Zoology. 149 



strongly recommend, as sure to execute any commissions entrusted to him, 

 in the most exact and honourable manner. 



Francs. 



Calyptra thah'ctri - - 7 



Pliisia div^rgens - - 2 



ain - . . 3 



Amphipyra spectrum - 2 



Deil^phila hipp6phaes - 3 



Tespertflio - - 5 



Macroglossa cenothf;rae - 2 



Eyprepla pudica - - 3 



gratibsa - -3 



plantaginis - > 1^ 



Zygfe'na lav^ndulee - - 1 



infausta - - li 



Besides the above, M. Prevost Duval can supply upwards of 600 species 

 of Lcpidoptera, and as many Coleoptera, of the Swiss Alps, the south of 

 France, and Germany, at prices varying from 1 to 15 francs each, according 

 to their rarity, of all which he will send lists on application. His address 

 is, M. Auguste Prevost Duval, Geneva. — W, S. Geneva, Aug. 27. 1830. 



A humane Method of depriving Insects y intended for Specimens , of Life.- — 

 In a bottle, which I should recommend to be made with a wide mouth, for 

 the purpose of more easy introduction of the larger species, put a quantity 

 of common smelling-salts. In a few minutes after the insect is confined in 

 this bottle its death will ensue. — -J". Reed. Bridgewater, Nov. 25. 1830. 



ICiUing large Insects. — As many of your young entomological readers 

 may have found equal difficulty with myself in ascertaining the readiest 

 method of killing the larger moths when captured, I trust you will excuse 

 my troubling you with the following remarks for insertion in your excellent 

 Magazine. In the Journal of a Naturalist, prussic acid is suggested; but 

 that is not only very expensive, but a most dangerous thing to have any 

 dealings with. I have tried hot water, steam, hot needles, ether, sulphur, 

 aquafortis, &c., but found none so decidedly effective as oxalic acid, which 

 I thus apply : — First shape a nice small quill into the form of a very sharp- 

 pointed blind pen (i. e. a pen without split) ; then seize your moth with the 

 finger and thumb between the wings on the under side, holding it with its 

 head towards you, firmly but with as little pressure as possible. Then dip 

 your pen-shaped quill into the acid, and run it into its thorax, just below 

 the head, or between the first pair of legs ; and, after two or three quick 

 applications, the moth will be found perfectly dead. This is not only 

 the most humane and expeditious, but very economical, as two-pence 

 worth of acid would be sufficient to destroy subjects to fill a whole cabi- 

 net. As I am writing for the information of your young fi-iends, I may be 

 excused adding that oxalic acid, when purchased at the druggist's, is in the 

 form of crystals ; it must, therefore, be reduced to a liquid by a little water. 

 I am. Sir, &c. — An Entomological Amateur. London, July 21. 1830. 



A Battle of Ants. — On the IGth of last May, I was walking in the garden 

 before breakfast, when my attention was attracted by an unusual assem- 

 blage of ants in the gravel-walk ; the species, I believe, was that of which 

 Huber, in his Historic of Ants, has given a representation, and is called by him 

 i^ormica fusca. On a closer examination I found they were fighting ; they 

 were collected in groups of forty or fifty, running rapidly about, and then 

 stopping and pulling each other with their mandibles. The field of battle 

 did not extend over a surface of more than 3 ft. square, and there were 

 probably five or six groups all eagerly contending with each other. After 

 watching them with much attention for about half an hour, I was called 

 in to breakfast ; and on returning, after a lapse of twenty minutes, the 

 Mttle was still raging. How long the conflict lasted I am unable to say^ 

 for when I first saw them they evidently had been some time engaged ia 

 • • . - X 3 



