388 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



ledge of the creatures' natural surroundings, and this know- 

 ledge can only be obtained by those lengthy observations in 

 the field which are usually made by tbe naturalist whilst 

 he is engaged in collecting and searching out rare species in 

 their natural habitats. 



That moths and other nocturnal insects are attracted by 

 light is a fact familiar to most people, but the experienced 

 collector desires to turn this habit to good account. To do 

 this effectively much depends on the surroundings of the col- 

 lector's residence, and if his house happens to have a window 

 facing an extensive area of virgin forest or swamp valuable 

 results may be reasonably anticipated. If practicable a power- 

 ful lamp should be exhibited immediately outside the window 

 of the collecting-room, as this has a very extensive range, and 

 another lamp placed on a table just inside the window. The 

 usual accessories — net, bottle, pins, Sec — should, of course, be 

 easily available. With regard to the most suitable times for 

 lighting up, I cannot do better than quote from the late Mr. 

 Stainton : — 



" Next, two particular points have to be borne in mind — 

 First, you cannot collect by light on bright moonlight nights ; 

 you must notice when the moon rises and sets, and light up 

 accordingly. Second, you cannot collect by light if your 

 window faces the wind, for moths fly against the wind, and if 

 the wind is west you must put your light on the east side of 

 the house, or if the wind is east you must have your attracting- 

 room on the west side of the house. Moths begin to come to 

 light as soon as it gets dark, and continue coming for some 

 time — indeed, occasional stragglers will come throughout the 

 night ; the collector might therefore, with advantage, remain 

 in his collecting-room till daybreak, ready to secure every 

 specimen the moment it appeared, for some only remain for a 

 short time in the vicinity of the light and then fly away, and 

 others, which remain quietly enough half the night, fly away 

 before daybreak. However, if the collector does not wish to 

 sacrifice his whole night's rest at the shrine of science, let him 

 go to bed about midnight, and let him revisit his collecting- 

 room an hour or two before daybreak to secure any specimens 

 which have come in during the night. On some nights moths 

 come veritably in troops to the light — Bombyccs, Noctua., 

 Gcomeira, Pyralcs, Tortrices, Tinea,, and PteropJiori — it is a 

 mad race which shall come in ; but these gala nights are very 

 scarce — sometimes there will not be above three such nights 

 in a year. And here is shown the necessity for the collector, 

 who wishes to attract insects by light, to attend systemati- 

 cally, for the good nights cannot be distinguished by our 

 senses from the bad ones, and if he only lights up now and 

 then, instead of regularly, he will be almost sure to miss the 



