COLLECTING OVA, LABV.E, AND rUP.E 107 



As further aids to larviT searching; we may mention that many 

 species — chiefly of the Noctii ce — hide under the surface of the ground 

 or among dense and low herbage during the day, and come out to 

 feed only by night ; that many others feed on roots, and are there- 

 fore seldom seen above the surface of the soil ; also that a good 

 number burrow into fruits, in the interior of which they spend the 

 whole of their larval stage. The best way to seciue the latter is to 

 examine the ' windfalls ' that lie scattered on orchard lands, for it 

 is a well-known fact that the fruits that are infested with larvte 

 generally fall earlier than others — a result that nmst be attributed 

 to the damaging work of the larva" themselves. 



All the larvae collected should be carefully boxed at once, a 

 separate compartment being used for each species, and a few frag- 

 ments of the food plant being introduced in each case. It is also a 

 good plan to have each box previously lined with moss as a further 

 addition to the comfort of the captives. \Yithout such a precaution 

 some of the more delicate species are liable to injury during tlieir 

 transmission from field to home. 



Hitherto v,e have obtained our larva" by searching only, but 

 there are times and occasions when our boxes may be far more 

 rapidly filled by methods that are not such a tax on our time and 

 patience. Suppose, for instance, that we reach a bush, the nmti- 

 la-ted leaves of which seem to show that larvae are present on its 

 branches. We spread our \^hite cloth or open out the white- 

 lined lunbrella just inider a selected brancli, and then tap that 

 branch very smartly with our stick. 



Dowii comes a host of living creatures ! Spiders, larvae, beetles, 

 aphides, earwigs, and what not, struggling and running about on 

 our white fabric in all directions, and all mingled with bits of stick, 

 leaves, and fragments of all kinds. We leave the cloth or the um- 

 brella, as the case may be, quite still for a few seconds to allow all 

 the living creatures to get a good foothold, and then, raising it into 

 a vertical position, allow all the rubbish to drop off. 



We can now put the cloth down again, and select as many of 

 the larvae as we require, giving our first attention to the nimble 

 mnners and loopers that are already near the edge and just on the 

 point of making their escape. This productive method of larva 

 hunting is known as ' beating,' and is particularly applicable to tall 

 herbs and the lower branches of trees and shrubs. 



The same principle may be employed in the case of branches 

 that are Cjuite out of the reach of the stick, but the blows are here 



