128 The Ottawa Naturalist. [September 



are often seen attached to the limbs of trees. If these are gathered 

 and kept out of doors during the winter, and brought into the 

 school in the early spring, the scholars will be interested in watch- 

 ing for the appearance of the moths. The cocoons of the Pro- 

 methea Emperor Moth are usually to be found each fall on the 

 lilac. Caterpillars of many kinds can be collected all through the 

 season and with, a little care, reared to maturity. An easy way to 

 obtain larvae is to beat the foliage of trees and shrubs over an in- 

 verted umbrella. The greatest pleasure in entomology is the study 

 of the life-histories and habits of species. The field is wide, and 

 there is still a vast amount of work to be accomplished. The 

 most useful work can be done in studying the early stages of 

 moths. Only a small percentage of these have been thoroughly 

 worked out, and careful observations recorded are of much 

 importance. Specimens of the mature forms collected in the field, 

 in many cases, are more or less rubbed or damaged, and always 

 inferior to bred material. For few larvae, ordinary jelly jars with 

 tin lids will answer. Some earth should be put in the bottom of 

 each jar, as many caterpillars pupate in the ground. Fresh food 

 should be fed every day and care taken to keep the jars clean. 

 If a number of the same caterpillars are being reared, larger jars 

 will be necessary. 



If at all possible, at least one specimen of each kind should be 

 preserved for future reference and study. This is best done by 

 inflation, and specimens thus prepared are more valuable than those 

 put in liquids- Proper apparatus may be purchased from dealers 

 in entomological supplies, such as : an oven, in which to dry the 

 empty skins while being inflated ; a spirit lamp to furnish heat ; 

 some glass tubes drawn out to diff'erent sizes at one end ; some 

 clips made of watch spring and held to the glass tubes by means 

 of a band cut from rubber tubing ; a double rubber bulb with 

 about three feet of tubing attached ; and a pair of fine curved 

 forceps. The process, briefly, is to (i) kill the caterpillar in a 

 cyanide bottle ; (2) place it on a piece of blotting paper, cover it 

 with a strip of the same paper, and gently press out, through the 

 anal orifice, using the pair of fine forceps, all the body contents ; 

 (3) attach the anal segment to one of the glass tubes, fastening it 

 with one or two of the spring clips ; (4) connect the glass tube to 

 the tubing of the double bulb and inflate the larval skin by gently 

 squeezing the outside bulb, at the same, with the other hand, hold 

 the caterpillar in the oven to dry. When perfectly dry, the larva 

 should be carefully removed from the glass tube and mounted with 

 shellac on fine wire, one end of which should be first wound 

 several times around an insect pin. Naturally, at first specimens 

 will be spoiled, but with care good results will soon be obtained. 

 It is best to begin with hairless larvae. 



