1864.] 057 



over the back by means of a spring. The patent riothes-phi with a 

 small spiral brass spring, has been suggested as well adapted for the 

 purpose, if tied by a string at a proper height above the moth. 



r would also recommend to those who may capture abroad females of 

 our more rare Sphinges, which, from their fresh appearance and dis- 

 tended abdomens, have probably not oviposited, that, instead of depri- 

 ving them of life immediately, there should be introduced within their 

 bodies a sufficient quantity of an oltl solution of ci/anide of potcissiuin.* 

 to permit of their lives being prolonged for a few days. If they have 

 not already deposited their eggs, and their fertilization has taken place, 

 they will, in all probability, relieve themselves of a liberal portion be- 

 fore dying.'l' 



A fine specimen of the rare Smerinthus Mi/ops Sm. and Ab.. taken 

 the past season by Mr. Charles A. Doolittle. of this city, and kindly 

 presented to me, after having been pinned as above, deposited a number 

 of eggs, but unfortunately, the larvae from them were not observed in 

 time to supply them with their requisite food. 



Sphinx Kalmia Sm. and Ab. 

 Larva. 3 in. long, cylindrical, segments indistinctly annulated. 



■*An aqueous solution of cyanide of potassium, is probably the most efficient 

 chemical agent, of which the collector can avail himself, for the prompt de- 

 struction of insect life. For its full efficiency, the solution should be newly 

 made. If kept for any length of time, it should be excluded from the light, and 

 tightly corked immediately upon using it. Such is the avidity with which it 

 seizes upon acids, that after a few openings of the bottle, the amount of carbonic 

 acid which it has drawn from the atmosphere, is sufficient for its decomposition. 



To use it most advantageously, prick it in the thorax of the insect beneath 

 the wing, with a thorn from the iloney Locust {Gleditschia triacanthus) — the 

 regular taper of which constitutes its peculiar merit. Partially withdraw the 

 thorn, that the solution may flow from the point into the wound. A single in- 

 sertion will almost instantaneously destroy the life of a small insect : for a 

 Sphinx, it would need to be repeated. 



f As the above recommendation of a lingering death may reach the eye of 

 some who would regard it as liable to the charge of cruelty, it may be proper 

 to accompany it with the statement of an established physiological fact, well 

 known to Entomologists, — that from certain peculiarities of nervous structure, the 

 Insect world is almost without the consciousness of pain — a most benificent provi- 

 sion, in view of their liability to injury, and the general destruction to which 

 they seem doomed, from birds, fishes, and the more rapacious members of their 

 own class. 



