February, '09] .toikxal of economic extomolooy 59 



A Member: I would like to ask Professor Washburn if these in- 

 sects are attracted by li^ht and whether that can be made use of. 

 Can they be attracted by gasoline torches at night / I have noticed 

 that some species are attracted by light. 



]\Ir. Washburn: That opens up an interesting question. I don't 

 know. 



Mr. Smith : Mr. Chairman. I know that this particular species is, 

 very strongly attracted to light, but I don't think that is true of the 

 grape leaf-hopper. 



President Forbes: If there is nothing further, we will take up 

 the next subject : ' ' Do We Need the Insectary ? ' ' — a general discus- 

 sion to be opened by ^Ir. E. D. Sanderson. 



Do We Need the Insectary? 



]Mr. Sanderson : ]Mr. President. I have not prepared a paper. I 

 brought up the subject because I wanted to hear a discussion and 

 wished to get the views of some of those present upon the matter. 

 In my own training, I came to believe that I must have an insec- 

 tary. I have been trying to get one at every place I have been, and 

 have never succeeded, but I have managed to get along wdthout one. 

 The more breeding I have done indoors and compared with records 

 made out of doors, the more I have found that there was considerable 

 difference in the life histories which were obtained by breeding in- 

 doors from those secured out of doors. In looking at insectaries at 

 different places in the country, I very often found them practically 

 out of use. In the summertime they are too hot. It is very difficult 

 to grow things. In the wintertime there is very little work going on. 

 There is very little occasion for using a heated insectary in winter, 

 unless a man is engaged in special investigation on something that 

 can be bred during the winter. In studying the work of the Gypsy 

 Moth Parasite Laboratory, I was very much impressed with their 

 outfit for rearing insects. ]\Iost of you are familiar with it from Mr. 

 Burgess' description in the Journal of Economic Entomology, and 

 many of you have seen it. The house consists simply of a frame set 

 directly on the ground with wire screening on the sides and a can- 

 vas top. The cages for rearing Carabid beetles are set in the ground 

 and trays are used for rearing caterpillars. In the fall the insect 

 material can be removed if desired, and the house stripped for the 

 winter. I believe this outfit is in a process of evolution. It has a 

 considerable history, if I am not mistaken, for I know that large 

 cages have been used in the field for several years by various work- 

 ers. I have been wondering whether it would not be better for us 



