INTRODUCTION. 101 



them almost as liberally as similar names are used 

 by the fanciers of gigantic gooseberries and peer- 

 less tulips, in reference to the objects of their 

 predilection. In proportion to the eagerness shown 

 in the pursuit, has been the variety of plans adopted 

 to obtain specimens with the greatest ease and in 

 the best possible condition. One of the most satis- 

 factory methods is to rear the larvae, when these 

 can be obtained, till they change to pupa?, and the 

 moths are thus secured as soon as they emerge, 

 with the beauty of their plumage unimpared. Mr. 

 Kirby mentions, that the seasons in which the 

 London amateurs repair to the woods in search of 

 larvae, are the beginning of April, June, the begin- 

 ning of July, and September ; and they dig for the 

 pupae late in July, and in January and February. 

 The perfect insects are to be found all the summer 

 and autumn, and certain kinds even in winter. 

 The attractions of a youthful female of their own 

 species have been already mentioned as affording a 

 likely means of procuring several of the larger 

 Bombycidae, even in places where they might not 

 previously be supposed to exist. Advantage is 

 often taken of the propensity which these insects 

 show, in common with many other nocturnal ani- 

 mals, to repair to a light, when they may be readily 

 seized as they continue to flutter around it in a 

 kind of bewildered state. As the most effectual 

 means of employing a light, it is recommended that 

 it should be placed in a lanthorn, and the latter 

 fixed on the breast by means of a belt round the 



