36 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



country people. In almost every county in 

 Britain the excessive abundance of this in- 

 sect has been noticed more or less. In some 

 distr ; cts the insects have been so numerous 

 as to become a positive nuisance, filling win- 

 dows, getting into milk bowls, treacle pots ; 

 and if anyone walked over grass land or 

 newly mown hay, the pests would come 

 buzzing in his face. In several of the parts 

 in this neighbourhood I have noticed that 

 this insect has been carrying on its destruc- 

 work. Here and there large patches of 

 brown withered grass might be seen. The 

 larvae having eaten the roots, the tops die 

 and become withered and scorched by the 

 sun. In some places the larvae were so 

 numerous that a score might be counted in 

 a square foot of grass land. These grubs 

 seem partial to flat damp land, and on that 

 account good drainage ought to have a bene- 

 ficial effect. All insectivorous birds and 

 animals should be encouraged in such places, 

 thrushes, rooks, partridges, and birds of 

 that class destroy large quantities. On page 

 339, Vol. i , of the Young Naturalist, will be found 

 note referring to the destruction of crane 

 flies by rooks, and in the course of three or 

 four days, many thousands of crane flies 

 must have been destroyed by them on that 

 occasion. Starlings are also very useful in 

 devouring this and other larvse, even in the 

 winter months these birds manage to 

 find larvae, as will be seen by a 

 note by Mr. Wheeldon which will be found 

 on another page. In Nottinghamshire, where 

 much of the land is pasture, I have seen a 

 flock of Starlings that on on a rough estimate 

 must have contained 50,000 to 100,000, and if 

 we say that each bird on an average would 

 devour five grubs per day during the 

 Summer months, the quantity of caterpillars 

 destroyed by them must be something 

 enormous, and an appalling spectacle to the 

 Entomologist. Shrews and field-mice also 

 destroy large quantities, and the toad and 

 some other reptiles do their share towards 



Among the artificial methods of getting rid 

 of these grubs, or of lessening their numbers, 

 common salt or any of the saline preparations 

 seem to be partially effective ; and on farms 

 near the coast, sea-weed, if used as a manure 

 will have a beneficial effect, and it has the 

 additional advantage of costing nothing, ex- 

 cept the expense of carting away. But the 

 very best method of guarding against such 

 attacks is to pay some attention to natural 

 history and learn to distinguish those birds 

 and animals which serve to keep the enemy 

 in check, and for this reason every school 

 should have a person able to instruct the 

 rising generation in those useful truths, and 

 then, in time, we should not find farmers and 

 gardeners destroying their very best friends 

 and preserving their enemies as is now some- 

 times the case and I think there is every 

 reason to believe that this will be the case 

 sometime. The study of natural history is 

 gaining ground and people are beginning to 

 see and admit its advantages. 



There are several other enemies to grass 

 land, but these will be mentioned in a future 

 paper. 



the destruction of th 



ese tiresome pests. 



BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



By J. E. Robson ; with figures from life by 

 S. L. Mosley, 



(Assisted by Contributors to the Y. N.) 



\ AURINIA, Rott. ) 01 , . ' . 

 r 9 I ARTEMIS, 5. V. \ Plate IO ' Fl ^' 3- 



The Greasy Fritillary. 



Artemis, W. V,, Artemis, the Greek name 

 for Diana." A.L. 



Imago. — Plate 10, Fig. 3. Straw color, 

 with the wing rays and several wavy bands 

 black. A reddish band near the hind mar- 

 gin, and a few reddish spots in other parts of 

 the wing. Underside forewing fulvous, with 

 the wing rays, and the black bands of the 

 upperside showing as a darker shade of 

 fulvous only. The tip of the wing paler. 

 Hindwing alternately banded with red and 



