PyraUdae 355 



After the 3rd instar it is necessary to isolate the larvae on account of 

 their cannibalistic habits. They are, therefore, fed in 2-inch glass vials, 

 wire screen stoppers being used in order to provide for ventilation. 



A large number of foods have been experimented with including the 

 following: curled dock (Rumex crispus), string beans (yellow and green 

 pods), celery, corn, beet, turnip, rhubarb, apple, cabbage, chard, potato, 

 corn flakes, lima bean, and sprouted grains. Of these the first named 

 have proven most satisfactory with others in the order given. 



Reference 

 For the breeding of Pyransta nubilalis see also p. 512. 



REARING EPHESTIA KUEHNIELLA LARVAE IN QUANTITY 



P. W. Whiting, University of Pennsylvania 



Equipment Needed. A warm room, 25 ± C, for starting the cater- 

 pillars; a cool room, 20 — C, for slowing development of the cater- 

 pillars; a refrigerator for cold storage of full-grown caterpillars; wash 

 boilers or other convenient, covered vessels for raising humidity; paste- 

 board boxes (wire-stitched, not glued) of convenient size, 8" x 5" x 4" 

 high, giving a fair amount of floor space; glass tumblers or tin cans; a 

 few shell vials, 70 x 20 mm., for collecting the moths. 



Directions. Hold the box or cover with moths resting on it in the 

 left hand. Collect the moths in a vial held in the right hand. The vial 

 must be held approximately upright while the vessel containing moths 

 is adjusted so that the moth will drop down into the vial. There is 

 thus little danger that the moth will escape. Twenty-five to fifty moths 

 may be collected in one vial. If the moths fly actively they may be 

 quieted by cooling the box in the refrigerator or on a window sill in cool 

 weather. A pasteboard box with the bottom spread thinly with rolled 

 wheat (Pettijohn's Breakfast Food), 1 cup per 40 square inches, is 

 opened and the cover held in the left hand. The vial of moths, held in 

 the right hand, is emptied into the box by a quick motion so that the cover 

 may be replaced before the moths escape. 



Boxes containing moths are placed in covered boilers in which one or 

 two glasses of water are set. The boilers are then left for about 2 weeks 

 in a warm room. Boxes should then be inspected and the webbiness of 

 cereal and the presence of young caterpillars noted. Add more cereal 

 according to the needs of the larvae. The advantage of having a small, 

 measured amount at first (1 cup to 40 square inches) is that thus the 

 number of caterpillars may be better judged. Enough food should be 

 present so that all larvae have plenty, but the whole mass should become 

 matted and the cereal for the most part be consumed. 



After the boxes have been in the boilers about five weeks they should 



