Butterflies and Moths (British)Furneaux, William S.
Science
Butterflies and Moths (British)
Furneaux, William S.
Butterflies -- Great Britain; Moths -- Great Britain
After a time, however, the lantern will have to be brought to your
assistance in making known the whereabouts of the later species,
consisting chiefly of the _Noctuae_, many of which do not make their
appearance till it is quite dark. If now you carry your lantern in your
left hand, your work will be rendered somewhat difficult and tedious,
for, although one hand is sufficient to manage the net properly, you are
compelled to rest your light on the ground every time you make a
capture, as it is impossible to box your specimens unless both hands are
quite free. This difficulty is easily overcome by suspending the lantern
by means of a string or strap placed round your neck, allowing it to
hang on your chest; and a further advantage is gained by having a second
strap round your chest to prevent it from swaying about with every
movement of your body. This arrangement gives you both hands perfectly
free during the whole time, and also prevents the necessity of
continually bringing yourself into a stooping or kneeling posture while
you are examining or boxing the specimens you have netted.
There are now two courses open to you. Either you can kill and pin the
moths as you catch them, fixing each one securely in the collecting box,
or you may simply shut each one in a separate pill box and leave the
remainder of the work to be done at home. If the ordinary collecting box
only is used, a little of your time is necessarily occupied in pinning
and transferring, and if many insects are about such an occupation may
appear to you to be a waste of valuable time. But this is not all. Often
and often will you find that while thus engaged a splendid moth will
come and flutter round your light; and, before you have time to drop
your collecting box and pick up the net, the fine creature you would
have prized has darted off again. This certainly seems to speak in
favour of the pill-boxing method, but it must be remembered that a few
of the moths will continue to flutter after they have been boxed, so
that when you arrive home they are more or less damaged, a large number
of the scales that once adorned the wings now lying on the sides and
bottom of the boxes. Perhaps the best plan is to take both the
collecting box and also a quantity of pill boxes, and a little
experience will soon show you which is the better accommodation for
certain kinds.
Particular attention must be paid to flowers, some of which are very
attractive to the _Noctuae_ especially. Sallow blossom in spring and ivy
bloom in autumn should be carefully and frequently watched, and at
other times the blossoms of heather, ragwort, bramble, clover, and
various other flowers must be searched.
As you cast the rays of the lantern on the feasting moths some will
prove themselves very wary, and dart away at your approach; but others
will take but little notice of your advance, and will continue to suck
the sweet nectar, their eyes glaring like living sparks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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