40 
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
stick, about six feet long, with a hook at one end. With this, the tree is to be 
thrashed. The hook is useful to shake a branch, when too thick to be beaten. 
Some collectors take, I believe, a sheet, and spread it beneath the tree to catch the 
larvae as they fall. This, I think, is unnecessary, as I have found, except when 
beating over thick brushwood, no difficulty in detecting a caterpillar nor have I 
ever seen such a number of larvae on any tree, as to require a sheet to collect them. 
Many Geometrae suspend themselves by a thread, when shaken from their resting- 
place, and are easily observed. I carry with me thirteen or fourteen chip pill boxes 
(with the top knocked out, and a little gauze substituted) for the purpose of bring¬ 
ing the larvas home. A leaf of the tree or plant, on which it has been found, 
should be placed in the box with the caterpillar, and several may be put to¬ 
gether, except where they are carnivorous, as “ Stauropus fagi,” u Scopelosoma 
satellitia, “ Euperia trapetzina,” and some others. When, however, I find so good 
a larva as the first of these, I generally give him a box to himself. 
Pupa. —Digging for pupae is an excellent method of obtaining insects, and pos¬ 
sesses the peculiar advantage of being the only way in which the study can be 
pursued during the winter months. As some remarks of mine upon this subject 
were read before the Entomological Society (Yide Trans., vol. ii., N, S., part v., 
and u Zoologist,” vol. xi., p. 3,888), I will here recapitulate a few of the more useful 
hints—“ The only instrument I use is a common garden trowel. The form is im¬ 
material ; perhaps a rounded blade is the best, as passing with greater ease 
between the roots. The trees, which I have found the most productive, are the fol¬ 
lowing :—elm, oak, ash, poplar, beech, willow, and alder. With regard to 
localities, meadows and parks with scattered timber trees are decidedly the best 
localities ; being near a wood seems no advantage. It is, however, a very curious 
fact, that the nearer these meadows or parks are to inhabited places, as towns, 
villages, or even a single farmhouse, the more abundant are the pupae. Next to 
parks and meadows I place woods. Searching in woods, however, is a tedious and 
fatiguing affair, and to search successfully requires some experience. Perhaps the 
following hints may prove useful. It is in vain to examine the dense portions; it is 
equally vain to dig at the roots of trees in woods, with few exceptions ; and you will 
rarely find anything except upon trees of considerable growth. The thick moss 
which collects about the trunks and roots is the part to be examined. Bombyces 
are generally (almost invariably) found under the moss which covers spreading 
roots , and not on the trunks. The best localities in woods are the borders and 
open places. It is curious that such places, when elevated or facing the north, 
are the most productive. There remains one other locality— hedgerows. These 
may be dismissed in a few words; it is perfectly useless to try them. I do not think 
I have found a dozen pupae in such places; why it should be so, I cannot tell. 
There are, of course, other localities, but as I have never tried them, I am unable 
to give any opinion on them. 
u The next point, which may be considered worthy of notice, is the mode of 
search. This, of course, varies according to locality. In digging, it must be 
borne in mind, that all pupae lie close to the trunk of the tree ; seldom more than 
two inches distant. Frequently the trunk of the tree forms one side of the cocoon, 
especially the cocoon of such insects as spin. Again, pupae lie close to the surface 
of the earth (I have seen those of ‘ Smerinthus populi’ and ‘ S. tiliae’ half out of 
the earth; the larva of ‘ Calocampa exoleta’ is the only one I know of that goes 
to a considerable depth). Insert, then, the trowel about three inches from the 
trunk, to the depth of two inches or so; then push it to the tree, and turn it 
up. If the soil be dry and friable, without grass, knock it gently with the 
trowel, which will be sufficient. If, however, there be grass, you must proceed 
more cautiously; take up the sod in the left hand, knock it very gently with the 
trowel, and those pupae which merely enter the ground, will drop out. To find 
those which spin, you must carefully examine the sod, tearing the roots of the 
grass asunder; these are, of course, much the most difficult to find, the cocoons 
being generally the colour of the earth. I may here remark, that it is useless to try 
sticky or clayey ground, the caterpillars being unable to penetrate it. In searching 
under moss, the best plan is to loosen the edge, then to tear it gently off, observing 
whether any pupae fall. Look at the trunk to see if anything adheres to it, and 
