In this order the importance of collecting the early states and of rearing the adult insects rather than of catching the latter should, if the collector has the advancement of knowledge and the greatest pleasure in mind, be insisted upon. Collected specimens, in the majority of cases, will be more or less rubbed or damaged and unfit for permanent keeping, and will always be far inferior to freshly reared specimens. All Lepidopterists, therefore, rely to a great extent upon breeding rather than upon field collecting. There are, however, many species of which the early states are still unknown, and these can only be taken by field collecting, and by attracting to various lights or traps. This subject, therefore, naturally falls into two categories--(1) the general collecting of the adult, and (2) collecting the early stages and rearing the perfect insects. [Illustration: FIG. 70.--The Eight-spotted Forester (_Alypia octomaculata_). _a_, larva; _b_, enlarged segment of same; _c_, moth.] _Collecting the Adult._--The implements for the general collecting of butterflies comprise the collecting net, and in some cases the beating net, although the use of the latter will not often be called for. The Rhopalocera or Diurnals may be taken about flowers, and the best season is in the early spring. Most of them are double-brooded, and the second brood will be in the greatest abundance during July and August. They are, however, to be found throughout the summer. They are also to be looked for in the neighborhood of the food-plants of their larvae, and in the case of many species, examination of such plants affords the most satisfactory means of collecting. The food of butterflies is almost exclusively the nectar of flowers, but strangely enough they are also attracted to decaying animal matter, and many species, including rare forms, may be taken about decaying animal matter or resting on spots where dead animals have lain, or beneath which they have been buried. Moist spots of earth are also frequented by them, especially in dry seasons. Many of the larger butterflies, whose larvae feed on the taller shrubs and the foliage of trees, will be found fluttering about the open spaces in forests, but by far the larger number, as the Browns, the Blues, the Yellows, and the Whites, which develop on the lower herbaceous and succulent plants, will be found flying over fields, prairies, and gardens. Crepuscular and nocturnal Lepidoptera, comprising most of the Heterocera, the Sphingidae, Bombycids, Noctuids, etc., have different habits. The Sphingidae or Hawk Moths fly in early evening, and may be collected in quantity about such plants as the Honeysuckle, Thistle, Verbena, Petunia, etc. The Bombycids and many Noctuids also fly in the early evening, but mostly at night. The former, however, do not frequent flowers, except such as are the food-plants of their larvae, as their mouth-parts are rudimentary, and they take no nourishment.