252 



The Irish Naturalist. 



December, 



INSECTS AT ROSSES POINT, CO. SLIGO. 



BY REV. W. P. JOHNSON, M.A.; F.E.S. 



Mrs. Johnson and I spent the month of June at Rosses Point 

 and devoted most of our time to collecting insects, which, 

 however, were by no means as abundant as might have been 

 expected, a state of affairs probably attributable to the cold, 

 wet spring. Our collecting grounds were practically three, 

 the sandhills and adjoining grass lands as far as Drumcliff 

 Bay ; the shore of Sligo Bay adjoining the coastguard 

 taiion ; and inland among low, juniper-clad hills The first- 

 mentioned was the most extensive and productive and claimed 

 most of our attention. 



Lkpidoptera. 



Of butterflies I met with but four species, Satyriis semele, 

 Epinephele janira^ Ccenonympha pa^nphilus, and Polyovwiatus 

 icarus ; the last-named was the most numerous and very fine 

 and brilliant. 



Three species of Ghost Moths were met with, Hepialus 

 lupulijius, H. velleda, and H. huinuli, the last two being very 

 abundant. Numbers of the larvae of Ardia caia were observed 

 crawling about in the sandhills on the Bent, &c. I did not 

 employ sugar, so we had to rely on our nets for any captures 

 of moths, the only Noctuae met with were Miana fasciuncula 

 and Habrostola triplasia. Besides these we captured Nudaria 

 7)iundana, Fido7iia atomaria, Melanippe subtristata, Coremia 

 fludtiata^ several of the beautiful C. pedinitaria, a couple of 

 Thera simulata at Juniper, Emmelesia albulata, Eupithecia 

 venosata, a single specimen at Silene maritima (I think I was 

 rather late for this species), E. virgaureata ; Pioneafuscalis, P. 

 forficalis^ and Scoparia ambigualis were common in meadows ; 

 on the shore near the coastguard station there was a quantity 

 of Bindweed growing, and here were numbers of the beautiful 

 White Plume Adptilus pe7itadadylus ; they were very con- 

 spicuous in the grass at dusk and we secured a long series ; 

 they appeared to be just emerging from pupa. The only 

 other Plume obtained was Mimcssioptilus bipufictidactylus. 

 Among the Micro-lepidoptera the most noteworthy is 



