December, '09] JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 389 



A NEW INSECTARY 

 By E. DwiGHT Sanderson, Durham, N. H. 



At the last annual meeting of the Association of Economic 

 Entomologists^ the writer led a discussion as to the necessity of a 

 glasshouse insectary for most life history studies. Although appreci- 

 ating the necessity of a glasshouse for purposes of instruction and 

 for certain classes of entomological investigations he has felt for 

 some time that a structure which would give more natural conditions 

 would be much preferable for most life history work. Carrying out 

 this idea, an insectary was erected by the New Hampshire Agricul- 

 tural Expermiment Station during the past summer, which is illus- 

 trated herewith, and whose construction may be of interest. 



It was necessary to build the house on a side hill so that some filling 

 was required and the outer end of the house is several feet above 

 the surrounding area. This is a disadvantage which should be 

 avoided where possible. A stone wall foundation, eighteen inches 

 deep by twelve inches thick, was laid for the base of the entire house, 

 which is thirteen by twenty-four feet. At the head end is a per- 

 manent wooden workroom, six by thirteen feet. A door enters from 

 outside on the east side and another opens to the rearing room on the 

 south side. On the north and west sides are windows. This gives 

 ample room for one or two work tables, shelves, storage, etc. The 

 walls are made of seven-eighths boards one foot wide, with three inch, 

 battens over the cracks, and the roof is covered with a gravelled roof- 

 ing paper. All windows and doors are screened. 



The rearing room has a cement floor through the center, with six 

 cement pits down one side, and a strip of soil two feet wide along 

 the opposite wall. The floor slants so that water runs out through a 

 drain at the further end. The inside of each pit measures about 

 two feet eight inches square and the outer walls are eighteen inches 

 high. There are no bottoms to the pits so that when filled with soil 

 they are continuous with the soil beneath. The sides of the rearing 

 room are composed of 18-mesh, bronze screens, three feet wide and 

 five feet high, resting on a cement coping, which are buttoned to the 

 uprights which support the roof. The uprights of the sides are 

 bolted to the cement coping and the framework for the roof is fastened 

 together with bolts and screws, so that the whole structure may be 

 taken down, stored for the ^vinter, and readily erected again in the 

 spring. The canvas roof is double, the ridge of the lower one being 



»Jour. Econ. Ent., II, 59. 

 2 



