504 



HISTORY OF INSECTS. 



sense they are thus capable of distinguishing each 

 other at such distances is not easy to conceive. 

 It cannot be by the sight, since such small 

 objects as they are, must be utterly imper- 

 ceptible at half the distance at which they 

 perceive each other : it can scarcely be by the 

 sense of smelling, since the animal has no 

 organs for that purpose. Whatever be their 

 powers of perception, certain it is that the 

 male, after having fluttered, as if carelessly 

 about for some time, is seen to take wing, and 

 go forward, sometimes for two miles together, 



November evening, Pacilocampa populi will occupy 

 from seven to ten o'clock, after which it will make way 

 for Petasia cassinea, which will fly till one or two in the 

 morning. I have for experiment's sake, sat up in the 

 summer till three o'clock, when the whole heaven was 

 bright with the rising sun, and moths of various kinds 

 have never ceased arriving in succession till that time. 

 Some of them must come from a considerable distance. 

 Scotophila porphyrea, being a heath moth, must come 

 nearly a mile. Moths like butterflies, have their pecu- 

 liar modes of flight, by which I can generally distinguish 

 them oil their entrance, before I can see their colours. 

 Some announce themselves by a loud knock on the floor ; 

 this is the case with Leiocampa dicasa. Some ascend 

 instantly to the ceiling, as Agroiis corticea. Many, I 

 might say the majority, pass the lamp rapidly : and this 

 shows the comparative inutility of using the lamp out of 

 doors, where only those that loiter about it can be taken. 

 Some have a soft and gentle flight ; as, for instance, 

 Cosmia pyralina, one of my most welcome visitors, 

 whose entrance I am usually made aware of by seeing 

 something drop down on the table, as quick as hail, but 

 as light as a fleece of snow ; whilst, on the contrary, the 

 conceited vagaries and absurd violence of Clisiocampa 

 neustria are absolutely amusing ; and cratcegi and populi 

 are nearly as bad. It is not the Nocturna alone that 

 come to me in the night many of what Mr Stephens 

 calls the Semidturna, the Geometridae, accompany them 

 at all hours. It may likewise be worth while to say a 

 word on my method of securing my prey. Suppose that, 

 either with or without a bag-net, I have imprisoned a 

 moth under an inverted wine-glass, I then light a small 

 piece of German tinder, half the size of a sixpence, or 

 less, and introduce it under the edge, and by means of 

 the smoke the insect is stupified almost immediately. 

 It is then wholly in my power, though it would quickly 

 revive : I pierce it ; and, by means of a pin dipped in 

 oxalic acid, and thurst into the body beneath the thorax, 

 I prevent its revival, and fix it on the settling board. 

 The German tinder does not injure the colour, as brim- 

 stone would, whilst it puts the moth so completely in my 

 power for a few moments, that the specimens I thus take 

 and kill are often as perfect and beautiful as if I had bred 

 them. Of course, I use it for insects taken in the day, 

 or bred, as well as for those captured by the lamp." The 

 locality to which the above account refers is the vicinity 

 of Reading in Berkshire. The list given by Mr Bird 

 of the species taken in. the manner described, includes 

 many of the rarer and most beautiful kinds found in this 

 country. 



Another method of capturing moths has recently been 

 practised in the north of England by P. J. Selby, Esq. of 

 Twizel, and has been attended with so much success, 

 that we have much pleasure in being enabled to subjoin 

 the following account of it as communicated by that dis- 

 tinguished naturalist. " In the course of my entomol- 

 ogical pursuits for that fascinating department of Zoo- 

 logy has for the last year engrossed a great part of my 

 leisure, my attention was first directed to the mode I 

 have since adopted for the capture of nocturnal lepidoptera, 



in a direct line, to where the female is perched 

 on a flower. 



The general rule among insects is, that the 

 female is larger than the male ; and this ob- 

 tains particularly in the tribe I am describing. 

 The body of the male is smaller and slenderer ; 

 that of the female more thick and oval. Pre- 

 vious to the junction of these animals, they 

 are seen sporting in the air, pursuing and 

 flying from each other, and preparing, by a 

 mock combat, for the more important business 

 of their lives. If they be disturbed while 



by the extraordinary success that I understood had at- 

 tended the exposure of a sugar-cask, recently emptied, 

 in a favourable situation ; and by means of which attrac- 

 tion a great variety of moths, some of them of very rare 

 occurrence, had been secured. As sugar casks are not 

 easily procured in this country, I bethought myself of 

 some succedaneum, and it presently struck me that a 

 beehive, or as it is generally called here, a skep, recently 

 emptied of its honey, or well anointed with the same, 

 might answer the purpose, as it was evident the insects 

 were attracted by the saccharine matter and smell. I 

 accordingly had one prepared, and the very first evening 

 was convinced that it would prove a very efficient trap, 

 as several moths of different species were seen and taken 

 upon it. Unfortunately, the best part of the season was 

 nearly over before I commenced operations, as it was not 

 exposed till after the middle of August ; but from the 

 success I have had up to the present time, I am con- 

 vinced it is one of the most effectual modes of obtaining 

 the noctuidae, and that many which would otherwise 

 escape observation are thus to be obtained. Indeed, 

 some of those I have already procured, I had never be- 

 fore met with in this district ; and I dare say, but for 

 this attractive trap, they would have remained long un- 

 discovered, as some of them are in their force or full 

 flight at a much later period than we are generally ac- 

 customed to look after moths. I anticipate a rich harvest 

 during the ensuing spring and summer, not only of the 

 noctuidae, but also of the other large moths ; the Geome- 

 tridae and smaller species I know come to it, as some of 

 them have already been taken upon it. By this mode 

 also, many interesting particulars relating to their natural 

 history are likely to become known to us, such as the 

 period of duration of different species, the proportion of 

 males and females, &c. I find that in the early part of 

 the season their duration is much shorter than at a later; 

 in many of those occurring in August and September, it 

 seldom exceeded two or three weeks ; whereas such as 

 did not appear till towards the end of October have con- 

 tinued till the present period, that is, nearly three 

 months ; as I have taken every mild evening specimens 

 of Cleza Satellitia up to the 26th of January, and Calo- 

 campa exoleta as late as the 7th of the same month. 

 The skep should be well anointed on the exterior with 

 honey (the refuse will answer perfectly well), and should 

 be supported on a forked stake about four feet from the 

 ground, or so that the insect can be easily got at and 

 enclosed in the flappers as they alight and settle upon it. 

 In this way they may be taken in as fine and perfect 

 condition as if they had been bred from the larva; within 

 doors. I generally select a sheltered situation and near 

 to wood ; of late I have had it near a service tree, whose 

 berries I had previously observed attracted the moths. 

 The following are a few of the species taken : Agrotis 

 suflusa, Pyrophila Tragopogonis, Pyrophila tetra, Glaca 

 Vaccinii, Glaaa spadicea, Apamea nictitans,Polia occulta, 

 Polia Chi, Xanthia fulvago, Xanthia gilvago, Phlogophora 

 meticulosa, several species of Hadena, Caradrina glareosa," 

 &c. &c. Naturalist's Library. British Moths. By 

 James Duncan, Edin. 1836. 



