Caveman Collecting

[Deleted]

Saw this in an antique lantern today and wondered how collectors coaxed in moths before we were spoiled with electricity? How many caveman entomologists do you think there were? Nothing as rewarding as securing that rare lep by firelight

[exoticimports]

At least the cavemen had the brains to take their firelight out to the forest; when I was a kid was sat in the suburban back yard for hours with a single incandescent lightbulb. Talk about low catch rate!

Chuck

[Deleted]

I'm sure it was indeed a low catch rate! As a kid, the street light outside of my house was the "hotspot" and remember getting extremely excited when a Hyalophora cecropia or Sphinx perelegans would come in, although there was more than one instance where trying to balance on top of a rickety ladder resulted in injury

[Deleted]

I used to find beetles at the street light in from of my house when I was a kid. That was before they changed the light bulbs out to the yellow ones. Bugs don't like the yellow ones.

[bandrow]

Greetings,

Ah - the good 'ole days!! I used to collect around the street light in front of my house as well. Between the ages of 12-14 I had numerous neighbors that would turn on their porch lights and a few had security lights on their garages as well. After dark, I would make the rounds of the neighbor's porches, sampling the lights. Every now and then, somebody would be sitting in their living room, watching TV, and as I approached, would holler out the screen door, "anything good tonight?". Things have changed so much that a kid trying that today would get shot!!

Bandrow

[papilio28570]

I'm sure cavemen ate whatever they managed to collect.