THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



see him, and then suddenly, as if the excitement has been too much for him, 

 falling headlong down, apparently exhausted by his exertions, 



Let us look on the trunk of yonder oak tree, possibly we may find zpilosaria 

 resting thereon. Yes, here is one so fresh looking that it is apparently but 

 recently out of the chrysalis, We see that it is rather greenish looking, pale- 

 grey m colour with four faint transverse lines. This is the male moth, the 

 female is entirely wingless. 



There is another moth {Npsia hispidaria) to be found now, although as 

 it is far from common, very probably we shall not be fortunate enough to 

 meet with one to day. It is pale grey in colour, of a smaller size than 

 Fhigalia pilosaria, and like that moth possessing a downy thorax, but the 

 abdomen is stouter. The female has such short wings they are hardly 

 perceptible. 



Here is a chocolate coloured moth clinging to a hawthorn twig. It 

 has a thick body, and a whitish transverse line runs across each fore wing, 

 and there are two conspicuous white spots also, one of which is in the centre 

 and the other at the base of each of the front wings. We recognise it at 

 once as the Small Eggar {Eriog aster lanestris), and most probably we shall 

 find some more if we look about. It will be as well also to search the lichen- 

 covered palings for the long and slender case of Talceporia pseudo-bombycella. 

 The larva is whitish with a black head. 



We do not see any fir trees near us or we might perhaps beat from them 

 the reddish-grey larva of the Barred Hed Moth [Ellopia fasciaria). If there 

 were a spruce fir at hand it would be as well to look in the fir cones for the 

 pale yellow larva of the rare Asthenia strobilella. 



Suppose we turn over some of these stones and brickbats we see lying 

 about in the grass, and search for coleoptera. See we have unearthed a 

 large beetle — one of the Carabidse — of a brown colour. You know the 

 common Carahus violaceus, of course, but this is of a somewhat different 

 shape ; broader and less slender, although about the same size. It is 

 Carabus monilis, and you will find it beautifully figured in the first plate of 

 the fourth volume of this magazine, together with several others of its 

 kindred, a glance at that plate will enable you to recognise it better than any 

 description. Although not a rare species it is less common than Carabus 

 violaceus, but I believe it is generally distributed. 



Have any of my readers ever kept these ground beetles alive ? I have 

 myself frequently, and, although it may seem strange to some, I have suc- 

 ceeded in taming them — to some extent at least. They are long-lived insects, 

 comparatively speaking, so that their owner has time to get them accustomed 

 to him, and when tamed they will come readily to be fed with a tiny piece of 



