YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS' UNION. 77 



YORKSHIRE MACRO-LEPIDOPTERA m 1879. 



By G. T. PORRITT, F.L.S., Huddersfield, 

 President of the Entomological Section, 1880. 



Like the commercial world, the entomological world at last 

 shows signs of improvement, for the year 1879 was, we think there 

 can be no doubt, a little better than its two predecessors. Let 

 us hope, and surely we are justified in the expectation, that in both 

 .cases the improvement will be permanent and increasing. Not, 

 indeed, that the past season was a good one j far from it — for 

 even comparing it with the average of seasons, we should pro- 

 nounce it a bad one. We had an exceptionally backward spring, 

 so much so that until quite the end of May, there was compara- 

 tively little sign, even in the foliage of our forest trees, of 

 approaching summer; and consequently although larvte were found 

 tolerably plentifully by those who worked for them, hardly any 

 imagos were to be got. During June, however, there was a rapid 

 and marked improvement, and in July and early in August, in 

 many localities, noctuse actually swarmed at the sugared trees ; 

 indeed during those few weeks was almost the only bit of good 

 sugaring we have had since 1875, when moths flocked to the 

 baited trees nearly through the year. From the middle of 

 August there was an equally rapid fall off, and since the beginning 

 of September it has been waste of time going out collecting. 



One peculiarity of the season was the complete upsetting of 

 all our ideas as to when species should appear ; everything was 

 late, some species more so than others, so that usually no rule 

 could be laid down by which to calculate how late any particular 

 species might be. As instances may be mentioned that the only 

 moth which visited my sugared trees on the night of June 13th 

 was Taeniocampa gothica, ordinarily a March and early April 

 species; whilst Abraxas ulmata, which may usually be safely 



