846 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



instance. On page 110 of this magazine 

 will be found an account of the capture j 

 of a specimen at 10 o'clock at night, on j 

 a gas lamp, and Ave have taken it at a j 

 still more unseemly hour. Gas lamps I 

 are moth traps ready to our hands, 

 and those in the suburbs of country 

 towns are certain to repay those who 1 

 will take the trouble to visit them j 

 periodically. Before you begin to 

 swarm up lamp posts, you had better 

 make the acquintance of the Police of 

 your neighbourhood, or you may find 

 yourself in trouble on suspicion of 

 breaking glasses or putting out the 

 lights. There is an old Entomological 

 joke on this subject that is worth repeat- 

 ing. Every one knows that a slang 

 term for a policeman is a "lobster', 

 from the colour of his clothes being 

 the same as that crustacean before it is 

 boiled. Entomologists also know that j 

 the English name for S. fagi is the | 

 " lobster." A collector was up a lamp 

 post one night, pill box in hand, dodg- 

 ing around in the vain attempt to 

 secure the prize. ' ' What are you doing 

 up there," roared one of the guardians 

 of the night. "Catching a lobster*' 

 unwittingly replied the youth, the j 

 policeman's ire was roused at being \ 

 thus twitted as he thought. " Come 

 down my tine fellow " said he "I 

 reckon you'll find " the lobster " has | 

 caught you.'* 



In the early part of the night, say 

 before 10 o'clock. Moths may be seen 

 flying about the lamps, unable to 

 approach the flame. Later on they 

 they will be found settled on the glass, I 



or the iron framework, and are then 

 easy to box. Some use the Cyanide 

 bottle with a tin circlet that can be 

 fastened to the end of a long rod. 

 With this you do not need to climb 

 the pillar, but can secure your prey 

 from below. To our mind it is a slow 

 and uncertain method of procedure, 

 but perhaps more suited than " swarm- 

 ing " up, for a very stout, or elderly 

 collector. We need not enumerate all 

 the species that can be taken at lamps. 

 To do so would be to give a list of 

 Autumn insects. Noctuae are perhaps 

 most frequent. The pretty Xanihias 

 may all be had, the Sword-grasses and 

 many commoner species, while the 

 much rarer Da&ypolia Templi, Dasy- 

 camga tubiginea, and Cirrcedia Xeram- 

 polina, also reward at times the perse- 

 vering collector. In spring all the 

 Tceuiocampa are found there, while 

 many Geometers also frequent the lamps. 

 The males of the Hybernidce are often 

 common : the females being wingless 

 must be sought elsewhere. 



Leaving gas lamps, the collector 

 should turn his. attention to shop 

 windows, and especially to those, such 

 as Chemists and Drapers, where there 

 are brilliant illuminations. Celerio and 

 other rare species have been taken 

 before now at shop windows. 



Those who live at seaports or on the 

 ccast will do well to make friends with 

 the keeper of the lighthouse, if there 

 be one. Many species have been taken 

 at the lantern of a lighthouse, that have 

 scarcely been seen elsewhere. Emwmos 

 almaria, the largest of the Thorns, 



