1866.] 277 



NOTES ON COLLECTING, MANAGEMENT, &c. {LEPIDOPTERA.) 



BT H. G. KNAGGS, M.D. 



THE CATERPILLAR STATE {continued from page Hi). 



MANAGEMENT — Feeding. 



The kind of food having been determiaed upon, a few hints as to collecting it, 

 &c., may be added. As a general rule food, like fruit, shonld be gathered early in 

 the naorning, and if conveyed any distance, packed very lightly. When, however, 

 intended for juvenile larvae which are being reared on the air-tight principle, it must 

 not be plucked until the morning sun has dispelled the dew from its surfaces ; 

 though for more advanced individuals, when fed in ventilated situations, this same 

 dew, or the moisture caused by a shower or even by the water tap, gives an 

 invigorating fillip to the appetite which cannot be otherwise than healthful. It may 

 be noted here that when food is too wet the quickest plan to dry it is : — having 

 placed it in a towel, the four corners of which are held in one's hand, to swing it 

 round and round, and thus get rid of the extra dampness by centrifugal force, 

 whereby the plant is not bruised, as would be the case if shaking were resorted to 

 to dislodge the moisture : or it may be dried nicely in the draught caused by 

 opening a window-sash two or three inches, and placing the food half a foot inside 

 the window. 



The more mature foliage is generally chosen by larvae, but by no means 

 invariably so, since many appear to prefer the young tender shoots, and of course 

 in some cases even unexpanded buds. 



Nearly all larvae like their food healthy and fresh : but the risk of their being 

 injui'ed in changing it, often makes it advisable to be content with cHpping the 

 ends ofl" the twigs, &c., which go into the water ; and indeed this practice will keep 

 the food good for a long time. There are, however, some special and curious 

 exceptions to the rule that fresh healthy food is preferred, for, while the larva of 

 Aleucis pictaria selects the stunted unhealthy-looking sloe-bushes, Cidaria (?) 

 sagittata actually causes its food to wither before partaking of it ; and in the case 

 of Petasia nubeculosa careful feeding with fresh food seems to fail, though a stale 

 dryish diet affords a far greater likelihood of success. 



It sometimes happens, even in Nature, that eggs hatch, and hybemating larvae 

 come forth, before the requisite food is in leaf or even in bud, in which case unopened 

 buds, if to be found, may be split and offered with considerable chances of 

 success ; they must, however, be frequently renewed, and not allowed to dry 

 up. By this means with care, and luck on our side, we may manage to keep 

 our larvae going while we look out for a stray example of a food-plant, in some 

 sheltered nook or other, perchance more forward than the rest of its species, or till 

 buds have in due time expanded into little leaves : but if not even buds are obtain- 

 able, then our only alternatives lie between supplying peeled or rasped twigs and 

 bark, finding a "substitute," or leaving onr p'rot^gds entirely to their fate. 



There are some larvae, not altogether polyphagous, for which it seems important 

 — even necessary — to provide an alterative diet : thus it has been recommended to feed 

 Diphthera Orion on oak and birch, Nodua neglecta, and perhaps, too, Agrotis agathina 

 on heath, sallow, &c., and Cerastis vaccinii has been found to thrive best on oak 

 and dock. 



