THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST 5 



Leopard Moth (Zeuzera pyrina) also belongs to the Cossidae and has recently- 

 become established on Long Island, as a borer in maple and elm. The Oak- 

 Egger and the Lappet are both of the genus Gastropacha and closely akin to the 

 moths of our Apple and Forest Tent caterpillars, all of them being members of 

 the family Lasiocampidae. 



On our next door neighbor's hedge of lime trees we early took two prizes 

 that filled us with delight, though both subsequently proved to be common; 

 one was the handsome Lime Hawk Moth or Sphinx {Smerinthus tiliae) and the 

 other the beautiful Buff Tip Moth {Phalere bucephala) , whose gregarious larvae 

 used to crawl down in marshalled hosts to the fences and side walks; this be- 

 longs to the family Notodontidae, and is next of kin to the famous Puss and 

 Lobster Moths, the extraordinary caterpillars of which were both destined to 

 cross our path at rare intervals, throwing the lucky finder into transports of joy. 



Over one of our own garden fences grew a dense mass of ivy, and here, at 

 rest or on the wing we caught many new kinds of day- and dusk- or night-flying 

 moths; the Yellow Underwing, Swallow-tail, Brimstone, Ermine, Currant, and 

 Vapourer are some that I recall; the female of the last was wingless like a 

 penguin, and the caterpillar a very pretty creature, though its tufts of yellow, 

 and the red-and-black floating hairs that we admired proclaim it to have been 

 of the ill-omened tussock brood. 



A favourite pastime was net-wielding in the garden at night, and one of 

 the most vivid of these 37-year-old memories is our first encounter with the 

 Ghost Moth {Hepialus lupidinus): the male of this creature has a glistening 

 white lustre on the upper surface of its wings and a neutral-tinted yellow-brown 

 on the under; its flight is swift and irregular like a snipe's; in its zig-zag course 

 it presents, now the upper, now the under surfaces of its air-planes in baffling 

 alternation, one moment a dazzling beacon and the next blotted out in some 

 inky pool of darkness; had its position in space been constant like that of a 

 fixed star, or its orbit regular as a planet's we might have tracked it down with 

 the certainty of the rotary lamp on Eddystone Lighthouse, but as it was it 

 would twinkle here and flash again there with all the eccentricity of a runaway 

 comet. Our final capture of this elusive will-o'-the-wisp was a supreme triumph 

 like the landing of a first sea-trout The Rev. J. G. Wood explains in his "Com- 

 mon British Moths," that it is on settling only that the insect disappears, but 

 — experto crede — we knew better- while in full flight across an open lawn, at 

 six or eight feet from the ground, it would often disappear and reappear in a 

 single second of time. 



(To be continued.) 



APPOINTMENT TO ENTOMOLOGICAL BRANCH, OTTAWA. 



Dr. F. C. Craighead, late of the Bureau of Entomology, W^ashington, 

 D.C., arrived at Ottawa at the beginning of the New Year to take up his 

 duties as Entomologist in the Division of Forest Insects. The Branch is very 

 fortunate in securing the services of Dr. Craighead, on account of his wide 

 experience and training. 



