NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 217 



the bottom of the box (I had omitted to put any mould for burrowing) and 

 lay motionless under its food, without making any attempt to protect itself, 

 and there in due time pupated. — L. R. Crawshay ; 11, Manilla Crescent, 

 Weston-super-Mare, April 29, 1893. 



Insects and the Search-light of a Warship. — In a recent lecture 

 Mr. L. Newitt, electrician at the Elswick Works, referring to the electrical 

 search-lights, said that in the late wars around the coast of Egypt, when 

 the ships were over two miles from the shore, it was found that millions of 

 winged insects were attracted by this beam of light, and travelled along the 

 beam until they struck the glass in front of the projector, and fell into the 

 well around the search-light, where they accumulated into a seething mass 

 two feet deep. They had to be cleared out by the free use of a hose pipe ; 

 but these insects were such a pest that it became difficult to find a man 

 who would stand by the projector to keep it working, owing to the attacks 

 made upon him. 



LiTHOSTEGE GUiSEATA. — TWs local moth is one of the species which 

 sometimes passes two winters in the pupa state. In July, 1891, I was 

 staying at Tuddenham, Suffolk, and having read in the ' Entomologist ' 

 that it occurred there, I searched the food-plant {Sisymbrium sophia) and 

 found a few larvae feeding upon the seeds, which changed to pupae soon 

 after. Only one moth emerged the following year (on 29th May). Four 

 others appeared in April of the present year. They are very early, 

 probably on account of the remarkably warm weather and having been bred 

 indoors. — W. Paskell ; 48, Whyteville Road, Forest Gate, E. 



Removal of Grease from Moths. — The following additional remarks 

 upon this interesting subject may be useful : — Petroleum is rock-oil 

 (Canada; United States). Benzoline is the spirit distilled from petroleum ; 

 but it is not entirely free from oil. Benzine (or benzole) is the spirit still 

 further rectified by distillation, and is (or ought to be) entirely free from 

 oil. The difference in purity between benzoline and benzine can be tested 

 in the following manner : — Pour a little on a piece of clean paper. After 

 evaporation the benzoline will leave a trace of grease, varying in intensity 

 according to the purity of the spirit. The best benzoline should have a 

 delicate steel-blue tint. In the case of benzine, so evanescent is it that 

 you have hardly time to turn before it is gone ; but there should be no trace 

 left behind, except the smell. The name " benzine " is often applied to 

 benzoline, the test in this case being the price. " Collas " is, if I 

 remember rightly, the name of a maker. The price, per pint, of benzoHne 

 is (about) fourpence, of benzine (about) two shillings. It will be observed 

 from my remarks (Entom., p. 109) that I use benzoline for cleaning moths 

 — and plaster of paris. The latter is applied as soon as the insect is lifted 

 from the benzoline. It materially assists the drying, and absorbs any oil 

 that may attach to the spirit. Even with the use of benzine, if the 

 cleaning of a moth be confined to one immersion, the benzine will hold, in 

 solution, the "grease" of the insect, and will therefore become impure. 

 Hence the value of the plaster of paris, or of the continued use of benzine. 

 It is evident that an insect can be thoroughly cleaned with the use of this 

 spirit and without the help of plaster of paris. The chief consideration, to 

 my mind, is the one of cost. I can assure Mr. Greene I have tried 

 eviscerating the bodies of moths, labelling, breaking them off and putting 

 them on again. But I failed. I never could, for instance, in re-fixing a 



