The Butterfly Book / A Popular Guide to a Knowledge of the Butterflies of North America

by W. J. Holland

The Use of the Net.—In the use of the net the old saying is true that "practice makes perfect." The bag of the net should be sufficiently long to allow of its being completely closed when hanging from the ring on either side. It is possible to sweep into the net an insect which is fluttering through the air, and then by a turn of the hand to close the bag and to capture the specimen. When the insect has alighted upon the ground it is best to clap the net over it and then to raise the net with one hand. Very many species have the habit of flying upward. This is particularly true of the skippers, a group of very vigorous and swift-flying butterflies. The writer prefers, if possible, to clap the net over the specimens and then to allow them to rise, and, by inserting the wide-mouthed collecting-jar below, to capture them without touching them at all with the fingers. So far as possible the fingers should not be allowed to come in contact with specimens, whether in or out of the net, though some persons acquire an extremely delicate yet firm touch which enables them to handle the wings of frail species without removing any of the scales. Nothing is more unsightly in a collection than specimens that have been caught and rubbed by the fingers.

Baits.—Moths are frequently taken by the method of collecting known as "sugaring." But it may also be employed for butterflies. For this purpose a mixture of beer and cheap brown sugar may be used. If the beer be stale drippings, so much the better. In fact, it is well, if the collector intends to remain in one locality for some time, to make a mixture of beer and sugar some hours or a day in advance of its application. In semi-tropical countries a mixture of beer and sugar is hardly as good as a mixture of molasses and water into which a few tablespoonfuls of Jamaica rum have been put. A mixture thus prepared seems to attract more effectually than the first prescription. Having provided a pail with a quart or two of the mixture, the collector resorts to the point where he proposes to carry on his work. With an ordinary whitewash brush the mixture is applied to the trunks of trees, stumps, fence-rails, and other objects. It is well to apply the mixture to a series of trees and posts located on the side of a bit of woodland, or along a path through forests, if comparatively open and not too dense. The writer has rarely had success in sugaring in the depths of forests. His greatest success has always been on paths and at the edge of woods. Many beetles and other insects come to the tempting sweets, and separate jars for capturing these should be carried in the pocket. The collector never should attempt to kill beetles in the same jar into which he is putting butterflies. The hard, horny bodies and spiny legs of beetles will make sad havoc with the delicate wings of butterflies.

Many other baits besides this may be employed to attract insects. Some writers recommend a bait prepared by boiling dried apples and mashing them into a pulp, adding a little rum to the mixture, and applying this to the bark of trees. In tropical countries bananas, especially rotten bananas, seem to have a charm for insects. The cane-trash at sugar-mills is very attractive. If possible, it is well to obtain a quantity of this trash and scatter it along forest paths. Some insects have very peculiar appetites and are attracted by things loathsome. The ordure of carnivorous animals seems to have a special charm for some of the most magnificently colored and the rarest of tropical butterflies. A friend of mine in Africa, who collected for me for a number of years, used to keep civet-cats, the ordure of which was collected and placed at appropriate points in the forest paths; and he was richly rewarded by obtaining many insects which were not obtained in any other way. Putrid fish have a charm for other species, and dead snakes, when rankly high, will attract still others. It may be observed that after the trees have been treated for a succession of days or nights with the sweetening mixture spoken of above, they become very productive. When collecting in Japan I made it a rule to return in the morning to the spots that I had sugared for moths the evening before, and I was always amply repaid by finding multitudes of butterflies and even a good many day-flying moths seated upon the mossy bark, feasting upon the remnants of the banquet I had provided the evening before. There is no sport—I do not except that of the angler—which is more fascinating than the sport derived by an enthusiastic entomologist from the practice of "sugaring." It is well, however, to know always where your path leads, and not to lay it out in the dusk, as the writer once did when staying at a well-known summer resort in Virginia. The path which he had chosen as the scene of operations was unfortunately laid, all unknown to himself, just in the rear of the poultry-house of a man who sold chickens to the hotel; and when he saw the dark lantern mysteriously moving about, he concluded that some one with designs upon his hens was hidden in the woods, and opened fire with a seven-shooter, thus coming very near to terminating abruptly the career of an ardent entomologist.

Beating.—There are many species which are apparently not attracted by baits such as we have spoken of in the preceding paragraph. The collector, passing through the grove, searches diligently with his eye and captures what he can see, but does not fail also with the end of his net-handle to tap the trunks of trees and to shake the bushes, and as the insects fly out, to note the point where they settle, and then make them his prey. It is well in this work, as in all collecting, to proceed somewhat leisurely, and to keep perfectly cool. The caricature sometimes found in newspapers of the ardent lepidopterist running like a "quarter-back" across a ten-acre lot in quest of some flying insect does not represent the truly skilful collector, whose movements are more or less stealthy and cautious.

THE BREEDING OF SPECIMENS

By breeding it is possible to obtain specimens in the most perfect condition. Bred specimens which have not had an opportunity to fly are always preferred on account of their freshness of color and perfection of form. A great many species which apparently are exceedingly rare may often be obtained in considerable numbers by the process of breeding, the caterpillar being more readily found than the perfect insect. Although the process of breeding involves a good deal of labor and care, it affords a most delightful field for observation, and the returns are frequently of the very greatest value.

How to Get the Eggs of Butterflies.—The process of breeding may begin with the egg. The skilful eye of the student will detect the eggs of butterflies upon the leaves upon which they have been deposited. The twig may be cut and placed in a vase, in water, and kept fresh until the minute caterpillar emerges, and then from time to time it may be transferred to fresh leaves of the same species of plant, and it will continue to make its moults until at last it is transformed into a chrysalis, and in due season the butterfly emerges. Eggs may frequently be obtained in considerable numbers by confining the female under gauze, with the appropriate food-plant. A knowledge of the food-plant may often be obtained by watching the female and observing upon what plants she deposits her eggs. The exceedingly beautiful researches of Mr. W.H. Edwards were largely promoted by his skill in inducing females to oviposit upon their food-plants. He did this generally by confining the female with the food-plant in a barrel or nail-keg, the bottom of which had been knocked out, and over the top of which he tied mosquito-netting. The plant was placed under the keg. The insects thus confined may be fed with a mixture of honey and water placed upon the leaves.

In collecting caterpillars it is well to have on hand a number of small boxes in which to place them, and also a botany-box in which to bring from the field a supply of their appropriate food.

The process of breeding may begin with the caterpillar. The collector, having discovered the caterpillar feeding upon the branch of a certain plant, provides the creature with a constant supply of the fresh foliage of the same plant, until it finally pupates.