31 



The Noctuae (Owl-Moths) do not trouble us much. It is true 

 that some few species cause annoyance b}^ their persistent attacks 

 upon our bedding plants; thus I'ltisia nannna, L. (Silver Y), Aijrntis 

 exclaiiiationh, L. (Heart and Dart), Mamestra j)eriiicariaf,lj. (Dot), and 

 Barathra brassicae, L. (Cabbage), all delight in riddling our geranium 

 leaves ; the last named also loves to secrete its fat body in a suc- 

 culent cabbage, more often than not getting thus served up at table. 

 Eiiplfxia liici/iara, L. (Small Angle-shades), also has a most wicked 

 habit of stripping one side of our choicest fern fronds and if we are 

 unfortunate enough to get a good supply of these little green 

 caterpillars into the fern house, the appearance of its contents may 

 soon be considerably spoiled. But a greater pest is Agrotii> sei/etiiin, 

 Schiff. (The Turnip Moth). Fortunately the turnip is not its only 

 food, as it feeds indiscriminately on the roots of species of Brassica 

 Ruinex and Chrysantheuiiim, but when it does take to the roots of 

 turnips in our gardens or fields it soon utterly ruins them for table 

 purposes. In ordinary course turnips are dug before the larvae 

 come to maturity, and as a natural consequence the insects are then 

 killed, so that without infection from some outside source a succes- 

 sion of attacks are unlikely. 



Yet one other species of this group should be mentioned; I refer 

 to Ckaraeas (iraiiiinis, L. (The Antler Moth). It is not generally a 

 very common species in the south-east of England, although even 

 here it is fairly plentiful in some years, but in the West, Midlands 

 and North it is generally to be met with in fair numbers. The 

 larva feeds on the leaves of various grasses and has a predilection 

 for hill-side pastures and heath lands, and at irregular intervals 

 becomes so extraordinarily abundant as to absolutely strip them of 

 every blade of grass. The last visitation occurred so recently as 

 1917, and in a report of it we are told, " The area affected extended 

 to some sixty miles, in Cumberland, Westmorland, Lancashire, 

 Derbyshire, Cheshire and Yorkshire. The larvae were in millions. 

 In nearly all cases the trouble originated on the grassy parts of 

 the moorlands and hillsides, and when every vestige of grass was 

 eaten off in such situations, the larvae migrated to the lower slopes, 

 crossing roads, etc., in prodigious numbers to find more food. In 

 the Penistone district the roads were so infested that it is reported 

 that the parish steam roller was brought out to crush them ; and 

 m some localities the sheep-feeding districts were so bared of grass 

 by the larvae that the sheep had to be removed, nothing having 

 been left for them to eat ! "' During the past century similar 

 visitations are recorded as having taknn place in various parts of 

 this country in 1827, 1881, 1H84, 1885, 1897, 1902 and then in 

 1917 ; we also have a yet older record for Sweden, where in 



5 Porritt. " Ent. Mo. Mag," 1917, p. 176. 



