PREFACE, 



TN 'introducing 'this book to the entomological world, my 

 •'■ object is to render some help to those who make Lepi- 

 doptera — especially in their second or larval stage — their 

 pleasant and interesting study ; and also to place in a clear 

 and concise form, easy for reference, such information con- 

 cerning the food-plants of the larvse of our British Macro- 

 lepidoptera, as I have been able to gather from various 

 published works, competent friends, and my own personal expe- 

 rience. 



The compilation of this work is no claim to great personal 

 knowledge and very wide experience of the habits and food- 

 plants of the larvse in question, but has been rather attained 

 by patient care, considerable labour, and the kind assistance of 

 a few entomologists. I do not profess to have given all the 

 food-plants upon which the larvae have been recorded or are 

 said to feed ; for (i.) the natural food-plants of certain very 

 rare or local larvae are as yet either unknown or still remain 

 a secret to the few ; (ii.) some plants or trees have been 

 recorded as the "pabulum in natura" of certain larvae found 

 upon them at rest or " nibbling" at them through lack of their 

 proper food ; while (iii.) in the case of polyphagous or semi- 

 polyphagous larvae, two or three food-plants are deemed suffi- 

 cient to name, with a note of their being general feeders, in 

 order not to add unnecessarily to the bulk of the book. 



The book, being intended primarily as a book of reference, is 

 published in a form most convenient for carrying about on 

 collecting expeditions. 



The larvae in the first portion of the book are arranged and 

 named according to " The Entomologist Synonymic List of Brit- 

 ish Lepidoptera," with one or two recently-discovered species in- 

 serted ; the names (generic and specific) given in brackets are 

 those of the " Doubleday List " nomenclature. 



The arrangement and nomenclature of the Food-plants in 

 the second portion of the book are according to "The London 



