NOTES FROM THE NORTH-WEST COUNTIES. 317 



as we learned to our cost. Vipers were also common impedi- 

 ments, and lizards swarmed in drier places. After midday the 

 rain came down and drove us into our hotel, — the ' Derby 

 Arms,' — wet through, where we met the well-known Lancashire 

 entomologist, Mr. Hodgkinson, with whom we chatted on things 

 entomological till far into the afternoon. The day ended with 

 Mr. Murray showing us, at Carnforth, a magnificent Cidaria 

 reticulata, which had just developed in one of his breeding-cages. 

 The 27th saw us once more at Heysham Moss. C. palndata 

 was just beginning to make its appearance, and we took two fine 

 specimens. H. muricata had nearly disappeared, only two being 

 seen, and the weather had evidently thinned the numbers of C. 

 typhon. Beating a retreat before a downfall of rain, we turned 

 our attention to larva-hunting in the rides or aj^proaches to 

 the Moss. Growing out of the wide ditches, on either side, were 

 numberless bulrushes, in the stems of which the larvae of 

 Nonagria arundinis {typhce), nearly full fed, were in any quantity. 

 On the thistles we secured a large number of the larvae of 

 Vanessa cardui, whilst the nettles were equally tenanted by the 

 caterpillars of V. atalanta and V. urticce. The butterflies I bred 

 from the V. cardui larvae presented a very different appearance 

 to the hybernated specimens already referred to. They are 

 decidedly darker, having much more black upon their wings. One 

 pupa, out of the dozen or so I retained, has not yet developed 

 into the perfect insect. It is quite healthy, and looks as if it 

 will pass the winter in the pupal state. The stone walls of the 

 district are notorious for the profusion of Bryoplula perla. 

 Hearing that the Lancaster insect is claimed in certain quarters 

 as a variety, I secured a long series for comparison. The 

 distinctive value of the specimens, however, is evidently nil. 

 A black Apamea did y ma, taken at rest in the streets, closes my 

 Lancashire record. 



On July 20th I went to Hoylakc, a small town on the Cheshire 

 coast-line, and only a few miles from "Wallasey. Here L. salicis 

 was too evidently a garden pest. The leaves of willows and 

 poplars bordering the streets were matted together by the 

 cocoons, which were often common to three or more pupae ; and 

 numbers of the moths were lazily resting on the leaves and 

 branches, depositing their eggs. Larvae of Siuerinthus ocellatus, 

 S. populi and A. mcgaccphala were common. 



