74 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



The insectary proper* is constructed much after the plan of an 

 ordinary greenhouse, the walls being made of hollow tile, and the 

 movable sashes in the roof, for ventilating purposes, are enclosed in 

 dormer-like, wooden frames, covered with swiss or a very thin cotton 

 sheeting in order to prevent the introduction or escape of the most 

 minute insects. A door at one end opens into a workroom, while a 

 window in the roof at the other end is provided with a protected, 

 movable sash like those previously mentioned. 



Along three sides extends a bench, such as are in use among 

 florists, except that, in this case, it is only about 30 inches in width, to 

 facilitate the close examination of objects at the far side. A portion of 

 the central space is occupied by a reservoir, and originally we had here 

 also a wider bench. 



Wooden benches were tried at first, but these soon decayed, while, 

 as is well known, the larvse of many species remain long in the earth and 

 to disturb them is fatal, so we were obliged to cast about for something 

 more stable to meet these requirements. We are now using, with 

 apparently perfect success, a bench the construction of which is shown 

 in Plate 3 The bottom is of ordinary stone flagging, two inches in 

 thickness, and supported on a framework made of ordinary gas pipe. 

 The upper side of this flagging is deeply grooved, about an inch from 

 the edge, along each side. For the back of the bench ordinary roofing 

 slate is used, the lower edges being fitted into the groove in the stone and 

 embedded in cement, while the upper edges are held in place by a cap of 

 galvanized iron running along the entire length. For the front a heavy 

 galvanized sheet iron is used, the lower edge, as with the slate, fitting 

 into the front groove in the flagging, while the upper is drawn over and 

 turned under the smaller, horizontal gas pipe, the latter being held in 

 place by a T joint, all of which is shown in the background of Plate 3. 

 Before filling the benches, the inside of this galvanized iron front is 

 coated with asphalt. 



The wider, central bench was discarded altogether and the space 

 enclosed by a low brick wall plastered with cement. This enclosed 

 space is filled with earth and will accommodate shrubs and even small 

 trees. 



The finished benches, with the whole apartment in actual service, 

 are shown in Plate 4. Formerly we placed soil in the breeding cages, 

 and grew, or tried to grow, the food plants of whatever insects we 



