EQUIPMENT FOK REARING BEETLES. 



17 



and larvtv wliou nciirly full grown t-an be fed in them if desired. Tlie 

 cages should not be ilisturbod until the following spring, and at that 

 time the booties which dovelopod will come to the surface of the 

 ground in the cage and can be easily removed. 



It is always necessary to provide liibernating quarters for beetles 

 late in tlie summer, as they pass the winter in the adidt state. Boxes 

 of any desirable shape can be used for tliis ])urposc. They should 

 be IS to 2-i inches deep, and the bottom should be replaced with gal- 

 vanized iron wire netting, J -inch mesh. GSoe fig. 8.) They should 

 be set in the ground and filled with earth witliin 4 to 6 inches of the 

 toj). A liinged cover on wluch the same kind of wire netting is used 

 is a necessity, and the box should be su])phed with a lock, so that its 

 contents can not be (Usturbed by ])ersons of an in((uiring turn of mind. 



Fig. 8.— Box cages fur liihcrnation of Ciildsonia beetles. (Original.) 



We have also found it desirable to use, for hibernation cages, gal- 

 vanized iron wire cylinders ha^^ng a |-inch mesh, which are con- 

 structed in the same manner as those used for feeding large larva\ 

 (See figs. 9 and 10.) They are of special value for confining speci- 

 mens during the winter which have been used for rearing or other 

 special records. Cages similar to the last two types ilescribed were 

 used late in the summer of 1909 for feeding large numbers of the 

 larva) of sycopJianta, but netting with a fme mesh had to be substi- 

 tuted to prevent the escape of the small larvic. 



It sliould be stated that the use of these cages had been adoi)tod 

 after several years of experimental work. Many tests of different 

 100834°— Bui. 101—11 2 



