COLLECTING AND PRESERVING INSECTS BANKS. 



87 



Fig. 133.— An Arctiid moth, Utethei- 



SA BELLA. 



No other insects should be placed in the cyanide jar used to collect 

 Lepidoptera, as the latter will be injured, and the other insects eon red 

 with scales. After the specimens are dead (hey should not remain 

 longer in the cyanide bottle, else the yellow will turn to red. They 

 should be pinned or papered in the field. 



Many moths can be taken at night, and a trap light, as elsewhere 

 described, is the best way to secure a lot of line material. Sugaring, 

 as described on page 47, is a prolific 

 means of collecting moths. Many moths, 

 as Catocalas and Geometrids, rest on the 

 trunks of trees during the daytime. By 

 carefully examining trees one can train 

 the eyes to notice these insects when the 

 casual collector would not see them. Mr. 

 Merrick has devised a bottle with a trap 

 spring cover attached to a pole for collecting Catocalas on trees above 

 one's reach. It is described and figured in Entomological News. 

 vol. 12, page 169. 



The males of some of the larger moths are attracted to a female 

 inclosed in a gauze cage, which ma} T be exposed on warm, moist 

 nights. In late summer and fall many moths rest upon dead leaves 

 in the woods and fly up as one advances. One should be careful not to 

 sweep up the leaves when one takes them, for the leaves will rub the 

 specimens. Many of the smaller moths when captured in a net will 

 partly w T alk and partly fly up the sides, and so may be taken in a small 

 cyanide tube. The best way of obtaining perfect specimens of Lepi- 

 doptera is by rearing them. The caterpillars should be collected in a 

 tin box, with a bit of their food plant, and taken home and placed in 

 a breeding jar or cage. Directions for rearing are given elsewhere. 



Many moths visit flow r ers at 

 night; by going to patches of 

 bloom one may often secure va- 

 rieties; the willow bloom in 

 spring is very attractive; in fact, 

 most flowers have some noctur- 

 nal visitants. 



In collecting pupse a trowel is 

 one of the best tools. The best 

 time is from August 15 on till November. They may be in soft soil or 

 debris at base of trees, under dead leaves, among fallen pine needles, 

 in rotten wood, in chinks of the bark of trees, or on the tree between 

 fastened leaves. Arctiids (fig. 158) often pupate under t he edge of 

 stones, boards, etc. The .pupae should be disturbed as little as 

 possible, and taken up with the leaves or bark to which they are 

 attached. Pupa? should be placed in boxes with surroundings 



& 



Fig. 134. — A canker-worm moth, Alsophila po- 

 metaria: a, Male moth: b, female moth; c, d. 



ENLARGED PARTS. 



