38 LIST OF LEPIDOPTERA. 



whole entomological careerP Take again D. ceruleocephala. Every hawthorn 

 hedge swarms with the conspicuous larvae of this species; yet, during seven 

 years collecting, I never saw a specimen of it on the wing, and I doubt not 

 that many others are in the same predicament. In fact, as regards the Bom- 

 byces, I conceive that I do not exaggerate in asserting, that nine-tenths of the 

 specimens in our cabinets have been produced from the egg, larva, or pupa, 

 that is, have been obtained in one or other of those stages of their existence. 

 It is unquestionably true that an occasional capture is made on the trunks 

 of trees, on palings, or at light; but if some of our collectors, (who keep one 

 or two rows of each species,) trusted to this method of supplying their wants, 

 they would painfully realize the truth of the saying, that "hope deferred 

 maketh the heart sick." Can any one explain the cause or causes of the 

 paucity of this order in the perfect state? We have all heard or read of ivy- 

 hunting, sallow bloom, sugaring, pupa-digging, etc., and these subjects are 

 well-nigh exhausted; but it still remains open to the enthusiastic aspirant after 

 Entomological honours to disclose to us the habits, haunts, and "favourite 

 varieties" of the Bombyces in the last stage of their existence. It is said, I 

 know, that they come to light. I think I have tried that method as perse- 

 veringly as most people; but, with the exception of, at the outside, a dozen 

 species, and those very common, I never found a Bombyx come to light. 

 Besides, the few that do come are generally males, and they are so irritable 

 in their tempers, and excitable in their movements, that it is no easy matter 

 to capture them. When this feat is at length accomplished, and the stupified 

 insect (which is almost sure to be found lying on its back) is examined, there 

 meets the expectant collector's eager gaze a — but I need not go farther; every 

 one knows what I mean. We have a very remarkable exception to the above 

 observatious in one of the Sphingidce, namely, S. convolvuli, which, though 

 not unfrequently observed in the perfect state, has very rarely been taken in 

 the preceding stages in this country. Mr. Weaver once found the larva near 

 Birmingham, I believe; and I myself, when in Gloucestershire, once bred a 

 fine specimen from a pupa found in my garden. — These are the only cases I 

 know of. 



N.B. — I think Mr. Greene's remarks about the scarcity of this and other 

 Bombyces in the imago state, arises principally from the simple difficulty of 

 getting them at night, their habits being so different from those of the Noc- 

 tua or Geometrce. Having no spiral tongue, they do not of course come to 

 ivy, sallow, or sugar. They do not, as a rule, fly about in twilight, like the 

 Geometrce, but many of them, such as L. griseola, complana, complanula, and 

 stramineola, L. chrysorrhea, O. pudibunda, P. populi, cassinea, etc., come 

 here freely to light; while several other species are beaten or found on trunks 

 and palings abundantly. (B.) 



I have not very unfrequently taken the <£ D y putting a candle at 

 my bed-room window. This and several other of the Bombyces, e.g. P. 

 cassinea and P. populi, do not, I think, fly till an hour or two after dark, 

 and can only be attracted by a very bright light. There is a row of six or 

 seven gas-lamps just outside this town. About a fortnight since Mr. Bree and 

 myself turned out about half-past nine p.m., to examine them. They were all 



