JANUARY. 11 



tion, you will have to cross a few fields by a footpath 

 leading from the station into the main road, having 

 reached which, turn to the right, and proceed along 

 it until you reach the town of Northfleet ; on the left 

 of the road, opposite the town, and by the side of the 

 Thames, you will see some very deep chalk pits : these 

 are Northfleet Pits ; a pathway from the road, and 

 bearing to the left, leads you into the pits, whence 

 turning to the right and passing through the tunnel of 

 the tramway, you will be in your collecting ground : it 

 is thickly overgrown with mugwort (Artemisia vul- 

 garis), teazle, thistles, and a great variety of other 

 plants. 



On cutting off the stems of some of the plants of Ar- 

 temisia close to the root, or, if the stems are withered, 

 cutting off the crown of the root, you will see that they 

 are mined down the centre by a larva : this is the 

 work of the larva of Ephippiphora Fceneana, which 

 feeds in the roots, and the larva of Dicrorampha Ar- 

 temisiana has a similar habit upon the same plant. 



If we open the heads of teazle growing in the neigh- 

 bourhood, we shall find a green larva feeding upon 

 the seeds ; this is the larva of Eupcecilia Roseana ; 

 while upon the same plant, but feeding upon the pith, 

 working its way downwards from the seed head, will be 

 found the larva of the pretty cloak Penthina Gentia- 

 nana ; in the stems of the thistles the larvae of Myclois 

 cribrum may be found: the larva of this insect is 

 taken plentifully in the stems of the thistles on the 

 banks of the Rochester Canal, near Gravesend. 



If we take a walk along the banks of the Padding- 

 ton Canal, until we arrive within a few score yards of 



