7 2 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



NATURAL HISTORY IN NEW FOREST. 



/~\N June 4th, 1897, a number of members of 

 ^^^ the North London Natural History Society 

 started for their annual Whitsuntide excursion to 

 the New Forest. The majority of the party left 

 Waterloo by the 6 p.m. train and reached Lyndhurst 

 about 10, the journey being an unusually long one. 

 Mr. C. B. Smith, who was in command of the 

 excursion, and some others, joined on the following 

 day, several having ridden down from London on 

 their bicycles. Owing to the increased numbers 

 of the party, it unfortunately had to split up, 

 some, including the ladies under Mrs. Nicholson, 

 staying at Lynwood, and others at Brockenhurst. 



Saturday broke dull, with signs of rain, but, with 

 their usual heedlessness of the weather, several of 

 the party were early astir. Larva-beating in 

 Beechen Lane was tried with poor success. Scarcely 

 anything worth taking seemed to be about, though 

 the commoner sorts were plentiful enough. For 

 once in a way Hybernia defoliaria was not the 

 commonest larva, that honour being about evenly 

 divided between H. marginaria and H. aurantiaria. 

 H. defoliaria had probably mostly gone to pupae. 

 Of imagines there were found a few . Pechypogon 

 barbalis, Iodis lacleaeria, Acidalia rumutata and one 

 A. straminata. The fences only yielded a fine 

 specimen of Hadena genistas to Mr. Woodward, 

 who, however, met with some success in the 

 ornithological department, discovering, amongst 

 others, a nest of the garden-warbler. Disgusted 

 with larvae, the party went home to breakfast. 



Meanwhile the weather turned out fine by 

 10 o'clock, the day being hot. The first part 

 of the excursion programme consisted of a visit 

 to the Knightwood oak. Accordingly, soon after 

 breakfast, most of those present started for 

 the celebrated giant-oak, though, as will be seen 

 later on, nearly all failed to get there. Mr. L. J. 

 Tremayne opened his entomological account with a 

 superb little specimen of Acidalia trigeminata, and 

 Mr. C. Nicholson found a field where Euchloe 

 cardamines was on the wing. As the party proceeded 

 it became evident that Pararge egeria, in all 

 conditions, was also flying, Gonepteryx rhamni was 

 ovipositing, Argynnis euphrosyne, apparently not 

 fully out, was seldom to be seen more than one 

 at a time, and several of the commoner Geometrae 

 were to be had by beating. An insect which 

 appeared to be in greater abundance than usual 

 was Formica rufa. The route taken being via Bank, 

 the party soon entered Gritman Wood, where 

 larva-beating was once more tried. Presently, 

 larvae of Tacniocampa miniosa and full-fed Thecla 

 quercus, together with a few Psilura monacha, began 

 to come down. Mr. Jennings also met with some 



success in the Diptera, Hymenoptera and 

 Coleoptera. Before reaching the Lymington River, 

 a halt was called, as it was found impossible for 

 the ladies to continue in the heat of the sun, 

 whereupon they, with Mr. Nicholson, Senr., decided 

 to abandon the walk. Messrs. Bacot, Bishop and 

 Jennings, finding collecting improving, decided to 

 remain more or less where they were, and Messrs. 

 C. Nicholson and L. J. Tremayne were left to push 

 on to the Knightwood oak, alone. They first 

 turned into Rhinefield, where the President took a 

 fine specimen of Macroglossa bombyliformis, but no 

 more were seen, though another collector on the 

 ground stated that he had been there the whole 

 morning, and only taken three, of which one was 

 worn. The President and Secretary subsequently 

 succeeded in reaching the Knightwood oak. The 

 girth was measured and found to be six yards two 

 feet three inches. But the tree is tall in proportion 

 to its thickness, and has rather a slender appear- 

 ance than otherwise from a distance. It was, 

 however, a matter of regret to find it thickly 

 strewn round with dirty pieces of paper and other 

 rubbish, evidently the relics of picnics, which 

 made it very unsightly. The wanderers sub- 

 sequently proceeded through Mark Ash and 

 Boldrewood, and home by the Ringwood Road, 

 via Emery Down. Messrs. Bacot and Bishop had 

 augmented their larvae by A sphalia ridens and Nyssia 

 hispidaria. Messrs. Harvey and Woodward, who 

 had been at Rhinefield, succeeded in capturing 

 both the bee-hawkjmoths (M. bombyliformis and M. 

 fuciformis) , and had turned up Tanagra atrata and 

 a larva of Bombyx quercus, whilst the oological 

 records had been increased by nests of dove, 

 chaffinch and linnet. Messrs. Jennings, Bacot and 

 Bishop had been attacked on the Christchurch 

 Road by a species of Tabanus which resembled T. 

 autumnalis, but which Mr. Jennings thought must 

 be a different species, as the specimens were worn. 

 After a hearty tea, some of the members started 

 for evening work. To begin with, Mr. C. 

 Nicholson knocked down a flying specimen of 

 A senium striatum in the garden, and this was one of 

 the very best captures made during the visit. Up 

 to the year 1893, this beetle has never been found 

 in the south of England, being essentially a 

 northern species, though occurring in a certain 

 locality in Cumberland. At Whitsuntide, 1893, a 

 single specimen was taken in the New Forest by 

 Mr. Bertram Rye, who again met with it in 1895, 

 when he captured two specimens at Bookham, 

 Surrey. It is, like all the Longicorns, a wood- 

 borer, and is attached to pine and fir. How it 

 had been introduced from Scotland to the south of 



