40 MR. A. J. T. JANSE : HOW TO COLLECT AND 



nuiiiy likely-looking places are sometimes painfully dis- 

 appointing. M}^ experience is that thickly wooded places 

 are generally unproductive ; this, I think, is not because they 

 are not rich in lepidopterous life, but because it is difficult to 

 see the insects and get them when one does. 



The net must be used with a quick sweej) and in such a 

 way that the insect is caught right at the bottom of the net. 

 Then with a quick turn of the handle this part is folded well 

 over the ring. Care is necessary not to confine the butterfly 

 in too small a space, as unless the wings are folded it will 

 flutter and spoil itself to some extent. Ijarge butterflies 

 may, whilst in the net, be given a sharp pinch at the thorax 

 to paralyse the wing muscles ; this does not kill as some 

 seem to think. Specimens must be transferred at once to the 

 killing-bottle by introducing the open bottle into the net and 

 allowing the insect to fly or drop into it. This done, double 

 the net over the mouth of the bottle, put the cork loosely on 

 top of it ; this enables one to withdraw the net without risking 

 the escape of the insect. Moths caught in the net, and also 

 small butterflies, should be transferred into the bottle in the 

 same way, but icitJiout pinchiuf^, as such treatment would, in 

 most instances, spoil the insect. 



Moths as a rule hide in the daytime, and it is. therefore as 

 well to carry a long stick in one hand with which to stir up 

 the leaves and branches, having the net ever ready for action 

 when something flies up. This method requires very quick 

 action with the net, and for it the small net with short handle 

 will ])rove the most effective, as there is less risk in catching 

 branches or, worse still thorns, with the net just at the 

 moment when something good turns up. On the whole the 

 moth-hunter will not get a big collection in the daytime, but 

 he will often be rewarded by securing interesting specimens 

 which might not have been obtained otherwise. Moreover, 

 cator[)illar hunting might well be combined with day 

 collecting, a branch thereof which I consider so important 

 that I hope to give a special chapter on it later. 



The great difficulty in day collecting is not only how to 

 get the desired specimens, but also how to bring them home 



