﻿SUGARING. 127 



was therefore interested to see a note on the subject by Mr. 

 Anderson (Entorn. xxiii. 66), The most successful evenings 

 that I have experienced have generally been very warm and close, 

 with heavy, dark clouds, and now and then a few drops of rain ; 

 and I remember that one of my very best evenings, which was in 

 August, 1886, had been preceded by a warm day with frequent 

 showers of rain, while the pitchy darkness of the night was ren- 

 dered all the more noticeable by flashes of summer lightning in 

 the distance. On this occasion moths simply swarmed on the 

 patches of " sugar," and not only there, for numbers were 

 crawling about at the foot of the trees, and as many again kept 

 flying round my lantern. Yet, on the other hand, I have fre- 

 quently set out on what appeared to me to be a perfect evening 

 for " sugaring," anticipating a numerous gathering at the trees, 

 when, to my disgust and amazement, only two — or perhaps three 

 — moths have deigned to put in an appearance. I believe that 

 some collectors attribute this failure of " sugar " to the somewhat 

 cold and wet summers of the last few years, and I have no doubt 

 but that this has a good deal to do with the matter ; but still the 

 summer of 1884, for instance, was extremely hot, and, although 

 I was out night after night, I was far from successful. 



The next year, 1885, was also unusually warm, and with the 

 exception of one or two evenings the majority were dead blanks ; 

 while in 1886, which was dark and sunless on the whole, I had 

 some most productive " sugarings." It would therefore seem 

 that very hot weather affected the question but slightly, and I 

 have often found that a continued drought is most conducive to 

 the absence of moths, while, on the other hand, I am convinced 

 that much cold and damp, such as was experienced last summer, 

 must have had a most deterring influence upon the emergence of 

 many species of Noctuse. It appears to me that, however favour- 

 able a particular evening may seem, the captures will be nil unless 

 the previous fortnight or three weeks have been mild for the time 

 of year, with perhaps a few warm showers of rain, but, above all, 

 an entire absence of cold east winds, so that the moths may have 

 had as favourable a time as possible for emergence. I have hardly 

 ever noticed moths at sugar, however plentiful they may have 

 been previously, if there is the slightest suspicion of an east 

 wind, and I think, therefore, we may presume that on such 

 occasions they do not venture forth from their hiding-places. 

 The last few summers have certainly been most changeable, with 

 much rain and wind : what, for instance, could we expect after 

 the terrific gales and continuous rain of last July and August? 

 I was on this account not altogether surprised, when I visited the 

 New Forest, to find that moths were not to be obtained at sugar, 

 however often one went out for this purpose, for in spite of 

 apparently good evenings there was a certain chill and dampness 

 in the air. 



