13G 



THE NATURALIST. 



trunks in the woods with very little 

 success; afterwards beating amongst 

 the nut bushes, I found Emmelesia 

 hydraria in profusion, Larentia 

 olivata rather scarce, but fine, Eupe- 

 thcecia rectangulata amongst crabs, 

 and Eupithecia tenuiata, near sallows ; 

 the first all light green varieties, the 

 latter fine rich coloured specimens, 

 butboth very much behind the time at 

 which they appear in this neighbour- 

 hood. E. rufiasciata was also out ; 

 July is very late for the first brood, 

 and yet too early for the second. 

 Cidaria immwiatavfas in profusion, as 

 was also Hypenodes costoestrigalis, and 

 the wild cherry trees swarmed with 

 Argyresothia ephippella. Tiring of this 

 game, I turned my attention to larva 

 hunting on the foxgloves growing in 

 the open parts of the woods, and 

 here I found that the larvae of 

 Eupithecia pulchellata had been in 

 abundance, and that there was still 

 plenty of it left of all sizes. I also 

 found it feeding on the Peritstemoii, 

 but it had not closed the flower up 

 as it does the foxglove. Desirous 

 of changing the character of my 

 ground, I struck into the dark, close 

 growing woods, and had scarcely 

 done so, when the object of my search, 

 Emmelesia tceniata, met my eye for 

 the first time alive. It was dis- 

 lodged from a young oak. Follow- 

 ing up the clue to its habits here 

 observed, I was soon in the darkest 

 part of the wood, disturbing them as 



I went, but not always capturing 

 them, because they were very fond 

 of getting a few young trees between 

 themselves and me, as soon as 

 possible, and of getting into closer 

 and rougher places than I could get 

 into or move about in. Night at 

 length made even my pet dark places 

 too dark to see this dark looking 

 moth as it flies ; and I had just sat 

 down to tea when a waiter walked 

 into the coff'ee room, saying " you 

 had better see if he is here," and 

 another pleasure was added to my 

 tea table, in the shape of my old 

 friend Mr. J. B. Hodgkinson, to whose 

 suggestions we are all indebted for 

 the great discovery of the year, the 

 proper food plant of E. pulchellata^ 

 for though I have found it on two 

 other plants, there is no doubt but 

 that the stamens of the foxglove is 

 its proper food. Arrangements for a 

 day together closed a " red letter day" 

 in the Lake District in July. — C. S. 

 Gregson, Aug. 5th, 1864. 



Remarkable varieties of Abraxas 

 grossulariata and Arctia caja. — 

 About the 5th of June, a friend of 

 mine brought me a few larvse of 

 Abraxas grossulariata from his gar- 

 den, and asked me if I knew what 

 they were and how to get rid of them, 

 for there were thousands on his 

 gooseberry trees. I went the fol- 

 lowing day and collected a large 

 quantity ; they were nearly full fed 

 and commenced changing into pupae 



