﻿THE REARING OP LARV^. 115 



almost as long as the leaves refrain from drooping ; but for 

 those which feed on more succulent growths the use of water to 

 keep the foliage fresh should be distinctly limited, and in some 

 cases it is better to risk the larvae having frequently to feed on 

 wilted leaves than to use water at all, while in all cases it is 

 best to change the food frequently. Some breeders seem very 

 much afraid of supplying larva with wet food, but in the great 

 majority of cases, to spray the food in the evening is a great 

 advantage, and foliage recently rained upon is not to be despised. 

 I, of course, in this refer to open cages, for in air-tight boxes the 

 food must be dry. x\nother point in connection with feeding is 

 the selection of the food. Care should certainly be taken to 

 select that which is likely to be most acceptable. For instance, 

 it is courting trouble to give a newly-hatched larva, which feeds 

 on newly-opened buds, an old hard leaf. Foliage covered with 

 dust, soot, &c., should be avoided, while stunted, diseased sprays 

 of leaves or those infested with other insect life should be re- 

 ligiously passed by. On the other hand, it is not wise to use 

 food from trees whose foliage has apparently been left untouched 

 by all wild larvae. When there is much honeydew about, the 

 thorough washing of all foliage required for food is necessary. 

 When rearing larvae whose habits are unknown, it is advisable 

 to give a little of all parts of the food-plant available — old leaves, 

 young leaves, buds, flowers, seeds, &c. ; observe which is pre- 

 ferred and feed accordingly : but the test should be repeated 

 every now and then, for often a larva which in its early days 

 likes flowers may later on prefer the old and mature leaves. 

 Care, however, should be observed when larvae which feed on 

 leaves reach their last instar or so, not to give them an ex- 

 clusive diet of young and tender foliage, whether they prefer it 

 or not, otherwise disaster may overtake the brood. In the later 

 stages mature leaves alone usually form a safer diet. Personally, 

 I attach great importance to the selection of suitable leaves and 

 sprays for feeding, and in many cases always picking the food 

 from the same tree or plant for a certain batch of larvee is a 

 factor towards success. I experienced rather a curious example 

 of this not long ago. I was fortunate enough to obtain a few 

 ova of Neuria reticulata. Knowing that this species was supposed 

 to be difficult to rear, I took special pains with the larvae 

 and gave them bits of Polygonum from several different plants, 

 whose foliage varied considerably in appearance. The larvae 

 much preferred one plant to all the rest, and fed up on it suc- 

 cessfully. I was so impressed with this preference that I sent 

 specimens of each plant to a botanical friend, and he reported 

 that they were all precisely the same species of Politgonum 

 aviculare, and three, including the one chosen by the reticulata, 

 were of the same subspecies ; he could only account for the 

 difiference in the appearance of the foliage and the prefer- 



