3 



CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS THE ENTOMOLOGY 

 OF AMBLESIDE. 



GEO. T. PORRITT, F.L.S., F.E.S., 



Crosland Hal 1 ., near Huddersfield . 



From 5th to 12th June last, I enjoyed a very pleasant week's 

 collecting- at Ambleside and its immediate neighbourhood, the 

 rivers Rothay and Brathay receiving perhaps the largest share 

 of attention. In so essentially a water district the Trichoptera 

 and aquatic Neuroptera were much in evidence, and a good deal 

 of time was devoted to them. As on our Yorkshire rivers of 

 similar character the Odonata were unaccountably ill repre- 

 sented, and the only two species taken were the fine Cordulegaster 

 annulatus at Grasmere, and the small but equally pretty Agrion 

 cyathigemm. Of Perlidse the big species of Perla were common 

 on the Rothay ; I think both P. maxima and P. cephalotes (as 

 is the case on the Wharfe in Yorkshire), but as I do not appear 

 to have retained any of the specimens, as I ought to have done, 

 I cannot speak with absolute certainty on such closely-allied 

 insects. Chloroperla grammatica, Isopteryx torrentium, I. tri- 

 punctala, and A 7 emoura cinerea were all plentiful on the rivers 

 and streams. Chrysopa alba abounded in Milbeckstock Wood, 

 Bowness, where also an odd C. vittata was noted, but neither 

 species was seen elsewhere. Of Trichoptera Ecclisopteryx 

 guttulata swarmed on all the streams and rivers, and excepting 

 perhaps Agapetus comatus, on Rothay river, was the most 

 abundant species. Gcera pilosa, however, did not come very far 

 behind the two in point of numbers ; and on the side of Lake 

 Windermere, at the Ambleside end, Lepidostoma hirta was in 

 profusion. The other species included Phryganea striata, Limno- 

 philus rhombicus, L. auricula, and L. extricatus, Silo pallipes, 

 Mystacides azurea, Hy dropsy che instabilis, Plectrocnemia con- 

 spersa, Polycentropusfiavomaculatus, Tinodes wceneri, Rhyacophila 

 dorsalis, Glossosoma vernale, and Sericostoma personatum. But 

 little interest was taken in lepidoptera, but the always attrac- 

 tively beautiful Melanthia albicillata forced itself on attention 

 from its numbers almost wherever one went. Apamea unanimis 

 was abundant at the head of Lake Windermere ; Corycia 

 temerata, Asthena luteata, Halias prasinana, the yellow variety 

 of Cidaria russata [comma-notatd) which in my experience is 

 rarely met with in the north, though frequent in the south ; 



1902 January i. 



