Hunting butterflies and moths

Title

Language

English

Source

The Young Citizen 5 (5) May 1939

Year

1939

Subject

Science--Study and teaching (Elementary); Moths; Butterflies

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

176 THE YOUNG CITIZEN May, 1939 ELE~/\ENTARY SCIENCE SECTION Hunting Butterflies and Moths IN some of the islands of the Philippines and th~ neighboring East Indies .are to be found butterflies and moths which are very valuablP to collectors, and for which fairly good p!·ices are paid1 ranging frcm one peso to 120 pesos for one specimen. Cloth manufacturers buy beautifully marked. species of lrntterflies and moths to get ideas of new designs for their cloth. Of course, fancy prices are paid for only a comparatively small number of specimens, and many bring only small prices. The bird-wing butterflies of the East Indies be!Ong to on('; of the most famous species of btilterflies. There are a great many of this species, but all have the same characteristic-long, slender wings out" of all proportion to the size of their bodies, which enable them to fly as swiftly as the birds. Some of them even have markings on their wings ~vhkh give them the appearance of birds. A gorgeous , yellowish green-and-black butterfly whieh sells for as much as 120 pesos was discovered by a collector on one of the expeditions sent out to the Dutch East Indies. Another magnificent butterfly of the birdv.:ing species has wings heavily ''framed" in black with a series of metallic toothedged splashes of green running dowp. the length of th'=! wings, and a lovely "collar" of crim~on separating the head from the trunk. The English Rajah of Sarawak, on first capturing it, sairi it should be called the "king" of but1.erflies, because it is so roy.g,l ii1 appearnnce. The usual way of catching butterflies is Uy means of nets on long poles. Some 9f the !:ipecies desired by collectors flutter P.mong the topmost branches of trees. In order to get them a platform is built high up beiwe·en the tree-trunks, and natives, armed with the usual nets on long poles, wait until a desired butterfly comes within striking d!stanc~. Afb~r the insects have been captured they muf:t he killed. One should kill them in as (Please tiwn to page 182.) 182 THE YOUNG CITIZEN OUR BIRD FRIENDS Heron, Eastern purple-Kan(Continued fJ"cm F!fe 1'17) dang ajok No. 4, the cuckoo, gets its Hercn, Javan green-Bacaw name from its call. No. 5, the itim wocdpec!:er, has a strong bill Heron, night-Bacaw gabi which can drill holes in trees Kingfisher, Asiatic-Susulbot or boards. The beautiful · Kingfisher, white-c-ollal-ed - dove, illustrated in No. 6, is Kasay-kasay a member of the family of pi- Mallard, Philippine - Dumageons. No. 7, the owl, is a ras, patong bundok bird of prey, and is distin- Moorhen-Uloc g-uished by its large head and Nightjar, Philippine earedeyes, short, hooked bill, strong Kandar.apa talons, and 0more or less noc- Owl, gra::;s-Kuagong talahib turnal habits. The bittern, Owl, Philippine-Kuliawan shovm in No. 8, belongs to the Parakeet, Luzon hanging - heron family. Colasisi · A List of Philippine Birds Pigeon, Bonaparte's imperial The following list of Philip- -Balud pine birds is not complete, but Pigeon, Philippine greeninclud-es the names in English Punay and· one of the Philippille dia- Rall, Philippine~Ticling kilalects of most of the birds to yan be found in the Islands: Robin, Philippine magpie-Bittern, cinnamon - Bacaw Dominico .canela Shrike, large-nosed-Tarat Bluebird, chestnut-headed - Shrike, Philippine red-tailed Peiik-peiik -Cabezote Chat, pied-Sipao, tererekoy Shrike, white-bellied swallow Crake, Philippine ashy-Tica, -Pagatpat m'.3.tang bayani Snipe, painted-Pakubo Cuckoo, rough-crested _ Ma- Snipe, Suinhoe's - Kanduro, nok manukan p.agitla Cuckoo, rufous-bellied-Ibong Sparrow, Malayan grey-Mamay sakit yang costa Curlew, Asiatic-Balankaui- Sparrow, tree-Mayang bato tan Starling, Chinese-Martinez Dove, Dussumier's turtle- Sunbird, yellow-breasted - Bato bato de collar Tamsi Duck, tufted-Patong bundok Swallow, Asi11tic-Layang-laEgret, ca ttle-Tagac yang Finch-Maya Tai!orbird, Derbuy's - Pepit Fly-catcher, black-naped manailahi Pitpit azul. 'Warbler, Northern willowF'ly-catcher, guava-Luklac Pitpit Fowl, red jungle-Labuyo Warbler, striated marsh-SuGallinule, Philippine blue- nod kalabao Acbag \Veaver, Luzon brown-MaMr1y, 1989 HUNTING BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS (Continued from page 176) painless a w.ay · as possible. Speed is necessary; o.therwise the delicate scaling of the \Vings is injured as the butterfly struggles in the killingLottle before it is overcome by the gas. Various kinds of moths are f!.lso desired by collectors, especially the large Atlas moths, somE oi which have a wing spread of almost a foot. In the Philippines giant moths are found ill N egros ·and other· islands. Moths a r e distinguished from butterflies by their feathered feelers, by their wings being horizontal when resting, and by their flying usually at night. One of the most remarkable things about butterflies is their series of change$ before Lecoming butterflies. The female butterfly lays many eggs whkh produce caterpillars. After a short time they take a new shape and bec_ome chrysalids. Within its covering the insect dev~lops, and comes out as an active and beautiful butterfly. In the illustration on page 176, Figure 1 is a picture of the butterfly, Figure 2 is a picture of the caterpillar, and Figure 3 is a picture of the chrysali•.-Adapted from Panoran·1a. yang poking Weaver, Philippine-Mayang pula Woodpecker, large-billed pygmy-Kalpinterong maliit

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