isiOTES ON LAKViE, ETC. 45 



;iSiOTES ON LARYiE, &c. 



On the Management of Larvae duking Hybernation. — I have 

 about forty larvic of Ai-clia villica, which hatched in June. I shouUI 

 be very much obliged if some of the readers of this magazine Avoukl 

 tell me what plan they have found most successful for the management 

 of larvae during hybernation. Can I keep them in the house, or would 

 it be too warm and dry '? — (Mrs.) D. Twopenny, Woodstock, 

 Sitting-bourne, Kent. 



On Rearing young Larv^. — The method I have adopted, and 

 invariably found successful with newly-hatched larvffi, is to take a 

 small bottle (such as may be had from the stationers with samples of 

 ink) about an inch square and an inch and a-half high ; into this I 

 put, with water, the food-plant (a small specimen with the root 

 attached preferred), closely packing about the stems with cotton-wool. 

 This is placed on a piece of white writing paper — cardboard curls too 

 much — and memoranda of date of laying, hatching, name of larva, 

 food-plant and any other useful particulars may be written upon it. 

 On the food-plant or touching it, I place the chip on which the young 

 larvffi are lying, or if in a box, the whole box, in such a way that they 

 can easily crawl upon it. The whole is then covered with a smooth- 

 sided, large-sized tumbler. In two or three days' time, not earlier, if 

 kept from the sun or in a cool place, another small bottle is inserted 

 with a fresh plant, so arranging it that it shall come well into contact 

 with the old one. In a few hours, the latter may be removed. 

 Scarcely any trouble is incurred by adopting this plan. The food keeps 

 fresh until the last, and is so appreciated by the larv;i3, that it is quite 

 exceptional to find one of them either dropped upon the paper or 

 crawling about the glass. They remain upon the plant feeding 

 vigorously until the whole is consumed. If too much moisture con- 

 denses upon the glass, it is tilted for a few moments. I never interfere 

 with the larvae, nor handle them in any way, if it can be avoided ; the doing 

 so is one of the principal causes of failure. Some persons are so anxious 

 about perfect cleanliness and neatness of appearance, that the larva, 

 whether attached to a leaf for the purpose of changing, or not, is ruth- 

 lessly removed, and in most cases injured thereby. Put fresh food 

 alongside of the stale, and no fear need be entertained that the larva 

 will make the exchange if it wishes to do so. To my knowledge, I have 

 not lost a single one of the thousands I have hatched this season, 

 while my friends who have tried other methods with the same larvfe, sup- 

 plied to them by me, have disastrously failed. The larvie are kept under 

 the tumbler until too large to escape from the ordinary cage, which I make 

 in this way : I get boxes of thin wood from the grocer or bookseller 

 (those about six or eight inches square and about four inches deep, I 

 find most suitable), see that they are free from cracks, and then plane the 

 edges, or rub them down on a sheet of sandpaper, so as to make them 

 perfectly fiat. I then get a piece of glass, cut the exact width of the 

 outside of the box, and a little shorter than the height (I stand 

 them on end, with the opening outwards). I then put two ordinary 

 cut tacks into the bottom edge, just so far as to keep the glass quite 

 close to the wood, and into the upper, two wire screw-eyes, such as 

 are used for small picture frames, screwing them in until they hold the 

 glass perfectly firm. A half- turn will allow the glass to be removed. 

 For the earlier stages these cages are not ventilated, so as to retain the 



