The insect hunter's companion : being instructions for collecting and preserving butterflies and moths and comprising an essay on pupa digging

Abstract

Lithosia quadra. Occasionally. Spun up on palings in the neighbourhood of oak trees covered with lichens ; also, occasionally, in the crevices of the hark. End of June. Lithosia griseola. May he found under moss on lichen-bearing trees, preferring, however, poplars. June. Arctia lubricipeda and Menthastri. Common. Spun up in loose rubbish collected about the roots of various trees. October, Ac. It is perhaps almost unnecessary to sav that the larvae do not feed on trees, but various low-growing plants. Arctia mendica. Rarely. Under moss on trees bor¬ dering damp ditches. Gloucestershire. October, Ac. Liparis monacha. This singular chrysalis may be found by examining the trunks of oaks, in the crevices of the bark of which tree it spins up. End of July. Orgyia pudibunda. The conspicuous yellow cocoon of this species is easily detected among loose rubbish col¬ lected about the roots of trees; sometimes under loose bark. The larva is polyphagous, and consequently the pupa may be found at various trees, prefening, I think, oak and elm. October, &c. Orgyia Coryli. Very plentifully under moss on beech: generally at the roots, and not on the trunk. October, Ac. Bucks. Eiiogaster lanestris. I was much surprised at finding two pupse of this pretty insect at the roots of an elm: I thought it was exclusively a hawthorn-feeder, but there was no hawthorn at all near at hand. October, Ac. Trichiura Cratsegi. The compact egg-shaped cocoon PUPA DIGGING. * * PUPA DIGGING. 12 PUPA DIGGING. closely resembles that of Psi, will be found firmly glued to the surface. The cocoon is formed of decayed wood. October, £c. Acronycta Aceris. Five: all on oak. not sycamore. October. &c. Acronycta Ligustri. Abundant under moss on ash trees. The moss must be very carefully tom off: the pupa-case, which is black and very tough, not hard, will in most cases be found adhering to the moss: if there be no moss, examine the trunk. There are often long perpendicular slits in the bark of ash trees, and this is a favourite hybemaculum for Ligustri. If both moss and loose bark are wanting, go to another tree. October, &c. Acronycta Leporina. Beneath loose bark on alders. Derbyshire. % Ceropacha Or. Very rarely under moss and dry rub¬ bish on and about poplars. October, &c. Gloucester¬ shire. Ceropacha ocularis. Of this rare and beautiful species I took, last autumn, four; up to the present time I have taken nine more, four being unfortunately stung. The pupa is black and stout (something like Coryli), enclosed in an extremely delicate open network of a rusty brown colour: it is very difficult to find; it frequently, nay generally, spins on the surface of spreading moss, or barely beneath it-sometimes between two leaves; in this latter case it is soon blown away, and, in the former, falls an easy prey to the first prowling mouse: it should, therefore, he sought for as soon as possible after the change: this, I think, should certainly not be later than PUPA DIGGING. 13 the first week in October. Various poplars. [I paid a visit in the autumn of 1861 to my o...

Alfred Eaton: a Victorian naturalist at the ends of the world

“…2). His growing interest in entomology is evident in the following passage, in which the teenaged Eaton paraphrased helpful instructions in The insect-hunter's companion (Greene 1863): "Look out for a large tree standing alone in a park or meadow. The trees best suited are poplars, willows, oaks, birches, beeches, ashes and hawthorns.…”