X 



2 1 8 The Irish Natu ra list. [ Sept., 



Ocular demonstration of its existence here was afforded by 

 the numerous shrivelled and dried-up specimens with which 

 the slope was studded. 



After dinner Mr. Dillon conducted a party to examine 

 the contents of an apparatus devised by himself for trapping 

 moths, whilst the non-entomologists sat in the large drawing- 

 room — converted, by the way, into an admirably commodious 

 laboratory — and discussed plans for the morrow. 



Wednesday opened windy and wet. The enthusiasm of the 

 party scorned such slight drawbacks, and it was not long after 

 ten when they started, under the leadership of Mr. Dillon, for 

 the western pine^vood and neighbouring boggy land. The 

 chief botanical feature which w^as observed in the pine- 

 wood was the enormous abundance of the Tway-blade 

 {Listera ovata), which was here quite the commonest herb. 

 McWeeney observed a cluster-cup fungus growing abundantly 

 on the back of its leaves, and betraying its presence by yellow 

 spots on the upper surface. It proved to be a stage in the life 

 history of a "rust," Piicci7iia violiJiicE. A rare ladybird beetle, 

 Chilocoris bipustulatus, was taken by Halbert, who also secured 

 on Sheep-pool Bog a crab-spider, Xysticus sabulosus, new to 

 Ireland, and a rare and interesting wolf-spider, Pardosa 

 herbigradaj also new to Ireland, figured in the current number 

 (Plate 3). 



At two o'clock all were back at the house for lunch, and 

 afterwards most of the party started off to explore the south 

 side of the river as far as the avenue ; others, having a con- 

 siderable number of specimens to work through, remained at 

 home. Mr. Dillon had occasion to go across the lawn to the 

 pheasantry, which he uses as a breeding-place for moths and 

 butterflies, and returned in a few minutes with two fungi 

 that he had found in the pheasantry. One of them, a red 

 club-shaped specimen, about two inches long, was growing 

 out of a huge chrysalis, and was none other than the famous 

 Cordyceps militaris, which mysteriously originates from L,epi- 

 dopterous larvae. This carnivorous fungus, though not 

 absolutely uncommon in England, has been detected hitherto 

 in Ireland only at Powerscourt {Irish Naturalist, Oct., 1893). 

 The other specimen was a beautiful little agaric, Lepiota 

 felina, Fr., which has not previously been recorded from 

 Ireland. 



