JANUARY. 3 



under the respective months of the year, to give as 

 succinctly, and in as plain language as possible, the 

 ordinary operations to be performed in doors and in the 

 open air by the Entomological tyro. 



The month of January is, to the Entomologist, as 

 far as the imago is concerned, almost a blank ; it is, 

 therefore, necessarily the best period of the year which 

 he can select to " set his house in order" for the re- 

 ception of his numerous guests that he may expect as 

 the season advances ; and if he does so he will find that 

 a great deal of valuable time which he could ill spare 

 during the busy summer season will be thereby saved 

 to him. 



The tyro who intends to breed insects (and he must 

 do this if he expects to make good progress in Ento- 

 mology) must provide himself with the following ap- 

 paratus for rearing the larvae of Micro- Lepidoptera, 

 viz. : — several air-tight bottles (there is a bottle made 

 by Messrs. Cook and Crawley, Raven Row, Spital- 

 fields, that is admirably adapted for this purpose, 

 especially for the pupae of Lithocolletis and Nepti- 

 cula) ; it is called the cylinder pattern, and consists of a 

 bottle in the shape of a cylinder, with a wide mouth, 

 fitted with a metal cover, round the inside of the rim 

 of which is a ring of cork : this being flexible, on the 

 cap being placed on the bottle it adapts itself to the 

 shape of the mouth, filling up all the interstices, thus 

 rendering it air-tight ; they may be purchased at from 

 about 2s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. a dozen complete. 



2ndly. One or more tin canisters, of any form most 

 convenient for containing larvae when collected ; a large 

 box, or two or three large garden pots, for planting 

 b2 



