93 



THATCH. 



Fortunately for me, the country round Haslemere is not of that dreadfully civilised 

 kind in which every high hedge and strip of copse is improved off the face of the 

 earth ; indeed, it is no uncommon thing here to see even such a primitive object as 

 an old thatch to the roof of a barn or cart shed, and about these thatches and the 

 insects to which they afford shelter I have a few remarks to make. 



Besides the ordinary straw thatch, there are two other kinds, both of which 

 are deserving of attention. One is composed of "hoop-chips," or the chips sliced 

 off in making rough hoops, the other of faggots or rough bushes, and this last appears 

 to be a favourite hiding place for Coriscium Brongniardellum and cuculipennellwn ; 

 and Depressari<e, &c., sometimes resort to it as well as an occasional Geometra. 



Out of the chip thatches I have obtained many specimens of Laverna decorella, 

 Depressaria ciliella, chxropliylli, albipunctella, and many others, besides Gelechia 

 humeralis, Gracilaria stigmatella, Coriscium Brongniardellum, &c., indeed, I am not 

 sure but this is the best kind of thatch for collecting from, as the perfect shelter, 

 with larger spaces for creeping into, seems to suit the moths. Still, straw thatch 

 is by no means to be despised, for in a good locality it furnishes plenty of sport, and 

 I have taken all the above-named species fi-om it. Sometimes many specimens 

 may be obtained from the sheltered sides of ricks, but not all in the thatch, as many 

 hide in the side, but I do not find ricks nearly so productive as regular thatches. I 

 have found the commoner Depressariae in some numbers in stacks of dried heath 

 piled up for the broom makers. 



I hardly need say that the way to work thatch is to beat the edge with a stick, 

 when the moths will fall out, and if the weather is cool they will probably drop to 

 the ground, if hot and at all windy they show great activity in getting away. 

 Perhaps the easiest plan of collecting is to catch the moths as they fly away or 

 flutter down; but certainly the most profitable way is to hold the net close under 

 the place beaten, so as to catch everything that falls. The net, of course, soon 

 contains a large collection of dirt, moss, straw, or chips, and other rubbish, with 

 sundry spiders, beetles, Diptera, &c., among which, by careful scrutiny, in all pro- 

 bability many moths may be found lurking, though some of the Depresso.rice do not 

 wait to be looked for but come running up the side of the net. Fortunately the 

 commonest species appear to have this habit. Applana for instance, in the autumn 

 would come running up the net in abundance, leaving all the better things at the 

 bottom, and in the spring arenella as well as ciliella have the same habit. By 

 shaking the rubbish, however, the other things may generally be induced to show 

 themselves and can then be boxed, and any others, which will not move for that, can 

 be disturbed by blowing sharply amongst the rubbish, a sort of treatment that 

 many Tineina, and especially the Gelecliidw, cannot endm-e. Shall I be laughed at 

 when I say that if a thatch is inconveniently high it may be beaten from horseback ? 

 I have done so repeatedly with success. It is, however, advisable to have a steady 

 horse, and one that is not afraid of a net. 



As in every other kind of collecting, nmch depends on the weather ; wind, 

 provided it comes from a mild quarter, is no disadvantage, indeed, it helps to drive 

 everything into the net, except the dust which it usually contrives to deposit pretty 



