THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 73 



and thence by rail to Victoria. There I removed the eggs already laid, 

 and placed the bag in the sun in the open window, staying the gauze with 

 pins to keep it steady in the breeze, and so I got another lot of eggs in 

 the middle of the city and without plant or other accessory 



Of genus Chrysophanus I can speak but with some doubt. Some of 

 the species, as Gorgon and Xanthoides, appear always to oviposit like the 

 Argynnids upon the ground or among dry rubbish, while Helloides 

 always uses a plant, Polygonum aviculare, or in Alaska, where this poly- 

 gonum does not grow, on some allied plant. 



It is thus seen, in short, that these enumerated genera of butterflies 

 which require no plant are most of them easy to manage, and that they 

 can be safely and readily carried a long distance alive and well, and eggs 

 afterward obtained at the home of the student, with little trouble ; and 

 that course I advise in all such cases. On the other hand those butter- 

 flies which require a plant on which to deposit their eggs are more difficult 

 to handle, because you have not only the butterflies to manage but must 

 provide a fresh plant as well. Yet the difficulties are not so great as is 

 feared. I have found it best, usually, when a suitable $ is caught, to tie 

 the bag at once upon a living plant, and then put in it the 9 , and arrang- 

 ing suitable shade leave it for a day or two. These plant-loving butter- 

 flies all lay their eggs upon the plant, and not upon the bag, except 

 accidentally. Ants, birds and boys must be guarded against — a trio of 

 terrors. I do not use a large bag ; one large enough to hold a quart or 

 two is large enough, either with the plant or without. It is not best that 

 the butterfly should be able to fly about and flutter in its bag ; they 

 become much more quiet and reasonable in a small one. 



The plant problem is often the one most difficult of solution. Cuttings 

 from delicate plants and such as speedily wilt and perish, can be carried 

 home in a tin box in which they will keep fresh for several days. In that 

 way I have gotten eggs and raised larvae in my laboratory when the plants 

 grew ten miles away, by going once a week for fresh cuttings. But some 

 cuttings wilt immediately if exposed to the air. To avoid this, put the 

 cuttings into a glass fruit jar, then put in the ? and shut it up tight. The 

 closing of the jar prevents the plant from wilting, and by that method I 

 have had good success in getting eggs, notably from the large Papilio 

 Kiitu/us, and in raising larvse. This F. rutulus gave me no end of trouble 

 to get eggs in the open air, but oviposited freely when shut up with, 

 willow twigs in a half-gallon fruit jar. 



