THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST 99 



along the trails, and it was only on the warmer days that they appeared on the 

 snow itself. One of these latter captures, however, presented unmistakable 

 evidence of having recently emerged as it had not yet reached the state when 

 active flight was possible, the wings being soft and not fully developed. It 

 has been suggested that the larvae of this moth might pupate in the dead, partly 

 rotten Avood as Brephos infans is supposed to do, and so perhaps lie above the 

 snow line. Breeding experiments have failed, however, to show any indication 

 of this. Moreover, the open woods in which L. brephoides breeds were in the 

 above instance practically free from necessary dead material. Perhaps not the 

 least interesting point in this moth's habits is the fact that it emerges when the 

 temperature registers but a few degrees above freezing and while the ground 

 upon which the pupae rest must be very close to the freezing point. The moth, 

 however, is thickly clothed with hairs which doubtless help to protect it from 

 the cold. 



Hemileuca lucina var. latifascia B. and McD. 

 This moth is by no means uncommon in the sand dunes near Aweme, Man. 

 The handsome black and yellow caterpillars are at first found in bunches feed- 

 ing upon the low shrubby aspen poplars and later as they attain maturity, 

 scattered singly upon the same type of vegetation. They are often heavily 

 parasitized and, in consequence, the moths only appear in large numbers at 

 intervals of several years. The moth is an unusually handsome one, and its 

 jerky, up and down flight, from whence it gets the name "buck moth," makes 

 it an object of particular interest, flying as it does in broad daylight and during 

 the finer days of autumn. For a long time we found difficulty in securing 

 them. Then in a moment a secret was revealed to us whereby the males were 

 collected with little efi"ort. The moth is, of course, a day flier so that light traps 

 are out of the question ; yet, strange as it may seem, fire still provided the at- 

 tractant, though in a totally different way. The means adopted to obtain the 

 desired end were extremely simple and consisted of lighting a small fire from 

 which sufficient smoke issued to drift "down wand" for about half a mile; in 

 other words, to make a smudge of some dead grass and leaves. Then the 

 collectors would calmly sit near and await the coming of the moths, nor were 

 the latter long in appearing. A moth would be seen dodging backwards and 

 forwards across the smoke as if seeking the strongest part of it, but at the same 

 time steadily moving nearer to its source. Soon it was hovering over the fire 

 and shortly after found a resting place in a convenient cyanide bottle. Others 

 quickly followed, perhaps two or three at once, and the sport became fast and 

 exciting. From what distance these moths came is unknown, but doubtless 

 it was from as far as the smoke remained fresh. A bright, sunny day with a 

 breeze sufficient to keep the smoke low provided the ideal conditions. We 

 noted that these moths came towards the fire without hesitation, and that 

 they invariably flew towards its source as if recognizing at once from whence 

 it came. When actually ov^er the fire they hesitated, hovered over it, and at 

 times flew directly into the flames; on other occasions they recognized the 

 heat sufficiently soon to enable them to "make ofT" before being injured. 



From the fact that only males were enticed it would seem as if the smoke 

 provided some odour or other attracting properties reminding the male of the 

 opposite sex rather than of food. But whether this is so or not cannot 



