REARING LARVJE. 



17 



Fig. 13 



best specimens of moths and butterflies are obtained by rearing 



them from the egg, or from the larva or pupa. In confinement- 



the food should be kept fresh, and the box well ventilated. 

 Tumblers covered with gauze, pasteboard boxes pierced with 

 holes and fitted with glass in the covers, or large glass jars, 

 are very convenient to use as cages. The bottom of such ves- 

 sels may be covered with moist sand, in which the food-plant 

 of the larva may be stuck and kept fresh for several days. 

 Larger and more airy boxes, a foot square, with the sides of 

 gauze, and fitted with 

 a door, through which 

 a bottle of water may 

 be introduced, serve 

 well. The following 

 extract from Riley's 

 "Fifth Annual Report 

 on the Injurious In- 

 sects of Missouri " 

 illustrates his style of 

 vivarium : 



" For larger insects 

 I use a breeding cage 

 or vivarium of my own 

 devising, and which 

 answers the purpose 

 admirably. It is rep- 

 resented in figure 13, 

 and comprises three 

 distinct parts : 1st, 

 the bottom board (a), ' 

 consisting of a square 



piece of inch-thick walnut with a rectangular zinc pan (jf ) , 4 

 inches deep, fastened to it, above, and with two cross pieces (gg) 

 below, to prevent cracking or warping, facilitate lifting, and 

 allow the air to pass underneath the cage. 2d, a box (&), with 

 three glass sides and a glass door in front, to fit over the zinc 

 pan. 3d, a cap (c), which fits closely on to the box, and has a top 

 of fine wire gauze. To the centre of the zinc pan is soldered 

 a zinc tube (d) just large enough to contain an ordinary quinine 

 bottle. The zinc pan is filled with clean sifted earth or sand 

 s. M. c. 2C1. 3 



