THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 189 



net or when bottled. Most of the Noctuids contented themselves with 

 crawling about the net, and quite a number feigned death • the presence 

 of a Plusia in the net could almost always be told by the noise it made 

 in flying. 



First bottling the lively ones as they flew up the side of the net, I 

 would then shake or gather the rest into a corner, and then, putting my 

 wide-mouthed bottle in, I would run it up the slope of the bottom side of 

 the net and everything would tumble or be scooped into it. Of course, 

 during the whole process the net had to be held up against the sky, and 

 I managed to keep it at the right elevation and steadiness by gripping 

 the end of the stick between my knees. This allowed me the free use 

 of both hands for securing the catch. 



Even on quite cool evenings — when before dark hardly a thing had 

 been noticed on the wing — quite a number would still be swept off the 

 flowers, and they were even more sluggish than usual. 



As in "sugaring," the number of species taken, outside of the 

 Noctuidse, did not amount to anything. 



As the catch of the evening was, to a great extent, an unknown 

 quantity — as to the species taken, not the numbers — the anticipation of 

 the " output " on arrival home was decidedly pleasurable, and, till the 

 novelty wore off, rather exciting. 



Plusias were not taken in any great abundance by this method ; in 

 fact, the majority of those captured during my visit were netted before 

 dark. 



The plants or flowers off which the moths were swept were as follows : 



Wild bergamot or horsemint {Monarda fistulosa, var. mollis). 



Scotch thistle {C?iiais imdnlatus). 



Spreading dogbane {Apocynum androscemifoliiim). 



Wild sunflower {Heliaiithus rigldus). 



Species of golden-rod, of which Solidago rigidiis appeared the most 

 attractive. 



Of the above, the wild bergamot, while it lasted, was, without doubt, 

 the most alluring. It seems to grow pretty generally over the prairie, 

 both in the open and in open bush, especially among clumps of silver- 

 bush. 



Unfortunately, during my second visit very little of it remained in 

 bloom, but the wild sunflower was everywhere in profusion. 



On July 15th I took my first specimen of Plusia insolita, and on 



