BUTTERFLIES, SPHINGES, AND MOTHS. 213 
THE HOOP NET. 
This hoop net consists of a strong brass wire 
hoop; from nine inches to a foot in diameter, with a 
socket for receiving the end of a walking stick or 
rod, which the lepidopterist should always carry 
along with him. Some are made with a screw, for 
greater security. To this ring is attached a bag 
of net, gauze, or muslin, about a foot in depth. 
“The French collectors,” say Messrs Kirby and 
Spens,* “use a net of this kind, in which the 
hoop is formed of two semicircular pieces of iron or 
brass wire, hooked together at one end, and at the 
other made to lap over the corresponding piece, and 
pierced to receive the screw at the end of your 
stick. When not employed they double the hoop. 
and conceal it under the rest ; they fix to it a mus- 
lin bag of two feet long. This net is made to serve 
various purposes. With it they catch Lepidoptera 
and other flying insects ; and an adroit collector, by 
givingit a certain twist, completely closes the mouth, 
* Introduction to Entomology, iv. p. 516, 
