244 ENTOMOLOG Y. 



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 vessels 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 Insects 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 represented in Fig. 271, and comprises three distinct 

 parts: 1st, the bottom board (a), consisting of a square 

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

 four 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 (b), 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 (e), and the 

 quinine bottle is for the reception of the food-plant. The 

 cage admits of abundant light and air, and also of the 

 easy removal of the excrement and frass which fall to the 

 ground; while the insects in transforming enter the ground 

 or attach themselves to the sides or the cap, according to 

 their habits. The most convenient dimensions I find to be 

 twelve inches square and eighteen inches high: the cap and 

 the door fit closely by means of rabbets, and the former has 



into the outspread umbrella; this method is successful for fir, spruce, 

 and pine trees, as well as forest trees in general. 



