COLLECTING AND PRESERVING INSECTS RILEY. 



Other Apparatus. Much of the breeding of insects can be clone with 

 the simplest apparatus, and for the rearing of Microlepidoptera, Gall- 

 iiisects, and the keeping of cocoons and chrysalides of small species, noth- 

 ing is more convenient than a medium sized test-tube, the end of which 

 may be plugged with cotton. 1 have recently successfully carried over 

 the winter the larva of Spite-dux xpeciosus, which had been removed early 

 in the fall from its earthen pod or cocoon, the larva transforming to a 

 perfect pupa in the spring. In this case the test tube was plugged with 

 cotton and inserted in a wooden mailing tube to exclude the light. 

 Smaller jars with glass covers or with a covering of gauze may be em- 

 ployed for most insects, with the advantage of occupying comparatively 

 little space and of isolating the species under study. 



FIG. 125 Root cage: a, frame rath slide removed; 6, movable slide; c, top view (original). 



Long glass tubes, open at both ends^ are useful in many other ways, 

 especially in the rearing and study of the smaller hypogean insects or 

 those which bore and live in the stems of plants. An infested stem cut 

 open on one side and placed in such a tube will generally carry any 

 insect that has ceased feeding, or any species like the wood-boring bees 

 which feed upon stored food, successfully through their transformations; 

 while root-lice may be kept for a lengthy period upon the roots in such 

 tube, providing a portion of the root extends outside of the tube and is 

 kept in moistened ground or water. In all such cases these tubes, with 

 their contents, should be kept in the dark, either in a drawer or else 

 covered with some dark material which can be wound around or slipped 

 over them, and the ends must be closed with cotton or cork. 



The rearer of insects will frequently experience difficulty in carrying 

 his pupa; through the winter, and, even though ordinary precautions are 



