236 



THE YOUNG NATUEALIST. 



direction, and Black Burney, a similar place 

 about a mile further. These two woods 

 have a thick undergrowth of vegetation, 

 composed of various plants, and in June 

 and July had a profusion of flowers especi- 

 ally Valerian. They border upon the exten- 

 sive Downs, which 'is another favourable 

 entomological quality. Most of the sugaring 

 that I did, in fact all the successful sugaring 

 was done in Rably Copse, and here I took 

 several insects not included in the district 

 list, such as XyloplLazia suMustris, HeliotMs 

 marginata, Plusia pulcJirina, and PteropJirus 

 Lorveii. Besides these I took Acronyeta 

 liffustri, a pair ; Cymatophora duplaris, not 

 rare, but rather worn ; Aplecta nebulosa, 

 the usual southern form, much lighter than 

 northern specimens. Plusia clmjsitis also 

 fell to my net, and gamma of course. Pter- 

 qphorus fuscus actually swarmed, and besides 

 the ZoTveii, before mentioned, I got one 

 light species which, at the time I could not 

 determine. Of other species which I took 

 in Rabley Copse may be mentioned A^^ge 

 galatliea. This insect I am told could not 

 be found in the whole district until within 

 the last two or three years, and now it is 

 found commonly in several localities. The 

 ground colour of the specimens here is the 

 usual pale yellow, but some, exclusively 

 females I believe, had the ground white. 

 Some of the females also had the usual 

 black markings on the under side of the 

 hind wing replaced by pale yellowish brown 

 markings, but not so much obliterated as 

 in the var. Lmicomelas. Thyatira hatis (i) ; 

 Lucania impura ; Grammesia tj'ilinea, one 

 specimen too worn to box ; Asthena candi- 

 data and Ligdia adustata (i). In some 

 parts of the old forest Apatura iris has been 

 taken, or rather seen, pretty freely, but we 

 did not succeed even in seeing a single 

 specimen, much, I assure you, to my regret, 

 as I have never yet seen this glorious species 

 on the wing. 



West Woods, about three miles in the 



opposite direction to that of Rabley Copse, 

 is a rather extensive woodland, but not so 

 favourably situated for the entomologist as 

 the latter place, it is barer of undergrowth, 

 and is strictly preserved. Of course 

 some species will be peculiar to the two 

 places, but dnring my short stay I did not 

 take any species of Lepidoptera in West 

 Woods which I did not take or see in Rably 

 Copse. 



The river side and the ponds upon the 

 Downs furnished a few species of Caddis 

 flies, but to work this order properly would 

 require a person's whole attention. The 

 river is a gentle stream with plenty of plants 

 growing in the bed and upon the margins, 

 and is a place where I should expect to 

 find a good number of species of Phry- 

 ganidcB. 



One thing which I particularly noticed 

 was the scarcity of Micro-lepidoptera. I 

 met with very few species either of Tor- 

 tricina or Tineina, but whether this was the 

 fault of the district or of the season, I can- 

 not say. 



Larvae were also scarce. We tried beat- 

 ing one half-day, but our captures in that 

 line included nothing worth a pill-box. The 

 best thing that fell into my umbrella was a 

 dried cast-off skin, which I believe had 

 belonged to Acronyeta alni — this was found 

 in Rabley Copse. 



Of the plants of the district I can say 

 very little, I had not time to devote to every- 

 thing, but I was particularly struck with 

 the number of Orchids. To convey some 

 idea of the number of botanical specimens 

 to be found here, to my botanical friends at 

 home, I laid down in the forest and by so 

 doing covered sixteen specimens of Orchis 

 maculata and two or three of Lasteria ovata. 

 1 also noticed a very peculiar thistle quite 

 unknown to me, the flower of which sprung 

 directly from a rosette of leaves close to the 

 ground, and without any stem. 



Of beetles I did not get many species, and 



