ROUND THE CHESTER ELECTRIC LAMPS. 243 



themselves in towns like Chester, where, in times gone by, there 

 was neither the idea nor even the room for tree planting, but 

 where, in modern times, tree-lined streets are looked upon as 

 matters of course, seems, at first sight, a puzzle. But where the 

 carcase is, we are told, there will the eagles be gathered together, 

 and this observation lets in a lot of light upon the situation. 

 Plant the trees, and, other things being equal, the insects will 

 find them. 



I now append, up to date, a list of the moths taken this 

 season at our electric lamps. The best species the reader may 

 choose for himself ; but I thinfr they will usually be found at the 

 beginning of each monthly list : — 



May. 



Dicranura bifida. — From a commercial point of view, this 

 moth appears to be twice the value of D. furcula ; and yet it 

 was a common moth up to the end of June, much more so than 

 D. furcula. It does not seem to fly much when attracted. It 

 either circles down to the ground about two or three feet from 

 the lamp, or rests upon the adjacent walls, or, more frequently 

 perhaps, high up on the lamp itself. A friend uses, with 

 success, a simple but ingenious instrument fixed to the end of a 

 long stick for bringing such moths off the lamps. Another stick, 

 or pole, of equal length carries a good-sized net for capturing 

 insects on the wing. But all this is hot and laborious work on a 

 warm summer night, especially as most of the insects are of the 

 commonest description, and cannot be determined when on the 

 wing. There is, it is to be confessed, always a good deal of 

 weeding out. 



Smerinthus ocellatus. — To see, and to hear, this big, handsome 

 fellow come flopping on the ground from the lamp above is almost 

 startling. I use the word "fellow," for it is a drawback that 

 nearly all the moths that come to the lamps are males. I do not 

 think the proportion of females, mix the species as you like, 

 exceeds five per cent. S. ocellatus was very common to the end 

 of June. 



Amphidasys betularia. — This species appeared about the end 

 of May, and continued to the end of June as an almost abundant 

 insect. Most were of the black variety (doubledayaria) ; but the 

 type also appeared in proportion to the black form of from one 

 in eight to one in twenty, according to various collectors. I heard 

 of no types last season. What, then, has come over the species 

 here to produce them in this ! To my mind it is simply inex- 

 plicable ; and the best way out of the difficulty, I believe, is to 

 accept the broad fact that, throughout the animal world, in- 

 cluding man, there is a tendency to vary, in coloration, from 

 light to dark forms, and that there are some uncommonly good- 

 looking people in all. Such explanatory phrases as " local 



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