INSECTS The Azure Blue (L. argiolus) occurs from Kilkhampton and Whitsand Bay to Penzance. It is somewhat local, but common, and in many places often abundant. The spring brood is always the most plentiful, and in bad seasons the autumn brood may not appear at all. In the wet August of 1903, for instance, not a single specimen could be found in a favoured haunt near Newquay, where hundreds had been seen the previous year. The discovery of the Large Blue (L. arion) in abundance near Bude at the close of the eighties by Messrs. Waterhouse was a subject of keen interest to entomologists, as it had become extinct in its famous Northamptonshire haunts nearly twenty years before, was supposed to have died out on the Cotswolds, and had apparently disappeared from the hills of the South Devon coast, near Bolt Head and Kingsbridge. In some notes kindly sent by him to the writer of this article, Goss says : I first met with it in Cornwall, near Millook, a few miles south-west of Bude, in the first week of July, 1902. It was abundant in several localities between Bude and Boscastle from the middle to the end of June, 1893, and I again met with it in various localities on the north coast in June, 1896, and again in July, 1902. In the latter year it had established itself in two or three new localities, though its numbers near Millook had been reduced by the enclosure and cultivation of many acres of common land and the consequent destruction of its food plant [wild thyme]. In spite of wholesale destruction at the hands of so-called entomologists the species is still common in several localities, and is establishing new colonies about Tintagel and beyond. The Small Blue (L. minima] has been thrice recorded for the county, but in the first two cases the voucher specimens proved to be colour variations of the female of L. aegon. Last year two examples in perfect condition were obtained near Saltash. The Duke of Burgundy (Nemeobius ludna) was discovered in 1 900 in a sunny glade in one of the larger eastern woods, and has occurred there sparingly every year since. This appears to be its only haunt in the county. The Grizzled Skipper (Syrichthus malvae) is fairly common throughout the county, but some- what local. The Dingy Skipper (Nisoniades tages) is not uncommon about Millook, Trebartha, and Bodmin. Rollason has taken it at Burngullow, and it is not infrequently captured about Truro, Falmouth, and Penzance. The Small Skipper (Hesferia thaumas) is common throughout the greater part of the county, but does not seem to have been recorded for the Truro district. The Large Skipper (H. cyloanus) is common in congenial localities in the east and middle of the county and of frequent occurrence in the west. A single specimen of the Silver-spotted Skipper (Hesperia comma), a female in faultless condition, was taken by Marryat at Whitsand Bay East in July, 1890. HETEROCERA CARADRININA ARCTIADAE Otnistts quadra is widely distributed, but local, and apparently nowhere common except occasionally at Scilly. Lithosia complana is usually scarce and local along the southern half of the county, but was reported by Marshall as abundant about Botus-Fleming, and one specimen has been taken at Padstow. L. lurideola is generally distributed, but not very common. L. griseola is rare and has been taken only at Mount Edgcumbe, the valley of the Lynher, Bodmin, and Looe. L. caniola is represented by two specimens from near the Dodman. Gnophria rubicollii occurs at Dunmeer, Bodmin, and sparingly at Altarnun and in the east. Cybosia mesomet'Ia has been obtained above Liskeard, and by Tellam from Colquit and Dunmeer Woods, Bodmin. Setina irrorella was taken over forty years ago by J. S. Dell at Whitsand Cliffs and Mount Edgcumbe, but has not been recorded since. Miltochrhta miniata is very widely distributed along the coast, but appar- ently nowhere common. A solitary example of M. senex was taken at Marazion on 1 1 July, 1900. Nudaria mundana is everywhere scarce except about Penzance. Roeselia confusalis has been obtained by A. Rashleigh in the middle of the county, and was taken last year at Saltash and at Looe. No/a cucullatella is occasionally found about Truro, Falmouth, and Penzance. The beautiful but variable Sarrothripus undulana is taken occasionally in the valley of the Lynher. Hylopbila bicolorana has been recorded from Launceston, and Halias prasinana from Liskeard, Penzance, Bude, and Newquay. Tyria jacobaeae is common almost everywhere. The lovely Utetheisa pulchella is in some years not uncommon at intervals along the south coast, but has been very scarce even in its favourite haunts since 1902. Phragmatobia fuliginosa is generally distributed in the south and at Scilly, and local in the north, but is not plentiful anywhere. 207
