THE YOUNG NATUEALIST. 



7 



such Coleoptera as Aleochara fuscipes and like common species, I wished 

 them further. 



But I am getting on rather fast, and must not anticipate so much. I made 

 Kirtling — a village about sixteen or seventeen miles from Cambridge — my 

 halting place (or rather the halting place of my horse), and thence pursued 

 my way on foot, searching all tree trunks, digging at their foot, and plying 

 my trowel in every hedge-bank ; turning over stones, logs, &c, but with an 

 extremely disappointing result. The Coleoptera I found were such species 

 as Carabus violaceus, the just mentioned Aleochara fuscipes, the shining 

 black Pterostichus madidus, the black Philonthus margmatus with yellow- 

 bordered thorax, and the moss-loving Pselaphus Heisei, together with 

 several other species, but nothing of any value, and as for Lepidoptera, al- 

 though I used my trowel unremittingly, the pupae turned up were few and 

 far between. Oak trees produced negative results so far as Stauropus fagi, 

 Notodonta trepida, N. c/iaonia, iV. dodoncea, Nyssia hispidaria, Taniocampa 

 miniosa, and T. munda were concerned. Beech trees yielded neither Platy- 

 pteryx unguicula, nor Demas coryli, and the only species I did find were such 

 as Arciia lubricipeda, A. menthastri, and Tceniocampa instabilis under the 

 hedges, and the latter and stabilis at the foot of the oak trees ; together 

 with other common species, the names of which I did not consider worth 

 recording. 



I pocketed all the Oak-galls I could find, with the hope of breeding Coccyx 

 splendidulana and Eeusimene fimbriana from them, and also bagged any 

 teazle heads I saw for Antithesia gentianana and Eupcecilia roseana. I did 

 not search for larvae of Halonota scutulana in the thistle stems, as I think it 

 better to collect them later, although the little pink coloured caterpillars may 

 be found inside the stems of species of carduus from October to May, as also 

 H.fcenella from October to April, in roots and stems of mugwort (Artemisia 

 vulgaris). I devoted part of my time to collecting lichens, so of course I 

 looked out for the long and slender case of Talceporia pseudo-bombycella on 

 Lecanora subrosea, Zecidea parasema, and other species growing on palings 

 and old posts. 



I could not find any of the larvae of Parasia lappella in the seeds of bur- 

 dock, although they may be found nearer Cambridge in the winter time. The 

 larvae of Elachista rufocinerea were common in the leaves of the creeping 

 soft grass (Holcus mollis), and the mines of Nepticula aurella were abundant 

 on the brambles, many of the serpentine galleries containing living larvae, but 

 I could not find any of the dark brown cases of Coleophora albilarsella on 

 either ground ivy or marjoram leaves. 



I returned to the hostelry where I had left the horse and trap, just as it 



