May, '04] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 165 



Mtcro-Lepidoptera Suggestions. 

 BY W. D. KEARFOTT. 



(Continued from p. 136, Vol. xv, No. 4.) 



Part III. Breeding. 



I am quite sure the only reason that every American collector 

 does not increase his collection by breeding from the larvae is 

 the immense bugaboo he has raised up in his mind of the diffi- 

 culties, extra work and elaborate cages and apparatus required. 



In England and throughout Europe the acquisition of speci- 

 mens by this method is, if anything, more common than catch- 

 ing the perfect insects with a net. The great majority of species 

 offered through the " Exchange columns " of European maga- 

 zines state that the specimens are " bred." 



The apparatus actually required for the work is absurdly 

 simple, a few tight tin or zinc boxes and wide-mouth vials 

 for the field and a few common jelly-glasses with tight tin cov- 

 ers or small wide-mouth screw-top jars for the house, are all 

 the apparatus required for a beginning. 



It is a mistaken notion of the average collector that larvae 

 must be raised in cages, with gauze wire on one or more sides 

 to give an abundant supply of air. The amount of air actually 

 required is so infinitesimal that no provision at all need be 

 made for it. A very great advantage of the tightly closed vial 

 or jar is that the leaves or food of the larvae will retain their 

 freshness and palatability for a week or ten days ; whereas, 

 with the wire cage, the leaves are often wilted and stale a few 

 hours after they are placed in it. 



The great secret of success is cleanliness, which will be elab- 

 orated on later. 



For Micro-L,epidoptera larvae I prefer for actual collecting 

 in the field the screw-top glass vials shown at Fig. 17. Their 

 advantages are that they are light in weight and occupy but 

 little room ; several dozen can be carried in the khaki cartridge- 

 bag ; they are transparent, and it is easy to select an empty 

 vial or pick out one that contains some particular kind of larva 

 to which we wish to add more specimens, and finally if no 

 further study of the larvae is required, they can be placed in 



