20 INSTRUCTIONS IN LEPIDOPTERA. 
off, observing whether any pupae fall. Look at the trunk oi 
the tree to see if anything adheres to it, and then carefully 
examine the moss itself; experience alone will enable you to 
detect a spun cocoon.” But the collector must not be dis¬ 
couraged if in digging for pupae he is not immediately suc¬ 
cessful, for, says Mr. Greene, “you will perhaps see ten 
elm trees to your eye exactly alike; at nine you may find 
nothing; at the tenth possibly twenty or thirty pupae. I 
remember on one occasion trying a number of ash trees, 
without the slightest success, and was about to give up the 
search as hopeless when I resolved to try one more; at that 
one I found forty-six pupae of Ennomos illunaria, and three 
of Poecilocampa Populi! 
No pupae hunter can hope for success unless he have a good 
stock of patience and perseverance : he must not mind cold 
hands, wet feet, or an aching back; for although these are 
drawbacks, yet is the pursuit quite exciting when success¬ 
ful, and it will reward the seeker not merely of Lepidop - 
terci) but also of all the other orders of insects. 
The best months for digging are October, November, and 
December, for the spring and summer insects; July and 
August for the autumnal species.” 
And, thirdly, we may collect Lepidoptera in the cater¬ 
pillar or larva state. Those who wish to collect larvae 
would do well to turn out early in the morning, for 
many larvae are epicures, and only eat whilst their food 
is flavoured with the morning dew; many of the Noctuce 
larvae feed only by night and should be sought for with a 
lantern; those which feed in hedges and trees may fre¬ 
quently be obtained by beating, taking the precaution of hold¬ 
ing a net or inverted umbrella under the object beaten ; many 
larvae may be found by looking for their “ frass,” the indi¬ 
cations where they have eaten, or their ejectamenta ; in very 
windy weather many larvae get dislodged from the trees by 
