CARE OF CATERPILLARS AND MOTHS 37 



This is easy, if there happens to be a male out at the 

 same time or eveu a day later ; they have only to be 

 put into the same cage. But sometimes no male is at 

 hand, and one must be attracted. This may be man- 

 aged in two ways. The female may be put in a cage 

 with a wire-netting toj^ and set out at night, or dusk, 

 in a suitable place. For feeding moths a suitable 

 place is one near the kind of flowers to which these 

 moths fly for food. Any males flying there will flutter 

 about the cage and may be caught by the w^atching 

 entomologist and put into the cage, when mating will 

 probably take place before morning. This prevents 

 all danger from bats, owls, and early birds, but is not 

 always convenient for the entomologist. 



The other way is to tie a soft but strong string 

 around the thorax of the moth between the fore and 

 hind wings, and fasten the other end to a bush or tree 

 in such wise as to give the moth a short flight and a 

 leafy branch to hide under. If birds and bats fail to 

 find her the result is usually successful. In the case 

 of the non-feeding species, the large attacine moths 

 for instance, there is no need of going in search of 

 favorable places, unless one lives in a city and not 

 near a garden or park. The moth may be tied out of 

 the window, given a sjDray of leaves to conceal it from 

 the birds, and will be almost sure to be found mated 

 in the morning, if in a place where its species is found. 

 It is* well to rise before " the lark," however, wdien one 

 has moths tied out, for birds, especially the English 

 sparrows, are prying creatures and interfere with one's 

 best arrangements of this kind, and it is necessary to 

 forestall them. 



