INSECTS 



ARCTIIDAE {continued) 



no surprise, as the inhabitants had seen the 

 species before.' From that time to the 

 present its headquarters seem to have been 

 around these two places, but it has spread 

 abroad over the south of the county, so that 

 it may be beaten out of the hedges, or even 

 seen flying in bright sunshine over the fields 

 in July and August, almost all over that 

 district ; and it indeed forms the principal 

 inducement to the many enterprising ento- 

 mologists who in recent years have spent 

 their well-deserved and hard-earned holidays 

 in South Devon. Varieties having the hind 

 wings orange or yellow are frequent. It 

 does not seem as yet to have extended its 

 range beyond the limits of this county, but 

 has been freely reared elsewhere from eggs 

 deposited by females captured here 

 Euthemonia russula, Linn. Gen. dist. upon heaths, 

 and has even been known to come to a strong 

 light, nr. Exeter 

 Nemeophila plantaginis, Linn. Taken on the hills 

 of Dartmoor and also at Lynton, but not gen. 

 dist. 



*Arctia caja, Linn. In gardens 

 — villica, Linn. Exeter; Torcross ; Topsham ; 

 Seaton ; Sidmouth ; Plymouth; Bkkleigh Vale; 

 Stoke; Barnstaple; Instow ; Torrington ; 

 Morthoe. Well dist. in lanes, rough ground, 

 and woods — a most attractive insect 



•Phragmatobia fuliginosa, Linn. On hills and at 

 the edges of woods 



§ Spilosoma mendica, Linn. Exeter; Stoke; Plymouth; 

 Dartmoor; Topsham ; Dartmouth. Usually taken 

 flying in the sunshine 



* — lubricepeda, Linn., and S. menthastri, SchifF. 



LIPARIDAE 



Porthesia chrysorrhoea, Linn. Mr. Parfitt says that 

 it has been taken at Topsham and Torquay. 

 It seems to have become here, as in many 

 parts of England, extinct 

 \ — auriflua. Fab., similis, St. C. Torquay and nr. 

 Exeter 

 Liparis salicis, Linn. Rare at Exeter, also formerly 

 found at Torquay and Totnes 

 §Psilura monacha, Linn. Plymouth ; Bkkleigh Vale; 

 Ivybridge ; Dartmouth; Paignton; Exeter; 

 Barnstaple; Morthoe; Hartland 

 Dasychira pudibunda, Linn. Exeter; Plymouth; 

 Seaton; Sidmouth; Honiton ; Barnstaple; 

 Morthoe 

 *Demas coryli, Linn. Very widely distributed, 

 especially on the hills ; the larva sometimes 

 common on beech and hazel bushes 

 tOrgyia gonostigma. Fab. Mr. Parfitt found larvae 

 in Stoke Wood nr. Exeter 

 antiqua, Linn. Gen. abundant and even mis- 

 chievous, defoliating some of the shrubs in 

 the gardens in certain years ; in others, 

 scarce 



PSYCHIDAE 



tPsyche villosella, Och. On heaths in the south 

 _ fusca. Haw. Recorded by Mr. J. S. Dell as 

 rare nr. Plymouth 



PSYCHIDAE {continued) 



tEpichnopteryx reticella, Newn. Captured on the 

 coast (Parfitt) 

 Funiea roboricolella, Br., nitidella, Stn. Wonford 

 Marshes ; Exeter; Staddon Heights; Plymouth ; 

 Torquay, Its case, resembling a little bundle 

 of bits of dried grass, is often to be seen 



BOMBYCIDAE 



Poecilocampa populi, Linn. Plymouth; Sidmouth; 

 Seaton; Honiton; Exeter; and elsewhere; 

 frequently found about gas lamps, at nights, 

 in the winter 



Trichiura crataegi, Linn. Exeter ; Plymouth ; Tor- 

 quay ; Lustleigh ; Dartmouth ; Egg Buckland; 

 Dartmoor, Scarce 



Eriogaster lanestris, Linn. Barnstaple; Braunton ; 

 Seaton. Excessively local 

 *Clisiocampa neustria, Linn. 



— castrensis, Linn. J. F. Stephens records this 



in his Illustrations (1828) as found on the 

 coast of Devon, at the mouth of the Exe ; 

 and Mr. E. Parfitt stated in 1853 that he 

 had taken one specimen nr. Exeter, but 

 omitted it from his List (1878). Now 

 almost restricted to the Kent and Essex 

 salt-marshes 

 Lasiocampa trifolii, Esp. Formerly on the coast 

 at Bovisand ; PVhitsand, and elsewhere near 

 Plymouth. There abundant till about i860, 

 but from this time it began to be scarce, and 

 was gradually, it is to be feared, exterminated 

 by excessive collecting. It has also been 

 found at Torquay ; Bolt Head ; Bolt Tail ; 

 Dartmoor; Alphingfon ; Stoke, and Bovey 

 Heathfield ; but not now apparently existing 

 in any one of these localities 



— quercus, Linn. Gen. dist. 



— rubi, Linn. Widely dist., especially frequenting 



moorlands and hills 

 Odonestis potatoria, Linn. Exeter ; Plymouth ; 



Dartmoor; Barnstaple ; Morthoe. Common 



in lanes ; its conspicuous larva feeding on 



rough grasses on hedge-banks 

 Gastropacha quercifolia, Linn. Countess Weir and 



Alphingfon, nr. Exeter; Sidmouth; Torquay; 



Plymouth. Not rare 



— ilicifolia, Linn. A larva of this very rare 



species was found nr. Lynton, in a wood 

 abounding with bilberry, Aug. 1864, by 

 the Rev. E. Horton of Worcester. Un- 

 fortunately it was sickly, and died ; but 

 there appears to be no doubt as to the 

 species. No other record seems to exist for 

 this county 



ENDROMIDAE 



Endromis versicolor, Ochs. Mr. J. F. Stephens in 

 his Illustrations has this record : ' Taken near 

 Plymouth, Dr. Leach.' Mr. Parfitt says 

 that it has been taken once at Torquay and 

 once at Barnstaple; also that Mr. G. F. 

 Mathew reported that the males had been 

 seen flying wildly in Lustleigh Cleve, where 

 birch was common. It does not seem to 

 have been noticed recently 



213 



