184 POPULAR EI^TOMOLOGY. 



taking Moths, which may afford a hint to those who are 

 desirous of studying this interesting and extensive group. 

 He says, " My success in obtaining Lepidoptera, to which 

 I am particularly attached, I owe to the use of a lamp : 

 during the moonless nights of summer I sit with a Sinumbra 

 lamp, and, perhaps, one or two smaller ones placed on a 

 table close to the window. The Moths speedily enter the 

 room, if the weather be warm, and I have had a levee of 

 more than a hundred between the hours of ten and twelve ; 

 I have for experiments sake sat up 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. In the spring and autumn I have been 

 frequently very fortunate, though generally having my pa- 

 tience sufficiently tried. If at any time of the year a warm 

 mist pervade the air, there is almost a certainty of suc- 

 cess ; but should any one be induced by this account to 

 try the lamp, he must make up his mind to experience 

 more unfavourable evenings than favourable. There is 

 however this advantage in my sedentary plan of mothing, 

 that it can be combined with reading or writing ; and the 

 intervals between the arrivals need not be lost."'^ 



The extensive family Ichneumonidce presents many very 



