May 1887.] 



ANT> OOLOGIST. 



79 



I did not wish to destroy the nest even to 

 learn more of their home, but I watched them 

 for some time and though at first there was a 

 great rush and excitement tliey soon settled 

 down and before half an hour liad passed, hun- 

 dreds of ants were busily at work repairing the 

 damage done by my hatchet, and I do not be- 

 lieve many hours passed before they were 

 again in safe quarters. 



Field and Home Work. 



BY PAUL KEVEKE. 



The naturalist's busiest season is at hand. 

 Field work and home work take all the ento- 

 mologist's spare time. High, dry and windy 

 plai-es are not good places to search for butter- 

 flies. They linger near moist places, low val- 

 leys through which runs a river or brook, and 

 table lands dotted with ponds and spi-ings. 



Sattjnts idope loves to skim the water as well 

 as the swallow, and it is not unusual to see him 

 flying across rivei's and occasionally touching 

 the water, along the ^Massachusetts coast. 1 at 

 first thought this practice evidence of fatigue, 

 but after 1 had seen several of these flies rise 

 twenty feet in order to clear the sail of a pass- 

 ing boat, Just after having touched the water, 

 and not settle to the surface again but make for 

 the opposite bank, I put it down as a sportive 

 indulgence. 



How the Vanessas like nmd and the Melit*as 

 and Argynnis swampy places, and it is here 

 that the lepidopterist must seek them. 



The new man at the business is apt to try to 

 run down his 'flies. This is exhaustive and un- 

 profitable work. Besides wearing out the 

 hunter, it frightens the game and makes them 

 more shy. An entomologist needs agility, it is 

 better in a quick and well directed sw eep of the 

 net than in the legs. Even rarities are more 

 likely to be captured by watchfulness and care- 

 ful movements than by the dash of a racer. 



The Vanessas are best netted by waiting. 

 They have a habit of returning in a few min- 

 utes to the spot from which they have been 

 frightened. I have n)issed one four times at a 

 mud hole and bagged him the fifth time he 

 returned ; to chase one is folly. Whether they 

 leave mud or flower, they go as if they never 

 intended to come back. They return with the 

 same dash. This tribe of buttei'flies manifests 

 more curiosity than any other I know of. I 

 have had one foil me by lighting on my net the 



third time he returned. They seem to love ad- 

 venture and mock at fear. This knowledge of 

 their habits makes their capture easy. 



The search for "flies and larvie goes hand in 

 hand, and receptacles must be kept at home 

 suited to the caterpillars. For ground-feeding 

 larv;e a window box is the thing. Knock to- 

 gether a rough box to fit an attic window, drain 

 it well and put therein turf, whicli will nurture 

 plantain, voilets, clover and purslane, as well 

 as grass; make a screen for it and then cast all 

 the ground-feeders as fast as captured, into it. 



Nail kegs, with coarse cotton cloth covers 

 make good and cheap places for feeding the 

 larvte of the larger moths. Fresh food and 

 pure air uuist be provided larvjc; but they 

 flourish better w ithout than with sunshine. 



It takes ingenuity, keenness and diligence to 

 succeed as a lepidopterist, and in no calling do 

 these qualities serve a jterson better. 



Sphingidae of New England. 



SPHINX KALMI.ii ABB. 



Head creamy-white, with a patch of chestnut- 

 brown on the top next the tliorax and a stripe of 

 the same color along the eyes. This strii)e ex- 

 tends along the palpi, which are otherw ise of a 

 whitish color. Antenn;e white beneath, light 

 chestnut-brown above. 



'I'horax above, chestnut-brown with a black 

 stripe on either side running forward from the 

 shoulder tufts, which are black, surmounted 

 with grayish. Another black line borders the 

 chestnut color and separates it from the whit- 

 ish or clay-colored stripe which occupies the 

 sides. Under side whitish, with a dark brown 

 stripe, edged with a lighter shade, extending 

 from beneath the wings to the eyes. 



Abdomen chestnut-brown, with a bhn-k dor- 

 sal line, and on either side a broad black band, 

 within which, a white spot at each segment. 

 Under side whitish, with three or four blai-k 

 spots along the centre, and a light brow n band 

 on either side. 



Anteriors light yellowish-brown, with a dark 

 brown shading on the iimer and costal edges; 

 the basal portion of the spaces between the 

 second and third and third and fourth median 

 veinlets, are each marked with a brownish 

 stripe; discal spot small and brown; apical 

 streak dark brown edged above with whitish. 

 A whitish streak crosses the ends of the vein- 

 lets along the marginal space and is preceded 



