40 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



stick, about six feet long, with a hook at one end. With this, the tree is to be 

 thrashed. The hook is useful to shake a branch, when too thick to be beaten. 

 Some collectors take, I believe, a sheet, and spread it beneath the tree to catch the 

 larvae as they fall. This, I think, is unnecessary, as I have found, except when 

 beating over thick brushwood, no difficulty in detecting a caterpillar nor have I 

 ever seen such a number of larva on any tree, as to require a sheet to collect them. 

 Many Geometrae suspend themselves by a thread, when shaken from their resting- 

 place, and are easily observed. I carry with me thirteen or fourteen chip pill boxes 

 (with the top knocked out, and a little gauze substituted) for the purpose of bring- 

 ing the larvae home. A leaf of the tree or plant, on which it has been found, 

 should be placed in the box with the caterpillar, and several may be put to- 

 gether, except where they are carnivorous, as " Stauropus fagi," u Scopelosoma 

 satellitia, " Euperia trapetzina," and some others. When, however, I find so good 

 a larva as the first of these, I generally give him a box to himself. 



PUPA. Digging for pupae is an excellent method of obtaining insects, and pos- 

 sesses the peculiar advantage of being the only way in which the study can be 

 pursued during the winter months. As some remarks of mine upon this subject 

 were read before the Entomological Society (Vide Trans., vol. ii., N. S., part v., 

 and " Zoologist," vol. xi., p. 3,888), I will here recapitulate a few of the more useful 

 hints u The only instrument I use is a common garden trowel. The form is im- 

 material ; perhaps a rounded blade is the best, as passing with greater ease 

 between the roots. The trees, which I have found the most productive, are the fol- 

 lowing: elm, oak, ash, poplar, beech, willow, and alder. With regard to 

 localities, meadows and parks with scattered timber trees are decidedly the best 

 localities ; being near a wood seems no advantage. It is, however, a very curious 

 fact, that the nearer these meadows or parks are to inhabited places, as towns, 

 villages, or even a single farmhouse, the more abundant are the pupae. Next to 

 parks and meadows I place woods. Searching in woods, however, is a tedious and 

 fatiguing affair, and to search successfully requires some experience. Perhaps the 

 following hints may prove useful. It is in vain to examine the dens'e portions ; it is 

 equally vain to dig at the roots of trees in woods, with few exceptions ; and you will 

 rarely find anything except upon trees of considerable growth. The thick moss 

 which collects about the trunks and roots is the part to be examined. Bombyces 

 are generally (almost invariably) found under the moss which covers spreading 

 roots, and not on the trunks. The best localities in woods are the borders and 

 open places. It is curious that such places, when elevated or facing the north, 

 are the most productive. There remains one other locality hedgerows. These 

 may be dismissed in a few words ; it is perfectly useless to try them. I do not think 

 I have found a dozen pupae in such places ; why it should be so, I cannot tell. 

 There are, of course, other localities, but as I have never tried them, I am unable 

 to give any opinion on them. 



u The next point, which may be considered worthy of notice, is the mode of 

 search. This, of course, varies according to locality. In digging, it must be 

 borne in mind, that all pupae lie close to the trunk of the tree ; seldom more than 

 two inches distant. Frequently the trunk of the tree forms one side of the cocoon, 

 especially the cocoon of such insects as spin. Again, pupae lie close to the surface 

 of the earth (I have seen those of ' Smerinthus populi' and ' S. tiliae' half out of 

 the earth ; the larva of ' Calocampa exoleta' is the only one I know of that goes 

 to a considerable depth). Insert, then, the trowel about three inches from the 

 trunk, to the depth of two inches or so ; then push it to the tree, and turn it 

 up. If the soil be dry and friable, without grass, knock it gently with the 

 trowel, which will be sufficient. If, however, there be grass, you must proceed 

 more cautiously ; take up the sod in the left hand, knock it very gently with the 

 trowel, and those pupae which merely enter the ground, will drop out. To find 

 those which spin, you must carefully examine the sod, tearing the roots of the 

 grass asunder ; these are, of course, much the most difficult to find, the cocoons 

 being generally the colour of the earth. I may here remark, that it is useless to try 

 sticky or clayey ground, the caterpillars being unable to penetrate it. In searching 

 under moss, the best plan is to loosen the edge, then to tear it gently off, observing 

 whether any pupse fall. Look at the trunk to see if anything adheres to it, and 



