InTKOD I XTIOX. X X X i X 



materials for forming their cocoons, S:c. The necessary moisture is to be suppHed by sprinkling 

 with a brush dipped in rain-water, which can best be done early in the morning, to replace the 

 falling dew. The earth must be kept tolerably damp, especially in dry weather. 



Unknown larvae, or those which, like cannibals, must be reared separately, may be reared in 

 small cages of the same construction, but only six inches long and broad, and eight inches deep. 

 We cannot put a perforated shelf into these, but the glass containing the food must be put in a 

 corner, and propped up with a piece of stick. Instead of small cages, many collectors use a jam- 

 pot, covered with earth at the bottom, and with gauze tied over the top. This is sometimes 

 replaced by a cover of tin or ground glass. 



A simpler apparatus than we have described may be constructed of a large wooden box, 

 partly filled with earth, the lid of which is formed of wire gauze. But if we use a box which opens 

 and shuts with a hinge, instead of being made to lift off, we shall run the risk of crushing some of 

 the larvae when it is opened or shut. In all cases we mvist see that our larva-cages close 

 so tightly that it is impossible for the larvae to creep out and escape. 



Flower-pots may be conveniently used for rearing larvae, and one advantage is that the larvK 

 can thus be reared on living plants. The pot should be half filled with earth, and the food- plant 

 should be planted in it. If it is a low plant, which will not reach above the top of the flower-pot, 

 the latter may be closed by tying a piece of strong muslin or gauze over it. But it is always 

 better, especially when the plant overtops the pot, to place over it a raised cover of wire gauze, 

 which will leave the plant room to grow, and which must be tightened round the edge of the 

 pot, or otherwise firmly secured. The same end may be reached by sticking two bent twigs, 

 crossing each other, into the pot, and tying a covering of gauze over them ; but in this case 

 the larvae are very likely to hide in the folds of the gauze, and escape when it is untied. Of 

 course the enclosed plant must be supplied with sufficient moisture to keep it fresh, either by 

 sprinkling the earth, or by setting the flower-pot in a saucer full of water. The amount of 

 moisture required by the plant will also be found suitable to the larvae which feed on it. The hole 

 at the bottom of the flower-pot must be stopped up sufficiently to prevent any larva which may 

 burrow in the ground to form its cocoon escaping through it. 



Bell-glasses may also be used, set over a deep round dish or pan filled with earth, and offer 

 Sreat facilities for observing the enclosed larvae. 



Wood-feeding larva:, like those of the Goat Moth, and those which prepare their cocoons with 

 fragments of wood, like the NotodontidcB, &c., cannot be kept in wooden cages, but must be reared 

 in stone jars or jam-pots covered with wire gauze. The larvae of many Noctuce, &c., will gnaw 

 holes in gauze or muslin, so that wire gauze is much to be preferred as a covering for larva-cages 

 under all circumstances. 



Breeding-cages for tlie Larvce of Micro-Lepidoptera. — -The different larva-cages which we 

 have been describing are too large for most Micro-Lepidopterous larvte, which would be lost in 

 them. We must therefore provide them with smaller dwellings, and tumblers or jam-pots 

 partly filled with earth and sand, and covered with a lid of ground glass, may be recommended. 

 The food cannot be placed in water in such small receptacles, and must be kept as fresh 

 as possible by other means. The glass cover will retard its drying, by keeping out the 

 external air ; and if the cage is set in a cool shady place, the exclusion of the air and the 

 dampness of the ground will prevent the food from drying up for several days. But mildew 

 Is very likely to appear in closed glasses of this kind, if they are not well looked after. One 

 advantage in rearing the larvae of j\Iicro-Lepidoptera is that many of them feed up very rapidly, 

 especially in the summer. 



