72 Sbarle, Gleanings of a City Naturalist. [voT."^xxxvi. 



street. The sexes differ so in size and colouring in this insect 

 that by many they were regarded as different species ; the 

 larger insect with black markings on the wings is the female. 

 Pyranteis kershawi, the " Painted Lady," is another butterfly to 

 be found in the city streets, and occasionally visits the office 

 by way of the open window. The wings and bodies of all 

 moths and butterflies are covered with minute scales, gener- 

 ally placed in rows, and lapping over each other like the slates 

 on a roof ; each scale has a short stalk, and they are inserted 

 into little holes or cups in the membrane of the wings. It is 

 these scales that give the wonderful colouring to these beautiful 

 insects. The scales vary in size and shape with the position 

 they occupy on the wings or body of the insect. Some of 

 these scales are ruled with lines of such fineness that at one time 

 they were used by microscopists as test objects in trying the 

 quality of their lenses. 



Permanent mounts of the wings and scales may be made 

 in various ways. A small piece of the wing may be placed in 

 a cell and mounted as an opaque object, or samples of the 

 scales may be brushed off various parts of the insect on to a 

 slide ; over these a cover glass is placed and the edge cemented 

 with gold size. Another easy and effective mount can be 

 made by placing the wing on a smooth surface and pressing 

 the finger, with a rocking motion, over the selected part of 

 the wing and then repeating the movement on the centre of a 

 3x1 slip. If carefully done the transferred scales will retain 

 their natural position, and may be viewed either as an opaque 

 or transparent object. If the entire head of a small moth 

 be detached from the thorax and mounted on an opaque disc 

 in a deep cell and examined under a low power it will be found 

 to be an object of great beauty. The hemispherical compound 

 eyes of some species have a brilliant metallic lustre, the 

 numerous facets of which they are composed shining like 

 gems. Some of these small moths have feathery antennae, 

 like beautiful plumes ; others just a plain filament. The 

 proboscis of the lepidoptera is an organ of wonderful con- 

 struction, than which nothing better could be imagined for 

 the purpose for which it is used — extracting honey from the 

 nectaries of flowers. It is composed of two maxillae, and 

 strengthened by muscular bands. They are convex on the 

 outer side and concave on the inner, and when joined together 

 form a tube through which the nectar is conveyed to the 

 mouth of the insect. When not in use the proboscis is 

 coiled up like the hair-spring of a watch, and hidden between 

 a pair of palps beneath the head. 



Coleoptera. — With regard to Colcoptera, the Ptinidae seem 

 to have a home in our building. They arc nocturnal in their 



