NEW FOREST NOTES. 



129 



tion, but in this instance the insect was not more than three feet 

 above the ground. 



During the early spring Hyheriiia leucopJuearia appeared in 

 great numbers, and larvse of Boarmia repandata were par- 

 ticularly plentiful at night. In the late spring many species 

 of oak-feeding larvae were not nearly so numerous as usual. 

 This was again noticeable in the summer and autumn, when the 

 larvfe of such species as Sttiuropusfagi, Acronyctaalni, Cochlidion 

 {Meter ogetiea) limacodes, and Heterogenea asella, were almost 

 entirely absent. Luckily, larvae of Boarmia rohoraria and Hglo- 

 phila bicolorana were plentiful. Keferring to the larvae of the 

 latter species, it is, of course, well known that when hatched, and 

 for some time afterwards, the young larvae are green, and that 

 they change to a brown colour before hybernation, so as to harmo- 

 nize with their winter surroundings. It is generally imagined 

 that this change of colour takes place at the last autumnal 

 ecdysis, but I now find that it is not so, for the larvae are quite 

 as green after changing their skius as before. Very gradually 

 the caterpillars cease feeding, become lethargic, and their green 

 colour slowly fades, until they present a very washed-out appear- 

 ance; then the brown pigment is " turned on," and the winter 

 coloration assumed. The same thing may be noticed, though 

 in a much less degree, with the larvae of Apatura iris. 



Although oak-beating in September was poor, birch and 

 sallow yielded good results, larvae of Drepana falcataria, 

 D. lacertinaria, Notodonta dromedarius, Ephyra pendularia, N. 

 ziczac, and Cenorafarcida being abundant. 



At the very spot where my friend, Mr. Bernard Piffard, took 

 Zygana meliloti some fifty-two or fifty-three years ago, I found, 

 on May 28th, a dozen or more full-fed larvae of this very local 

 Burnet. The cocoons are difficult to see, for, unlike those of its 

 near relative, Z. Jilipendalce, they are placed low down in the 

 herbage, the two or three that I have discovered having been 

 attached to broad, flat, dead blades of grass. This spot, thirty 

 yards square, seems to be the metropolis of the species, although 

 it would appear that at various times colonists have been sent out 

 or wandered away, and have for a time established themselves 

 elsewhere in the neighbourhood. At any rate, it is the only 

 place where Z. meliloti may be regularly expected to turn up. 



Rumour has it that, some few years ago, a certain profes- 

 sional collector transplanted our Burnet to other parts of the 

 Forest. If this be so, I am unaware as to the amount of success 

 that attended the experiment. It may, perhaps, be well to 

 record it, in case some wandering entomologist stumbles across 

 these " private " colonies. 



Regarding insects of other orders, I fear I have little to 

 record, but it may be worth mentioning that the pine sawfly 

 {Lophyriis pini) produced an additional brood. This insect 



