THE 
WEEKLY ENTOMOLOGIST. 
“ ENTOMA QtFIDQUID AGTJNT NOSTRI EST FARRAGO LIBELLI.” 
No. 7.] SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1862. [Price 2d. 
THE SEASON. 
F IROM sides we h ear com - 
plaints of the scarcity of insects 
this season. One correspondent says 
that his setting boards were never so 
empty before, and another ingeniously 
connects the absence of so many sp*^ 
cies that ought to be common, with 
the depressed state of our commercial 
relations. "Whether it be a fact, or 
not, that insects, like most other 
friends, take to themselves wings and 
fly away, whenever our commerical 
prosperitpects them the example, there 
is little room for doubting the truth of 
the assertion that they have, during 
the present year"pursued that course. 
"We can just fancy some fortunate 
collector, in a retired and little known 
district taking up the ‘Entomologist,’ 
and laughing, in silent self-congratu- 
lation, as he reads these lines. “ The 
contributors to this journal have been 
sleeping again. The number of in- 
sects captured does not depend on 
locality, or weather, hut on the man 
who looks for them. See what I have 
taken.” Then his mind’s eye runs in 
comfortable imagination over his 
boxes or his cabinet, and he seems to 
behold the rows of rare duplicates, in 
the former, or the many disiderata 
supplied, in the latter, as the produce 
of the spring and summer, that are, 
alas !, gone. All this we can fancy, 
without taxing our imagination very 
much. 
If the individual described above, 
happens to honor our pages with his 
perusal, we beg to assure him that he 
is the very person for whom we have 
w ritten this article. We have no wish 
to shelter our correspondents from his 
sarcasm. If the^ have been sleeping, 
by all means, let him give it them 
well ! We would, however, like to 
suggest to him the consideration that 
it is possible for some districts to be 
worked out. We do not say all , — 
but some , — especially those in the 
neighbourhood of a large town. For 
instance, — if a row of houses happen 
to spring up on the very spot where 
Mr. A. used to spend his evenings in 
collecting, it is evident that he need 
not go there any more ; and if he be 
too poor to pay many railway fares, 
and gets completely hemmed in by 
houses, let him be as wide awake as 
he may, he will fail to find many 
insects. 
Again, the prevailing state of the 
