Most of the moths met with are also hybernators, but a few species are to be found only at this season, and these should be looked for on fences and tree trunks. A few Noctuæ may be taken at sugar, and the Geometræ attracted by lights.
The only larvæ now existing are hybernators, and many of these may be met with during your pupa-digging operations; but they are best left alone till the spring, as a rule.
The chief work of the entomologist in November is certainly pupa hunting, and this may be carried on in real earnest whenever the weather is favourable, following the instructions given in [Chapter VII].
It will be remembered, also, that many of the Lepidoptera pass the winter in the egg state, and search may be made for ova when time permits.
The November list, besides some of the hybernating species previously mentioned, include:
- Bombyces.
- December (Populi)
- Noctuæ.
- Genus Cerastis
- Satellite (Satellitia)
- Dotted Chestnut (Rubiginea)
- Orange Upperwing (Croceago)
- Brindled Ochre (Exempli)
- Geometræ.
- Feathered Thorn (Pennaria)
- Scarce Umber (Aurantiaria)
- Mottled Umber (Defoliaria)
- Winter (Brumata)
- Northern Winter (Boreata)
DECEMBER
Outdoor work is now at a minimum. The weather is too severe, as a rule, to allow pupa digging to be carried on with either success or comfort, but favourable opportunities should be seized for this employment as well as for ova collecting.
Now and again we may meet with P. Populi at rest by day, or fluttering round a light at night. Brumata and Defoliaria may also be seen, and the Early Moth (Rupicapraria) may appear on the wing before the new year; but nothing is likely to be met with beyond these save the hybernators, already named in other lists, and some of the Tineæ.