CATCHING BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 85 



These few hints will prove sufficient to start you on moth- 

 hunting expeditions during the daytime, and will enable you to 

 make good use of the dull days and cloudy hours when the butter- 

 flies are quiet ; but we must now turn our attention to the night 

 work of the entomologist, and see how we may attract and catch 

 moths during their hours of work and play. 



Searching for Moths at Night. 



It is a well-known fact that the night-flying moths are attracted 

 by lights, a characteristic of these insects that it is difficult to 

 explain. Their love of darkness is in many instances so decided 

 that they absolutely refuse to take flight while the fading light of 

 day still lingers on the horizon, and even display a great aversion 

 to the rays of the moon ; and yet these very same species will 

 often rush madly into the fierce glare of a naked artificial light, or 

 fly with an energy almost amounting to fury against the glass of a 

 street lamp or lighted window. 



Puzzling as this peculiar tendency is, we can profitably turn 

 it to our own account by making it a means of luring a number of 

 moths into our presence. 



The simplest way of putting this mode of capture into effect is 

 to post yourself at your open window, with net and cyanide bottle 

 at hand, while the brightest light you can command casts its rays 

 as far and as wide as possible into darkness outside. If you use 

 an oil lamp for the purpose, let it stand just inside the window 

 frame, or, if a jointed gas bracket happens to be situated beside the 

 window, bend it round so that the rays may pass over a wide area 

 outside. 



Two such lights are sometimes a very decided advantage one 

 quite outside the window to attract the moths from all possible 

 points, and then another near the middle of the room to invite 

 them inside. Whether you use either one or two lights, always 

 see that it or they are so surrounded by a screen that the moths 

 cannot by any possibility rush into the flame. There is nothing 

 better for this purpose than a covering of light gauze, for this is 

 not only a barrier for the prevention of the suicidal tendencies of 

 the insects, but it also gives a good foothold to those who would 

 like to rest and enjoy the luminous feast. 



You will soon begin to learn that moths, like ourselves, exhibit 

 great differences in their wa3's of enjoying their festal moments. 



