THE SUBSTITUTE. 
93 
to the rearing of larvae. The pur- 
suit and capture of a moth, its 
preservation, and the ascertaining 
of its species, from their peculiar 
attraction, will always have nume- 
rous votaries ; but mere moth col- 
lectors know not of the charm 
there is in rearing a caterpillar, in 
noticing its food and manner of 
eating, day by day observing its 
changes and its disposition, which 
is as variable as in the genus 
Homo, and in watching its mode 
of spinning its web, and its progress 
towards transition ; the rapturous 
anxiety to distinguish the insect 
when emerged produces reflection 
that does not subside with the day. 
In May and June I have done 
best along hedgerows: the thorn 
abounds with Geometrina larvae, 
most of which require but little 
feeding ; they soon go up and soon 
come out. In July I prefer the 
oak-woods. August is a grand 
month for that glorious larva- 
feediiig tree, the alder; the best 
Geometrina larvas I ever captured 
were from alders growing in boggy 
ground. Wild, uncultivated, bar- 
ren districts, mosses and the vicin- 
age of a river, are excellent situa- 
tions for good insects ; from almost 
every tree growingin such localities 
larvae may be expected. The end 
ofAugust, the whole of September, 
and the first half of October, is the 
larva-collector’s real harvest. For 
many years during this period was 
I knee-deep in dew at five o’clock, 
and from two or three hours after, 
on each dry morning, beating the 
trees, shrubs and hedges. Early 
in the morning is a better time for 
capturing larvoa than during the 
day: one instance I will adduce, 
which will make the reason ap- 
parent: I beat a low-growing pop- 
lar during the day unsuccessfully ; 
passing the same tree at an early 
hour next morning I saw a Sme- 
rinthus Pupuli feeding; on taking 
it off I discovered a Notodonta 
ziczac full-grown. Now where 
were the two caterpillars the day 
before ? They certainly were not 
out feeding. The sallows growing 
in hedges are good bushes for 
larvae. Going along a lane di- 
verging from the Warwick Road 
to the river Eden, about three 
miles from Carlisle, I captured 
seventeen Cerurce from the sallows 
growing in the lane and adjoining 
fields, all furcula. I have only 
bred three species of Cerura, viz., 
vimila, furcula, and what was for- 
merly called latifascia. In a field 
in the neighbourhood of Houghton 
Moss I came to some low bushes, 
two or three feet high, of a sallow 
growing near the hedge ditch, and 
about twenty or thirty yards apart ; 
from these I captured thirteen 
larvae of Clostera reclusa. On the 
confines of Scaleby Moss I ob- 
tained C. curtula off the willow : 
these are the only species of Clos- 
tera that have come under my 
notice. There is one species of 
willow growing in hedges, which 
has a dark green, shiny leaf, that 
I have beat in vain : I could never 
detect animal life on this bush. 
There is more intelligence in a 
caterpillar than many people are 
aware of. In a former ‘Note’ I 
recorded an anecdote of a patriotic 
caterpillar, Leiocanipa, of a sturdy 
old English disposition, preferring 
death to captivity : I also registered 
an anecdote of a viciously disposed 
caterpillar, whose malevolence was 
equal to anything we have heard 
of since Cain’s time, — the genus 
of this caterpillar I cannot posi- 
tively affirm, as I lost the fratri- 
cide — the fact remains the same. 
