202 THE COURTSHIP OF ANIMALS 



a virgin female be put in a box placed outside the window, 

 within a very short space of time, often not more than 

 a few minutes, several males will be fluttering round 

 her. This device for attracting males is commonly known 

 as " assembling." 



More striking is the case of the Oak-eggar Moth 

 (Lasiocampa quercus). Mr. Richard South, in his most 

 useful " Moths of the British Isles," relates that on 

 one occasion he had a number of pupae in a cage 

 in a cottage on the edge of a moor near Lynton, North 

 Devon, and these attracted quite a number of males 

 into the room containing the precious casket, and he was 

 enabled to capture several. The next day he placed a 

 female which had meanwhile emerged, in a " roomy 

 chip-box, and carried it, in a satchel, to the moor, where 

 it was placed on the ground; the males began to arrive 

 soon afterwards, and some fine examples were secured." 

 But the sequel is even more remarkable ; for, he remarks : 

 " Although the female was taken on the moor only on 

 one occasion, that satchel continued to be an object of 

 interest to the male Eggars for several days afterwards." 

 That this scent is capable of being transferred to foreign 

 objects, and of retaining its power for several days, is 

 a striking proof of its pungency, yet it is quite impalpable 

 to human nostrils ! The Kentish Glory Moth (Endrofnis 

 versicolor) affords yet another instance of this curious 

 attraction by scent, the effectiveness of which is not 

 even lessened by exhalations of the human body, for 

 if a virgin female be placed in a box, and this be placed 

 in one's pocket, the males will often swarm round one 

 and even endeavour to gain access to the box. In all 

 such cases the females, even when capable of flight — 

 che female Vapourcr is wingless — never fly until after 



