﻿112 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Fore wings pale brown, a whitish streak from base below median 

 nervure to a whitish spot at end of the cell, the streak expands out- 

 wardly and this portion is separated into spots by the veins. Hind- 

 wings whitish, venation and terminal border pale brown. Under 

 side similar to the upper side. 



Expanse, $ , 54 millim ; $ , 57 millim. 



An example of each sex from Haight's Place, Pauai, Luzon 

 (7000 ft.), December 1st, 1912. 



Allied to D. arctata, Walk. 



THE REARING OF LARV^. 



With Special Reference to the British Lepidoptera. 



By C. Rippon, M.A., F.E.S. 



Let me acknowledge at once that the rearing of larvae is a 

 very wide subject, and cannot be exhaustively treated by any 

 one individual, much less by one like myself, whose knowledge 

 and experience are not to be compared with those of many other 

 entomological students, the professional section in particular. 

 These jottings, therefore, are only put forward to raise a greater 

 interest in the matter, and, if possible, to induce others to 

 amplify and correct the conclusions arrived at. The two chief 

 reasons for my dealing with the subject at all are : first, that my 

 entomological friends have frequently suggested that my experi- 

 ments in larvae rearing would be worth recording in consequence 

 of the success that has attended several of my attempts to rear 

 species which are generally considered difficult ; secondly, that 

 I have met so many entomologists — some, indeed, whose names 

 are almost household words — who have complained of their lack 

 of success in breeding, 5^et who treat the rearing of larvae in the 

 most casual manner, and do not seem to realise that the larvae 

 of different species require very different treatment, and that all, 

 except the most robust, require constant care and attention, 

 especially when kept in confined quarters. Even some authors 

 of works on the collecting of Lepidoptera often describe but one 

 cage, as if all larvae should be treated alike ; and if, perchance, 

 two or three different cages are mentioned, it is seldom pointed 

 out that larvae of different habits require different housing, the 

 impression left on the reader being that the different cages are 

 only described to enable him to select the one he likes best or 

 can most easily secure. Altogether there seems to be a tendency 

 with the majority of entomologists to treat the practical details 

 of larvae rearing as beneath their attention, whereas they really 

 are of the first importance, for a large number of bred specimens 

 are essential to the formation of a collection of real scientific 

 value, to say nothing of the enormous knowledge to be gained 



