COLLECTING INSECTS. 15 



to be stuffed with cotton-wool before setting. A few of 

 the largest species of the Lepidoptera must also be stuffed. 

 For this purpose the specimens should be placed on their 

 backs on a piece of clean glass so that none of the scales 

 may be rubbed off. After the contents have been removed, 

 a little chalk should be introduced into the abdomen with 

 the cotton-wool. Hemiptera can be collected and set like 

 Coleoptera, but some of the more delicate species, such as 

 the Cicada, should be killed in the laurel bottle instead of 

 in boiling water. 



Before concluding the present chapter I should like to 

 say a few words on the subject of rearing insects, which the 

 entomologist will soon learn to regard as by far the most 

 interesting method of acquiring specimens for his collection. 



Members of the Coleoptera are probably the most difficult 

 insects to rear in captivity. Their larvae may be kept in 

 ordinary jam-pots covered with perforated zinc, and filled 

 with earth or rotten wood. The carnivorous species must, 

 of course, be supplied with the animals on which they feed. 

 Beetle larvae are often some years in attaining maturity. 

 Many of the Hymenoptera and some of the Diptera are 

 parasitic on the larvae of the Lepidoptera ; they are con- 

 sequently found in rearing these insects, and their economy 

 should always be carefully recorded. 



Lepidoptera are, perhaps, the most satisfactory insects 

 to rear. Most of the larvae feed on the leaves of different 

 plants, and all that is needed is to keep them well supplied 

 with fresh food. 



So great a variety of cages have been devised for the 

 rearing of caterpillars that it would be quite impossible to 

 describe them here. I will therefore only give a short account 

 of those which I have used myself, and have found so con- 

 venient that I do not hesitate in recommending them to 

 those entomologists who wish not only to rear insects but 

 to study their habits. 



