318 



TAXIDERMY AND ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTING. 



tarletan or under a bell glass. When the larva undergoes its 

 transformations in the ground a bed of earth several inches in 

 depthjiipon which some dead leaves and* litter are placed, should 

 be provided. A convenient form of a breeding-cage is repre- 

 sented in Fig. 86. Mr. W. H. Edwards, who has done more than 

 any other person to elucidate the life-history of North American 

 butterflies, often uses a breeding-cage made of a nail keg, the top 

 of which has been knocked out, and over which gauze netting is 

 tied. The writer has successfully employed, for breeding moths 



upon a large scale, common store- 

 boxes, with about eight inches in 

 depth of good soil at the bottom, 

 covered with a close-fitting frame 

 lid over which mosquito-netting 

 is tacked. Branches of the food- 

 plant are set into the box in jars 

 of water, in which they remain 

 fresh for several days (see Fig. 87). 

 If possible, and if operations are 

 to be prosecuted upon a large 

 scale, it is well to appropriate to 

 breeding purposes a small room 

 from which all the furniture and 

 The windows should be closed 

 them, and the doors should 



FIG. 87. Breeding Cage. B. Jar with food- 

 plant ; E, box with soil ; G, gauze lid. 



carpets have been removed, 

 with gauze netting tacked over 

 also be made tight so as to prevent the escape of the insects. 

 When the caterpillars descend from the food-plants which are 

 placed in the apartment in jars of water, or in pots, and thus 

 indicate their readiness to undergo transformation, they should 

 be secured and placed in smaller boxes fitted up as before de- 

 scribed, and, in case the insect pupates in the soil, provided 

 with a sufficient depth of earth. In case it is desired to go to 

 still greater expense, a small house, arranged after the manner 

 of a greenhouse, and with suitable cages and compartments, may 

 be provided. Such an insect-house exists at Cornell University, 

 and is under the care of that admirable investigator, Professor 

 Comstock, who no doubt would be glad to furnish students with 

 a knowledge of the details of its construction. The larv?e of 

 many lepidopterous insects emerge from the egg in the fall 



