A Penny Weekly Magazine of Natural History. 



No. U. AUGUST 28th, 1880. Vol. 1. 



LIGHT. 



THE desire of the Moth for the 

 star is proverbial among those 

 who know nothing of Entomology, and 

 the persiste.it efforts of many insects 

 to inimoh.te themselves on _the 

 ''burning shrine" must have been 

 noticed by the most unobservant. 

 Moore has vii appropriate simile where 

 he compares the multitude of Arabs in 

 their night attack on the last strong- 

 hold of Iran to the flight of moths to a 

 flame. 



" But vainh hundreds, thousands bleed 

 Still hundre Is, thousands more succeed ; 

 Countless, a ; toward some flame at night, 

 The Norths lark insects wing their flight, 

 And quench or perish in its light ; 

 To this terri ic spot they pour." 

 It seems very extraordinary to watch 

 one flying through and through a 

 flame : neither burnt wings nor scorched 

 antennae seem to deter. If it falls from 

 the effects o:: the burn, it is only for a 

 moment : as soon as it recovers itself 

 it flies again and again to the light that 

 has for it such overpowering fascination. 

 In the neighbourhood of large iron 

 works, wherr vast masses of incandes- 

 cent metal are taken from the furnaces 

 to be hammered or rolled into shape, 

 or as a burning liquid, run into moulds, 



the quantity of insects that are 

 destroyed is so great, that there is a 

 notable difference in their numbers 

 after a very short time. They fly 

 straight to the glowing metal and are 

 seen no more. The heat is too intense, 

 and the heated mass too large for them 

 to have any chance of escape, and they 

 simply disappear. 



We do not know when Entomologists 

 first took advantage of the attractive- 

 ness of light to help them to secure 

 then prey. Probably the knowledge 

 came by degrees that they could be 

 so secured. Now, at all events, it is 

 one of the regular modes of collecting, 

 and many species are obtained " at 

 light " that are rarely taken in any 

 other way. Perhaps the latter part of 

 August and the Autumn months are 

 the best for captures at light, or, per- 

 haps, the earlier hour at which light 

 can be used in these months has given 

 us more captures. At all events, it 

 seems fitting we should say a few words 

 to our young readers as to the various 

 procedure. Most of those species that 

 fly by night come to light, while some 

 that are generally considered to be 

 exclusively day flyers have turned up 

 occasionally : — Vanessa Atalanta, for 



