THE CAPTURE AND PRESERVATION OF BUTTERFLIES
In the rearing of butterflies from eggs and in watching them all
through their larval stages, we learn a great deal concerning their
life and habits, and finally secure perfect specimens for the cabinet.
But the glories of the chase and the charm of the country ramble weigh
more in the balance with the naturalist, and the story of a captured
specimen is often far more interesting than the record of a bred one.
Of butterfly nets used in the chase there are many and varied patterns
in the market. I made my own and a better balanced one it would be hard
to find. Having seen and handled a few in my time, my experience has
been that they are mostly too heavy, have too many loose parts, and
their weight is badly distributed. Indeed, I saw one lately which felt
more like a hammer in one's hand. I think if you try to get one made
after the pattern here described and figured on p. 15, you will not be
disappointed with it.
Now, it is one of the avowed purposes of this little book to make the
study and collecting of butterflies cost _all_ the time a boy can
spare, and little, or, at least, not much in money. The requirements
for a ring folding net are 2 yards of steel wire, rather less than 1/8
inch in thickness (cost about threepence); three copper rivets and
washers, 3/16 inch by 3/8 inch long (cost one penny); one 1/4-inch iron
screw-head bolt and nut (one penny). Cut the wire into two pieces,
each 20 inches long, and two pieces 16 inches long. If you can get a
tinsmith friend to turn the eyes for you, so much the better; you will
thus avoid the most difficult part of the operation, but you would lose
some valuable lessons and the satisfaction of having made the whole
thing yourself.
The accompanying cut will show you how the eyes are turned and riveted,
and how the nut is fixed in the tube which the tinsmith will make
for you, and he will also solder the nut in the narrow end for a few
coppers. Or you can get him to make the whole concern, as I have done
for a friend of mine. I simply gave the tinsmith mine for a pattern,
and in a few days he handed me over an exact duplicate, and only
charged one shilling and sixpence for it.
[Illustration: DETAILS OF FOLDING-NET.
1, Ring open, about 16 inches diameter; 2, tin tube with nut soldered
in at narrow end; 3, net complete, showing wooden handle fitting
into tin tube. Detail A shows how eyes are turned; B, larger eye for
passing over screw; C, screw soldered in position.]
The net itself is easily made. You will need 1-1/2 yards of the best
and strongest muslin and a piece of stout twilled cotton, with which to
make the hollow binding round the wire for strength. This binding must
be at least 2 inches deep, so as to slip off and on the ring easily
when you wish to repair the ring or wash the net. Get green muslin if
you care for it; I tried green, too, but speedily gave it up, as I
found the white net more effective for seeing and handling moths in
after dark.
Do not shape the net down to too fine a point; rather make it more of a
cup-shape and nearly the depth of your arm. And, lastly, while we are
on the subject of the net, always carry a few strips of gum paper with
you on an excursion; they are very handy and effective for repairing a
damage, say, after contact with a bramble-bush.
Most butterflies are very impatient in the net, and strongly resent
their imprisonment, so either double your net over the instant a
capture is made, or catch the net by the neck, so to speak, with your
left hand, leaving your right free for the pinching process. Pinching
must be very carefully done, or your specimen may be spoiled. It can
be done only when the wings are closed; you give the insect a sharp
nip between your finger and thumb nails, right under the junction
of the wings and the body--_i.e._, on the under side of the thorax,
always taking care not to crush or mangle the specimen. Do not attempt
to actually kill it; just give a sufficient pinch to stun it; then
you may open the net, remove your specimen, and pin it in your
collecting box, which should be as nearly air-tight as you can make it,
and lined with sheet cork. Place some freshly pounded laurel-leaves
secured in a piece of muslin at one end of your box. The fumes given
off by the bruised leaves soon kill the insects. Don't use ammonia for
killing butterflies; it alters their colours, and, in fact, ruins some
altogether. Cyanide of potassium or laurel-leaves are the best killing
agents, and the latter are by far the safest for boys to handle, as
cyanide is very poisonous.
[Illustration: PLATE 3
"Cop" of "120's" Cotton on Stand, and Setting-Needle for "Paisley"
Method of Setting]
Specially-made entomological pins can be purchased from all dealers
in naturalists' requisites. Black enamelled pins are the vogue just
now, and they last longer than the silvered or gilt ones, and resist
"grease" better. Many insects, you should know, have a small, and
some a large, amount of oil in their bodies, which gradually makes
its presence seen, first in the abdomen, and later it spreads (if not
checked) to the wings. The oil, coming in contact with the white or
yellow pin, soon corrodes it through; the black enamel resists its
action longest. Try to check this "greasing" of your specimens on
its first appearance on the body, and if you notice it before it has
spread to the wings all may be well. Break the abdomen off at once, and
drop it into benzine, where you can let it remain a day or two. Then
transfer it to a box of fine dry plaster of Paris for another day or
so, and you will be surprised how beautiful and clean it will come out.
Another hint: Push a little pin into each body when broken off, and
attach a _white_ thread to the pin; now you can do what you like with
the body without touching it with your fingers; lastly, replace each
body, sticking it in position with a dab of entomological gum, to be
had from Messrs. Watkins and Doncaster, 36, Strand, W.C.
Supposing you have arrived home with a few butterflies, and wish to set
them. This is best done as soon as possible after they are killed. They
may remain unset a few days if kept damp and yet properly aired; you
must prevent them from hardening on the one hand, and getting mouldy on
the other, through too long and close keeping; so have a watchful eye
on them until set.
Setting-boards can be either bought or made. This is a question for
each worker to determine for himself. Some collectors may have special
facilities for making them, while others may have a profusion of pocket
money wherewith to buy them. When I was a boy I made my own. It was a
work of necessity. As a lad I had always so many specimens to set in
summer-time that it would have been sheer ruination to have bought all
the boards required.
On Plate II. you have an illustration of a setting-board, and the
photograph is in itself an indication of how butterflies are to
be set before being placed in the permanent collection. Note the
setting-bristle mounted in a cube of cork. This is used to hold the
wing in position while the card braces are being placed. The collector
can easily mount a bristle for himself. A cat, badger, or other whisker
will serve; do not try to push it through the cube of cork, but glue
it between two pieces; by doing so you will save your bristle from
being spoiled and make a firmer job.
Keep your old _thin_ postcards, from which to cut braces, and always
have a boxful of various sizes handy, and in the same box, in a
separate compartment, have an abundance of small, thin pins. Good
setting, like other operations, is largely a matter of practice. Be
careful not to injure the wings in any way, and place your braces on
them so that they will not leave marks. I find a common fault with
beginners is that they do not lower the specimen far enough down into
the groove of the setting-board, with the result that the wings are
bent and deformed by the braces pressing them down. See that the wings
of your specimens lie flat and naturally spread out over the surface of
the board on either side of the groove.
A setting-needle is sometimes an exceedingly useful tool. A very
neat one can be made in a few minutes with a goose quill, a little
sealing-wax, and the finest sewing-needle you can secure. Melt the wax
and fill one end of the quill for half an inch or so, heat the eye end
of the needle until nearly red-hot, and push it into the wax. This tool
is very useful for adjusting a wing as occasion demands.
Let your insects remain as long as possible on the boards; they should
be left on for a fortnight in warm, dry weather, but longer in the
spring and autumn. The wings of imperfectly dried specimens are liable
to spring up, or droop.
There is another method of setting Lepidoptera which only requires
to be more widely known to quickly supersede the use of braces and
bristle. It is sometimes called the "Northern" method, but I prefer
to call it the "Paisley," because it was first used in that town. Its
advantages are: Greater speed, less apparatus, less expense, and less
liability to damage the specimens. Instead of the usual setting-board,
a block is used--that is to say, your setting-boards are cut up into
short pieces, in length a little less than the width of the board.
Thus, a board 2-1/2 inches wide should be cut into pieces 1-3/4 inches
long. As no corked surface is needed these blocks can be made or bought
very cheaply; the usual cost, from a joiner, is about two shillings
per hundred. The only other requisite is a cop of very fine cotton
"120^8" or even finer if you can get it. This you will be able to
obtain from a cotton-spinner or his agent; by-and-by, as this method
of setting becomes more widely known the dealers will probably stock a
few of these fine cotton-yarn cops.[#] Plate III. will show you how to
construct a stand for the cop. The rest is easy. Pin your insect in the
same way as you would do for braces; place it on the block with wings
well down on its surface, holding the block in your left hand. Give
your cotton a turn round the extreme edge of the block, then bring it
directly above your insect. Now blow the wing on the left side as far
forward as you wish it to go, and, while it is held extended by your
blowing, bring the cotton down gently across it and there you have it,
secured in position. Give two or three extra turns to hold it safe and
repeat the operation for the other wing. If the wings should be stiff
and refuse to go far enough forward, secure them as far forward as they
will blow, with one turn of the cotton only, then gently assist them
farther with a setting-needle. When in a satisfactory position, give
the few extra turns of the cotton. I can set from sixty to one hundred
and twenty insects in an hour by this method.
[#] Readers desirous of adopting this most excellent method of setting,
and yet experiencing difficulty in getting suitable cotton-yarn,
should communicate with the author, Mr. A. M. Stewart, 38, Ferguslie,
Paisley.--EDITOR.
In removing an insect from a block, draw a sharp knife across the back
of the block and lift off _all_ the cotton at once. If the body of the
specimen being set needs support, as sometimes happens, give the cotton
two or three cross turns, and with your setting-needle raise the body
on to this as shown on Plate VI. One hint more: See that your lines
diverge from near the body at the bottom to near the tip of the wings
at the top; the reason for this is that if you have to slip the wing
forward under a turn of the thread it will not be damaged if the thread
is arranged as indicated, whereas if your thread be laid on, say, from
the outer bottom corner in towards the head, it would then scrape the
wing, and be sure to remove some of the scales, thus damaging the
specimen. The correct method is shown on Plate VI. With ordinary care
and usage a good cop should last a year or two.
After your insects are set, by whatever method, they need to be put
aside in a dry, airy place to harden, and be secured against the
ravages of mice and spiders. For their better protection, it is usual
to place them in a "drying case," which need not be an elaborate
affair. My drying case was constructed out of an empty box obtained
from the grocer; judging from the legend on the outside it had once
contained tins of preserved apples. This is set up on end with the
bottom removed and made into cross shelves. Light muslin cloth is
tacked on in place of the bottom, so as to admit air but exclude dust.
On the front, where the lid was originally nailed, is a hinged frame,
covered with the same material, acting as a door. This drying house is
not exactly pretty, but it has served its purpose admirably for many
years.
A representative of the larva of each species is now considered
essential to a complete collection of butterflies, and it is rendered
even more perfect if egg-shells and chrysalis cases can also be
included.
We now have a fairly easy and reliable process for preserving larvæ, a
process which any aspiring young collector can carry through without
much trouble or expense. It is really very simple and costs little.
True, one can purchase apparatus specially made for the work for ten,
or even five, shillings, but equally good results can be obtained with
the expenditure of a few pence and a little ingenuity. I strongly
advise young folk to make their own apparatus; by so doing they develop
resourcefulness, and a handy youngster is not likely to make a failure
of his life.
In the first place you will need a hot-air chamber. Any empty
toffee-tin will serve this purpose; one somewhere about 6 inches long
by 4 inches in diameter will be a handy size. Get a piece of copper
or soft iron wire, such as milliners use; give the wire two or three
turns round the tin, twisting it as tightly as you can: then give the
two free ends a turn or two round a gas-bracket near the burner, so as
to bring your tin, with the open end next you, just over the burner.
Or you may mount the tin over a spirit-lamp, in which event you will
not be troubled with soot gathering on the outside of your oven. You
now have an oven which you can make as hot as you want it by regulating
your flame; you will soon discover the right temperature in which to
dry a skin quickly without burning it. The skins of small, thin-skinned
caterpillars dry very quickly, whilst those of large moths, such as the
Oak Eggar, dry more slowly even with more heat.
Your next requirement is a glass blowpipe: this you can purchase at
the chemist's for a copper. Ask for a glass tube about a foot long and
a quarter of an inch in diameter. Now, this tubing is made of a very
soft and pliable kind of glass, and by heating it over a flame you
should have no difficulty in drawing out one end of the tube into a
fine point, not too long and not too abrupt; the illustration (Plate
VII.) will show you the right length of the point. Hold the end over
the gas-jet, keep turning it round, and in a minute it will become red
and soft; remove the end of the tube from the flame, grasp it with a
pair of forceps, and gently and steadily pull the heated portion until
it is drawn to a point of the required length. Nip off the part you
caught with the forceps, and your tube is ready. Or another way is to
heat the tube in the middle, and pull the two ends apart; this will
give you two blowpipes, and you can make a fine point to one for small
caterpillars and a wider aperture to the other for large ones. I used
to know a friendly chemist who would "point" as many tubes as I wanted
at his Bunsen burner in a few minutes. To complete your blowpipe, you
will need about 2 inches of a watch-spring--any watch-repairer will
give you a broken spring. The photograph on Plate VII. shows how the
piece of spring is placed and used; it is bent to the required shape
while heated, and bound in position with fine copper wire. The wire I
use is the same as that required for mounting dried larva skins; it can
be obtained at any shop where electrical appliances are sold; it is an
extremely fine wire covered with green silk thread.
Your larva-preserving outfit is completed with a sheet of
blotting-paper and an ordinary lead pencil. I will now describe the
process.
[Illustration:
PLATE 4.
1. Clouded Yellow (Male)
2. Brimstone (Male)
3. Silver-washed Fritillary (Male)
4. Dark-green Fritillary (Male)
5. High Brown Fritillary
6. Queen of Spain Fritillary
7. Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary
8. Pearl-bordered Fritillary
9. Greasy Fritillary]
There could be no better species to begin with than the caterpillar
of the Large Garden White butterfly; get one as nearly full-grown as
possible, lay it out on the blotting-pad before you, place the lead
pencil across it gently, but firmly, just behind the head, and roll it
towards the tail. This kills the larva instantly, and empties out its
internal organs by the anal orifice. Roll your pencil over it again
to make sure the skin is thoroughly clean inside; then insert your
blowpipe into the anal orifice, letting the spring down on the last
segment so as to hold the skin on; apply your mouth to the other end
of the blowpipe, blow the skin out gently, and insert in the hot-air
oven. Keep blowing gently for a few seconds; watch progress; touch the
skin with your finger to see if it is getting hard and dry. Don't blow
too hard and make it look like a bursting sausage; try to keep it as
natural in appearance as possible. In a few minutes it will be quite
hard and dry; when dry, raise the spring, and a slight touch with the
thumb-nail will liberate it from the blowpipe. The skin is now ready
for mounting on silk-covered wire or a thin dry twig with a little
entomological gum or seccotine. Our specimen is now ready to take its
place in the collection.
We now have to face the problem of storing the collection. It is
probably beyond the means of a young collector to purchase a cabinet
with drawers, costing ten shillings per drawer, and he will be well
advised to keep his specimens in store-boxes which he may be able
to make for himself. I made some very serviceable ones with scented
soap-boxes got from our grocer. Any size will do, but it is best to
have your boxes all of one size if possible, say 10 inches by 14 inches
by 4 inches. Get a few light deal boxes about these dimensions, nail
on the lids, paper them all over the outside with good stout brown
packing-paper having a glossy surface; paste it on with thin glue; set
aside a day or two to dry. When dry, take a sharp saw and cut the
boxes round the sides and ends, so that each box is divided into two
equal traylike halves. Glue a stout cardboard shell round the inside
of one half, and attach the other half by two small brass hinges. The
cardboard shell rises above the sides of the tray, and when the other
half of the box is folded over it "stays put," as the Yankee says;
and, in addition, you have a fairly air-tight construction. These
store-boxes fold after the manner of a book-form chess or draught
board. Each half requires to be lined on the inside with sheet cork,
which you can get from dealers in entomologists' sundries, and finally
covered with thin white paper. Such a store-box costs less than one and
sixpence. Keep two or three boxes for duplicate specimens, and as many
for your permanent collection. By-and-by you will want glass-topped
cases, but by the time you have arrived at that stage you should have
gained sufficient experience to enable you to know where to buy them.
See that every specimen before being transferred to your permanent
collection bears with it a small label setting forth the date and place
of capture, thus:
EPPING,
9/6/11.
_J. Roberts._
ABBEY WOOD, HERTS,
7/9/11.
_Robertson._
Keep these tickets as inconspicuous as possible and with the writing or
printing in such a position as to be easily read without requiring to
remove the insect.
The following list of British butterflies is thoroughly modern, and
in labelling your specimens you should adopt its nomenclature, and
also follow the order given in arranging your collection. Both Latin
and English names are included, but if you wish to be a thorough
entomologist you should accustom yourself to use the scientific names.
The Latin name is the same everywhere "from China to Peru." If you use
an English name of a butterfly in writing to a foreign collector he
will probably fail to recognize the species referred to, but if you
give the scientific name he will know it at once.
LIST OF BRITISH BUTTERFLIES
ARRANGED IN THEIR FAMILIES AND GENERA, WITH THEIR SCIENTIFIC AND
POPULAR NAMES.
Family: PAPILIONIDÆ.
_Papilio machaon._
SWALLOW-TAIL.
Family: PIERIDÆ.
_Aporia cratægi._
BLACK-VEINED WHITE.
_Pieris brassicæ._
LARGE WHITE.
_Pieris rapæ._
SMALL WHITE.
_Pieris napi._
GREEN-VEINED WHITE.
_Pieris daplidice._
BATH WHITE.
_Euchloë cardamines._
ORANGE-TIP.
_Leucophasia sinapis._
WOOD WHITE.
_Colias hyale._
PALE CLOUDED YELLOW.
_Colias edusa._
CLOUDED YELLOW.
_Gonepteryx rhamni._
BRIMSTONE.
Family: NYMPHALIDÆ.
_Argynnis selene._
SMALL PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY.
_Argynnis euphrosyne._
PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY.
_Argynnis lathonia._
QUEEN OF SPAIN FRITILLARY.
_Argynnis aglaia._
DARK GREEN FRITILLARY.
_Argynnis adippe._
HIGH BROWN FRITILLARY.
_Argynnis paphia._
SILVER-WASHED FRITILLARY.
_Melitæa aurinia._
GREASY FRITILLARY.
_Melitæa cinxia._
GLANVILLE FRITILLARY.
_Melitæa athalia._
HEATH FRITILLARY.
_Vanessa c-album._
COMMA.
_Vanessa polychloros._
LARGE TORTOISESHELL.
_Vanessa urticæ._
SMALL TORTOISESHELL.
_Vanessa io._
PEACOCK.
_Vanessa antiopa._
CAMBERWELL BEAUTY.
_Vanessa atalanta._
RED ADMIRAL.
_Vanessa cardui._
PAINTED LADY.
_Limenitis sibylla._
WHITE ADMIRAL.
Family: APATURIDÆ.
_Apatura iris._
PURPLE EMPEROR.
Family: SATYRIDÆ.
_Melanargia galathea._
MARBLED WHITE.
_Erebia epiphron._
MOUNTAIN RINGLET.
_Erebia æthiops._
NORTHERN BROWN, OR SCOTCH ARGUS.
_Pararge ægeria._
SPECKLED WOOD.
_Pararge megæra._
WALL BROWN.
_Satyrus semele._
GRAYLING.
_Epinephele janira._
MEADOW BROWN.
_Epinephele tithonus._
SMALL MEADOW BROWN.
_Epinephele hyperanthus._
RINGLET.
_Cænonympha typhon._
MARSH RINGLET.
_Cænonympha pamphilus._
SMALL HEATH.
Family: LYCÆNIDÆ.
_Thecla betulæ_.
BROWN HAIRSTREAK.
_Thecla w-album._
WHITE-LETTER HAIRSTREAK.
_Thecla pruni._
BLACK HAIRSTREAK.
_Thecla quercus._
PURPLE HAIRSTREAK.
_Thecla rubi._
GREEN HAIRSTREAK.
_Polyommatus dispar._
LARGE COPPER.
_Polyommatus phlæas._
SMALL COPPER.
_Lycæna bætica._
LONG-TAILED BLUE.
_Lycæna ægon._
SILVER-STUDDED BLUE.
_Lycæna astrarche._
BROWN ARGUS.
_Lycæna icarus._
COMMON BLUE.
_Lycæna bellargus._
CLIFDEN BLUE.
_Lycæna corydon._
CHALK-HILL BLUE.
_Lycæna argiolus._
AZURE BLUE.
_Lycæna semiargus._
MAZARINE BLUE.
_Lycæna minima._
LITTLE BLUE.
_Lycæna arion._
LARGE BLUE.
Family: ERYCINIDÆ.
_Nemeobius lucina._
DUKE OF BURGUNDY.
Family: HESPERIDÆ.
_Syrichthus malvæ._
GRIZZLED SKIPPER.
_Nisoniades tages._
DINGY SKIPPER.
_Hesperia thaumas._
SMALL SKIPPER.
_Hesperia lineola._
ESSEX SKIPPER.
_Hesperia actæon._
LULWORTH SKIPPER.
_Hesperia sylvanus._
LARGE SKIPPER.
_Hesperia comma._
SILVER-SPOTTED SKIPPER.
_Carterocephalus palæmon._
CHECKERED SKIPPER.
The remaining pages of this volume will be devoted to a description
of the species mentioned in the foregoing list, together with notes
on habits and other points. Assisted by the splendid coloured plates,
which are produced from actual specimens, and the notes in the
following pages, the young collector should have no difficulty in
identifying the specimens he secures.