with those on each plate until you find the right one, then write the name on 

 a label or piece of paper and pin it underneath the insect. At first it will be 

 slow work, but you will soon familiarize yourself with the plates and generic 

 names. Suppose, for example, you have a Junonia coenia Hubner, you will 

 examine each plate until you come to Plate XX, Figure 7, which is an exact 

 representation of your specimen. Learn to know the names of the species in 

 your collection and repeat them often. If you can write the correct names of 

 the rare species of Lepidoptera you collect and breed, you can sell them, 

 even though you do not know the correct pronunciation of the Latin names. 



CAUDELL'S INVENTION FOR MOTHS WHICH DROP. 



When sugaring for moths you will observe that many specimens fall from 

 the sugar to the ground and are frequently lost in the grass and leaves. A. 

 N. Caudell of Washington, D. C, on a trip to British Columbia with Dr. 

 Dyar and Rolla P. Currie in 1 903 contrived a method of saving these moths, 

 which Mr. Currie described in the Proceedings of the Entomological Society 

 of Washington, as follows: 



"A semicircle of springy wire was sewed to the top of a cloth funnel 

 about one foot in diameter, the bottom of which, furnished with a strong 

 elastic, fitted tightly around the mouth of a large cyanide jar of extra strength. 

 On approaching a sugared tree, pole or stump the unwired side of the funnel 

 was made to fit closely around it just below the lower moths. A little jarring 

 and blowing, or a light brushing with the fingers, would precipitate them all 

 into the funnel and down into the cyanide jar below. The jar was then corked 

 and as soon as the moths became quiet they were transferred to a storage 

 cyanide jar and packed lightly between layers of cotton." Mr. Caudell writes 

 me: "This is an excellent piece of apparatus for use in sugaring on a large 

 scale. The spring steel or wire forming the top of the funnel should be a foot 

 or more from end to end when curved, the open gap allowing the funnel to be 

 placed closely to any surface, flat or curved. If the following sugaring mix- 

 ture be used the moths are usually in such a stupid condition that they will 

 drop helplessly into the cyanide jar fastened at the lower and small end of 

 the funnel. This jar is formed from large-mouthed quinine bottles and a 

 number carried in a canvas apron with various pockets made it very con- 

 venient, all the bottles being used in rotation so that the moths in a given 

 bottle were all dead by the time that bottle was used again. A rubber band 

 fastened around the small end of the funnel held the bottle and made it easy 

 to insert and remove them easily and quickly." 



MR. COCKLE'S SUGARING FORMULA. 



The experiences of the party and the mixture mentioned by Mr. Caudell 

 are thus described by Mr. Currie: "We began sugaring about the middle 

 of June and in that month sugared three times, according to my record. During 

 the first half of July we went out about three times a week and during the 

 remainder of July and in August sugared almost every evening when not pre- 

 vented by rain. During the early part of summer moths were not particularly 

 abundant at sugar, and 1 00 or 200 specimens an evening was considered a 

 fair catch. But later in the season the number of moths steadily increased 

 and during August, up to the time we left, 1 ,000 or 2,000 specimens could 

 easily be taken almost every evening. On one occasion we even exceeded that 

 number and secured 2,330. Species as well as numbers of individuals were 



183 



