The Grass or Antler Moth. By James Hardy. 203 



country. Miss Omierod's attention was drawn to the subject on 

 the 18th of June, 1884, by Col. Picton Turbervill, of Ewenny 

 Prior, Bridgend, Glamorganshire. 



" Specimens were forwarded directly after, which agreed so precisely 

 with caterpillars of the Antler Moth, Charceas Graminis, which were for- 

 warded to me in 1881, when there was a somewhat similar outburst of this 

 kind of caterpillar at Clitheroe, in Lancashire, that I consider the Glamor- 

 ganshire attack was caused by this kind, although, looking at the great 

 extent of country over which the ravages of the caterpillars extended, it 

 is impossible to say whether other kinds may not have been present also.'' 



" To those uuacquainted with the habits of this kind of caterpillar, the 

 enormous numbers in which they sometimes swarm over large tracts, 

 appear as alarming as they are unaccountable ; but this great visitation in 

 South Wales does not differ in any point, excepting the very large area 

 attacked from various appearances recorded before in this country -as for 

 instance the one which will be remembered as occurring at Clitheroe, Lan- 

 cashire, in 1881 ; and a great appearance on Skiddaw about 182-i ; also on the 

 Hartz Mountains, in Germany, in 1816 and 1817 : and the devastating 

 power is the same which made Linnaeus describe this grass pest as ' the 

 most destructive of Swedish caterpillars, laying waste our meadows, and 

 annihilating crops of hay.' " 



Miss Ormerod gives a map to show the mountain ground and 

 largo area over which the attack extended in 188 1. 



" The N.E. end of the Rhondda Valley, which is the most easterly limit 

 it named, lies some ten or twelve miles N.N.E. of Brigend ; and it will be 

 observed from the following account that the attack extended theucc 

 westward past the Ogmore Valley and the Garw River to Maestog, the 

 most westerly limit named ; and that the large extent over which the 

 smoke of the mountain-fires was seen showed the caterpillar-preserve 

 spread widely on a scale requiring strong measures to check it. Alto- 

 gether the area of the attack taking the diameter from W. to E. does not 

 appear to have been less than ten miles. 



"The account forwarded to me on the 18th of June, mentioned that on 

 the mountains of Ystrath-y-Fodwg (hills about ten miles north of Bridgend, 

 in Glamorganshire), myriads of caterpillars were devouring everything, 

 leaving the mountains brown behind them. 



" It seems they were first noticed on Bwlch-y-Clawdd, a lofty ridge separ- 

 ating Cwm Park from the Rhondda Valley ; but on Sunday (the 15th of 

 June), it was found that they had attacked, or rather were attacking, also 

 the north-east as well as the west side of the valley. At Treorky Station 

 (a station on the Rhoudda branch of the Cardiff and Merthyr Railway), 

 the mountain brook running fx-om the Fforch Mountains was thick with 

 myriads of these caterpillars, which had been drowned by falling into it 

 during their march across the side of the mountains. The Ystrad side of 

 the Bwlch-y-Clawdd Mountains above Cym Park was brown, as the result 

 of recent fires ignited with a view to destroy the posts. Near the sum- 



