HOW TO KNOW THE INSECTS 



69 



cloud, and which lloat at a great speed 

 at a lower level. This has been termed 

 fracto-nimbiis, or broken nimbus, and is 

 th3 equivalent to the word " scud " 

 commonly used by sailors. 



The illustration on page 68 shows a 

 nimbus givnng a copious rainfall, some 

 distance away from the camera, after it 

 had just passed over Tunbridge Wells. 



This photograi>h was taken on May i8th, 

 1907, at 11.33 ^>-m- The rain, it "will be 

 seen, was coming down iu bucketiuls, 

 and it is interesting to note the different 

 angles at which it is falling under different 

 parts of the cloud. This was, no doubt, 

 due to the varying air currents which 

 so commonly accompany such rain- 

 storms. 



William J. S. Lockylr. 



HOW TO KNOW THE INSECTS 



By JOHN J. WARD 



Author of "Some Nature Biographies," "Peeps into Nature's Ways,' etc. 

 Illustrated from Original Photographs by the Author 



SPRING'S TRANSFORMATIONS 



MANY of those insects which be- 

 come conspicuous on almost the 

 first day that provides bright 

 sunshine and a mild temperature, and 

 so herald spring, disappear from view 

 towards the end of May. The amateur 

 Nature student often fails to observe how 

 suddenly and completely they vanish, 

 because so manv new insects are continu- 

 ally appearing to occupy his attention. 

 Later on, however, he realises that a 

 certain butterfly, moth, or caterpillar 

 which was previously very abundant, 

 is no longer to be found, and it becomes 

 obvious to him that insects have their 

 seasons ; he also learns that some of 

 these seasons are very brief. 



There is, for example, the Brimstone 

 Butterfly, which I introduced in my first 

 paper. My earliest recorded day (for 

 the Midland counties) when that species 

 was really flying is March i6th. On that 

 occasion I saw four butterflies together. It 

 is true that a single example may be seen 

 on any day during winter, for, as I have 

 previously stated, these butterflies live 

 through the winter. Until the end of May, 

 in the Southern and Midland counties, 

 the butterflies are familiar objects on 

 every sunny day ; their brimstone and 



pale yellow wings are continually seen 

 fluttering along by the hedgerows and 

 skirting the woods. Then, almost sud- 

 denly, they cease to appear, and we forget 

 all about them until some day early 

 in July ; Brimstone Butterflies are then 

 in evidence again, and the amateur 

 entomologist is sorely puzzled to account 

 for their disappearance during the prior 

 seven or eight weeks. 



Such incidents are of frequent occur- 

 rence in the life - histories of many 

 species, and those who desire to know 

 the insects should always endeavour to 

 discover what happens during the interval 

 when they are not visible. A little time 

 spent in such investigations will do more 

 towards the making of a Nature student 

 than whole weeks si)ent with r.et in hand 

 capturing butterflies, and other insects, 

 and carefully naming them. The latter 

 work may eventually produce a well- 

 arranged insect cabinet, and its owner 

 may become a veritable human entomo- 

 logical catalogue, able to label an insect 

 at a glance, and to spell out its scientific 

 name with marvellous ease, but, never- 

 theless, it does nothing towards revealing 

 the curious and interesting habits of 

 insects ; it does not explain how marvel- 



