liAKDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



123 



and it is a good plan to get to wiudward of them — 

 anything like flurry will be fatal to success. 



Moths which fly by day may be chased in the 

 same manner, but some may be observed disporting 

 tliemselves round trees ; these must be watched, 

 and netted as they now and 'then descend. Others 

 fly at a very low altitude, and are only brought 

 into the field of vision by our assumption of the 

 recumbent position. At night again, though we 

 watch for anything stirring in the air, among the 

 trees or the herbage, our tactics are somewhat 

 modified ; for if the insect be of whitish colour, we 

 should so place ourselves that its form will stand 

 boldly out against a mass of dark foliage, whereas, 

 if it be dingy in hue, we must take the sky for our 

 background. 



Disturbing insects, and thus causing them to 

 start forth, and so render themselves visible, is 

 another metliod of collecting. This is carried out 

 in various ways. 



First, the occupants of high trees may be ex- 

 pelled by jarring the trunk with a heavily-loaded 

 mallet, or by tliwacking the trunk with a long 

 hazel stick; but a sharp look-out must be kept, 

 for some sham death, and fall plump down, while 

 others make off as fast as they can. Other plans 

 are to pelt the trees with stones, or pump on them 

 with a powerful garden-engine, or beat them with 

 a long pole ; and of all trees the most profitable for 

 this purpose is the yew ; though firs, oaks, beeches, 

 and other trees are not to be despised. 



Tor beating bushes there is nothing better than 

 a walking-stick, and for low herbage a long switch 

 passed quickly from side to side with a tapping 

 movement is best adapted. The tenants of tree 

 trunks may be disturbed by brushing the surface 

 •with a leafy little bough, or, better still, by the 

 use of a strong fan, with which a powerful blast 

 may be driven, the net being held in such a posi- 

 tion as to intercept such insects as are blown off. 



Thatch-beating in the autumn is a very profitable 

 employment, particularly in the matter of Depres- 

 sarue. Sweeping need only be mentioned here, for 

 motlis collected by the process are anything but 

 perfect insects. 



There are various methods of attracting moths 

 and butterflies. The first is effected by confining a 

 virgin female in a muslin cage, 

 the frame of which may be very 

 eadily formed by bending three 

 V^^^-s — -{/ pieces of cane into circles, and 



\,\. J y fixing these together at right 

 . \, angles, as shown in fig. 77. 



Frame of Cage for When this baited cage is placed 

 Virgin Lepidoptera. -^ ^ favourable position, and the 

 weather is propitious for the flight of the males, 

 the latter will, in some cases, congregate, and may 

 be freely captured. 



Then, the food-plant of the species is an attraction 



UA—T~A « 



at whicli we stand the best chance of procuring 

 impregnated females. 



Various kinds of blooms possess alluring quali- 

 ties for insects : of these, sallow and ivy are the 

 greatest favourites with collectors. They should 

 be worked after dusk by means of a lantern and 

 net ; but the combination of a lantern fixed to a 



Fig. 78. Lautern and Net. 



long stick, with a shallow net beneath and a little in 

 advance of it, as sliowu in the cut, is the apparatus 

 best adapted for the purpose ; the object of the 

 net being to intercept any insects which may hap- 

 pen to fall under the stimulus of light. These 

 attractions should be first well searched over and 

 afterwards, a sheet (split if necessary) having been 

 carefully s])read bslow the bushes, a gentle shaking 

 should be administered. Besides these blossoms, 

 heather, ragwort, bugloss, catchfl}', bramble, various 

 grasses, and a vast number of ctlier flowers, are 

 wonderfully attractive. In working patches of 

 bloom we should remain stationary and strike as 

 the visitors arrive. Again, over-ripe fruit, the 

 juicy buds of-certain trees, sap exuding from wounds 

 in trees, are aU more or less attractive. The secre- 

 tion of aphides, commonly called honey-dew, ob- 

 servable in hot seasons on the leaves of nettles and 

 various other plants and trees, is also well worth 

 attention, and is at times very productive of insects. 

 Sugaring is the next attraction, and a very im- 

 portant one it is. "Sugar" may be prepared by 

 boiling up equal quantities of coarse " foots " 

 sugar and , treacle in a sufiieieut quantity of stale 

 beer, a small quantity of rum being added previous 

 to use, and also, if considered advisable, a flavouring 

 of jargonelle pears, anise-seed, or ginger-grass. This 

 mixture should be applied by means of a small 

 paint-brush to the trunks of trees, to foliage, flowers, 

 tufts of grass, or indeed to any object which may 

 present a suitable surface ; for in some localities we 

 are put to shift to kuow whereto spread our sweets. 

 This operation should be performed just before 

 dusk, and soon afterwards the baited spots should 

 be visited and, by the aid of a lantern gently turned 

 on them, examined, a net being held beneath the 

 while. The best form of net for the purpose is 

 formed by socketing two paragon wires into a Y- 

 piece and connecting their diverging extremities 



G 2 



