( cxxx ) 



The ordinary Nocture mostly fly by night or in the dusk, 

 but they include species such as the l^aeniocampas and the 

 Trijjhmiae, which fly also in broad daylight and in strong 

 sunshine. Some Eupitheciaa have the same habit, and a large 

 number of Geometrte and Pyralesflybyday ; of Chareas graminis 

 the males are stated to fly from 8 to 11 in the morning, the 

 females after 11, and again later at night. Other moths fly 

 in full daylight, but only begin a little before sunset, like 

 Angerona po'unaria and C'idaria fulvata. Ejnone advenaria is 

 said to fly only from 7 to 9 in the morning. Most Geometrids fly 

 in the evening, at or soon after dusk, but many begin long before 

 dusk, and some fly at different periods in the afternoon, others 

 in the dead of night. Many of the smaller moths, especially 

 the Tortricids, have their special hovirs of the day for flight.* 



Attractiveness of light, sugar, etc. 

 Some night-flying species are strongly attracted by light, 

 others, closely resembling them in many respects, are abso- 

 lutely indifferent to it ; of the species attracted, in some both 

 sexes are so, in others the females rarely or never. Some 

 species come freely to flowers only, some to sugar only, some to 

 both ; some are little endowed with scent, others so largely 

 that male moths have been attracted from vast distances. 

 These are all differences of habit of a kind we " higher 

 vertebrates " can apj)reciate, but there must be many more 

 that are doubtless beyond our ken. 



Postures and rest attitudes. 



Many rest on objects they resemble, as some Cucullias do on 



sticks, or roll themselves up so as to look like bits of stick as 



Phalera bucephala does ; some select rocks of their own colour, 



others expose themselves conspicuously on objects of any colour. 



* It would seem probable that moisture may have much to do with some 

 of the times of flight, promoting their activity, when the air is saturated or 

 nearly saturated as it commonly is towards evening, when the warmth of 

 the day is declining, or during the night, or morning when the grass is 

 still reeking with dew. Many Lepidoptera certainly require moisture. 

 Butterflies get it by drinking at puddles or sucking moist objects, and the 

 lives of captured moths are prolonged by keeping them out of a dry 

 atmosphere. Moisture also intensifies scent and softens honey dew. 

 But no one has fully explained why sugar or flowers are so much more 

 attractive on some nights than on others. — Tutt's "Practical Hints," 

 part i, p. 10. 



