16 
EARLY REMINISCENCES 
and warm, and the loch lay motionless, almost at our feet. Some 
eighty trees, near the loch’s edge, received an application of the 
sugar, and we retired among the heather and woods in the back¬ 
ground to “ moth ” until the charm should have exerted its sway. 
Here a fine G. papilionaria crossed our path and was safely boxed, 
and somewhat peculiar forms of B. repandata occurred commonly. 
“ Darkness had come on by about a quarter to eleven sufficiently 
to warrant a first visit to the sugar; anxiously, and with darkened 
lamps we drew near to the first tree. Former experience told us 
that sugaring at Rannoch was not quite profitless. One held the 
net below the sweet track of bark, the other flashed a stream of light 
upon it; both peered with eyes as greedy as the most ravenous 
polyodon. A Carabus drew back, and politely stopped eating; two 
“ daddies ” buzzed off, and banged against the lamp; and a great 
snail seemed to be regarding contemplatively the shiny traces of his 
own ascent; but there were no moths. 
“ Tree No. 2 surprised us with a goodly sight. The brothers 
tincta and occulta absorbed sugar side by side, both in the loveliest 
of condition; N. conflua , C. cubicularis, and X. rurea dropped in to 
complete the party. At the next “spread” we found tincta and 
nebulosa , a lovely II. contigua, R. tenebrosa, and T. pronuba. This 
first night was, indeed, undeniably good. Tincta was common; 
occulta , of the deepest shade of blackness, and without a rub, not by 
any means rare; and a fair sprinkling of duplaris, contigua, tenebrosa , 
f estiva, conflua, cubicularis, rurea (and var. combusta ), polyodon, adusta, 
and augur . . . . 
“ Our sugaring continued to be good throughout the whole four 
weeks of our stay. For some time A. tincta and occulta were of 
frequent occurrence, and few insects, when in faultless condition, 
present a more striking appearance than the latter [but it is a some¬ 
what ticklish moth to box]. H. contigua and adusta were not rare ; 
viminalis came out in some numbers [towards the end of our stay] ; 
of each of N . neglecta, M. furva , C. haworthii , C. duplaris , and 0. 
suspecta [at end of the month], we secured a few specimens ; and 
8. anomala, with the last traces of respectability rubbed out of him, 
one night surprised us by a visit. R. tenebrosa was common (and, 
as usual, far from fine), and N. conflua not scarce. 
“The ‘vulgar herd,’ most of them constant attendants, com¬ 
prised N. augur, baja, C-nigrum, brunnea, xanthographa, plecta and 
festiva; X. polyodon and rurea (both species represented by very 
fine varieties) ; T. orbona [remarkable forms] janthina, and pronuba ; 
0. cubicularis; A.porphyrea; B:\pisi . 
