INSECTS 



large enclosures devoted to the cultivation of timber, there are here many 

 acres of boggy ground clothed with a rough and luxuriant growth of 

 tangled underwood and known as the Scrubs. The sallows, of which 

 there are many on the railway banks at this spot, prove very attractive 

 in the spring, especially to moths belonging to the genus Monima, and 

 later in the year sugaring in the ridings or the outskirts of the woods 

 often proves very remunerative. Thyatira batis sometimes comes freely 

 to ' sugar ' at Bricket, where I have seen nearly a score of specimens on 

 one patch, while other captures here have included Miltochrista miniata, 

 Acronycta ligustri, Tripbcena prasina, Leucania turca, Cybosia mesomella, 

 Palimpsestis or, Tryphana Jimbria, and Ortbosia aurago. Among geometers 

 to be taken here may be mentioned Metrocampa dolobraria, M. pulveraria, 

 Euchltzna prunaria, Diastictis consortaria, Ectropis biundularia (crepuscularia) , 

 E. luridata (exfersaria), Leucophthalmia orbicularia, and Geometra papilion- 

 aria. Some good things have also been obtained by larvae-beating at 

 Bricket Wood by Mr. Arthur Lewis, an enthusiastic St. Albans entomo- 

 logist, and by myself. 



The range of chalk downs known as the Chiltern Hills, which run 

 across the north of Hertfordshire, enter the county on the west near 

 Tring, and they possess a rich and distinctive insect fauna. This district 

 and the adjoining parts of Buckinghamshire are famous for the beech 

 trees which flourish and attain large dimensions on the outcrop of the 

 Chalk beds. Extensive woods composed almost entirely of these trees 

 are to be found in the neighbourhood of Tring, and are the homes of 

 those species of Lepidoptera whose larvas feed upon their foliage. On 

 the grassy slopes of the downs, too, will be found many interesting 

 insects whose presence is accounted for by the fact that their food 

 plants abound in such situations. Thanks to the efforts of the Hon. 

 Walter and the Hon. Charles Rothschild, Mr. A. T. Goodson, and 

 especially of Mr. E. George Elliman, this district has been carefully 

 explored so far as the butterflies and larger moths are concerned. The 

 records of captures by Mr. E. J. Le Quesne and Mr. J. L. Foulkes were 

 supplied by Mr. Elliman. Among the butterflies of the Tring district 

 may be mentioned Lyceena bellargus (which also occurs at Royston), 

 L. corydon, Cbrysophanus minimus, Tbecla rubi, and Pamphila comma. The 

 moths include Colocasia coryli, Metrocampa margaritaria, Ectropis conso- 

 naria, E. biundularia, Euchloris vernana, Leucophthalmia trilinearia, L. annu- 

 lata, Leptomeris ornata, Pseudopantbera punctata, Asthena murinata (euphor- 

 biata), Hydriomena juniper ata, Mysticoptera sexalisata, Plemyria galiata, 

 Xantborhce bipunctaria, Deprana cultraria, Stauropus fagi, Odontosia cuculla, 

 Drymonia trepida, and Crambus chrysonucbellus. Near Tring are the large 

 reservoirs belonging to the Grand Junction Canal Company, and on their 

 banks are to be met with several species whose larvas feed on willows, 

 rushes and other plants which are of aquatic habits or flourish in the 

 neighbourhood of water. Cerura bifida, C. furcula, Pterostoma palpina, 

 Drymonia tremula (dictcea], Notodonta dromedarius, N. ziczag, Acronycta 

 aceris, A. ligustri, Leucania straminea, L. obsoleta, Caradrina fufoa, C. 



