PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
39 
Mr. Hogan announced, that he had that morning received a letter from his 
friend, Mr. J. Walter Lea, which stated that the butterfly under consideration of 
the Association at a former meeting, and then supposed to be a variety of Pieris 
daplidice, had been identified by Mr. Stainton as Anthocaris belia, one of the three 
allied species to one of which Mr. Hogan had already thought it might be referred. 
An interesting addition had thus been made to the Fauna of the British Isles, if no 
difficulty should subsequently arise respecting it. He would furnish a more explicit 
statement by their next meeting. 
The Kev. Joseph Greene then read the following paper:— 
DIRECTIONS FOR CAPTURING LEPIDOPTERA. 
Owing to the many obstacles (among which may be mentioned, in particular, the 
high cost of, and the difficulty of procuring standard works, together with the 
absence of precise information as to the best methods of capturing insects, and of 
preserving and arranging them, when captured)—owing, I repeat, to the many 
obstacles which present themselves to the student of Entomology at the very outset 
of his career, he frequently becomes disheartened, and is often led to abandon the 
pursuit altogether, in disgust at his want of success. In the hope of obviating, in 
some degree, the last of these obstacles, I have drawn up a few remarks (intended 
only for beginners) relative to the best methods of capturing and preserving 
Lepidoptera. These observations are based, in part, upon my own personal obser¬ 
vation and experience, and, in part, upon the observation and experience of those 
whose long and assiduous pursuit of this branch of Entomology renders their 
opinion and judgment unexceptionable. 
Modes of Capture .—Lepidopterous insects may be captured in each of the four 
stages of their existence—the Egg, the Larva, the Pupa, and the Imago. 
Egg. —Those eggs which are deposited by the parent insect at the close of 
autumn, are, I believe, rarely found. They may, however, be occasionally dis¬ 
covered by a careful examination of the trunks and twigs of various trees. 
The three following rare species, amongst others, have been taken in this way— * 
viz., “Notodonta trepida”(oak), “Notodonta cucullina” (maple), and “ Ptilo- 
phora plumigera” (maple). Those eggs, however, which are deposited in the 
spring , may frequently be found on the various plants and leaves of the trees, upon 
which the larva feeds. 
Larva. —There is no better, or more productive means of obtaining Lepidoptera, 
than by searching for larvae. Many species, which are rarely seen in the perfect 
state, may thus be captured in abundance, as the common “ Arctia caja,” “ Diloba 
cseruleocephala,” &c. Others, which have never been captured at all, or very 
rarely, upon the wing, have been occasionally taken in this stage. The specimen 
of u Gluphisia crenata,” exhibited at a former meeting of this Society, was bred 
from a larva beaten from a poplar. The methods of searching for larvae are, by 
beating, and by carefully examining the leaves of the various trees and plants on 
which they feed, both by day and by night—many caterpillars lying hid during 
the day, and only coming out to feed at night. This last can, of course, only be 
done with the aid of a lamp; it is an admirable method, and innumerable larvae, 
which would elude the most entomological eye during the daytime, may then be 
found. Amongst the Noctuae and Geometrae there are entire genera which only feed 
at this time. In searching for larvae, during the day, small shrubs and saplings 
will be found better than trees , which are to be examined by beating, of which 
hereafter. The plan I adopt is, to take a twig in my hand, turn it up, so as to get 
at the under side of the leaves, and then carefully examine it. Noctuae and Bom- 
byces are generally found on the under side of whatever leaf they may be feeding 
on. The “ Cerurae”—*.e., the puss moth and the kittens—are, however, always on 
the upper side, usually about the centre of the leaf. Poplar, willow, and sallow 
are the trees they feed on. Geometrae will, almost invariably, be found during the 
daytime, extended at full length along the stalks or twigs of the trees on which 
they feed, and as they are often of the same colour as that on which they lie, fre¬ 
quently escape observation—that is, careless observation. The best shrubs, 
according to my experience, are, willow, poplar, sallow, oak, aspen, and alder. In 
beating, the operation is simple, though laborious. Nothing is required but a stout 
