COLLECTING- INSECTS BY DAT AND BY NIGHT. 293 



Occasionally a Mgli-flying insect may be induced to follow to 

 tlie ground a stone or piece of turf thrown up in front of it. 

 The persistent manner in which some species will return again 

 and again to the very same spot is something wonderful. The 

 same flower head, the same muddy puddle or patch of road, is 

 selected. The collector, if foiled in his first attempt, will do 

 well, therefore, to wait for the probable return of his prize. 

 Certain species frequent the chalk district only, others woods 

 and sandy lanes; some are found only high up in the moun- 

 tains of the north, others but in the low-lying valleys of 

 the south. The sea coast has its specialities, some insects 

 even flying well out to seaward, in crossing from land to land. 

 I remember a "crimson-speckled footman" moth, Deiopeia pul- 

 chella, flying on board a steamship whilst we were fully a 

 hundred miles from the nearest land. JSTo place, in fact, should 

 be disregarded in which to search for insects, for some are so 

 exceedingly local that a district of perhaps twenty miles in 

 extent may be searched in vain for a desired species, until the 

 collector suddenly comes upon one or two fields swarming with 

 them. Nor is this all, for in the case of two or three extremely 

 local species, but one or two spots in the British Isles are their 

 favoured haunts. Bean fields in flower, clover and lucerne fields 

 in sunshine, are first-class hunting grounds, whilst on cloudy or 

 very windy days many butterflies, such as the Blues, may be 

 found resting on grasses or on tree trunks in woods ; or, as in 

 the case of the Hairstreaks, higher up under the leaves. Beating 

 the boughs with a long stick will often force insects to fly, when 

 their presence is unknown to us. 



I have hitherto spoken of the collecting of insects by day 

 only, but as there are many insects — moths — which appear but 

 xit night, we must follow them to their haunts, prepared with 

 lantern and net. In the dusk of the evening, just as the sun 

 sets and twilight comes on, we must take our stand near the 

 flowers frequented by certain moths. In spring the blue bell, 

 cherry, and apple blossom may be watched. Later on, the 

 blossoms of lime trees, flowers of the honeysuckle, bramble, 

 petunias, scabious, and a host of others. Nettle beds also are 

 great hunting localities at this time of the evening for many 

 moths. Dark and sheltered hedgerows of lanes, fields of 



