157 



80 



--- ^^.u^iiuM,, wui-Keu ior tne lepiuopterous fauna in all stages 

 ot its existence as the gardens were during the late spring summer 



«*EE Vf, 1906 - + Theli8 l of «- secies obtaiLd %" g 

 ?L £ »° f , , ' ieSe A ?* t0 ^ ether With the list which appeared in 

 richnes^ «f"th""' A , dditional Series V., speaks for itself as to the 

 richness of the gardens in the order under notice. One ought 



™ ^l ^\t°. h l 8ur P ri8ed at ^e results obtained when it is 



n^rr e / ed that i the tW ° e88entials ^r the natural propagation of 

 n sect hfe, namely variety an,! profusion of the necessary food 

 plants, here prevail and there is an area, principal^ in the Queen's 



arel;X r dS ' * S5A *^ surface of theground and pSta 

 are absolutely undisturbed. Remembering even these fortunate 

 circumstances the fact remains that thf gardens are w in 



the soot and dirt of a great city under favourable conditions 

 setUmg on and darkening the plant life. This has caused in ,nany 

 cases pronounced forms of melanism. It is interesting to compare 

 these melanic variations, when they occur with normal tv lies the 



as a in e trf Pr ° CeSS belng q " ite aS apparent »» the micro-lepilloptera 

 as in the larger species. r r*^* 



The gardens appear to be, fortunately, very free, with 



one 

 erous 



times cause such devastation to ^^ZcZ^^™\Z 

 on the continent. It may be remembered that this year ^w a 

 wonderful visitation of Orgyia antiqua in the London ^arks I n 



caS deviate, 7^ H lly "* Au ^ 8t u the trees were in Ambers of 

 cases defoliated by the ravages of the handsome little caterpillar. 



They covered the ground, trees, seats and palings in countless 



LT a n tl S ;r d thG klea 1 tha 1 t thG Plane ^-es werf immr e from 

 ™SLZ rt W f T? 16 ^ ^Pset-these were the trees that 



™f nZ n^ m ° St ; ° nly , tW0 males were 8een in the ^dens, and 

 not one of the apterous females has been collected. The larvae 



ot Pygera bucephala appeared to be rather abundant, and large 

 clusters were seen hanging on the lime trees. The images will 

 probably be very plentiful during the summer of 1907. This 

 species also at times causes much damage to Carpinus Betulus, 

 Corylus Avellana and Ulmus campestris. The cobweb like 

 structures made by the larvae of Yponomeuta ew,,,ymellus were 

 seen thickly covering bushes of a variegated form of Euonymus 

 europaeus, a plant not usually selected by this caterpillar fbr its 

 food, Primus Padus generally affording the required sustenance. 

 Where the bushes had been attacked they had been stripped clean 

 of leaves. Tyria jacohaea was plentiful in all parts of England 

 during the early summer, but only one moth was caught in the 

 gardens. Later in the season, however, a quantity of larvae were 

 discovered feeding on Senecio alpinus in the Herbaceous grounds ; 

 this plant is very different in aspect from S. Jacohaea and 

 S. vulgaris, its ordinary food plants. In Devonshire it is known 

 to feed at times on the potato, quite clearing the stalks of leaves. 



The usual " baits " were employed for the enticing and snaring 

 of moths. Sugaring was commenced in April and continued till 

 the end of October, but, until the 8th of August, met with but 

 scant success. This may be accounted for perhaps by the fact that 



