1892. J 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



59 



viificinerea. In some of the leaves of the coarse grass grow- 

 ing up on the hedge itself, the dark green larva of E. megcrleUa 

 will be found mining in a sniiilar manner, as also a few others of the 

 same genus in other grass leaves. The black horehound (Ballota 

 nigra), now getting high, have their leaves quite disfigured at this 

 time by brownish blotches caused by the larva of Coleophora lineolci 

 which are now feeding voraciously, and on the leaves of the bird's- 

 foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatiis) the larva of C. discordella is making the 

 usual blotches; the stitchwort (Stellaria holosteaj, which is now 

 growing fast, have some of the topmost slioots already drawn together 

 and distorted by the larva of Gelechia tricolorella , towards the end of 

 the month; and on the underside of the leaves, the sfender cases of 

 the young larva of C. solitaviella will now" be seen again at work after 

 their long hibernation. 



We will now take a stroll through some old wood to see what it 

 will produce. Before entering we have to cross a boggy piece of 

 ground in which some large roots of rushes are pretty plentitul. On 

 examining the seed heads we soon find the whitish cases of C. 

 cespititieUa, mostly between the seeds at this time. On the edges of 

 the main drive are some fine bushes of the common broom, if we 

 examine them we shall find some of the twigs are joined together by 

 a slight web, on pulling them apart w^e shall see the brown larva of 

 D. assimilella, it is best to cut off good sized pieces with the larvae, 

 keep them in a cage with plenty of ventilation, and out in the open 

 air, or the broom will very soon go mouldy. We must also take a 

 good supply of catkins from those fine white poplars yonder, for we 

 may then breed some beautiful specimens of Graph, nisana and E. nana. 



The old dead stems of thistles scattered about it the open parts, we 

 can see by the sawdust-looking substance exuding from the sides, 

 contain the larrVa of E. pfliigiana and possibly circiana. We will take 

 a good supply, for the diflerence in the $ and $ of the former is best 

 seen in the bred specimens. We will now examine the leaves of the 

 sallows, and are soon busy filling a tin with the cases of Col. 

 viminetella, which are again beginning to feed, although the leaves are 

 barely expanded, and at the same time liil a bag with the catkins, 

 many of which are already on the ground, for we shall then obtain a 

 nice series of Argyresthia pygmceella. We will now give our attention 

 to some of those young Fir trees scattered in the open parts, and are 

 soon rewarded by the larva of R. turionana ; these larva feed inside 

 the topmost shoots and those of the main branches, they are soon 

 discovered by the resinous exudation their presence in the interior 

 causes to accumulate 011 the outside of the shoot. 



There are some line old iJirches Jiere and tlicre, among these 

 young Fir trees that look very tempting, for they are loaded with 



