The w^m umuim'f: 



A Penny Weekly Magazine of Natural History. 



No. 116. AUGUST 26th, 1882. Vol. 3. 



RAGWORT. 



RAGWORT (Senecio jacohcea) is a 

 very common plant in most of 

 places, and for some time longer its 

 large Hat clusters of golden-liucd 

 flowers will be very conspicuous. For 

 a plant of such general distribution, 

 but few larvae seem to make choice of 

 it for food. Several eat it occasionally, 

 or will do so in confinement, but those 

 that make choice of it, as Euchelia 

 jacolcca (the Cinnabar) or Eupolhecia 

 centaureala, appear to prefer the llowers 

 to the leaves. Eoth these may still be 

 found, though the season is getting 

 over. But it was specially of its 

 attractiveness to the perfect insect that 

 wc proposed to speak of it now, and if 

 any of our young readers have never 

 collected at ragwort flowers they had 

 better do so before it is too late for 

 this year. The equipment needed for 

 ragwort collecting is not large : a good 

 lantern is the only thing needed, ex- 

 cept an ample supply of pill-boxes. 

 Some prefer a bulTs-eye lantern, but 

 we rather recommend one that will 

 throw a larger light. If you go alone 



you must have a belt or something 

 similar to which you can hook your 

 lantern, so as to have both hands free, 

 and from which it can be readily 

 detached again. Jf you 'Miuiit in 

 couples " one shoidd take tiie lantei-n 

 and the other the boxes, and share 

 you captures afterwards. In some 

 places moths, such as C. gramims and 

 //. niclilans, v>ill be found imbibing 

 the honey from the flowers quite early 

 in the afternoon. Those members of 

 the f^enus Micma that are not vet over 

 (Uterosa, furuncnla, and sirhjilh) may 

 also be found upon it before dark. 

 After dark it is visited by a much 

 larger number of species. All tho>e 

 of the genus Agrotis that are yet on 

 the wing appear to frequent it : — 

 obelisca and aquilina where they occur, 

 triticij cursoria, vaUigera^ prcccox, &c., 

 on the coast. j\iany of the genus 

 Nodua : — Zanthographa far too fre- 

 quently, nmbrosa, baj?, augury rubi, 

 dahl'ii, and neglecla (in birch woods), 

 glareosa, and others. Trip/uvna jan- 

 thina, and intcrjccla, as well as the two 

 common species : interjccia seldom 

 comes to i* till late at night. A little 



