THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 113 



larv?e, and found all gathered to the willow. Henceforth I had no diffi- 

 culty, and found these larvse as easy to rear as larvae of Tjiriius. 



This suggested an experiment on Turnus. There are several lists of 

 food plants of this species, two of them by Mr. Scudder, and nowhere is 

 willow mentioned. I was feeding a brood of these larvae last year, and 

 on 20th August, immediately after 4th moult, separated part of them and 

 gave willow only. They nibbled a little now and then, but in effect eat 

 nothing, did not grow, were flabby to the touch and empty, and all died 

 of starvation by 2nd Sept. The remaining larvre, on Tulip, reached pup?e 

 30th Aug. and ist Sept. 



On relaxing dried butterflies. 



I notice, Ent. xvi., 220, sometlaing on modes of relaxing insects. For 

 butterflies, I formerly used an earthen jar, with cover, in which were a few 

 inches damp sand, the insects being laid on the sand. But if the sand 

 was at all too wet, the insects were Hable to be saturated and much dam- 

 aged, and if left too long, to mould. For many years I have used a 

 towel, first dipped in water and wrung out, folded twice, and laid on a 

 board. In the folds the papers are laid, or if the butterflies are removed 

 from the papers, they are placed between layers of newspapers. Small 

 species, as Lycaenae, relax perfectly in 5 or 6 hours ; most Hesperians 

 over night ; Colias and Argynnis within 24 hours ; and Papilios in from 

 24 to 48 hours, according to size of body. It may be necessary, and 

 certainly will be in warm weather, to wet the towel again, and perhaps 

 with Papilios more than once. On removal, when about to, spread, if 

 moisture shows on the under surfaces, remove it by blotting paper. The 

 advantage of this mode is its convenience, and the fact that the insects 

 will not become too wet, nor can they mould, as the towel becomes dry 

 too soon for that. 



Butterflies on pins I float on cork in covered tin pails — two quart is a 

 good size. In this case no moisture collects, and the relaxation is about 

 as rapid as in the towel. Small species I often float in a tin-capped glass. 

 If one has not the pail at hand, the floating may be done in anything, a 

 bowl or a pitcher, but a wet cloth should then be laid over the top. 



On carrying hibernating larvae through the Avinter. 



I have sometimes so carried larvae in ice boxes, or in ice houses, or in 

 snow banks, by aid of friends in the Northern States mostly, but last fall 

 I heard of a large room called a " cooler " at the Sanitarium at Clifton 



