June, '04] 



ENTOMOLOGICAL NEXVS. 



2O7 



Micro-Lepidoptera Suggestions. 

 BY W. D. KEARFOTT. 



(Continued from p. 169, Vol. xv, No. 5.) 



Part III. Breeding (continued}. 



Common jelly-glasses, with tight tin covers, make very good 

 breeding- jars for the house. I also use several sizes of screw- 

 top jars of the style as shown by 

 Fig. 1 8. They are made in a num- 

 ber of sizes ranging from small ones 

 of an ounce capacity up to large 

 ones about six inches tall by three 

 inches inches in diameter. The par- 

 ticular advantage of both the com- 

 mon jelly-glasses and the screw-top 

 jars is that they have no inside ribs 

 or ledges to gather dirt or for the 

 larvae to spin their food-plant to and 

 prevent its easy removal for clean- 

 ing, etc. 



For convenience of handling, a 

 few shallow trays should be made, 

 just wide enough to hold a glass or 

 jar, and about twelve or fifteen 

 inches long. For the longer vials 

 ^^ (Fig- 17), racks such as are used 

 for holding rows of test-tubes are 

 very convenient. 



It is well to go over the material collected as soon as possi- 

 ble after returning from a trip, taking one vial or box at a 

 time and carefully drawing out with forceps the small clusters 

 of leaves that may have been packed in too tightly for comfort, 

 and placing them in a jar of suitable size, so that the contents 

 will not more than half fill it. Then write on a slip of paper 

 date, place and food-plant ; use pencil always, the dampness 

 will make an undecipherable blot of ink. Leaves of firm text- 

 ure, such as those of the hardwood trees, can be closed up 

 tight without danger of sweating or mold, but some of the 



Fig. 18. 



