William S. Furneaux

“ It is a well-known fact that the night-flying moths are attracted by lights, a characteristic of these insects that it is difficult to explain. Their love of darkness is in many instances so decided that they absolutely refuse to take flight while the fading light of day still lingers on the horizon, and even display a great aversion to the rays of the moon; and yet these very same species will often rush madly into the fierce glare of a naked artificial light, or fly with an energy almost amounting to fury against the glass of a street lamp or lighted window. ”

“ Occasionally we hear of the capture of single specimens quite outside these localities, sometimes even in most unlikely spots, where its food plant does not abound. But we know that Machaon is a general favourite with entomologists, and that it is sent in the pupal state, by post, to all parts of the kingdom; so that the occasional capture of the insect far beyond the borders of its haunts is probably the outcome of an escape from prison, or of the tender-heartedness of some lover of nature who could not bear to see such a beautiful creature deprived of its short but joyous, sunny flight. ”

“ How different are the movements of an experienced collector! He walks stealthily along the route he has chosen, apparently taking but little notice of the majority of butterflies that approach and pass him. He has already secured his 'series' of nearly all the species, and is carefully on the watch for the gems that are required to complete his cabinet. His actions are slow and deliberate rather than rash; and he trusts more to his eyes than his legs. ”

“ Neither can we easily impute to the insect an acquired knowledge of the nature and wants of her offspring, or an acquaintance with botany sufficient to enable her to distinguish plant forms. Our only solution of the problem (which is really no solution at all) is to attribute the whole thing to that inexplicable quality which we are pleased to term natural instinct. It is to be observed, however, that it is not all butterflies and moths that display this unerring power. Some few seem to deposit their eggs indiscriminately on all kinds of herbage. ”

“ Again, it is not necessary, after all, that butterflies should be captured for the purpose of obtaining eggs. Watch them as they hover about among your flowers. Some, you will observe, are intent on nothing but idle frolicking; and you may conclude at once that these have no immediate duty to perform. Others are flying without hesitation from flower to flower, gorging themselves with the sweets of life: these are not the objects of your search. ”

“ So, you see, the insect progresses by strides equal in length to about six segments of the body, and these the longest segments generally; and the rate at which the strides succeed each other, especially in some of the smaller species, is really astonishing.
We have seen the caterpillar in the act of taking its walk, and now we will give it a twig of its food plant so that we may see it feed. It walks up the twig without hesitation—for caterpillars (excepting those which feed on roots) always seem to move upward when in search of food—and soon finds itself on a leaf. ”

“ But males and females alike—bedecked with the most gorgeous colours and overflowing with sportive mirth when first they take to the wing—soon show the symptoms of a fast approaching end. Their colours begin to fade, and the beauty-making scales of the wings gradually disappear through friction against the petals of hundreds of flowers visited and the merry dances with scores and scores of playful companions. ”

“ Some moths also are lovers of sunshine, and while engaged in butterfly hunting you will often meet with a moth flying briskly from flower to flower and taking its fill of both sweetness and brightness. Again, as you wade among flowery herbs in quest of butterflies you will certainly disturb a number of moths, causing them to take a short flight in search of a safer spot. Thus you will almost invariably find a few moths among the contents of your collecting box even though you made no special effort to seek them out. ”

“ Allowing, then, that the chief work of the insect is the removal of surplus organic matter, we can see that a large share of its life should be spent in the larval or grub stage, and that the perfect state need not occupy any more time than is necessary for the fertilisation of the eggs that almost completely fill the body of the female at the time of her emergence from the chrysalis shell. ”

“ It leads its follower into the bright sunshine and the flowery meadows; and with body and mind pleasantly occupied, the joy of living is deeply felt. The necessary apparatus can be made by anyone. No dangerous gun is required, and there are no precipitous rocks to scale. When the autumn flowers fade the year's work of the entomologist is not done, for the arranging [Pg 64] of his cabinet and the demands of his living specimens keep him more or less actively engaged until the flowers of the following spring call both him and the insects he loves once more into the field. ”

“ How strange must be the feelings of a winged insect during its first flight! After a long period during which it was a helpless, crawling grub, and this followed by a term of imprisonment during which it was almost or quite shut off from the world, it now suddenly acquires such great powers of locomotion that it is often a match for ourselves. ”

“ When you are out netting butterflies you often see a female that is evidently engaged in her matronly duties. Instead of seeking food from the various flowers in her path, she pays attention only to the foliage, looking out a suitable leaf on which to deposit her eggs. Should you meet with an insect thus engaged which you would like to rear at home, or of which you would like to know the egg, secure it in a perforated pill box with a leaf of the proper plant; and it will often supply you with abundance of eggs for your purpose, in many cases depositing them in the box before you arrive home. ”

“ A great deal of pleasure is to be derived from the construction of your own apparatus, especially when that apparatus is afterwards to be used in the pursuit of a delightful hobby. During the whole of the time thus engaged, you are looking forward with the most pleasurable feelings to the glorious treat before you, and every joint you make seems to bring you nearer to the realisation of your joys. During the bleak winter months there is no better employment for an entomologist who has a little spare time than the preparation for the next outing. ”

“ Every rustling leaf gives such a one a start; all footsteps are those of approaching disturbers of the peace; and when at last the invisible landowner or his keeper, attracted by the mysterious movements of the lamp, greets him with his gruff 'What's your business here?' then for the moment he forgets his enchanting hobby and wishes he were safely at home. ”

“ PRESERVING OVA, LARVÆ AND PUPÆ
Many young entomologists give their attention almost solely to the perfect forms of insects, often collecting and studying a very large number of species without regard to their earlier stages and metamorphoses. This is decidedly a very great mistake. Although the lifeless form pinned in a cabinet may be a most beautiful object in itself, yet a study of this alone is uninteresting compared with that of the wonderful changes it has undergone since the time it was a very young larva. ”

“ A great variety of situations are chosen by the different species at this time. Some will fix themselves on their own food plant, and there remain till they finally emerge in the perfect state, suspending themselves from a silken carpet, hiding themselves in a rolled leaf, or constructing a cocoon of some kind. A large number walk down the food plants, and undergo their changes in moss that happens to lie at the foot; or construct a cocoon on the surface of the ground, utilising for the purpose any decayed leaves, fragments of vegetable matter, or pieces of earth or small stones. ”

“ There are times when your only plan of netting a butterfly is to sweep it from a flower or leaf on which it has settled. If the vegetation is very low, you have simply to bring the net down upon it, and then, holding up the apex of the net with the other hand so as to give it room to fly, you can inclose it by grasping the lower part of the net as soon as the butterfly has fluttered upward. If the herbage is tall it is advisable to strike either upward or sideways at the insect, starting it from the leaf or flower on which it rests ”

“ The selection of a cabinet or other storehouse for the rapidly increasing specimens of insect forms is often a matter of no small difficulty to a youthful entomologist. Indeed, there are very many points of considerable importance to be considered before any final decision is made. Freedom from dust, the exclusion of pests, the convenience of the collector, the depth of his pocket, and the general appearance of the storehouse must be considered, and it is impossible, therefore, to describe a form that is equally suitable to all. ”

“ A few hours at this interesting employment pass away very rapidly, and when midnight arrives there is often no great desire to leave off, especially when it is known that some species of moths are not very busy till very late at night. Still it is not advisable to surfeit oneself with even the sweets of life. Perhaps it is better as a rule to work the early species only on one night, and reserve another for the later ones. The searchings are then always carried on with vigour throughout, and the labours that are thus never made laborious ever retain their attractiveness in the future. ”

“ Their antennæ, like those of the Sphingidæ, are thickest beyond the middle, and those of the males are slightly ciliated or hairy. Their bodies are slender, and terminate behind in tufts of hair. The hind wings in all cases are transparent, margined and veined with black or brown; and the fore wings also, in most cases, have transparent bases.
These moths delight in the hottest sunshine, and may be seen gracefully hovering over the flowers in our gardens, looking more like gnats, bees, and wasps, than moths. ”

“ Earwigs, spiders, centipedes and slugs will soon search out the luscious feast, but unless the time and the locality are ill chosen, the lantern will soon reveal a goodly number of moths, with eyes glaring like little balls of fire, greedily devouring the bounteous repast. These will consist chiefly of Noctuæ, but Sphinges, Geometræ and numerous small species also join the company.
Some will exhibit a restless disposition, either darting off before you make a close approach, or keeping their wings in rapid vibration as if to be fully prepared for a hasty retreat when occasion demands. ”

“ If these are rather low, you should strike the net smartly upwards from below them, but of course this movement is impossible with insects that happen to be almost above your reach. If a butterfly is busily engaged in searching out its sweet food, flying from flower to flower, don't think of giving chase, but follow it up stealthily, and you will sooner or later get an opportunity of striking at it while in the air. ”

“ If you examine a number of British butterflies you will observe that in nearly all species the wings are bordered by a fringe of hair, more or less distinct. But the case is different with Cratægi. Here they are bordered by a black nervure, without any trace of fringe, thus giving an amount of rigidity to the edges (see Plate I, fig. 2) .
The wing rays, or nervures, are very distinct—a feature that [Pg 142] gave rise to the popular name of the butterfly. In the male they are quite or nearly black, but those of the fore wings of the female are decidedly brown in colour. ”

“ Passing over the two small species which are the only British representatives of the family Cochliopodidæ, we come to the interesting Liparidæ, the remarkable feature of which is that most of the caterpillars are adorned with brush-like tufts of hair, and even the chrysalides are hairy.
The perfect insects are not brilliantly coloured, but generally display very pale tints; and the antennæ of the males are pectinated or feathered. ”

“ The wonderful acuteness of the sense by which the males of certain species are enabled to seek out the females has already been alluded to, and the possession of a suitable decoy will often bring you a number of beautiful admirers without the least trouble, except that taken in securing the decoy and preparing her temporary abode. It is absolutely necessary that the female moth be one that has recently emerged, and consequently you had better secure her in one of her earlier stages, either by previous rearing or by collecting the pupæ. ”

“ You will no longer wonder how it is that a caterpillar can hold so tenaciously to a piece of twig that it is often almost impossible to remove it without injury.
Now put your caterpillar down, so that you may observe its gait. If it happens to be one with the full complement of sixteen limbs, you see that at each stride it makes but little progress. The segments contract and relax alternately and in succession, thus sending a series of wave-like motions along the body, and urging onward the front segments while the claspers keep the hinder portion firmly fixed. ”

“ When the head has thus been brought close to its fore legs, the body is again extended, and the same ground is gone over again.
If the caterpillar is a fairly large and hardy one, it will bite through the smaller veins, and perhaps even the larger ones; but the smaller species often change their position on reaching a moderately thick vein, and so devour little else than the soft cellular substance of the leaf. In any case, it is astonishing to see how rapidly the leaf disappears under the influence of the powerful jaws and marvellous digestive apparatus of the hungry grub. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Those who take a delight in watching the movements of caterpillars are sure to be interested in observing them when at rest; for at such times the various attitudes assumed are as pleasing and instructive as are their active moments. And these attitudes are all the more interesting on account of the mimicry by which the creatures often baffle their numerous enemies. We may profitably spend a little time in studying a few cases in point.
Many species, when at rest, fix themselves by means of their claspers to a small twig or leaf stalk, or on the midrib of the leaf itself. ”

“ Cardamines is a single-brooded insect, and is essentially a creature of the spring, at which time it may be found in abundance in lanes, meadows, and clearings in woods throughout the British Isles. Its flight is so light and airy that even the female may easily be distinguished from other Whites when on the wing, while the brilliant orange of the male, intensified by the bright rays of the spring sun, may be identified at some considerable distance. ”

“ As soon as the young larvæ are out—from ten to fifteen days after the eggs are deposited—having devoured their shells, they start feeding on the selfsame spot, and afterwards wander about, dealing out destruction as they go, till little remains of their food plant save the mere stumps and skeletons of the leaves. ”

“ Then, if your locality is well selected, you will rouse moths to flight at almost every stroke. Some of these will shoot upward among the lofty branches and disappear quite beyond your reach; others will fly rather low and somewhat heavily, giving you favourable opportunities to try your skill with the net; others, again, will fly only a yard or so, and alight on a neighbouring leaf, often remaining so quiet that the killing bottle is easily made to inclose them. ”

“ The true legs, as we have called them, continue to exist, though concealed, in the chrysalis state, and again appear, far more perfectly developed, in the butterfly or moth, but the claspers are no more to be seen after the caterpillar has passed into the quiescent stage. We have noticed, too, that the true legs are pointed and clawed, also that they are protected by a hard and horny covering; but examine a large caterpillar, holding it between the fingers and thumb with its under side uppermost, and you will soon see that the claspers are not at all hard, but soft and fleshy ”

“ One would think, on glancing over some of the scientific manuals that are written 'especially for the young,' that the authors considered our own too mean a language for so exalted a purpose, for in such works we find all or nearly all the popular names by which the schoolboy knows certain creatures he has seen entirely omitted, and the description of a species appended to a long Latin term that conveys no idea whatever to the reader, who is studying the description of a well-known animal or plant and doesn't know it. ”

“ I assume that the readers of this book have a desire to take up the study of one branch of entomology—that of butterflies and moths—in real earnest; that they intend not only to read about these interesting insects, but to know them. And there is only one way in which one may really get to know living creatures; that is by searching them out in their haunts, observing their growth and habits, and by an occasional close examination in order to become acquainted with their structure. ”