April, '09] JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 121 



TYPES OF CAGES FOUND USEFUL IN PARASITE WORK 



By C. E. Hood. Dallas, Texas 



In the breeding work connected with the boll weevil investigations 

 the inability to carry through a large percentage of the weevils and 

 parasites showed verv plainly the inefficiencj^ of the various types of 

 cages which were then in use. It was therefore necessary to construct 

 several new cages furnishing more nearly the natural conditions lua- 

 der which the various weevils and parasites live. The object of this 

 paper is to give a brief description of these cages, their advantages, 

 and some of the results already obtained from their use. 



Most of the breeding work at Dallas, Texas, has been carried on out 

 of doors in a remodelled hibernation cage. This consists of a frame of 

 two by fours, measuring ten feet on each side and seven feet in height, 

 the top and sides of which are covered with 14-mesh wire screen. A 

 roof was built over this and shelves arranged for cages on three sides. 

 With such a cage it was possible to produce more natural conditions 

 of temperature and humidity than were possible before in the breed- 

 ing room of the laboratory. 



Indoor Breeding Cages 



Of the various cages used, our tive-section cage is the largest. This 

 measures four and a half feet in length, ten inches in width and twelve 

 inches deep. The bottom and ends are of wood, the top and back of 

 50 mesh wire gauze and the front of glass. This cage is divided into 

 five sections by wooden partitions, each section being entirely sep- 

 arated from the others. The panes of glass in the front can be raised 

 or lowered and serve as doors. Pieces of felt-edged weather stripping 

 are used in the grooves in which the glass slides to insure tightness. 



This has proven to be a very satisfactory breeding cage. One dis- 

 advantage, however, is that the insects attracted to the light collect on 

 the glass and it is impossible to get them without disturbing or often- 

 times crushing some of them. This difficulty has been overcome al- 

 most entirely by having the side opposite the glass made of wood in- 

 stead of wire, with a small door in the center large enough to admit 

 the hand. To secure isolation from ants and mites, nails are driven 

 part way up into the bottom of the cage, one on each corner, and the 

 heads are set in small cups of vaseline or axle grease. 



For smaller lots of material the box cage has proven to be quite sat- 

 isfactory. This is a wooden box of the style used by the California 

 Board of Horticulture. It is ten inches long, six inches wide and six 



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