PRACTICAL HINTS. 189 



J^RACTICAL HINTS*. 



Field Work for July. 



By J. C. DOLLMAN. 



1, — 0\{i oi J'^iitlu'iiiiiuia rKssitla, obtained early, will produce a second 

 brood in captivity, if fed up well upon living plants of broad-leaved 

 plantain. Set the plants in earth in a good-sized box and keep in the 

 sun with a cover of muslin stretched on a frame lying on the top. The 

 $ oviposits freely in a chip-box. 



2. — To give the "Emeralds" a favourable chance of preserving 

 their colour while being killed, place them in the cyanide bottle until 

 moribund, and then stab in the thorax between the second and third 

 pair of legs with a steel mapping pen which has been dipped in a 

 saturated solution of oxalic acid. The solution must be a saturated 

 one, to kill. Drop the crystals into boiling water until no more will 

 dissolve ; pour oft' the liquid, and if, when cold, it precipitates any 

 crystals, it is a saturated solution. 



8. — Those Avho have tender skins should be wary of handling the 

 cocoons of Lasiocainpa qucrcus. The stinging power of these can be 

 beaten by no living larva?. 



4. — In taking Dri/as jiaphia and Limcnitia sjbi/lla with the net in 

 the New Forest, it will be found, upon trial, that a useful proceeding 

 is to wait until the end of the afternoon, when the setting sun shining 

 through the tree-stems lights up the bramble bushes along the 

 borders of the rides. These insects are then to be seen gently hovering 

 and flitting from leaf to leaf, making capture so easy that selection can 

 be exercised. 



5. — If Ze}i]njrni> (jiierciis be required, make a small hoop and net six 

 inches in diameter, which will take the place of the top joint on a 

 fishing-rod. The matter then resolves into the question of selecting 

 your tree. This insect is extremely fond of flying around and sunning 

 itself on ash as well as oak. Wait until it settles and sweep it oft' the 

 leaf. 



6. — Hadena trifulU $ s will deposit ova without trouble in chip- 

 boxes, and the young larvte can be reared well, and quickly, on knot- 

 grass. 



7. — Lncnllia unibratica has a remarkable talent for imitating a 

 knot, or flaw, on a grey paling. 



8. — Pamphila comnia is restricted locally to particular spots on the 

 South Downs. These are generally sunny and windy slopes. If one 

 be found, keep to the place for a close examination in sunlight. The 

 insect sits at rest during cloudy intervals. 



9. — Timandra aiiiataria will nearly always yield ova if boxed with a 

 piece of dock, and the larvae can be readily reared airtight on that 

 plant. 



10. — The larva of Euclid ia mi can be swept from long grass by 

 day. It is a long tapering larva, greyish or drab in tint, with two 

 fine white subdorsal stripes. It has but two pairs of abdominal 

 prolegs, and moves with a pseudo-geometrid action. It can be reared 

 on couch-grass, or trefoil, but is very liable to be stung by ichneumons. 



* Practical, Hints fok the Field LKPinopxErasT, published last May, and 

 already almost completely out of print, contains 1250 similar hints to these, dis- 

 tributed over every month in the year. Interleaved (for collector's own notes). — Ed. 



