THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 107 



trees and after dubk I made a second visit. There was quite an assem- 

 blage observed for this time of the season. Xylina u?iimoda, laticinerea, 

 antennata and Beihunei, Scopelosoma Moffatiaiia, iristigmata, sidjis and 

 Morrisoiii were among tlie captures. Mr. Marloff, in addition to some of 

 these, took two Scopelosoma devia. The foregoing may suffice to show 

 under what conditions collecting may be done, and I will record a few 

 observations and experiments made to test the ability of these moths to 

 withstand cold. 



Of the captures made on my last trip on January 2nd, some twenty 

 Scopelosoma were taken from the jars upon my return home and left to 

 recover. One after the other they came back to life, vibrated their wings 

 for a while and took flight. Soon my room reminded me of a warm 

 summer evening, when the collecting lamp brings in dozens of specimens, 

 with these creatures bobbing along the ceiling. This fancy, however, was 

 disproved by the whistling wind outdoors, giving warning of the approach- 

 ing blizzard. The temperature dropped rapidly and snow made its 

 appearance. I captured a dozen specimens and let them fly out. Three 

 of these were found the next morning, frozen to the floor of the porch, and 

 two imbedded in snow which had drifted against the side of the house. All 

 specimens were brought into the room and placed near the stove. Those 

 which had the protection of the snow at once made feeble movements, and 

 in less than fifteen minutes flew to the window. The specimens found 

 frozen to the floor and exposed to the cold wind over night did not 

 recover. 



One of the remaining specimens in the house was found one morning 

 frozen in a thin sheet of ice which had formed in a vessel. It was placed 

 near the stove to thaw out and soon crawled about. After a rest in a 

 warm position for half an hour, it flew away to the window, none the worse 

 for its experience. The wonderful vitality of this creature surprised me, 

 and I decided on a more severe test. h. specimen was immersed in water 

 and this left to freeze into a solid lump of ice. With the exception of the 

 upper part of the thorax, the specimen was encrusted in ice. It was left 

 in this condition for twenty-four hours and then placed in the room to 

 thaw out. When the ice had melted the moth appeared to be dead. It 

 was thoroughly water-soaked and I placed it near the stove to dry off. 

 Feeble movements of its forelegs were observed about an hour later, and 

 gradually it became more active and crawled about. This specimen was 

 kept alive for more than a week. Several times it was placed on a piece 



