98 WOBK AT HOME AND IN THE FIELD 



CHAPTER VII 



COLLECTING OVA, LARV^, AND PUP.¥] 



We have already observed that insects should, as a rule, be set as 

 soon as possible after their capture ; and it would therefore seem 

 that this is the proper place for instructions in this part of the work. 

 But it so happens that butterflies and moths are to be obtained by 

 means other than those already described, and we shall therefore 

 consider these previous to the study of the various processes 

 connected with the setting and preserving of ovir specimens. 



Were we to confine our attention to the capture of the perfect 

 forms only, our knowledge of the Lepidoj^tera would be scanty 

 indeed, for we should then be ignorant of the earlier stages of the 

 creatm'es' lives, and have no opportunitj' of witnessing the wonderful 

 transformations through whicli they have to pass. 



Such an imperfect acquaintance with butterflies and moths will, 

 I hope, not satisfy the readers of these pages ; so it is intended, in 

 the next two chapters, to give a little assistance to those who would 

 like to know how to set to work at the collection of their eggs and 

 larvie, how to search for the pupae, and how to rear the insects 

 from the stage at which they are acquired till they finally emerge 

 in the perfect form. 



These portions of an entomologist's work certainly take up a 

 great deal of his time, and also require much patience and perse- 

 verance ; but the advantages derived cannot be over-estimated, for 

 in addition to the knowledge gained of the early stages of insect 

 life, this kind of work will enable him to place in his cabinet a 

 number of gems he would otherwise have not and probably know 

 not. Occasionally a prize may be obtained in the form of a cluster 

 of eggs (ova) of a rare species, in many instances the larvae are to 

 be obtained with comparative ease, while the perfect insects of the 

 same species are not often seen or not easily captured, and many a 



