IV 



CARE OF EGGS, CATERPILLARS, AND MOTHS 



HAYING eggs, the question is how to take care of 

 them. Again the popular book is wrong when 

 it states that "eggs must be kept in just the condi- 

 tions of heat, light, and moisture in which they were 

 found." The best and safest way of keeping them is 

 to put them in a little circular tin box, each kind by 

 itself, marking the box with a name or a number 

 which shows exactly what the eggs are, or refers to 

 the page of the note-book which tells where they were- 

 found. The little tin boxes which country druggists 

 use for dispensing ointments are excellent egg-boxes. 

 Better still are the boxes made in Germany with glass 

 in the top, because in these the eggs can be w^atched 

 without opening the box. Round boxes are better 

 than square-cornered ones because they have no chinks 

 through which the newly hatched larvae can escape ; 

 and it is surprising to find how small a hole or crack 

 is large enough for the loss of a whole brood of cater- 

 pillars just from the egg. In a round box, then, the 

 eggs should be put, a bit of the thinnest scrim should 

 be laid over the top, and the cover should be shut 

 tight. The eggs should be examined daily to note any 

 changes of color which may occur and to prevent the 



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