Earwigs, beetles, and woodlice are almost, if not quite, as fond of " sugar " as moths, and occasionally

when we have hardly been able to find a single specimen of the last-named, we have encountered a beetle of some species or other on nearly every tree. The accompanying illustration of a Carabus intricatus which is, I believe, not a very common

CAKAHUS IXTHICATVS.

species in this country was photographed near Elstree, in Hertfordshire.

Stag beetles are said to confine their habitat to the southern side of the Thames; we have met them occasionally whilst walking along the lanes of Surrey. The picture on p. 143 represents a male and female.

Sometimes moths that cannot be attracted by

i:i: MINK MOTH.

" sugar "jnay be met with, but they are very difficult to photograph on account of their constant and rapid movements..One night, after an unsuccessful turn at " sugaring," I was getting over a field gate on a with in one and hand home, bull's-eye waymy " " I in the brush andthe when other, pot sugar noticed something white fly against the gate-post, close to my right hand, in which I held the lantern, and drop to the ground. Upon searching I found an ermine moth, and placed it on the leaf of a chestnut it had been attractedtree growing close by. Whether by the light I carried and stunned itself in colliding with the post I cannot say, but we were astonished

INSECTS AND OTHER SMALL DEER.

to see it remain upon the leaf, where I had placed it, for several minutes, during which our photographer made the study on the opposite page.

One evening, whilst out after pictures of moths, we fell in with a glow-worm upon a hedge-bank, it by itsand my brother essayed to photograph own phosphorescent light, but failed to accomplish this novel end on account of his inability to focus, and from the insect's movements. The light which it gave off the nether side of its hind-quarters, however, was so bright that I could distinctly see it shining across the legs of our tripod three feet away. It evidently serves to attract the males of the species, for \ve saw four close round the female figured below. Whilst engaged in taking photographs with a flash-lamp we have on several occasions unwittingly convinced country people who have seen our momentary illuminations that Nature was indulging in a display of summer lightning.

One night an uncommonly inquisitive boy, in front ot whose cottage we were photo- GLOW-WOKM. graphing, would persist in a very close examination of the different items of our plant, and as in doing so he kicked the leg of the tripod and nearly knocked the camera over

my brother conceived a notion of getting rid of him. He charged his "lamp with powder and spirits, and, lighting the latter, looked very serious whilst he pointed out a supposed defect in it, and expressed a fear that it would one day explode and blow both our heads off. "Yes," said I in apprehensive tones; " be careful; two men nearly lost their lives by a flash-lamp accident only last week." The lad looked a bit scared, but didn't budge an inch until my brother suddenly flashed oft" the lamp, and gave vent to a most agonising howl. There was an immediate clatter across the road, and a big bump agamst the wooden fence in front of the house where the boy lived. The great blaze of bright light had plunged the troublesome intruder into pitch darkness for a minute or two, and he could not see the gateway to his home. The remedy, however, was effectual, and he did not give us any further trouble that night.

Such moths as burnets and magpies may be photographed by daylight without a great deal of trouble. The six-spot burnet is very common in Caterham Valley, where we now live, and my brother succeeded last August in making the accompanying study of one in the act of emerging from the pupa-case. Magpie or currant moths swarm in Hertfordshire, and by going along the leeside of a hedge on a breezy day and tapping the bushes with a walking-stick, I have disturbed great numbers. When they alight after being disturbed, they generally

do so out of view of the camera, but now and again one will dispose itself advantageously for picturemaking. Of course, the less wind the better for successfully photographing the insects.

Caterpillars afford a wide field to the photographer, and may be studied with a great deal of ease. The illustrations upon the next page of a gregarious species and its nest represent common objects along almost any hedgeside in the month of June.

Seme of the smaller species of dragon flies, found plentifully round water holes, ponds, and near rivers, are quite easy to approach with the camera, and

ISO WILD LIFE AT HOME.

remain perfectly still

for any length of time.

The large ones, whose

bodies measure about

three inches in length,

and whose wings expand

until they are nearly foui-inches from tip to tip,

are exceedingly difficult

to come near, excepting

in the morning and

evening, when their

alertness and activity

are at their lowest ebb.

The one figured in our

CATEKPILLAR.

illustration was photographed during

a bright afternoon

under the most

adverse conditions.

We noticed that

after hawking backwards and forwards

across a cattle pond,

wherein it had no

doubt been bred,

it alighted on a

particular tall grass

stem. My brother CATEKPILLAKS XEST.

waded in and, focussing the insect's point of rest, put a plate in and waited. After a good while the dragon fly condescended to come back, but even its slight weight bent the slender grass stem sufficiently to render it out of focus. We recognised that it was a difficult subject to overcome; but we have rather a liking for that kind of photography, and ultimately succeeded by a little calculation and patience in attaining our

object. During the absence of my brother I got over the difficulty of making pictures of butterflies and other winged insects by observing places they frequented, and removing every flower but one within a given area, then cut- DRAGON FLY. ting a model butterfly out of a piece of newspaper, sticking it on the flower and obtaining a good clear focus by means of the type.

Humble bees may sometimes be photographed whilst asleep on a flower. On the 16th of last May we found one hanging to a blue-bell in a field

about a mile away from our home. It was late in the evening, and, as the light was very poor, we had little faith in securing anything like a good picture. However, it does not pay to neglect even small chances, and we exposed a couple of plates, and went home to develop them. Our fears proved to be well founded, so we got up at 4.30 next morning and revisited our winged " sitter." We found her still asleep, in fact she had not stirred a hair's-

BEE OX BLUE-BELL. breadth from where we left her. After making two studies I took her off the flower and placed her in the palm of my hand. She seemed to resent such an unwarrantable interference with her rest, but was too sleepy taste of her sting.to punish me for my pains by a

Wasps are extremely interesting, but vicious little insects when angered. Curiously enough, whilst living at iny old home in the north of England I used to find their nests suspended from currant bushes, rocks, and overhanging banks, as represented

in our illustration; but during a sixteen years' residence in the south the reverse has always been the case, and I have met with by far the greater number in holes in the ground. I once found a small wasp's nest inside an old one belonging to a common wren.

WASP 8 NEST.

Wasps kill great numbers ot other insects. 1 have seen them come into the kitchen of an old Surrey farmhouse and snatch house-flies oft the heads of nails protruding from a beam as dexterously as a professional cricketer would catch a ball; and after they had torn the wings of their victims off they flew through the open window and away

Nothing seems to come amiss to them in the eating line. I had a hive of honey bees moved a few months ago, and a number of robbers of the same species, scenting the exposed honey, made an onslaught, and there was a great battle, resulting in a heap of slain invaders being thrown outside. Several wasps discovered the bodies of the dead marauders, and, cutting them in two at the narrow part joining the abdomen to the thorax, ate the contents of the former. One morning I saw a dead young bee thrown out of the hive. It had not lain more than a minute or two before a wasp came along and seized it. He tried to fly away with it, but finding the piece of carrion too heavy to lift, he at once set to work, and, severing the thorax and head from the abdomen, flew away with the latter.

They are also cannibals. One day I watched one cut the head clean off an injured comrade and fly away with it. Wasps are also great drunkards, and when fallen fruit begins to rot and ferment they are at the very height of their enjoyment. I have seen them suck up the juice from a hole in the side of a rotting pear until they fell over helpless in the grass. It it said on good authority that they lie in this state until they become sober, and then go straight back again to another carouse. They are gifted with great vitality. I recently killed an adder and left him for an hour or two before I examined the contents of his stomach. When

I did so I found a full-grown mouse and a wasp which was very much alive.

More attention has probably been paid to ants and their ways than to any other insects, mainly on

account of their highly developed intelligence and the communistic principles upon which they live. I have had a number under observation, but must say that I have been disappointed in not discovering greater displays of intelligence in them. I placed a good portion of a colony in a large glass

jar with plenty of earth, and then stood the whole in a big bowl of water. On several occasions when I removed the covering of the jar to feed the insects I purposely left it off, and watched to see what would happen. Numbers fell over into the water through trying to escape. These I put back again, thinking they would communicate the danger to their comrades and thus prevent any more immer-sions. They either failed to do so or their warnings were unheeded, for adventurous spirits still continued to explore and fall over into the moat. I tried them over and over again at intervals of a day or two, but always with the same result.

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