13 
THE SUBSTITUTE. 
the hills, between Croydon and 
Addington, I took the caterpillars 
of the Emperor Moth off the hea- 
ther: it is a common insect on the 
mosses round Carlisle. Although 
(from a circumstance which T 
shall narrate) I am inclined to 
think that twenty years ago it was 
not known as a native of Cumber- 
land. 1 was on Bownes§ Flow, a 
moss about fourteen miles from 
Carlisle, playfully tapping the tops 
of a heath bush with my stick, 
when the prettiest caterpillar 1 
had then seen rolled to my feet: 
I was in ecstacies, boxed my prize, 
with a bunch of heather as food 
for my ])visoner. In course of 
time my caterpillar underwent his 
transformation, and emerged from 
his cocoon a splendid male Empe- 
ror Moth. Subsequently I have 
taken as many as twelve cater- 
pillars in one (lay, and have found 
them on all the mosses round Car- 
lisle. I will relate a little gossip 
i-especting the Emperor. My in- 
formant (now no more), a worthy 
man, with whom I have traversed 
the fields scores of miles, — Mr. 
Mark Noble, of Carlisle, — was 
looking for larvae on Solway Flow, 
a moss about ten miles north of 
Carlisle, when he captured a fe- 
male Emperor Moth: he put a 
pin through its thorax and stuck 
it in the crown of his hat. Being 
a hot day, and getting somewhat 
tired, he sat down on a stone and 
put his hat on the ground. At 
tliis time there was nothing to be 
seen flying. Presently a male 
Emperor came “ bobbing around ” 
the hat, then another, and ano- 
ther, until he countecl six male 
Emperors flying round him at one 
lime. Now, says Mr. Noble, they 
could not see through my hat, nor 
inside of itj until they were flying 
over it; therefore, the deduction 
is that they smelled their captive 
mate in the hat, and thus were 
sympathising with her forlorn 
condition. 
In searching for larvae, when 
entering a field, I commence at a 
corner and go round the field, 
beating every bush and tree I 
come to, and with every new cater- 
pillar I capture I put a leaf of the 
plant on which it was feeding in 
my box, so that I always know 
what food to give. From some 
birch trees that were growing in a 
hedge on the Kingmoor estate, 
near Carlisle, I obtained about 
thirty caterpillars of the Leio~ 
campa Dirtcea and JJictceoides. I 
took about twenty more that year 
from the birches on Houghton 
Mo.ss, and out of that number I 
only reared six moths, and they 
were all the DicUca. In other 
years I obtained both kinds of 
caterpillars, but could never rear 
a Dictceoidrs. There is no mis- 
taking the difference in the cater- 
pillars of the Dictwa and Dictaoi- 
den — the yellow line on its sides. 
But are they not male and female 
of the same moth ? I tried for 
eight years to rear a Divtceoides, 
and failed, although 1 have had as 
many caterpillars of one as the 
other, and got them full grown in 
September, and ns late as Octo- 
ber. It is a highly sensitive 
caterpillar. I conhl not reconcile 
it to confinement, although I hud 
a box three feet sciuare. I used 
to tempt them with nice bits of 
fresh birch from the tree on whicli 
I took them, but they would not 
be persuaded. Those that were 
ready to change did so us rapidly 
as possible in order to escape from 
