4t 
which they are surrounded, than they have in the past, and favour us next winter 
with the results of their observations. A recent writer in one of our periodicals 
asserts that “the happiness of life depends far more on the choice that young 
people make of a recreation than it does on their profession or employment— 
choose your pastime ont of doors; make yourself Nature’s playmate.’ This may 
seem at first the somewhat strong expression of an enthusiastic lover of out-door 
life, but on consideration it appears not unworthy of cordial acceptance. Work 
must be interspersed by recreation to make life really enjoyable, and to those 
whose work keeps them much shut up, the advice to choose an out-door pastime 
is indeed good. The very existence of this Club testifies that its members at 
least are followers of such advice. 
The first and most notable insects taken on the 22nd May, the day of the 
excursion to King’s Mere, were a pair of fine Juna moths, Attaews ma. This 
species is one of a group in which our largest and handsomest moths are con- 
tained, and is, inthe estimation of many, the most beautiful of all our Jepidoptera- 
The body of the moth, as you will observe on inspection, is snowy white, while 
the wings are of a delicate pale green, with a transparent eye-spot in each. The 
hinder wings are prolonged so as to form tails an inch and a half in length. The 
cater pillars feed upon walnut and hickory, and may be found full grown about 
the end of July on the butternut trees in this vicinity. ‘They are then from two 
to three inches long, and are pale green with a yellow stripe on each side, in 
addition to other slight markings. Their strong, oval, white cocoons are spun in 
tie leaves, with which they fall to the ground in autumn. The moths emerge in 
early spring, and fly, as do the majority of such insects, at night; hence they are 
rarely seen except in collections. At the time of the first excursion it was too 
early in the season for most of the butterflies, and many other insects, to be 
abroad, but a good many varieties of beetles were to be had. Among these were 
several species of weevils, including Balininus nasieus, the nut-weevil, which 
destroys so many hazel-nuts, and which was unusually abundant last summer. 
This beetle derives its name from its very long and slender rostrum or snout, 
which is longer than its body, although no thicker than a stout bristle. Its oval 
or somewhat pear-shaped body is clothed with short yellowish hair. Three or 
four other species were taken upon pines, which they greatly damage by destroy- 
ing the terminal shoots, and thus checking the growth of the tree and stunting it. 
One of these, Pissodes affinis, i is shown on the upper left corner of this chart upon the 
wall, with its larva, which is a stout, footless grub. The tamily of the Curculionids, 
or weevils, i is very extensive, numbering several thousand named species. Its 
members are readily distinguished by the long snout and elbowed autenne ; the 
majority are small, and many are very minute insects. The life history of the 
greater number remains to be investigated, but their young live generally in 
seeds, fruits, etc., and are of course destructive to vegetation. The plum, pea 
and grain weevils are knewn to all farmers by their ravages. A very pretty 
species taken at King’s Mere was Po/ydrosus elegans. This beetle is usually of a 
greyish buff, but the color varies considerably, and some of the males found by 
me are of a beautiful green. Corymbites triundulatus and hieroglynhicus with a 
few other elaters, were taken on pines and on some trees, such as cherry, 
which were in blossom. The upper figure on the right represents a member of 
this family, which are cemmonly known as spring-beetles, because they have the 
power when placed upon their backs ef throwing themselves some distance into 
the air, in which they turn so as to alight upon their feet again. The larva of 
some species live under bark, or in old trees or decaying wood, and are harmless, 
but those of other species burrow in the soil, and destroy much vegetation by 
cutting off young plants at the surface, and by gnawing roots, etc. The species 
intended to be shown is a somewhat common one, Agriotes mancus, the larva of 
which does much injury to young wheat. In early spring, immense numbers of 
small cylindrical beetles are often observed, which, from their shape, appear as if 
