CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 253 



ready with the net when attempting to pill-box it. On the same 

 night young larvae of Noctua augur were taken feeding on honey- 

 suckle. A visit to a disused limestone quarry on the 23rd resulted in 

 a few larvae of Agrotis lucernea, all resting on the rock face, well away 

 from the coarse grass on which the larva feeds. The local form of 

 this insect is a dark and constant grey. 



On March 25th I journeyed to the " Mosses," and there on the 

 birches found Asphalia flavicornis in numbers, tliough the males were 

 nearly all somewhat worn. With a single exception, all were resting 

 on the slender upright stems of the dwarf bushes, and on the dark 

 brown bark were easily seen. Several pairs in cop. were noted. 

 Half a dozen pupae of Drcpana falcataria were discovered spun up 

 in odd leaves that had braved the winter's blast and still remained 

 attached to the trees. Sallows, on March 31st, were very productive 

 of the commoner things. Tceniocavipa stahilis fell to our shaking, 

 literally in hundreds ; T. instahilis, gothica, cruda, and munda in 

 more moderate numbers. T. leucographa I did not see at all, 

 though it is present in the district. April 8th found Anticlea hadiata 

 still fresh, and several male Selcnia bilunaria (one exceptionally lai'ge 

 and richly coloured) were taken resting, newly emerged, in the hedge 

 bottom. A long succession of cold wet days and nights interfered 

 sadly with April collecting, but on the night of the 19th the larvae of 

 Gnoplios obscurata were found about half grown, feeding on wild 

 thyme at the extreme edge of the limestone quarry. The most inac- 

 cessible situations are chosen by the larvae of G. obscurata and 

 Agrotis lucernea, for although the food of both grows luxuriantly on 

 the level ground at the top of the rocks, it is only the isolated 

 patches situated on the narrow ledges of the rock-face that appeal to 

 these larvae, and creeping about by lamplight with a drop of thirty 

 or forty feet below is somewhat risky work. Towards the end of 

 April, night-hunting in the hedgerows with an acetylene lamp (what 

 a blessing these bright lights are to the entomologist !) gave an 

 abundance of larvae of Tripluena fimbria, T. ianthina, T. comes, Noctua 

 triangulum, N. brunnea, N. augur, N. baia, and Boarmia repandata. 



May 1st was a fine bright morning, and I was early on the 

 " carmeUta" ground; but several hours' careful trunk-hunting went 

 unrewarded. This interesting species was discovered here, resting 

 on the birch, in the year 1903, but we have had many a barren search 

 since. Unfortunately, the small plantation of old birches, the 

 original habitat, has been cut down, and the young trees growing in 

 the vicinity either do not offer sufficient attractions to the moths as 

 resting-places, or else the task of finding them thereon is a more 

 difficult one. This year, larvae of Satyrus semele, generally plentiful 

 on the fine grass which clothes the rim of the quarries, was nowhere 

 to be found. May 14th, a scorching day, was spent on a heather- 

 covered eminence of some thousand feet elevation, close to the town 

 of Kendal, a veritable paradise for the lepidopterist. Here, on the 

 bilberry, Thecla rubi abounded, and a long series was obtained. The 

 best time to take T. rubi is undoubtedly towards evening, when they 

 rest on the top of the heather preparatory to descending for the night 

 into the inner recesses of the bushes. Looking around, one may see 

 hundreds basking in the last rays of the departing sun ; and so 



