^jgPg'] Searle, Cleanings of a Cily NaHiyalisL 71 



THE GLEANINGS OF A CITY NATURALIST. 



By J. Searle. 



(Read before the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, 14th July, 191 9.) 



When advocating the claims of natural history as a desirable 

 hobby, one often receives an answer something like this : — 

 " Oh, yes ; it must be a delightful pastime for those who can 

 get out into the country and collect specimens for study, but 

 I am in the office all day, and have no opportunity to engage 

 in such an interesting pursuit." The object of this paper is 

 to show such a city dweller how he may indulge a taste for 

 natural history even if he is " cribb'd, cabin' d, and confin'd " 

 in a city offtce. 



The building in which these notes were written is in the 

 busiest part of Collins-street. My office, on the third floor, 

 is 15 feet by 12 feet, and has two windows facing the north, 

 and overlooking the surrounding roofs and chimneys — as 

 unlikely a collecting-place for nature study specimens as could 

 be imagined ; yet quite a lot of material for study is to be 

 found there from time to time. I 'have frequently thought 

 of making a list of the various insects, &c., that visit this office 

 in the course of the year, but for some cause or other the 

 project was never carried out in its entirety. But in January 

 of last year I placed a bottle containing spirits of wine on the 

 bench, and specimens of the various objects presently to be 

 described have been captured and placed therein. They 

 consist of Diptera, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, 

 Hymenoptera, Arachnidae, and — would you have thought it 

 possible ? — Crustacea. 



Lepidoptera. — ^The most common specimens of lepidopterous 

 insects that visit a city office are the Tineae, or clothes moths 

 — a pale yellow coloured species, with burnished scales, at 

 times being rather a nuisance through the havoc its larvae 

 makes of the baize covering the bases of some instruments, the 

 lining of jewel cases, &c. A frequent visitor is the Bogong 

 Moth, Agrotis spina, a sombre-coloured insect with beautiful 

 antennae. It is a strong flier, but shows very little judgment, 

 dashing into every obstacle to its headlong flight. They hide 

 in dark corners during the day, coming out to enjoy their 

 nocturnal flight as evening advances. At times they invade 

 the city in great numbers. The '' Old Lady " Moth, Dasypoda 

 selenophora, is occasionally seen resting on the ceiling, and 

 the beautiful little Cosmodes elegans, most appropriately named, 

 has been taken. In the months of November and December 

 of last year the city was invaded by swarms of the handsome 

 brown butterfly, Heteronyrnpha merope. Numbers of them 

 perished by being trampled on by pedestrians along Collins- 



