90 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



previously referred to, says " the final coup would be to imitate the 

 female moth's wireless ' cry ' with such accuracy, by means of the 

 artificial circuit, that the males would be deceived into approaching 

 the latter in the belief that a hidden female was calling." It appears 

 we have a very near approach to this in the " arc " lamp. I believe 

 the vibrations of the female are caused by rapid movements of their 

 wings and not by their antennae. — W. Gifford Nash ; Clavering 

 House, Bedford. 



Attractiveness of Electric Light for Moths. — I think your 

 correspondent, the Eev. J. E. Tarbat, is correct when he opines 

 (p. 64) that only certain of the rays of light are the cause of its 

 attractive power for moths. My own experience has been that all 

 artificial lights are not attractive, or, at any rate, equally attractive. 

 In the days of the old " ordinary " burners our street gas-lamps here, 

 especially on the outskirts of the town, well repaid the working; but 

 the substitution of the " incandescent mantle " was, entomologically 

 speaking, a retrograde step. Nowadays, for we have not yet attained 

 to the dignity of electric street-lighting, the lamps, though brighter, 

 are not profitable. I do not mean to convey that no moths are 

 attracted, but comparatively very few. Neither does a "big blaze" 

 appear to be essential, for experiences at Windermere some years 

 ago proved again that the quality of the light was far more important 

 than the quantity, though one would imagine that an abundance of 

 light, provided it be of the proper kind, would be advantageous. In 

 those days the Windermere electric lights were of a curious old- 

 fashioned pattern, emitting only a dull reddish glow, sadly insufficient 

 for a street illumination, but wonderfully attractive to the moths ! 

 A friend of mine worked them assiduously for several seasons and 

 turned up several species considered to be locally rare, viz. Noto- 

 donta trepida, N. chaonia, Demas coryli, Eurymene dolabraria, the 

 first three in fair numbers ; other desirable moths, Pachys strataria, 

 a large dark race of Anticlea nigrofasciaria, and Taeniocampa munda, 

 were plentiful, whilst the commoner moths, such as Spilosoma 

 menthastri and Gonodontis bidentata (with one var. nigra), came in 

 swarms. The acetylene gas-flame I used myself to find very attrac- 

 tive, and Dr. Lowther has worked the petrol vapour lamps with 

 great success in the district around Grange (vide his interesting note 

 in last month's issue). Visiting me recently, my friend, the Eev. A. 

 Miles Moss (British Chaplain at Para, Brazil), told wonderful tales 

 of the attractive power of the city arc-lamps there, and especially of 

 the success of his private arc-light installation right on the border of 

 the virgin forest. His opinion was " the bluer the light, the better ! " 

 His accounts of the numerous Sphingid, Arctiid and Notodont 

 visitors on a favourable night made me long for the health and the 

 leisure to join him there — to sample the sport and to share the 

 spoil. — Frank Littlewood; 22, Highgate, Kendal, March 3rd, 1922. 



Non-attractiveness of Electric Light. — Is it not more likely 

 that the "gas-filled" lamps give off some rays which are distasteful 

 in some way to moths, than that they lack some attraction present 

 in the "flame arcs." I know nothing of the technicalities of electric 



