COLLECTION OF INSECTS FOR STUDY. 



15 



pillars from getting out will bo suitable. By putting moist sand in 

 tho bottom of the box, the food \vill keep frcsli a longer time. 



A very convenient and usc^ful breeding cages is made by putting a 

 lamp chimney in a flower pot (fig. 14), the top of the chimney covered 

 with a piece of 

 gauze or mosquito 

 netting. With a 

 saucer outside con- 

 taining water the 

 sand or earth in the 

 pot can be kept 

 moist so that twigs 

 of the food plant 

 will remain fresh for 

 some time. 



It is interesting 

 to keep ants in an 

 artificial nest. A 

 simple one may be 

 made by taking a 

 piece of board at 

 least 1 ^ inches tliick 

 and about 12 inches 

 square and making 

 a channel 1 inch 

 wide and f of an 

 inch deep all around 

 the near edge. This 

 channel should be 

 ne arly fi 1 1 e d with 

 water. On the cen- 

 ter of tho board put 

 two pieces of glass 

 about 8 inches 

 square and between 

 them a thin layer of 

 soil or comminuted 

 wood. Cover the 

 top glass with a 

 l)lackened board or 

 tin. Ants placed between the plates of glass will excavate timnels 

 and if fed may be kept a long time. 



If galls of insects are collected in the fall or winter many speci- 

 mens wall issue in the spring. Twigs of oak and other trees blown off 

 in the fall or winter may contain beetles and if placed in a room the 



Fig. 14.— a simple breeding cage for insects. 



