The text below is grayed out because it is not intended to be read. It is a necessarily imperfect OCR of the original and is only used by a search engine.
24-0
ESPECIALLY FOR COLLECTORS
Vol.14: no.4
appearance of the species. Thus it appears that the shortage may be in the number of lepidopterists, rather than in the number of Lepidoptera. It is interesting to hypothesize that perhaps lata is more common than supposed, but has a very short flight time (as with GLneis melissa semidea Say) and/or a very restricted environment (as with Euphydryas phaeton Drury). The coupling of these two possibilities would make the species most difficult to find, when few seekers were involved — a thought which should help warm hope and persistence in other collectors.
References
Clench, Harry K., 1956. Two new records of Pennsylvania Lepidoptera. Lepid. news
10: 161. Hessel, Sidney A., 1952. A new altitudinal high for Erora lata. Lepid. news 6: 34.
R.F.D. #3, Governors Island, Laconia,, N. H., U. S. A.
CATOCALA ON FIR LOGS
During almost the entire summer of 1959, a jumbled pile of logs, the trimmed trunks of coniferous trees, lay undisturbed in a little clearing beside the road. Their continued presence was due to a convenient labour dispute. It's an ill wind, the saying goes, and if those whose finances were affected by the strike, wished it were over, the insect collector who dwelt near by thought differently. In the hot sun, resinous sap exuded from the logs, and many beetles and some other insects gathered for the feast. Very few Lepidoptera, however, seemed to relish this particular diet.
I was thus taken unawares when a Catocala flushed from the log pile and spiralled off. Too late with my net swing, I watched it cross the clearing and climb into the tree tops, then returned home to tell my tale of what did not quite come off. Now I have to explain here that my wife is not a believer in the saying about lightning never striking twice in the same place. Whenever I mention having caught or nearly caught some desirable prize, her immediate reaction is to organize an expedition to the spot where it was last seen. As a rule, my natural response to these suggestions is much tempered bv caution. After all, she might find something there, it is better to play safe and encourage rather than deride. But in this case the idea seemed even more ridiculous than usual. Catocalas are always scarce here, they seldom fly in daylight, and as far as I knew fir logs had no particular attraction for them. The one I had seen had certainly gone out of sight, and to top it off she had not even a net. In spite of my comments, off she went. In 20 minutes she was back, she had the moth, she had caught it in a paper cup.
For the scientific record, the species is Catocala allusa Hulst, the only one commonly found on Vancouver Island.
Richard Guppy, Wellington, B. C, CANADA