THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 139 



in number to six. On lifting, I found one of them rattling and shaking 

 with great vigor ; I returned it to the box and waited three days, when 

 nothing appearing, I broke it open and a fully developed fly walked out 

 in a very feeble condition. Its length was i inch, expanse i^ inches. 

 Head, thorax and legs black, antennae and feet yellow ; abdomen bro^vn ; 

 a yellow spot between thorax and abdomen ; wings light smoky brown. 



J. A. Moffat. 

 Hamilton, June 26th, 1877. 



MELITAEA PHAETON. 



I have caught this summer over fifty specimens of Melitaea phaeton ; 

 they have been extremely common here. I saw a gentleman recently from 

 Ottawa who told me that he could have caught them by the hundred in 

 that neighborhood, they were so very abundant. 



Geo. W. Pearson, Jr., Montreal. 



HOW TO DESTROY CABINET PESTS. 



There is nothing more annoying to the experienced, or more dis- 

 couraging to the young collector, than to have his specimens destroyed by 

 mites, by the Anthreiws, or by the larva of Dermestes. Against the 

 ravages of these enemies there is no security. Paste and paper fail to 

 exclude them ; camphor is only a partial protector, and the only safeguard 

 of our cabinets is constant vigilance, and the instant destruction of the 

 offenders when observed. 



For this purpose many methods have been suggested — saturation with 

 turpentine, immersion in alcohol or benzine, exposure to a heat of 210 

 degrees in a drying closet or oven, &c.; but most of these ways are apt to 

 injure, or even destroy the specimens, while the last is often ineffective. 

 Having, however, found a certain and rapid method of dealing Avith these 

 intruders, I desire, through your pages, to make it known to my brother 

 naturalists. 



Some two years ago, I had a magnificent female Platysamia (Satiiniia) 

 cecropia, measuring 6^ inches across the wings when set out, which came 

 out of a chrysalis in my breeding box. I succeeded in killing and 

 stretching it without damage, and when dry, transferred it to my interim 

 box, which hung against the wall. In about a fortnight I was annoyed to 



