128 



HARDWICKE' S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Calathus mollis, and the debris of Lejicanits cervus at 

 the base of an oak. 



February, up to about the 24th, was very wet and 

 dull ; however, I stuck to pupa digging, and was re- 

 warded by the following result : — Almost any number 

 of Tceniocampa incerta, T. stabilis, T. golhica, and 

 Spilosoma menthastri from various trees ; Smerinthus 

 populi and S. tilia; from their respective trees ; 

 Amphydasis betularia, and Biston hirtaria, which I 

 thought was rare everywhere excepting in the squares 

 of London, but which has turned up here at the roots 

 of almost every description of tree, and also on gas 

 lamps ; a solitary specimen of Hybemia marginaria, 

 which I turned up at the base of a poplar — I have 

 often taken them from aspens — completes the list. 

 The larvae of Apamea unanimis were, curiously 

 enough, hibernating at the roots of aspens, just below 

 the surface in little earthen cocoons in damp sods, 

 instead of, as is their general wont, under the bark. I 

 took a dozen in such a situation. February was some- 

 what rich in Coleoptera, which turned up at the base 

 of trees galore. I took, amongst others, the follow- 

 ing : Carabus granulattts, Clavina fossor, Pristony- 

 chus terricola, Pterostichus vulgaris, P. subcyaneus, 

 Calathus mollis, Amara attenuates, A. curia, 

 Pterostichus inaqualis, Bembidium doris, Ocypus oleus, 

 Creophilus maxilosus, Hydroporus palustris, Gyrinus 

 natator, Silpha atrata, *Aphodius contaminates from 

 a dead heron, and A. fossor, Balaninus rubidus, 

 Apion vorax and Erirhinus tremula, both of which 

 were exceedingly plentiful under bark on poplars 

 and willows, Lema cyanclla, and Cocciuella 14- 

 puuetata. 



March, at any rate the latter half, was, as everyone 

 knows, phenomenally fine and hot, the total rainfall 

 here for the month being only "33 inch, and the 

 thermometer upon several days reaching a height of 

 68°, and once 70° F. Snow fell for about a quarter 

 of an hour on the 17th, about 9 a.m. But from the 

 20th to the close of the month no rain fell — scarcely 

 indeed was there a cloud in the sky j easterly winds 

 held sway, however, during the 25th to 30th, when it 

 came round south west. Frosts continued during the 

 east winds. Alder was in leaf on the 8th, and rose 

 on the 20th ; at the end of the month aspens were 

 budding ; sallows were, for the most part, in leaf; 

 elm, Populus niger and P. balsamifera were budding ; 

 weeping willow was a beautiful pale green ; white- 

 thorn was, in places, quite out, making the hedges 

 look green ; violets were on the wane and primroses 

 going off. Moths now began to emerge, and beetles 

 became an everyday sight, running across paths and 

 on hedges. Lepidopterous larvae also were to be 

 taken at dusk by the aid of a lantern. On the second 

 of the month I took Odonestis potatoria, Triphecna 

 pronuba, and several others in this way. Hybemia 

 marginaria and II. rupicapraria, the latter nearly 

 over, were to be seen on the lamps every evening ; 

 Taniocampa slabilis emerged on the 4th, and T. 



golhica on the 5th ; on the 8th I again took Hybemia 

 leucophaaria, this time from water, and Cerastis 

 vaccinii from a fence. On the IOth I took the first 

 Taniocampa incerta "at large," having bred it as 

 early as the 12th and 22nd of February. The three 

 common I'a?tiocampa continued to emerge up to the 

 end of the month. On the 5th I took Carabus 

 Jiemoralis, Geotrupes mutator, and G. stercorarius ; 

 on the 8th I saw the first Anisopteryx ascularia, as 

 against March 27th last year. Vanessa urticce was 

 seen on the wing on the 14th. The 31st of March 

 gave me a very sure sign of the forwardness of the 

 season by the appearance of Pieris rapa, gamboling 

 about as if it were the hottest day in May. Besides 

 the above-mentioned species, March also gave me 

 another example of Clivina fossor, which is considered 

 rather a rare beetle about here ; Stenolophus dorsalis, 

 and two members of the genus Achomenus, one 

 bright blue, the other scarlet with blue elytra, which 

 I have not yet identified — if anyone will be so good 

 as to send me their respective cognomens I shall feel 

 much obliged. I also took Amara plebia, A. bifrons, 

 A. tribialis, Nebria brevicollis, Calathus melano- 

 cephalus, Pterostichus niger, Ocypus similis, and 

 Philonthus politus, Ammacus brevis, Athoiis parvulus, 

 A. vittalis, and a member of the genus Chrysomela. 



April is a month the memory of which lies 

 deeply embedded in the mind of every lover of nature. 

 Not only did the thermometer stand almost per- 

 manently at summer-heat, not only did the barometer 

 point to an abnormally high degree, not only was 

 there barely any wind throughout the month, but, 

 during the daytime, the sun rarely went in, and the 

 clouds in the sky could almost invariably be counted 

 on the fingers of one hand. It was truly a glorious 

 month — this usually gusty, frivolous, uncertain month 

 of April. Insects ran riot. Insects which in ordinary 

 years do not put in an appearance until the middle of 

 May — in some years the end of May, were abroad on 

 the 4th of April : such, for instance, as Lyceena 

 argiolus, which I took together with Vanessa iwticce 

 and V. lo, old enough to be its grandfathers ! 



I was greeted on the 1st of April, not by some 

 wag with a so-called nitty catch, but by the first 

 Biston hirtaria ; later I took Coccinella septempuue- 

 tata, and Meloe violaceus, Choleva, and Silpha sinu- 

 ata from a dead mole [Talpa vulgaris]. On the 

 3rd I took Amara similata, various other small 

 Adephaga and a specimen of the water-scorpion 

 \_Nepa cinered], apparently "basking" in the sun, 

 quite out of the water, on a piece of board. I also 

 took Bombylius major, which appears very common 

 here. P. rapes now begins to become numerous. 

 On the 4th of April the first specimen of Trichiosoma 

 lucomum — a large number of which I breed every 

 year, more for the pleasure of seeing them cut their 

 way out than from any "collective" reason — 

 emerged. Silpha rugosa, S. thoracica and Necro- 

 phorus humator were common in dead rabbits, etc., 



