HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



169 



REMINISCENCES OF LARV^-BREEDING. 



By J. BOWMAN. 



WAS very young 

 indeed — perhaps 

 six or seven years 

 of age — when I 

 first began to mani- 

 fest an absolute 

 fondness for natu- 

 ral history objects, 

 principally of the 

 insect family. I 

 was very fortunate 

 in that we pos- 

 sessed a very large 

 coalhouse, in which 

 I could store my 

 boxes or cages, as 

 I called them ; the 

 former name was 

 the more applic- 

 able, as most of 

 my so-called cages had at one time been safely 

 esconced on the fixtures of a draper's or bootmaker's 

 shop. I was fortunate, too, in possessing a sister 

 who was quite willing to canvass the said draper's and 

 bootmaker's establishments in search of any empty 

 boxes they might have on hand ; and thus an objec- 

 tionable part of the pursuit of my hobbies was got 

 rid of in a manner which was pleasing to me. Once 

 I had got a goodly number of boxes in my possession, 

 I very soon found tenants for them, in the shape of 

 lizards, frogs, butterflies and moths, and humble- 

 bees ; with the last-mentioned I may say I was very 

 successful. I was generally well informed as to the 

 whereabouts of a humble-bees' nest ; and, armed 

 with a spade and an extra large cardboard box, I 

 would proceed to the spot, and digging very care- 

 fully round about the nest, I could manage to land it 

 into my box intact, bees and all. Having got the 

 nest safe, I would fasten the lid of the box safely 

 down for a day or two, and then cutting a square 

 piece out of the side, I would thus transform my box 

 into a beehive. I have taken nests in the middle of 

 the summer, and kept them in good condition until the 

 ' No. 272. — August 1SS7. 



beginning of winter ; but as soon as Jack Frost came 

 in, so soon did my bees give up the ghost. At some 

 future time I may perhaps trouble you with a few of 

 my observations on this interesting little insect, the 

 humble-bee ; but now to the subject on hand. 



Of the different kinds of "live stock" that I 

 delighted in holding prisoners, of none was I so fond 

 as of the different species of larvae which I generally 

 had in my possession. To these I devoted most of 

 my time, and for these the ordinary cardboard box 

 of the draper was not, in my estimation, good 

 enough. For these, when I could manage, I would 

 procure an empty fig-box, and by nailing over the 

 top a piece of muslin, or better still, perforated zinc, 

 which I left open at one end, I could manage to fit 

 out a substantial larvae cage. 



Of course, I need scarcely say that the existence 

 of dealers who purvey to the wants of aspiring 

 naturalists, was entirely unknown to me ; and even 

 if I had known, the probability is that my parents 

 would have thought twice before they granted me 

 money in order to purchase accommodation for such 

 vermin as hairy oobits, as the majority of caterpillars 

 were, and are still, indiscriminately termed by the 

 good north-country people. 



My affection for "vermin" gradually became known 

 in the neighbourhood in which I lived ; and at all 

 times of the day some one would knock at the door 

 with one hand, the other tightly clenched, enclosing 

 some strange creature for me. Many of the captives 

 were, as a matter of course, either killed, or, if they 

 happened to be butterflies or moths, spoiled past 

 recognition by the rough treatment they had under- 

 gone at the hands of their captors. Some, however, 

 were treated in a more gentle manner ; and at this 

 time I have in my cabinet a fine specimen of the 

 oak-eggar {Bombyx qicercus) moth, and also of the puss 

 {Dicramcra vinula), death's-head {Acherontia atropos), 

 and poplar hawk moth (Suieriiithits fiopuli), each of 

 which I obtained in this manner. The oak-eggar and 

 death's-head I obtained as perfect insects, and well do 

 I remember the astonishment with which I listened 

 to the distressed, human-like cry of the latter when I 



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