REARING LARV^. 95 



per folded into a triangular form with the edges overlapping. 

 Put up tlius, multitudes can be packed away in tin boxes, and 

 will bear transportation to any distance. In tropical climates, 

 chests lined with tin should be made to contain the insect- 

 boxes, which can thus be preserved against the ravages of 

 wliite ants, etc. 



In sending live larvte by mail, they should be inclosed in lit- 

 tle tin boxes, and in sending dry specimens, the box should be 

 light and strong, and directions given at the post-office to 

 stamp the box liglitly. In sending boxes by express they 

 shoidd be carefully i)acked in a larger box, having an inter- 

 s[)ace of two inches, which can be filled in tiglitly witli hay or 

 crumpled bits of paper. Beetles can be wrapi)ed in [)ieces of 

 soft paper. Labels for alcoholic specimens should consiot 

 of parchment with the locality, date of capture, and name of 

 collector w^ritten in ink. A temporary label of firm paper with 

 the locality, etc., written with a pencil, will last for several 

 years. 



Preservation of Larvoe. Alcoholic specimens of insects, in all 

 stages of growth, are very useful. Few collections contain al- 

 coholic specimens of the adult insect. This is a mistake. Many 

 of the most important characters are effaced during the drying 

 process, and for pui'poses of general study alcoholic speci- 

 mens, even of Bees, Lepidoptera, Diptera, and Di-agon-flies are 

 very necessary. 



Larvce^ generally, may be well preserved in vials or bottles 

 of alcoliol. They should first be put into whiskey, and then 

 into alcohol. If placed in the latter first, they shrivel and 

 become distorted. Mr. E. Burgess preserves caterpillars with 

 the colors unchanged, l^y immersing them in boiling water 

 thirty or forty seconds, and then placing them in equal parts 

 of alcohol and water. It is well to collect larva? and pupa» 

 indiscriminately, even if we do not know their adult forms ; we 

 can approximate to them, and in some cases tell very exactly 

 what they must be. 



Rearing L.vrv^. More attention has been paid to rearing 

 Caterpillars than the 3^oung of any other suborder of insects, 

 and the following remarks apply more particularly to them, but 



