  assume  that 
as  Aurivillius  does  not  distinguish  var.  sulitebua  from  the  type  in 
this  respect,  he  did  not  notice  the  difference.  My  Porsanger  examples 
have  almost  all  seven  pale  blotches  on  the  superiors,  though  one  has 
six,  and  another  only  five ;  but  the  whole  of  them  have  six  blotches 


S40  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

on  the  inferiors,  and  I  find  that  almost  all  the  European  examples  in 
the  National  Collection  are  of  this  form,  which  one  must  therefore 
conclude  should  be  the  typical  European  form  in  this  respect. 
Lefebvre's  specimens,  which  he  states  came  from  Iceland — where  we 
now  know  C.  hecla  does  not  occur — were  no  doubt  from  Arctic 
America,  judging  by  the  figures.  The  variation  of  the  hind  wings  in 
my  specimens  takes  two  forms,  one  is  the  extra  distinctness  of  the 
blotches,  and  this  is  emphasized  in  those  specimens  which  have  an 
extra  dark  marginal  band,  or  dark  ground  colour  to  the  wings.  This 
form  I  have  figured  on  Plate  xiii.,  figs.  5  and  7,  and  propose  for 
it  the  name  clistincta,  n.  ab.  In  the  other  form  the  lower  four 
blotches  are  suffused  with  the  ochreous  ground  colour  of  the  wings, 
and  they  thus  become  much  less  distinct;  for  this  form  (see  Plate  xiii., 
fig.  6)  I  propose  the  name  oclirea-suffusa,  n.  ab. 

A  few  of  my  females  have  the  base  of  the  superiors  with  dark 
suffusion ;  there  are  specimens  of  this  form  in  the  National  Collection, 
a  suitable  name  for  which  appears  to  be  obscura,  n.  ab.  (see 
Plate  xiii.,  fig.  8).  There  is  a  good  deal  of  variation  in  both  sexes 
in  the  shape  and  size  of  the  discoidal  spot  in  the  centre  of 
the  superiors ;  in  the  males  in  some  cases  it  is  a  narrow  line, 
in  others  it  is  as  broad  as  it  is  long.  Lefebvre  describes  and 
figures  this  spot  in  the  female  "  with  an  orange  centre " ;  my 
specimens  generally  agree  with  this,  but  in  about  ten  per  cent, 
the  orange  centre  is  wanting,  which  thus  might  be  called  nicjro- 
imnctata,  n.  ab. 

Buinicia  jjhlceas,  var.  hyjJOijhlcBas. — This  fine  form  I  had  expected 
to  meet  with  freely,  but  only  saw  two  males,  both  of  which  were 
captured  at  Laxelv ;  one  of  them  is  ab.  cceruleopunctata. 

Polyommatus  optilete. — Abundant  at  Laxelv.    Amongst  Vaccinium. 

Arjlais  urticce. — The  only  larvae  I  saw  were  a  colony  at  Borselv, 
which  I  managed  to  bring  home  as  pupae ;  these  emerged  in  the 
middle  of  August  as  fine  dark  examples,  not,  however,  so  strongly 
banded  as  some  I  obtained  at  Abisko  last  year ;  they  were,  of  course, 
all  tending  towards  var.  ^iolaris. 

Brenthis  ijales,  var.  lapponica. — Fairly  common  at  Laxelv  and 
Kistrand,  but  not  so  abundant  as  I  expected  to  find  it. 

B.  freija. — Not  infrequent  at  Bossekop,  and  in  good  condition. 
In  the  Porsanger  Fjord  it  was  not  common  ;  I  saw  one  or  two  worn 
examples  at  Borselv  on  July  7th,  and  perhaps  half  a  dozen  others 
a  week  later  at  Laxelv. 

(To  be  continued.) 


BY  THE  WAY. 


We  have  read  with  such  attention  as  it  deserves  the  proposal 
of  the  Entomological  Society — as  Verrall  said,  being  the  oldest 
Society  of  the  kind  it  lacks  all  need  for  the  minimising 
appange  "  of  London" — to  the  infant  International  Congress  of 
Entomology,  respecting  priority  of  nomenclature ;  and  we  have 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  341 

no  hesitation  in  asserting  that  nothing  short  of  an  appeal  to  the 
Hague  Tribunal  will  bring  about  the  effect  they  desire.  Edward 
Saunders  discarded  Cyllocoris  fiavoquadrimaculatiis,  De  Geer, 
because  it  was  too  long  a  specific  name.  We  are  inclined  to  add 
sic  ;  but  each  author  is,  at  least  for  the  nonce,  a  law  unto 
himself  (unless  he  is  suffering  from  an  editor).  Moreover,  the 
present  system  is  inconsistent :  it  admits  such  generic  terms  as 
PiezodoriLs,  Tropicoris,  and  Acetropis,  but  rejects  individuality  to 
Prof.  Westwood's  memory  by  writing  westwoodii — this  is  surely 
but  a  step  short  of  rendering  the  name  occidentaUsilvce  !  Ento- 
mological topics  have  become  too  specialized  to  often  be  of  wide 
interest,  and  we  think  nomenclature  in  all  its  aspects  that  most 
fitted  for  general  discussion,  utterly  bootless  though  it  be. 


A  contemporary  publishes  some  elucidation  of  the  cause  of 
the  "humming  in  the  air"  so  often  heard  on  summer  days,  for 
which  Gilbert  White  and  later  authors  have  lacked  an  explana- 
tion. That  it  is  caused  by  dancing  Chironomi  shortly  before 
dusk  is  true  enough  ;  but  it  is  not  confined  to  that  hour,  and 
Mr.  J.  E.  Collin  is  of  opinion  that  the  facts  stated  cover  but 
part  of  the  ground  necessary  to  clear  up  the  whole  mystery. 
The  humming  is  a  very  well-known  phenomenon,  and  the  author 
of  *  The  Caxtons '  has  turned  it  to  a  philosophical  simile  in 
'  Kenelm  Chillingly  '  (1873,  i.  320)  thus  : — "  I  declare  I  know  no 
more  why  the  minds  of  human  beings  should  be  so  restlessly 
agitated  about  things  which,  as  most  of  them  own,  give  more 
pain  than  pleasure,  than  I  understand  why  that  swarm  of  gnats, 
which  has  such  a  very  short  time  to  live,  does  not  give  itself  a 
moment's  repose,  but  goes  up  and  down,  rising  and  falling  as  if 
it  were  on  a  seesaw,  and  making  as  much  noise  about  its 
insignificant  alternations  of  ascent  and  descent,  as  if  it  were 
the  hum  of  men."    The  devotee  would  answer  with  our  author — 


"  It  is  thou  who  art  shoreless  on  every  side, 
And  thy  width  will  not  let  thee  enclose  content." 


C.  M. 


NOTES    AND     OBSEEVATIONS. 

Mortality  among  Delphax  (Ar^opus)  pulchella,  Curt. — The 
larvae  of  this  species  of  homopteron  were  in  countless  thousands  at 
the  base  of  reeds  and  on  the  moist  mud  between  them  in  Covehithe 
Broad,  on  the  Suffolk  coast,  last  July,  and  the  younger,  less  agile 
ones  appeared  to  form  the  staple  food  of  every  carnivorous  insect 
there.  I  saw  neither  Pcederus  fuscipes  nor  Coccinella  19-punctata 
actually  prey  upon  it,  but  Bembidium,  Nabis,  and  a  micropterous 
Alysiid  (closely  alUed  to  Alloea  contracta,  Hal.)  certainly  did  so,  for 
in  one  or  two  places,  where  the  base  of  the  reeds  had  grown  circularly 


342  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

together,  forming  a  kind  of  chamber  above  the  mud — a  place  where 
the  saltatory  powers  of  Delphax  would  be  of  little  avail  for  escape — 
were  great  numbers  of  their  sucked  skins  with  gorged  individuals  of 
those  species ;  the  Alysiid,  however,  was  more  probably  in  search  of 
a  dipterous  victim,  for  no  males  were  apparent.  The  mortality  must 
be  very  great  and  the  oviposition  of  the  survivors  prolific,  for  in 
September  perfect  Delphax,  though  not  rare,  are  only  in  their  tens 
where  now  the  larvae  are  in  their  thousands.  I  fancy  other  Cocci- 
nellaB  must  attack  them  too,  for  both  Micrasjns  16-imnctata  and 
C.  ll-punctata  were  common,  though  I  saw  with  careful  searching 
but  a  single  specimen  of  an  Aphid,  which  was  a  winged  Hyalopterus 
arundinis,  Fab.— Claude  Morley. 

On  the  Habits  of  Parydropteea  discomyzina,  Collin  (MS.)  In 
the  middle  of  September,  1910,  two  specimens  of  this  new  dipteron 
occurred  to  me  in  a  salt-marsh  at  Southwold ;  this  was  just  before 
dusk.  Accordingly  at  dusk  I  searched  for  the  species  at  the  same  spot 
on  several  subsequent  occasions,  but  with  no  success  till  the  17th  of 
last  July,  when  four  examples  were  secured,  with  several  the  next 
day.  These  were  only  aroused  from  the  salt-marsh  plants  {Aster, 
Sueda,  Spergularia,  Atriplex,  &c.)  by  smoke  ;  then  they  would  jump 
from  the  mud  level  to  about  an  inch  up  the  pressed-back  herbage, 
and  great  care  was  necessary  in  bottling  or  a  second  leap  was  made — 
usually  downwards,  though  the  insect  invariably  headed  upward. 
This  frequently  led  to  loss,  as  it  was  usually  effected  through  some 
aperture  in  the  stalks  and  the  fly  lost  to  sight ;  nor  was  it  often 
again  aroused,  even  by  smoke.  Thus  I  lost  nearly  half  those  seen. 
The  appearance  when  alive  is  that  of  a  shining  and  peculiarly  convex 
Salda,  for  the  wings  are  pressed  flat  to  its  back  and  apically  deflexed ; 
and  the  saltatory  powers  are  very  similar  in  degree.  This  time  it 
occurred  in  the  same  salt-marsh  as  formerly,  though  some  hundred 
yards  from  the  original  spot,  where  a  diligent  search  failed  to  reveal 
it.  In  both  situations  it  was  found  on  ground  just  too  wet  to  lie 
upon  (though  I  did  !),  and  yet  by  no  means  covered  with  water ;  so 
salt  was  this  that  sand-hoppers  and  whelks  kept  Pari/drojHera 
company.  In  all  I  secured  some  two  dozen  examples  with  three 
hours'  close  work. — Claude  Morley  ;  Monk's  Soham  House,  Suffolk. 

The  Adams  Collection  op  Lepidopteea. — This  exceedingly  rich 
and  very  extensive  collection  of  Lepidoptera  is  now  installed  in  the 
Natural  History  Museum  at  South  Kensington.  It  is  contained  in 
sixty-eight  cabinets  and  numerous  store-boxes.  The  number  of 
specimens  probably  totals  something  like  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand,  among  which  are  hundreds  of  types. 

The  Suppert  Collection  op  Butterflies. — The  large  collec- 
tion of  African  butterflies,  with  its  numerous  types,  formed  by  the 
late  Herr  B.  Suffert,  of  Berlin,  has  passed  into  the  Joicey  Collection. 
Entomologists  are  invited  to  compare  their  specimens  with  the 
types. — J.  J.  JoiCEY ;  The  Hill,  Witley,  Surrey. 

CoLiAs  EDUSA  IN  NoRTH  Devon. — On  August  20th,  1912,  as  my 
wife  and  I  were  walking  along  the  road  from  Northam  to  Appledore, 


NOTES    AND    OBSERVATIONS.  343 

a  fine  specimen  of  Colias  edusa  flew  over  a  gate  into  the  road,  but 
escaped  before  I  could  get  out  my  net,  which  had  just  previously 
been  placed  under  my  rainproof  coat  during  one  of  the  many  showers 
which  fell  on  that  day.— C.  Granville  Clutterbuck;  23,  Heath- 
ville  Eoad,  Gloucester,  November  8th,  1912. 

Colias  edusa,  &c.,  in  North  Devon.  —  I  arrived  here  on  the 
8th  inst.  On  the  9th  Colias  edusa  was  seen,  and  a  full-grown  larva 
of  Sphinx  ligustri  taken  at  Torrington.  On  the  same  day  a  fresh- 
looking  E^Jinephele  ianira  was  seen,  and  numbers  of  Pyrameis 
atalanta  and  Pliisia  gamma,  a  few  Vanessa  urticce,  and  one  V.  io  were 
noticed  flying  around  and  settling  on  various  clumps  of  Michaelmas 
daisy  in  the  gardens.  On  the  11th  three  C.  edusa  were  seen  at 
Tawstock,  near  Barnstaple,  and  several  Pararge  egeria  in  the  lanes. 
Sugar  was  tried  that  evening,  but  was  only  visited  by  one  Phlogo- 
pliora  metic^dosa,  and  one  Amathes  instacina.  On  the  12th  a  bright 
male  ediisa  was  captured  in  the  garden,  and  great  numbers  of 
P.  gamma  were  flying  at  dusk  among  flowers  of  Antirrhinum.  On 
the  17th  several  Pieris  brassica  and  P.  rapce  were  seen  at  Ilfracombe. 
Sugar  was  tried  again  on  the  night  of  the  19th,  and  single  specimens 
of  Agrotis  saucia,  Lithophane  socia,  and  Graptolitha  ornithopus  were 
taken,  and  several  Agrotis  suffusa  and  P.  meticulosa  were  seen.  On 
the  25th  my  wife  caught  a  light-coloured  edusa  in  her  hand  in  a  road 
close  to  the  house.  It  was  very  feeble  and  worn,  so  she  let  it  go.  It 
was  probably  a  female.  There  has  been  a  lot  of  rain  and  gales  of 
wind  lately  and  the  nights  have  been  too  cold  for  sugar  or  ivy.  If 
the  weather  had  been  brighter  and  warmer  in  September  and  during 
this  month,  I  believe  it  would  have  been  a  record  year  for  edicsa  in 
this  neighbourhood. — Gervase  F.  Mathew  ;  Instow,  North  Devon, 
October  30th,  1912. 

Colias  edusa,  Pyrameis  atalanta,  and  P.  cardui  in  Wilts. — 
I  saw  one  C.  edusa  male  on  Sept.  7th,  the  first  I  have  seen  during 
the  eleven  years  I  have  been  here.  The  larvte  of  Pyrameis  atalanta 
have  been  abundant,  and  with  them  I  found  two  larviB  of  P.  cardui, 
also  feeding  on  nettle.  I  did  not  recognize  that  the  two  were  not 
P.  atalanta  larvae  until  they  changed  to  chrysalids.  All  the  larvaj 
were  taken  in  August  and  September,  P.  atalanta  emerging  from 
August  30th  to  October  18th  ;  the  first  P.  cardui  on  August  31st, 
and  the  other  on  October  7th. — (Eev.)  C.  A.  Sladen  ;  Alton  Barnes 
Eectory,  Pewsey,  Wilts,  November  1st,  1912. 

Pyrameis  atalanta. — On  June  19th  I  found  a  larva  of  the  above 
nearly  full  grown ;  it  pupated  on  June  24th  and  the  butterfly  emerged 
on  July  10th.  One  full-fed  larva  obtained  on  September  8th  pupated 
on  September  12th,  and  the  imago  emerged  October  2nd. — W.  E. 
Butler. 

Agrotis  hyperborea  (alpina),  &c.,  in  Perthshire. — On  August 
5th  I  took  a  worn  female  specimen  of  Agrotis  hyperborea  at  rest  on 
cro wherry  on  a  spur  of  Schiehallion.  The  capture  of  the  imago 
seems  to  be  somewhat  unusual,  but  it  was  still  more  unusual  to  find 
a  few  fresh  females  of  Argynnis  aglaia  on  the  wing  within  two  or 


344  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

three  hundred  feet  of  the  crowberry  line  some  minutes  later. — 
C.  Mellows  ;  The  College,  Bishop's  Stortford. 

EUEOIS    OCCULTA     AND    COSMIA    PALEACEA    IN    YOEKSHIEE. — Tllis 

species  is  in  its  old  York  habitat  this  year.  One  specimen  came  to 
sugar  on  the  night  of  July  24th.  Mr.  Walker  tells  me  that  the 
species  had  not  been  seen  in  the  locality  for  several  years.  C.  paleacea 
was  very  abundant  at  sugar  the  same  night. — C.  Mellows. 

FuETHEE  Additions  to  the  Gloucesteeshiee  List  of  Lepi- 
DOPTEEA. — Thanks  to  Mr.  E.  Meyrick's  kindness  in  identifying  the 
specimens  I  am  able  to  add  the  following  species  to  our  county  list: — • 
Mompha  (Laverna)  lacteella,  "  curious  abnormal  dark  form,  the 
whitish  ochreous  area  obscured  by  dark  fuscous  suffusion,"  taken  on 
March  28th  and  April  9th,  1912,  on  the  window  of  a  railway  station 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  Forest  of  Dean  ;  Aristotelia  (DorypJiora) 
jmlverateUa,  taken  on  the  Cotswolds  on  April  25th,  1912,  flying  in 
the  afternoon ;  and  Coleophora  deauratella,  also  taken  on  the  wing 
in  the  afternoon  sunshine  near  Gloucester  on  May  19th,  1912. — 
C.  Geanville  Clutteebuck  ;  23,  Heathville  Koad,  Gloucester, 
November  8th,  1912. 


SOCIETIES. 

Entomological  Society  of  London. — Wednesday,  October  2nd, 
1912.— The  Eev.  F.  D.  Morice,  M.A.,  President,  in  the  chair.— Miss 
Lily  Huie,  Hollywood,  Colinton  Eoad,  Edinburgh,  was  elected  a 
Fellow  of  the  Society. — The  death  was  announced  of  the  Hon. 
Fellow,  Prof.  L.  Ganglbauer,  of  Vienna,  and  also  of  Messrs.  R. 
Shelford,  M.A.,  F.Z.S. ;  E.  A.  Fitch,  F.L.S. ;  and  G.  H.  Grosvenor, 
M.A. — Dr.  Nicholson  showed  three  specimens  of  Adalia  obliterata,  L., 
ab.  sublineata,  Weise,  an  aberration  not  as  yet  recorded  from  Britain. 
— Mr.  G.  T.  Porritt,  various  forms  of  the  variety  nigrosparsata, 
together  with  the  type  specimen  of  the  var.  nigra  of  Abraxas 
grossulariata,  all  bred  from  larvse  and  pupse  collected  from  one 
garden  at  Huddersfield  during  the  present  year.— Commander  J.  J. 
Walker,  series  of  the  following  rare  species  of  British  Coleoptera, 
recently  taken  in  the  Oxford  district  :—Lathrobium  palUdiim,  Nord. : 
Api(y)i  annuUpes,  Wenck.,  male  and  female ;  and  Psylliodes  luteola, 
Miill.  Also  a  specimen  of  the  so-called  "insect-catching  grass" 
(Cenchrus  australis),  from  Cairns,  N.  Queensland,  with  several 
Coleoptera,  belonging  to  various  genera,  adhering  to  the  spinous 
awns.— Mr.  R.  M.  Prideaux,  a  beautiful  aberration  of  P.  cardui, 
closely  resembling  one  figured  by  Newman.— Mr.  C.  J.  Gahan,  a 
small  series  of  Phromnia  superba,  Melich,  a  dimorphic  species  of 
Homoptera  of  the  subfamily  Flatince,  taken  by  Dr.  A.  C.  Parsons  in 
Northern  Nigeria,  and  read  a  letter  received  from  Dr.  Parsons  to 
explain  the  great  interest  attaching  to  the  specimens. — Mr.  W.  A. 
Lanaborn,  a  series  of  twelve  Homoptera  of  the  genus  Flata,  all  taken 
feeding  on  one  plant,  seventy  miles  east  of  Lagos,  on  December  1st, 
1911.  The  insects  were  dimorphic,  and  he  stated  that  the  pink  and 
green  forms  were  mixed  as  they  rested  on  the  plant.— Prof.  Poulton, 


SOCIETIES.  345 

an  apparently  uninjured  example  of  E.  jacohcea  given  him  by  Mr. 
Eoland  Triraen,  F.E.S.  The  moth  was  flying  slowly  at  midday  in 
his  garden  at  Woking,  when  a  robin  captured  it  on  the  wing  and 
flew  with  it  behind  a  bush.  After  about  three  minutes  the  bird  flew 
away,  and  Mr.  Trimen  found  the  moth  lying  upon  the  ground.— Dr. 
T.  A.  Chapman,  several  unusual  forms  of  some  common  "  blues  " 
taken  this  year  in  the  Valley  of  the  Isere  and  at  Courmayeur.  He 
said  that  the  "  blues  "  of  this  region  are  generally  large  and  more 
than  usually  variable ;  and  that  it  is  also  the  headquarters  in  Western 
Europe  of  Agriades  alexius,  Frr. — Mr.  Donisthorpe,  a  number  of 
males  of  Ponera  coarctata  which  he  had  swept  at  Box  Hill,  and 
remarked  that  no  one  living  appeared  to  have  taken  males  in  Britain. 
Also  males,  females,  and  workers  of  Formicoxenus  nitiduhis,  taken  in 
a  nest  of  F.  riifa  at  Weybridge.  Also  males,  females,  and  workers  of 
Leptothorax  tubero-affinis,  a  form  new  to  Britain.  Also  a  male,  and 
winged  and  dealated  females  of  Anergates  atratulus,  which  lives  in 
the  nests  of  Tetramorium  caspitum. — Mr.  Hy.  J.  Turner,  on  behalf  of 
the  Kev.  C.  E.  N.  Burrows,  a  long  series  of  bred  Gelastrina  argiolus. 
He  stated  that  the  larvae  had  occurred  each  year  for  some  time  past 
in  the  garden  at  Mucking,  feeding  on  Portugal  laurel,  attacking  the 
flower  buds  in  the  early  summer.  The  whole  of  the  specimens  were 
unusually  large.  Many  of  the  females  had  a  strong  development  of 
whitey-blue  on  the  basal  half  of  the  costal  area,  and  there  was  a 
tendency  to  develop  a  whitish  suffusion  in  the  discal  area  of  the  fore 
wing.  The  form  closely  resembled  the  Nearctic  form  pseiulargiolus. 
He  believed  that  the  food-plant  had  not  hitherto  been  recorded.  He 
also  exhibited  a  curious  colour-print  of  an  "  Entomologist,"  published 
in  1830  in  London,  in  which  the  whole  of  the  figure  was  ingeniously 
made  up  of  various  species  of  the  Insecta,  only  the  face  being 
human. — Mr.  L.  W.  Newman,  specimens  of  Diantlicecia,  bred  from 
North  Kent  wild  larvse,  resembling  exactly,  both  in  size  and  colora- 
tion, Dianthcecia  capsophila  from  the  Isle  of  Man.  This  appeared  to 
confirm  the  opinion  of  several  leading  men  that  D.  capsophila  and 
D.  carpo2)haga  are  the  same  species.  He  also  showed  for  comparison 
varied  series  of  D.  carpophaga ;  a  pair  of  D.  capsopkila  and  D.  capsin- 
cola. — Mr.  W.  G.  Sheldon,  a  series  of  Colias  liecla,  from  the  Porsanger 
Fjord,  Arctic  Norway,  with  specimens  of  the  other  orange  species 
occurring  in  Europe  for  comparison. — Mr.  W.  J.  Lucas,  a  living 
male  of  Labidura  riparia  (the  Giant  Earwig),  taken  on  the  shore 
near  Christchurch,  Hants.  He  also  exhibited  a  drawing  giving  the 
colour  of  the  living  insects,  and  demonstrating  how  well  they  are 
protected  by  resemblance  to  the  pale  sand  of  the  Hampshire  coast. — 
Mr.  G.  T.  Bethune-Baker,  specimens  of  Hepialus  pyrenaicus,  a 
species  found  not  uncommonly  on  the  higher  parts  of  Mount 
Canigou,  with  the  apterous  female.  Also  a  fine  form  of  Lyccena 
arion,  and  a  specimen  of  Heodes  hippothoe  that  was  at  once  radiated, 
obsolescent,  and  asymmetrical. — Mr.  Douglas  Pearson,  a  drawer  of 
Ehopalocera  from  the  Black  Forest  and  the  Swiss  Alps,  including  an 
albinistic  specimen  of  Erebia  lappona,  an  unusually  large  female  of 
Melitaa  varia,  the  large  Black  Forest  form  of  Colias  palceno, 
Brenthis  pales  from  Pontresina,  with  under  side  hind  wings  of  a  deep 
purple-red,  and  others. — Mr.  J.  A.  Simes  read  the  following  note : — 


346  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

"  On  the  15tli  July,  1912,  I  came  across  Erebia  glacialis  in  some 
numbers  on  a  scree  slope  belov/  the  summit  of  the  Colette  de  Gily, 
Dauphiny,  and  saw  a  female  alight  on  a  piece  of  loose  rock  on  the 
slope,  sun  itself  for  a  time  and  then  proceed  to  walk  slowly  back- 
wards until  it  reached  the  lower  end  of  the  rock.  It  then  bent  its 
abdomen  underneath  the  slab  of  rock  and  deposited  an  egg  on  the 
lower  surface  of  it.  I  subsequently  observed  a  second  female  behave 
in  precisely  the  same  manner,  and  eventually  deposit  an  egg  on,  the 
under  side  of  a  detached  slab  of  rock  on  the  scree  slope." — The 
President  exhibited  a  species  of  Osmia  and  its  cell,  found  three  and  a 
half  years  ago,  beside  a  little  stream  at  Jericho,  and  which  only 
emerged  during  the  Oxford  Congress  this  year. — Mr.  H.  Baker  Sly, 
a  very  dark  example  of  Brenthis  selene,  having  the  under  wings 
clouded  with  dark  brown  all  over,  except  for  a  slightly  lighter  shaded 
spot  in  the  middle,  and  the  upper  wings  very  heavily  clouded  with 
dark  brown ;  it  was  taken  in  Worth  Forest,  Sussex,  May  26th,  1912. 
He  also  showed  a  specimen  of  Epinephele  ianira,  one  upper  wing 
having  a  white  blotch  at  the  tip,  and  also  the  under  wing  on  the 
same  side  with  a  white  streak,  taken  at  Box  Hill,  August  11th,  1912. 
The  following  papers  were  read: — "  Life-history  of  Lonchaa  chorea," 
by  A.  E.  Cameron,  M.A.,  B.Sc. ;  communicated  by  H.  S.  Leigh,  F.E.S. 
"  A  Few  Observations  on  Mimicry,"  by  W.  J.  Kaye,  F.E.S. — George 
Wheeler,  M.A.,  Hon.  Secretary. 

The  South  London  Entomological  and  Natural  History 
Society.— /?%  lltJi.—Mv.  A.  E.  Tonge,  F.E.S.,  President,  in  the 
chair. — Mr.  Dennis  exhibited  galls  from  the  poplar-tree  made  by  two 
species  of  Aphis,  Pemphigus  hursarius  and  P.  spirotheccB ,  the  former  of 
a  pyriform  shape  on  the  petiole,  and  the  latter  of  a  spiral  shape,  also 
on  the  petiole. — Miss  Fountaine,  a  fine  set  of  examples,  mostly  bred 
by  herself,  of  species  of  Callidryas  from  the  West  Indies  and  South 
Africa,  with  the  large  species  of  Gonepteryx  from  America. — Mr.  Main, 
living  larvae  of  Pyrameis  cardui  from  Eastbourne,  and  a  line  series  of 
Pieris  napi  and  var.  bryonies,  the  results  of  recent  experiments. — 
Mr.  J.  Piatt  Barrett,  a  bred  specimen  of  Gharaxes  jasius  from  Sicily, 
and  made  remarks  on  the  spring  and  early  summer  of  the  present 
year  in  that  island. — Mr.  Step,  photographs  of  the  leaves  of  the  maple 
and  sycamore,  with  the  cases  of  the  sawfly  larva,  Phyllotoma  aceris, 
and  remarked  on  the  occurrence  of  the  species  at  Ashtead  and  Ox- 
shott.  Several  other  members  had  also  met  with  the  species. — Mr. 
Adkin,  the  cocoon  of  Platysamia  cecropia,  previously  shown  by 
Mr.  Dods,  and  pointed  out  that  the  inner  envelope  of  the  cocoon  was 
reversed,  hence  the  imago  had  to  emerge  from  the  wrong  end  of  the 
outer  envelope.  He  also  showed  several  bred  series  of  Goremia  ferric- 
gata,  and  read  notes  on  the  variation. — Mr.  H.  Moore,  a  variety  of 
Papilio  phorcas  from  Africa,  in  which  the  veins  were  margined  with 
white  on  the  green  areas  of  both  wings. — Mr.  Sich,  the  pupa-cases  of 
Libythea  celtis,  showing  that  the  pupa  lies  in  a  horizontal  position 
under  a  leaf  without  a  girdle,  and  also  white  egg-shells  of  Gerura 
vinula  found  in  Sussex. — Mr.  Edwards,  two  large  species  of  Eastern 
Satyridge,   Neorina   hilda  and  N.   crishna. 

Jiily  26th.— Mr.  A.  E.  Tonge,  F.E.S.,  President,  in  the  chair.— 


SOCIETIES.  347 

Mr.  West  (Ashtead)  exhibited  ova  of  a  Ghrysopa  on  the  leaves 
of  the  garden  ox-eye  daisy.  —  Mr.  Edwards,  the  butterflies  Eunica 
eurota  from  Brazil,  Smyrna  blomfeldii  from  Mexico,  and  S.  kanvinskii 
from  Brazil. — Mr.  J.  Piatt  Barrett,  a  full-fed  larva  of  Saturnia  pyri, 
from  Sicily,  young  larvae  of  Colias  ediisa  from  ova  of  an  English 
caught  female,  and  a  large  number  of  butterflies  from  South  Africa. — 
Mr.  E.  Adkin,  Ptycholoma  lecheana  from  Brentwood,  one  almost 
unicolorous  buff  colour  and  unusually  pale,  the  other  a  rich  deep 
brown  with  very  distinct  silvery  markings.  —  Remarks  were  made 
on  the  abundance  of  Gelastrina  argiolus,  and  the  occurrence  of  Sesia 
stellatarum  and  Colias  eclusa  this  season. 

August  QtJi. — The  President  in  the  chair. — Mr.  Ashby  exhibited 
larv£e  and  imago  of  the  local  coleopteron,  Cassida  fastuosa,  from 
Otford.  —  Capt.  Cardew,  larvae  of  Papilio  machaon  from.  Stalham 
Dyke  spun  up  for  pupation.  —  Mr.  Hugh  Main,  larvae  of  Papilio 
alexanor  from  the  South  of  France. — Mr.  H.  Moore,  a  short  series  of 
Colias  ediisa  taken  in  the  Forest  of  Arques,  Dieppe,  in  August. — Mr. 
Priske,  a  female  cockroach,  Periplaneta  orientalis,  with  the  ootheca 
still  attached  to  her. — Mr.  F.  D.  Cooke,  the  pupae  of  Pyrameis  cardui 
to  show  the  difference  between  those  spun  up  on  white  muslin  and 
those  on  darker  material. — Mr.  Newman,  long  series  of  Diantlicecia 
carpophaga,  specimens  of  D.  capsincola  and  D.  capsophila,  and 
Kentish  Dianthaicia  identical  with  Isle  of  Man  D.  capsophila. — Mr. 
Blenkarn,  Haliplus  wehnckei  with  aberrant  oedeagus,  a  specimen  of 
ClytiLs  arietis  with  the  first  yellow  belt  reduced  to  a  minute  spot,  an 
unusually  small  example  of  Philonthus  pitella,  and  specimens  of  the 
very  rare  coleopteron,  Peniarthrum  huttoni,  from  the  cellars  of 
Messrs.  Moet  &  Chandon. 

August  22iid. — Mr.  B.  H.  Smith,  Vice-President,  in  the  chair. — 
Mr.  Edwards  exhibited  the  exotic  butterflies  —  Thaumantis  diores 
from  Assam,  Discopliora  lepida  from  Ceylon,  Tenaris  selene  from  the 
Malay,  and  T.  honrathii  from  Madagascar,  all  belonging  to  the 
Asiatic  section  of  the  Morphinae ;  and  specimens  of  Opsiphanes 
hoisduvalii  from  Mexico,  referring  to  the  conspicuous  tuft  of  scent- 
hairs. — Mr.  Newman,  a  very  long  series  of  Pachnobia  liyperborea 
from  Rannoch,  showing  much  variation ;  a  short,  very  uniform  series 
from  Shetland,  where  the  species  was  fast  disappearing  from  the 
attacks  of  ichneumons  ;  a  few  Crymodes  exulis  from  Shetland,  in- 
cluding a  very  pale  specimen  ;  and  a  long  series  of  his  inbred  yellow 
form  of  Callimorpha  dominula,  with  the  only  intermediate  he  had 
obtained. — Mr.  Sheldon  gave  a  very  interesting  account  of  his  holiday 
near  the  North  Cape  in  search  of  butterflies  and  birds'  eggs. — Mr. 
Sich,  specimens  of  Coleopihora  apicella,  taken  at  Byfieet  in  June, 
where  its  food-plant,  Stellaria  graminea,  grows  abundantly.  —  Mr. 
Adkin,  Chrysopa  ova,  which  were  on  unusually  short  stalks. — 
Reports  were  made  that  larvae  were  very  scarce  this  season,  especi- 
ally in  the  New  Forest.  Bryophila  perla  was  noted  as  very  scarce. 
Agriades  coridon  was  still  common  in  Hertfordshire,  and  several 
var.  semi-syngrapha  had  been  taken,  while  the  females  varied  from 
very  deep  black  to  khaki-coloured  ground.  Capt.  Cardew  noted  the 
curious  fact  that  B.  muralis  was  common  at  Folkestone,  but  com- 


348  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

pletely  absent  from  Dover,  where  apparently  conditions  were  most 
favourable. 

September  IMi.—Mv.  A.  E.  Tonge,  F.E.S.,  President,  in  the 
chair. — Mr.  Tonge  exhibited  an  Ephestia  sp.  bred  from  an  Egyptian 
date.  —  Mr.  Moore,  galls  found  on  the  wild  rose.  —  Mr.  Gibbs,  a 
Bumicia  pJilceas  from  Woburn,  a  combination  of  ab.  radiata  and  ab. 
candeopunctata. — Capt.  Cardew,  an  Apatura  iris  with  much  fulvous 
shading  on  the  fore  wings  and  apex  of  hind  wings ;  a  series  of 
Eupithecia  suhfulvata,  bred,  from  Northumberland ;  and  living  larvae 
of  Acidalia  iminutata.—M.v.  Curwen,  a  large  summer  form  of  Pieris 
napi  with  rays  evanescent,  Polyommatns  icarus  ab.  semi-arcuata, 
Agriades  coridon  with  aberrant  markings  on  the  under  sides,  and  an 
Argynnis  niohe  var.  eris  with  an  extremely  deep  green  ground  on  the 
under  sides  of  the  hind  wings. — Dr.  T.  A.  Chapman,  specimens  of 
Agriades  alexins  and  of  Polyommatus  icarus  ab.  icarinus,  and  gave  a 
detailed  account  of  the  former  species,  which  Freyer  put  forward  in 
1858. — Mr.  Tonge  reported  Leucania  albipuncta  at  sugar  at  Deal, 
and  specimens  of  Polia  chi  at  Winslow,  in  Bucks.  —  Mr.  Sich  read 
his  report  as  delegate  to  the  International  Congress  of  Entomology 
at  Oxford  in  early  August. 

September  26th.  — Mr.  A.  E.  Tonge,  F.E.S.,  President,  in  the 
chair. — Dr.  Chapman  exhibited  varieties  of  "blues"  taken  in  the 
French  Alps  this  year,  where  several  species  were  of  unusually  large 
size ;  they  included  Polyommatus  icarus  resembling  P.  escheri, 
Agriades  thetis  ab.  punctifera,  a  possible  hybrid  between  P.  clamon 
and  A.  coridon,  &c. — Mr.  Colthrup,  long  series  of  Pachygastria  trifolii 
from  Eomney  and  Eastbourne,  the  former  showing  much  variation, 
especially  in  the  males  ;  specimens  of  Satyrus  semele  with  the  eye- 
spot  in  the  anal  angle  of  the  hind  wings  absent ;  an  unusually  large 
example  of  Colias  ediisa  var.  helice,  &c.  —  Mr.  Newman,  a  long  bred 
series  of  Papilio  machaon,  of  fine  size  mostly,  but  only  showing 
trivial  variation  in  size  and  position  of  the  discoidal  spots,  in  amount 
of  blue  in  the  hind  wings,  in  the  breadth  and  depth  of  colour  of 
the  transverse  bands,  &c.  —  Mr.  Hugh  Main,  a  beetle,  Caryoborus 
micleorum,  bred  by  him  from  the  Coquilla  nut  previously  exhibited 
with  the  larva  in  by  Mr.  Joy. — Mr.  J.  P.  Barrett,  the  larvas  of  Gebrio 
gigas  (?),  a  coleopteron  occurring  somewhat  freely  in  his  son's 
garden  in  Messina,  doing  injury  to  his  potatoes ;  a  short  series  of 
Lyccena  arion  from  Cornwall,  Mgeria  musccBformis  and  Dianthoscia 
luteago  var.  ficklini  from  the  same  county,  and  a  huge  earthen 
cocoon  of  Manduca  atropos. — Mr.  Tonge,  a  fragment  of  slate  from 
Cornwall  containing  a  fossil  in  appearance  very  much  resembling  an 
orthopteron.  —  Mr.  Curwen,  a  very  varied  series  of  Brentlus  pales 
from  Switzerland.  —  Mr.  Blenkarn,  the  rare  coleopteron,  Henoticus 
serratus,  taken  in  the  offices  of  Messrs.  Moot  &  Chandon's,  Northum- 
berland Avenue  ;  and  a  series  of  bred  Porthesia  chrysorrhosa  from 
Sandown,  including  two  with  bright  golden  tufts  instead  of  the  usual 
rich  brown. — Mr.  Lucas,  a  living  female  of  the  rare  orthopteron, 
Metriovtera  roeselii. — Mr.  Turner,  for  Eev.  C.  R.  N.  Burrows,  a 
beautiful  series  of  Celastrina  arqiokis,   bred  from  larvae  taken   on 


SOCIETIES. 


349 


Portugal  laurel,  notable  for  their  large  size  and  brilliant  coloration, 
approaching  the  American  form  j^seudargiohts. 

October  10th.— Mr.  A.  B.  Tonge,  P.B.S.,  President,  in  the  chair.— 
Mr.  Lucas  exhibited  specimens  and  detailed  drawings  of  the  species 
of  British  earwigs  to  illustrate  his  paper,  with  living  examples  of  the 
very  local  Lahidura  riparia  from  Christchurch. — Mr.  Tonge,  a  very 
dark-marked  example  of  Acidalia  ornata  from  Reigate. — Mr.  Sheldon, 
a  long  series  of  Colias  hecla  from  North  Lapland,  with  examples  of 
other  European  Colias  species  for  comparison. — Mr.  Adkin,  specimens 
of  Nola  alhulalis  bred  from  larvae  that  had  hybernated  in  confine- 
ment.— Mr.  Newman,  a  long  series  of  Agriades  coridon,  including 
several  ab.  seviisyngrajjha,  from  Royston,  and  showing  in  the  females 
much  variation  in  the  ground  colour  of  both  upper  and  under 
surfaces;  and  third  generation  specimens  of  Ennomos  quercinaria, 
all  with  the  apex  of  the  fore  wings  dark — twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the 
second  generation  had  been  melanic,  of  a  dark  chocolate  colour. — 
Mr.  Lucas  read  a  paper  on  "  Earwigs  that  Breed  in  Britain,"  and 
illustrated  his  notes  with  a  large  number  of  lantern-slides. — Hy.  J. 
TuENER  {Hon.  Bep.  Sec). 

Lancashire  and  Cheshire  Entomological  Society. — Meeting 
held  at  the  Eoyal  Institution,  Colquitt  Street,  Liverpool,  October  21st, 
1912. — Mr.  Wm.  Webster,  Vice-President,  in  the  chair. — This  being 
the  opening  meeting  of  the  session  was  devoted  to  exhibits  of  the 
past  season's  work. — Mr.  E.  N.  Pierce  showed  a  box  of  Lepidoptera 
from  Silverdale,  Lancashire,  which  included  Nevieobius  lucina, 
Argynnis  euphrosyne,  and  Euclidia  mi ;  from  Tansor,  Huntingdon- 
shire, Schcenobms  mucronelhis,  S.  forficellus,  Acentroinis  niveus, 
Hydrocampa  nympheata,  H.  stagnata,  and  Paraponyx  stratiotata ; 
also  Scopula  ferriigalis  from  Oxfordshire. — Mr.  L.  West  exhibited  his 
recently  pubhshed  work  '  The  Natural  Trout  Fly  and  its  Imitations,' 
containing  a  fine  series  of  coloured  illustrations  of  the  flies  used  by 
the  angler  for  trout,  together  with  a  set  of  the  artificial  flies  inserted 
on  special  pages. — Mr.  B.  H.  Crabtree,  two  drawers  containing  his 
very  fine  series  of  variations  of  Abraxas  grossulariata,  including  vars. 
nigra,  nigro-sparsata,  nigro-ccendea,  flavo -fas data,  hazeleighensis, 
liitea,  varleyata,  and  other  striking  forms. — Mr.  R.  Tait,  Jun.,  a 
long  bred  series  of  Agrotis  asluvorthii,  with  vars.  substriata  and 
virgata;  very  fine  set  of  A.  agathina,  including  var.  rosea  and  a 
melanic  form  of  Boarmia  repandata  from  North  Wales ;  Leucophasia 
sinapis,  Colias  echisa,  Ligdia  adustata,  Bapta  temerata,  and  Melanippe 
galiata,  from  South  Devon  ;  Tephrosia  luridata,  from  Wyre  Forest ; 
and  Nyssia  zonaria,  from  Conway. — Mr.  W.  A:  Tyerman,  the  follow- 
ing species  from  Ainsdale,  viz. : — Procris  statices,  Neuria  reticulata, 
Dianthacia  nana,  Pliisia  festucce,  Phibalapteryx  lignata,  and  Eupi- 
thecia  satyrata  var.  caUunaria. — Mr.  W.  Mansbridge,  Micro-Lepido- 
ptera  collected  in  Lancashire  and  Cheshire  during  the  past  season, 
viz.,  a  long  bred  series  of  Tortrix  costana  and  melanic  and  inter- 
mediate variations  ;  a  long  bred  series  of  Phycis  fusca ;  series  of 
Micropteryx  ^mimaculella,  ColeopJwra  fuscedinella,  and  C.  luti- 
2)ennella,  Oniix  betulcB,  Lithocolletis  quercifolieUa,  and  L.  cramerella, 
from  Delamere;  Pancalia  lemvenhoekella  and  Pyrausta  purpuralis, 

ENTOM. — DECEMBER,    1912.  2  E 


350  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

from  Grange,  the  last  being  very  brightly  coloured. — Mr.  Prince,  a 
bred  series  of  Cidaria  7-eticulata,  from  Windermere ;  Nemeophila 
plantagmis  var.  hospita,  from  the  Lake  District ;  and  many  coast 
species. — Wm.  Mansbeidge,  Hon.  Sec. 


RECENT    LITERATURE. 


1.  Annals  of  Tropical  Medicine  and  Parasitology.  Vol.  vi.  No.  1,  b 
(May  29th,  1912) ;  No.  2  (July  31st,  1912) ;  No.  3,  a  (September  12th, 
1912).  Liverpool.  In  addition  to  papers  concerning  insects  in  their 
relation  to  disease,  such  as  malaria  and  sleeping-sickness,  there  are  : — 
(1)  "  A  new  Tsetse-fly  from  British  East  Africa  {Glossina  a^isteni)  by 
Prof.  R.  Newstead,  F.R.S.,  in  No.  1 ;  and  (2)  Three  important  papers 
in  No.  2  by  H.  B.  Fantham,  D.Sc,  and  Annie  Porter,  D.Sc,  on  the 
"  Isle  of  Wight  Disease  of  Bees." 

2.  Memorias  do  Instituto  Oszvaldo  Cruz  (Ano  1911,  Tomo  iii. 
Faciculo  ii).  Rio  de  Janeiro,  1911. — Pages  295-300  are  concerned 
with  certain  Culicidae. 

3.  Two  Insect  Pests  of  the  United  Provinces — the  Sugar-cane 
Grasshopper  {Hieroglyphus  fuscifer)  and  the  Potato  Moth  {Phtho- 
rimcea  operculella) — by  T.  Bainbrigge  Fletcher,  R.N.  ('Agricultural 
Journal  of  India,'  vol.  vi.  pt.  ii).     Calcutta,  1911. 

4.  Dragonflies  of  the  Cumherland  Valley  in  Kentucky  and  Ten- 
nessee, by  C.  B.  Wilson  (Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.  vol.  43,  pp.  189-200). 
Washington,  1912. 

5.  The  Proportion  of  the  Sexes  in  Forficula  auricularia,  by  H.  H. 
Brindley,  M.A.  (Proc.  Camb.  Phil.  Soc.  vol.  xvi.  pt.  8).  Cambridge, 
1912.  A  short  but  important  paper,  which  must  have  entailed  a  large 
amount  of  work  in  its  preparation. 

6.  "  Microscopes  for  Entomologists.'" — We  have  received  a  copy  of 
the  new  edition  of  E.  Leitz'  Catalogue  of  Microscopes,  and  a  pamphlet 
concerning  a  new  eyepiece  for  demonstration  purposes.  Some  of 
the  new  forms  of  microscope  are  specially  suitable  for  entomologists, 
and  anyone  intending  to  purchase  an  instrument  would  do  well  to 
call  at  18,  Bloomsbury  Square,  W.C.,  and  inspect  them. 

W.  J.  Lucas. 


The  Hwnble-Bee,  its  Life-History,  and  hoio  to  Domesticate  it.  By 
F.  W.  L.  Sladen,  F.E.S.  Illustrated  with  Photographs  and 
Drawings  by  the  Author,  and  Five  Coloured  Plates  Photo- 
graphed direct  from  Nature.  Pp.  i-xiii,  1-283.  London : 
Macmillan  &  Co.,  Limited.     1912. 

Peobably  few  insects  of  the  open  country  are  more  familiar  to 
field  entomologists  than  Humble-Bees,  and  yet,  speaking  generally, 
how  limited  is  our  knowledge  of  these  very  interesting  members  of 
the  Hymenoptera-Aculeata !  Except,  of  course,  to  those  who  specially 
study  Bombi,  the  separation,  for  example,  of  the  workers  of  B. 
lucorum  from  the  workers  of  B.  terrestris  would  not  always  be  an 


RECENT    LITERATURE.  351 

easy  task,  even  when  the  respective  queens  of  these  species  could  be 
distinguished  with  some  certainty. 

The  beautiful  and  very  Hfehke  figures,  together  with  the  descrip- 
tions, comparisons,  &c.,  furnished  by  Mr.  Sladen  in  the  book  under 
notice,  sliould  certainly  remove  most  of,  if  not  all,  the  difficulty  con- 
nected with  the  satisfactory  identification  of  our  humble-bees  and 
usurper-bus.  Apart,  however,  from  its  utility  as  an  aid  to  identi- 
fication, the  book  is  a  veritable  storehouse  of  information  concerning 
life-history,  habits,  parasites,  enemies,  and  many  other  matters  of 
great  interest  to  the  student  of  Bombi. 

The  seventeen  species  of  Bomhus  recognized  by  Mr.  Sladen  as 
British  are  here  divided  into  two  main  groups  :  Pollen-storers  (eight 
species),  and  Pocket-makers  (nine  species),  the  latter  being  again 
subdivided  into  Pollen-primers  (four  species),  and  Carder  Bees  (five 
species).  Two  species — B.  soroensis  and  B.  cullumamts — have  only 
been  associated  with  the  pollen-storers  because  they  possess  struc- 
tural affinities  with  members  of  that  group,  the  author  so  far  having 
been  unable  to  study  their  nests.  Six  species  of  the  genus  Psithyrus 
are  described  and  also  figured  on  the  plates. 


Transactions  of  the  Carlisle  Natural  History  Society.     Vol.  ii. 
Pp.  1-256.     1912. 

Among  other  papers  of  interest  to  naturalists  in  this  excellent 
publication  are  two  which  will  chiefly  appeal  to  entomologists.  These 
are:  "  The  Lepidoptera  of  Cumberland,  Part  ii.  (Moths),"  by  George 
E.  Eoutledge,  F.E.S.  (pp.  94-183),  and  "  The  Coleoptera  of  Cumber- 
land, Part  ii.,"  by  Frank  H.  Day,  F.E.S.  (pp.  201-256).  In  the 
instalment  of  Mr.  Eoutledge's  list  over  two  hundred  and  thirty 
species,  belonging  to  the  families  Sphingidge  to  Noctuidte,  are  entered 
as  found  in  the  county.  Mr.  Day,  dealing  only  with  Haliplidse, 
Dytiscidee,  Hydrophihdse,  and  StaphylinidaB,  records  six  hundred  and 
seventy  species  for  Cumberland. 

Localities  are  given  in  each  list,  and  in  that  of  the  Lepidoptera 
there  are  references  to  literature  and  remarks  on  variation,  &c. 


OBITUARY. 

William  Forsell  Kirby,  F.L.S.,  F.E.S. 

For  a  second  time  this  year  the  '  Entomologist '  appears  in 
mourning,  for  we  have  to  deplore  the  loss  of  yet  another  of  the 
willing  workers  who  have  so  materially  assisted  us  on  the  Eeference 
Committee  of  our  magazine,  William  Forsell  Kirby.  Mr.  Kirby, 
indeed,  in  retirement  as  in  active  harness,  proved  himself  to  be  one 
of  the  most  accurate,  original,  and  painstaking  of  naturalists.  Nor 
was  the  field  of  his  activities  circumscribed  within  one  particular 
Order ;  while,  independently  of  entomological  work,  he  made  name 


352  THE    ENTOMOLOGIST. 

and  fame  as  linguist,  and  poet  in  the  realms  of  folk-song,  and  fairy- 
land. The  sagas  of  the  North  and  the  tales  of  the  Orient  particularly 
exercised  a  fascination  over  a  mind  none  the  less  imaginative  because, 
tutored  in  the  schools  of  science,  it  had  achieved  the  virtue  of  orderli- 
ness. I  regret  to  say  that  it  was  only  in  his  later  life  that  I  came  in 
close  touch  witli  him,  and  learned  to  appreciate  his  exquisite  and 
fantastic  humour,  his  literary  sense,  and  profound  scholarship.  Away, 
indeed,  from  his  Department  in  the  Natural  History  Museum,  South 
Kensington,  where  he  did  faithful  service  from  1879  and  1909,  after 
twelve  years'  apprenticeship  in  the  Museum  of  the  Royal  Dublin 
Society,  he  allowed  himself  to  pass  from  the  dusty  road  of  reality  to 
the  by-paths  of  romance  with  all  the  enthusiasm  and  freshness  of  a 
heart  which  never  grew  old.  He  even  broke  a  lance  or  two  in  the 
arena  of  controversial  theology,  his  views  as  a  naturalist  in  relation 
to  the  organization  of  the  cosmos  finding  expression  in  a  book  on 
'  Evolution  and  Natural  Theology.'  But  it  is  not  within  our  province 
here  to  appraise  his  literary  labours  outside  the  sphere  which  he  con- 
tinued to  enrich  and  adorn  to  the  last  days  of  a  useful  life  ;  though  I 
recall  now  that  it  is  barely  a  year  since  he  wrote  to  me  in  con- 
nection with  a  projected  entomological  text-book  which  he  had  been 
offered  :  "  I  have  other  work  in  hand,  and  can  hardly  spare  the  time  ; 
besides  which,  I  have  rather  written  myself  out  in  that  direction." 
This,  however,  was  no  more  than  a  characteristic  assertion  of  the 
innate  modesty  of  the  man  whose  pioneer  endeavours  opened  up  to 
so  many  otherwise  "British"  entomologists  new  and  dehghtful 
regions  to  explore.  His  '  Manual  of  European  Butterflies  '  appeared 
in  1862,  and  was,  I  believe,  the  first  guide  to  the  subject  by  an 
English  author  published  in  England,  and  this  he  supplemented  in 
1863  with  '  A  Synonymic  List  of  European  Butterflies  for  Labelling 
Cabinets,'  which,  again,  was  followed  eight  years  later  by  the  '  Sy- 
nonymic Catalogue  of  Diurnal  Lepidoptera '  (Supplement,  1877) 
— still  a  standard  and  much  consulted  authority.  Meanwhile,  a 
number  of  papers  from  his  pen  on  all  Orders  were  being  contributed 
to  the  'Transactions'  of  the  Entomological  Society  of  London,  and 
the  Journals  and  Reports  of  other  scientific  Societies ;  and  past 
issues  of  the  '  Zoological  Record '  bear  further  testimony  to  his 
unflagging  industry  as  a  compiler.  He  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  Entomological  Society  in  1861,  and  served  as  one  of  the  Hon. 
Secretaries  from  1881  to  1885,  and  as  member  of  the  Council  in 
1886.     He  joined  the  staff  of  the  '  Entomologist '  in  1894. 

The  son  of  Mr.  Samuel  Kirby,  banker,  of  Leicester,  he  was  born 
in  1844,  and  married,  in  1866,  Johanna  Maria  Kappel,  who  pre- 
deceased him  in  1893,  leaving  one  son.  Wilham  Forsell  Kirby  him- 
self died  on  Wednesday,  November  20th  last,  and  was  buried  in 
Chiswick  Cemetery  on  November  26th. 

H.  Row  LAND -Brown. 


PRINTED   BY   WEST,    NEWMAN   AND   CO.,    HATTON   GARDEN,    LONDON,   E.G. 


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