108 THE entomologist's recokd. 



J^RACTICAL HINTS. 



Field Work for April and May. 



By J. W. TUTT, F.E.S. 

 1. — Towards the end of April, the striped grass in gardens shows a 

 drooping or faded leaf. Find the bottom of the infected shoot, and 

 pull, avoiding pressure as much as possible. In the stem lies the larva 

 of Apamca (ifihiof/rcuiima. 



2. — In May, the larvte of Lasiocampa trlfnlll and LitlioHia caniola 

 have been found at Eomney Marsh, on the tufts of a wiry grass, growing 

 on the shingle just above high-water mark. 



3. — April is the month to search the birches for the larvae of 

 Geometra papiUonaria. Search, don't beat. Look for catkins (larvae) 

 growing at the extreme end of the twigs of birch, about five or six feet 

 from the ground. Eaten leaves are a good guide to the whereabouts 

 of the larva. 



4. — Lobuphura Jialterata emerges in May, and has no objection to 

 sitting in the full rays of the sun on aspen trunks. It flies naturally 

 after dusk, the males searching up and down the trunks of the aspens 

 for the females, and only flying at a short distance from the trees. 



5. — At the beginning of May, the full-fed larva of Jvu/iithccia <le- 

 hiliata spins two or more of the young spring leaves of Vaccinkim 

 iiii/rtillns together. It lives within the chamber thus formed. 



6. — Where the bark joins the wood of an oak stump (cut down two 

 years previously), the frass thrown out indicates Scsiia ci/nipifoniiis 

 (asilifoniiis). Dig out the cocoons about the middle of May, or saw 

 off" about four or five inches of the stump earlier in the year. 



7. — In late April, salloAvs should be beaten for the larvs of 

 Apatura tris(^rule, Hewett, Knt. Eccord, vi., pp. 146-147, for full details 

 as to the best methods to adopt). 



8. — Searching for larvae by night, in April and May, is sometimes 

 exceedingly profitable. Large numbers of those of Triphacna lanthina, T. 

 Jimhria, X;/l(>pJia.sia scolopacina, Noctua haia, N. brunnea, N, trianguhoii, 

 Aplccta nebulusa, Boarwia rcpandata, and smaller numbers of N. ditra- 

 peziiin, may still be captured on hawthorn, sloe, or the low plants that 

 carpet our woods in the neighbourhood of London. Many woods in 

 which the Rhopalocera and day-flying Geometrids have become 

 practically exterminated, still produce many Noctuids in abundance. 



9. — During April and May, the larvas of Cirrhoedia .vcrauipdiua 

 may be found under moss on ash trees. They go up the tree and feed 

 on the blossoms at night. 



10. — The larva of Scodiona hch/iaria is to be obtained by sweeping 

 the heath in April ; the imagines rest on the ground in June. Common 

 on the Greetland Moors (Porritt). 



11. — Search the trunks of trees in woods for Xola crishdalis and 

 Tephrosia consonaria (Moberly). 



12. — In April, search the plants of stitchwort {Stellaria holoatea) 

 for cases of L'olcoplwra soJitaridla. 



13. — The twisted heads of bramble, collected in May, produce 

 Asjds iidmanniana. 



By NELSON M. EICHAEDSON, B.A., F.E.S. 

 14. — The larva of Lita [(Jdeclda) instabilella makes a greenish- 

 white mine in the fleshy leaves oi Atriple.v portulacuides, and is full-fed 

 about the middle of April. It leaves its mine to pupate. 



