1 1 6 [Appendix B.N J.C., 



Ballycastle, and Dundrum. I have no experience of the Antrim 

 hills north of Larne, but they are so similar to the Belfast hills 

 that their fauna is probably very much the same. 



I will now proceed to describe some of these localities more 

 particularly, and mention some of the insects that occur in each. 

 It will, of course, be understood that I do not imply that these 

 are the only, or the best places for collecting, but that they are 

 the places with which I happen to be familiar, either because 

 they were convenient to the part of the town where I lived, or 

 because they were favourite places for holiday-making. 



About a quarter of a mile north of the second lock on the 

 Lagan there are some low-lying marshy fields. To the N. and 

 E. the ground rises pretty steeply, and in the N.E. corner is a 

 pond. Along the side of the slope is a disused water-course, 

 which formerly, I believe, supplied the town. It is now filled 

 with water-plants, Sparganium, Iris, and various reeds and 

 grasses. When in flower in June and July these reeds attract 

 numbers of Noctuce, the larvae of which feed on the leaves in the 

 autumn and spring. The most abundant species are Leucania 

 pal/ens, impura, comma and lithargyria ; Tapinostola fulva, 

 Noctua umbrosa, baja, c-nigrum, /estiva, rubi, and xantho- 

 grapha, Apamea leucostigma and didyma, the last in great 

 numbers and infinite variety of colour and markings. 



Earlier in the season several species of the genus Tceniocampa 

 may be found feeding at the blossom of the willow at night. 

 Flying over nettles and flowers in the summer, we may net 

 Plusia pulchrina, chrysitis and festucce, Dianthozcia nana and 

 capsinco/a, whose larvae feed in the seed capsules of Silene and 

 Lychnis. To capture these Noctuce in the summer months, the 

 collector must keep late hours, for they do not settle down to 

 feed till it is really dark, and in these latitudes that is not before 

 half-past ten. From this time until midnight they can be taken 

 off grass and reed flowers by the simple process of enclosing 

 them in a chip-box after examining by the light of a lantern to 

 see whether they are worth taking. They seldom attempt to 

 fly ; at the most, they sometimes drop to the ground or into 



