in strips four or six inches wide up and down the trunk of a tree, at a con- 

 venient height, making the strips say a foot in length. After a few applications 

 a thin glaze of sugar will remain on these places and the mixture may be 

 thinned. If your prevalent winds come from two directions (in Truckee the 

 wind blows either from the east or the west) , sugar on opposite sides of each 

 tree. You will generally find the most moths on the sheltered side. Apply 

 the brush vigorously to the spots sugared. The odor attracts the moths and is 

 of course stronger if you apply a larger quantity of the mixture. Cold, stormy, 

 foggy or very windy nights are not profitable, but I work every night that 

 moths fly and have frequently done well between the showers of violent thunder 

 storms or when a fine misty rain was falling. I think the trouble with some 

 collectors is that they wait for warm, still, murky nights or those following 

 hot sultry days. These are doubtless best, but steady, persistent work for a 

 couple of hours every evening is the real way to obtain results. The first night 

 that you sugar or perhaps the first two or three nights of a new route you may 

 take very few flies ; , but they will soon become wonted to the sugared spots. 

 Some authorities claim that moths will be attracted from a distance of half a 

 mile. 



CATCHING THE MOTHS. 



Flash the light upon the sugared spot, place the mouth of the cyanide 

 bottle over the moth and quickly and deftly apply the cover. If the moths 

 are stupid from the intoxicant used they will fall to the ground when alarmed, 

 instead of attempting to fly away. Indeed, they generally protect themselves 

 from danger by dropping to the ground. Ordinarily, therefore, you hold the 

 bottle at an angle of about forty-five degrees, the lower rim of the mouth of 

 the bottle pressing against the tree just below the moth, trusting that the 

 moth will drop into the bottle. By grasping the neck of the bottle with the 

 thumb and last three fingers, the forefinger projecting over the neck of the 

 bottle, you can frequently flip the insect into the bottle by striking its head 

 sharply with the forefinger. But in catching Catocalas or other large, rare 

 moths place the mouth of the bottle over the moth and directly against the 

 tree, rendering it impossible for the moth to escape. When a moth thus im- 

 prisoned remains stationary, move the bottle downward or sideways until the 

 rim touches its head. If it will not drop then, but simply crawls about inside 

 of the mouth of the bottle, touch it with the finger. A very large moth can 

 be taken with a small bottle if the rim of the bottle is placed over the head 

 of the insect. Care must be taken,, however, not to injure the wings by pressing 

 the body with the lower rim of the bottle. Should the mouth of the bottle 

 get smeared with the mixture rub it with a damp cloth and remove the moisture 

 with a dry one. Moths which drop to the ground may be picked up with the 

 forceps by grasping them by the thick portion of the wing close to the body. 



SORTING THE CATCH. 



I begin work in the middle of my route and here I leave a quart cyanide 

 jar which I call the "morgue." Each time I pass this place I sort over all 

 my insects by emptying them out of the bottles on a piece of paper, or the 

 tin cap of a fruit jar, picking each one up with the forceps, and carefully 

 examining it. If it is perfect, I place it in the morgue to be pinned and sold. 

 The males that are damaged are allowed to go, and the damaged females 



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