PKACTICAL HINTS. 55 



Jp>RACTICAL HINTS.* 



Field Work for February and March. 



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



1. — By the middle of February, the pupae of iJimor/iha rirsicolora 

 kept in a "warm room, will commence to emerge from their cocoons, 

 often coming right out and lying exposed for a few days before the 

 emergence of the imagines. Many pupa? go over to a second or third 

 year. All those that will emerge this year are fully formed some time 

 before emergence ; the rest are still fluid. 



2. — The females of D'unoriiha versicnlom should be allowed to pair 

 more than once, otherwise a fair number of eggs will be sometimes 

 found to be infertile ; the ova should be kept in the shade or not 

 exposed to the full rays of the sun until they begin to hatch. 



3. — In confinement place fertilised $ s of THumviiha rcrsimldra on 

 birch twigs ; they bungle badly sometimes in attempting to lay in a 

 cardboard box, but go ahead steadily, laying their eggs in little batches, 

 on a large fresh birch -twig. 



4. — The eggs of Diiiion)ha irn^icolora found in the woods, are laid 

 in little batches of six to eight or so, in double rows on small outside 

 twigs of birch, 2ft. to 4ft. from the ground ; the eggs are pale yellow 

 at first, but after a day or two, darken to a purple-brown colour, just 

 the tint of the birch twigs. 



5. — Brephos notJia occurs in March on the outsku-ts of a wood near 

 Broxbourne, in which are a few aspens, they begin to fly about 

 10 a.m., at which time they are, like B. parthcnias, very sluggish and 

 easy to capture ; at midday they retreat into the wood but about 

 2.15 p.m. they appear again in numbers on the sheltered side of the 

 wood (Battley). 



6. — The sap exuding from freshly-cut dogwood stems proved of such 

 superior attraction to the usual sallow-loving insects, that the sallows 

 were practically blank, and each stem of cat dogwood was covered 

 with moths (Thornhill). 



7. — The larvfe of Lrurania alhi/nijicta feed only at night, but may 

 be found by day concealed on the ground, under leaves of low plants — 

 mullein, hemlock, teasel, etc. (Brahin). 



8.- — Pnlia niiirocincta is reputed to be difficult to breed in confine- 

 ment in the south, but has been fed up in the open on potted plants of 

 narrow-leaved plantain (Whittle), and on sallow (Bower), the moths 

 emerging in September. 



9. — As a substitute for the usual food-plant of larvR? of Tiliacea 

 uiirago, which sometimes hatch very early, it may be noted that 

 sycamore buds are very acceptable, the larvse feeding on them without 

 hesitation (Butler). 



10. — The larvae of Geometra papilionaria, sleeved out on birch, 

 nibble the bark and buds in March, as do those of Boa nit ia mboraria. 

 They want removing to a new branch early, as their nibbling often 

 tends to kill the twigs. 



* Pkactical Hints fob the Field Lepidoptehist, recently published, contains 

 1250 similar hints to these, distributed over every month in the year. Interleaved 

 (for collectors own notes). — Ed. 



