10 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



NOTES FEOM THE NOETH-WEST COUNTIES. 



By J. Akkle. 



(Concluded from vol. xxv. p. 318.) 



About a week after, on the 29tli, I paid another visit to 

 Witherslack, via Carnforth and Grange. N. russula was then 

 comparatively scarce, and N. plantaginis so rubbed as to be not 

 wortli taking. The habit of the latter moth had quite altered ; 

 instead of fl.ying somewhat lazily over the heath it shot up high 

 over our heads, and, as a rule, made for the birch trees on the 

 border of the Moss. The insects were as usual ; C. typhon was 

 still on the wing, but C. imbutata and M. schulziana were most 

 numerous. The borders of m.any of the fields under tillage were 

 beginning to look gay with the corn-marigold {Chrysanthemum 

 segetiim), a truly beautiful plant in its native habitat. I had onl}' 

 met with it once before — in Ireland, between Dublin and Bray. 

 On the Kent embankment grows a wiry, olive-green sedge. Some 

 of this, with the corn-marigolds, made a very st^'lish bouquet, 

 which we took home. The chief locality, however, on this second 

 visit to Witherslack, was the Pug Eocks, which we found alive 

 with " whites" — Plej'is brassica and P. rapce, V. urtica, A. aglaia, 

 Satyrus semele, E. ianira, C. pamphilus, Polyommatus phloeas, and 

 L. icarus. Other insects were Pyrausta aarata {punicealis), Her- 

 bula cespitalis, Platyptilia ochrodactyla, and Mimceseoptilus ptero- 

 dactylus (fuscodactylus). I captured one specimen of the white- 

 looking Leioptilus osteodactylus by the roadside near Grange. 

 Searching the Pug Rocks, which are a mile or so away through 

 the village from the ' Derby Arms,' rewarded us with a fine male 

 Stilbia anomala, several A. marginepunctata {promutata) , Sciaphila 

 penzlana, and another pretty species with a very distinct figure 8 

 marked obliquely on each of its grey upper wings — Scoparia 

 gracialis. The local form of A. aglaia is a handsome one, and 

 completely eclipses the Welsh specimens, in which the ground 

 colour of the wings is a dull ochreous yellow. The Witherslack 

 aglaia is altogether a brighter insect. The black spots and marks 

 upon the wings are about as black as they can be, the basal 

 suffusions are nearly black instead of dark russet, the marginal 

 spots are whitish, there is a whitish suffusion along the region of 

 the costal margin, and the ground colour is altogether brighter 

 than, I may add, that of any specimens I have seen. The local 

 form of S. semele also deserves comment. It is a very dark one, 

 and the light-coloured patches on the upper wings, in which are 

 placed the ocelli, almost disappear, especially in the females. 



Three years ago, when I was last in the district, the additional 

 way of reaching Morecambe from Lancaster was by the traps 

 plying the four miles by road. These have almost disappeared, 

 and there is now a capital tram-service all along the route and 



