CARE OF CATERPILLARS AND MOTHS 35 



remove it to a cage for matiug, or for developing 

 merely, and this may be done by thrusting one's finger 

 under its legs from the front, and gently detaching it 

 from the lace or wood. Usually the moth will crawl 

 up the finger, but occasionally it will flop down on the 

 bottom of the box and jerk its soft wings. In this 

 case a bit of cloth or netting may be put near its feet, 

 and usually the moth will cling to it, when it may be 

 lifted and put into the cage. 



A little care is necessary in approaching newly 

 emerged moths, for when disturbed they often eject 

 a pinkish fluid which stains cloth and probably con- 

 tains acid. 



If the newly emerged moth is wanted for a speci- 

 men it should be killed before it flies, as flying will rub 

 off scales, but it will not make a good specimen if 

 killed before it is perfectly dry and developed. 



We began by using a cyanide-bottle to kill the few 

 specimens we cared to keep, but we did not like the 

 results very well and experimented with chloroform. 

 This is good for small moths, but large ones are likely 

 to revive later, and we have seen a moth pinned to a 

 setting-board — not ours, we are glad to say — revive 

 enough to lay eggs, though held fast by the pin, and 

 with the wings fastened down by strips of paper. 

 That condemned chloroform, and we tried naphtha, or 

 gasolene, with excellent results. We use a glass 

 pipette with a rubber bulb at one end, such as are sold 

 for medicine-droppers and "fillers" for stylographic 

 pens. Two or three charges of naphtha applied to 

 the thorax and abdomen of the biggest moth we have 

 killed, cecrojj'ia, kill it quickly. As soon as the moth is 



