ENTOMOLOGICAL RAMBLKS. 179 



Stirring; though plenty of Crai/ibus falsellus, C. genicu- 

 lellus, C. inqui/iafellus, and C. pinetellus are to be dislodged 

 out of" the old hollies and yews. Geonietra few; Noctuae only 

 odd specimens. Mamestra furra and Cerigo cytherea, &c., 

 bealen out from under the banks. I did not try sugaring, 

 having to be careful about rheumatism ; but during the 

 afternoon sunshine Dicrorninpha acnminataua, Gelechia 

 alrella, G. gemmelln, and G. auihyllidella were flying 

 actively about ; and odd G.juuctella got up; this species still 

 keeps very rare, and is one of this genus which hybernates. 



During the whole of August and September little or nothing 

 of importance turned up amongst imagos. Most of the time 

 was employed in larva hunting, cliiefly (or Nepticula ; and 

 among the larger species I met with several Cucullia 

 asteris larvae on the golden-rod, and also on the China-aster. 

 The first I found were in a garden. I had a strange 

 adventure with a Cucullia gnapha In larva: I let one feed on 

 a plant of the golden-rod in my room, subject to no other 

 confinement; it never offered to leave the plant for a 

 fortnight; but when I had been absent for three days, on my 

 return my "shark" was gone. I looked everywhere in the 

 room, still hoping it would crawl out of some corner, until at 

 last it was given up. Several days after, my servant was 

 making her bed in another room some distance away, when 

 she brought my lost one back, having found it under her 

 pillow, apparently preparing to change. After that it was 

 put under restraint; and I expect to see it creep up shortly 

 out of my flower-pot in another form. I met with an Acionycla 

 alui larva at Grange, as did Mr. Threlfall; mine was sickly, 

 and looked as if it was ichneumoned. Of Bolys lerrealis 

 larvse 1 got a good supply, but it is a most difficult species 

 to rear. 1 find it best to let them ramble about in my room, 

 and go to pupa where they please, for the moths always go 

 to the window. It was very lucky that I took all I could find 

 on all the plants in one locality, for the railway company are 

 making invasions on a special corner, where both B. lerrealis 

 and Eupitltecia denotata larvae are; and where the latter 

 might be found in scores on the seeds of Pimpinella 

 saxi/raga : some of the larvtc were green where the seeds were 

 green ; and, later in the season, when the seeds were brown 

 the larvae were chiefly brown ; evidently a provision for 

 self-protection. On visiting this special corner recently I 

 found it was covered and filled up with some twenty feet of 

 soil, and railway rails laid over the spot. There are also 



