i ae el ce i 
22 CHELTENHAM COLLEGE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
LECTURES. 
“COLLECTING OF BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS,” 
BY W. R. BUCKELL, ESQ. 
N November roth, 1893, Mr. W. R. Buckell, 
F.R.C S., lectured to the N.H.S. on the Collect- 
ing of Butterflies and Moths. After being 
introduced by Mr. Hichens, he began by saying 
that the subject of Entomology was a very wide 
one, and he would not keep strictly to the title 
of his lecture. He would give some account of 
the whole science for the benefit of those who 
were not collectors, and at the same time advised 
everyone to begin at once to collect, saying that the sporting element 
was the one that appealed first to the entomologist, and then that of 
collecting, which was natural to every boy and often to men. He 
then explained that the difference between butterflies and moths, 
often supposed to be a wide one, was in reality not greater than that 
between different families of moths. He next referred to the 
construction of the head, pointing out especially the difference 
between the mouth of the perfect insect and that of the caterpillar, 
and mentioned as an interesting fact that the eye of a butterfly 
consisted of 16,000 to 17,000 facets. He then described the wings 
and showed the way in which the scales were fixed to the membrane 
beneath, and also gave an amusing account of his attempts to get 
the scales off a wing. The lecturer next explained the construction 
of the legs, the abdomen, with the spiracles, and then turned to the | 
earlier stages of an insect’s life history, describing the eggs, the cater- 
pillar and the chrysalis, and some of the habits of the caterpillar. 
Then turning to the actual collecting he produced examples of the 
apparatus necessary for the work, and created some astonishment by 
producing from his pocket and joining together a folding net, 
specially pointing out that the necessary outlay was very cheap and 
need not cost more than a few shillings, expressing a hope that the 
number of collectors in the College would be greatly increased. 
