The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-13
BUTTERFLY COLLECTING.
ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE IN THE
PURS UT OF RARE INSECTS.

ton collection, now en- view at the AmericL IN
ArtGallerios. Is suflcientproof that entomology
is now a trade as we'll as Il science. One man
could hardly have captured all the 1900 va
rieties represented, though he had spent his
life travelling TO aud fro between the four Lor-
ners of tho earth with n butterfly net In his
hand. and, rs n matter of fact, no one man or
women. or even n dozen mon. did make up the
collection. While 1t Is owned by the Denton
brothers, Sicily w. and William. who caught
many of the specimens, 1t represents the
travels, hnrdships, skill, and courage OF moro
than u score of experienced collectors in diff
fcrent parts of the world. who have brought or
sent the prey of their nets to the chronological
market in London. there to be distributed by
sale or exchange to museums and private col
~lectors. Some of these travelling entomolo-
gists are employed by the London firms. while
others are free lances, and gather other OBJ
jects also. such as orchids, perhaps. or rare
lizards. for sale.
In the Denton exhibit are shown butterflies
and moths from the Indian iungles, from the
snow line of the Himalayas, from the outskirts
of the uneNplored and annibal.infested Ma
~lnysian forests, from the cold plateaus Of Lab
rado;, whero on,y the hardest insect can
withstand the climate; from tho interior of
Brazil, n perfect insect fairyland: from AT.
rican wilds, where no white man but the col
lectors has ever set foot, and, in fact, from nll
parts of the world, civilized and uncivilized,
from the line Of eternal snow on the north to
the line of eternal snow on the south. If tho
story of the capture OF each specine.. were re-
corded the result would be such q volume of
adventure and peril az perhaps has never yet
been bound between two covers. There Is one
moth which cost its captor his life.
This is the Crdnin RiphouS of Madagascar,
an exceedingly beautiful insect, brilliant In
reds and blues md greens. 1t is "A rare moth
and brings a good price In the market. Tho
unfortunate collector had been fortunate
enough to capture three in one day futtering
about some flowers on TIE edge of a swamp, for
the Ripheds is a day-nyinc moth. These three
were already bargained for, and the man had
commissions to get several more specimens,
the.neXt of which was to go to the nentons. Re-
turning to the swamp where he.had captured
tho others, he got one more after a days search.
His journey back to the nearest town involved
camping for ono nigh, and in the middle Of
the night his tent got afro in some mysterious
way. Snatchlng up his tin collecting case. he
rushel out. screaming to his native servants
for help; but before they could reach him with
buc Gets OF water his clothing had teen burnt
Off, and he himself so badly injured that he
died soon after. His collecting case was
brought in By the servants, a.d the gorgeous
trdnta Ripheus eventually reached its dcsti-
nation In the Denton collection.
Many OF the specimens have been thus OBJ
,taincd directly from collectors commissioned
from the London dealers. Most OF the known
lepidoptera have q regular catalogue price.
the newly discovered SPECIES. OF which ther"
are many each year. being valued according to
their scarcenesS. The remoten-ss Of The local
ity whers they are found, and The difficulties
and dangers incident TO their capture. Thus
the American mountain butterfly is priced
no higher than some OF the African species.
which are really much more common. because
the aforesaid sender lives on the tops OF GER
tain nouute!ns In New Hampshire, where the
collector has 10 brave no dangers moro deadly
than the wrath OF the wandering kline to g-t Mt
him. whereas the capture OF the insect OF Afri-
can birth involves JOURNEYS through n region
Infested with, poisonous flies and still moro
matters as n stray rhinoceros here and there.
or a lean and hungry lion on the trail. col
lectors In that part OF the world aud In similar
regions arr usually armed with guns in add.-
ton to their butterfly nets.
As far rs the apparatus for capturing the
lep!doptera GOES, II Is quite simple and easily
portable. a tin box for carrying tho speci.
mems, n cyanide, bottle rs a method CT easy
are all that Is necessary. II the bunting
ground is TO he reached only By, traversing
ing net or easily detachable. Some collectors
use a net with Il joint handle like n fishing rod
for tie high flyers. but To use this to advan-
tige demands not only great dexterity. but also
unusual strength. rs the sweeps throu.h the
mir must be made with great swiftncss and
force. and the leverage OF the resistance OF the
Rir to a net on a long rod is surprIsing. After
tho specimen is captured and slain by being
dropped into the cyanide bottle. he mny, be
folded In a cooked hat OF stiff paper and laid in
the collecting box, or he may be pinned to the
cork lining OF the box.
ways. and here. is where the skin and expert
ence Of the collector are taxed. Shelly w.
put in his efforts to secure a specimen OF the
large and beautiful OrnithOpterd PridmuS. a
native OF North Australia.
Il had heard of Il very big butterfly he
says. "of brilliant color.ng. which was said
TO inhnrit the tons of trees in partly cleared
places In the forest, and | made up my mind
left Australia. for from the description got
from tue natives. supposed the insect de-
scribAd to be one of the Ornithopterg. and ono
which | very much wanted. Ny informants
also stated tina: these butterflies were the freed
them would have bad luck forever. As they
added that nobody had ever succeeded In
f fnx IN p 2nsfi 'h Aec ,as1 sIrs1m sR t ssSm .o lfSs,
and equipped with u shotgun IN addition to
my long-haudled net. ! set out for one OF the
Journey. several Of the Ornithopterm. I. agni-
iicent big fellows. were hitting about the tops
81 the trees. When | had put nv net together
tho two natives grinnei cheerfully. They de
CT ed without hesitation that no bad luck
would accrue to me on account Of any clam
II ! had been on up Il roof my net would still
have been several rods short Of penetrating
II EC0lDl w IuOSt MES lnnA DlItu.
For an hour | sat down and waited, for y visit
from the insects, but they appeared perfectly
contented where they were.
Finally | hit upon a plan. Selecting n shell
loaded with very fine shot, | fired Mt one OF the
insects and brought 1t down, too badly riddled
OF course, to bo of much use for mounting. but
still good enough for my purpose. | st>ead
the butterfly carefully out upon the leaves of
n big shrub. and waited, Presently the 9TH
ers caught sight OF their late companion, np-
p~arently resting quietly far below his proper
region. and after tiuttering about for a time,
ami nINyn In lnA ms II Ia 80. ont.
proved fatal. as captured four of them. ons
after another. That night n great storm came
up, and In the morning the two natives came
around to my place. ana were much amazed to
find that | hadn't been struck b." lightning.
They thought that storm had been sent 10 de-
stroy me for capturing the butterflies. Since
then ! have used decays In other cases"
Curiosity Is tho besctting sin of some species
OF butterflies. The highest fier of this re-
giOn. Pdptli0 IlnHns, n large, tiger.stripcd
butterfly that affects ~treetOps largely, falls =
prey to any hunter Who knows the regularity
of the kind. All that Ia necessary is to hnd n
spot In the woods where tho Turnus butter
flies are '1itting. stand upon n stump, and lift
the net high In The air. In two minutes a dele
gallon OF the insects will DO down TO lind out
what tho queer white thing Is. Then ali that
remains to do Is to scoop them In. Similarly
tn. GrlDtP ars inuuiRitiye and hold no ,.,IJ