34 COLLECTING AND PRESERVING INSECTS 



moults, etc. This is easily accomplished, whether it be the young 

 stage of butterfly, moth, beetle, fly, or bug. 



The specimen or specimens are confined in some form of 

 breeding jar with an abundance of food. If the food be a plant, a 

 flower pot containing the same may be placed in the cage as shown 



FIQ. 53. Home-made apparatus for 

 inflating larvae. 



FIG. 54. A more expensive apparatus for 

 inflating larvae. 



in figure 56, which illustrates a home-made outfit in use. Or a 

 lamp chimney, or lantern glass, with cheesecloth over the top, 

 may be placed over small plants upon which the insect feeds, the 

 glass being pushed into the soil of the pot about an inch. 



Water insects can be studied in the same way by making an 

 aquarium, as shown in figure 57, in which a few water plants are 

 grown, and the water of which is kept fresh. 



FlQ. 55. An inflated larva properly mounted. 



The development of larval stages, wire worms, for example, 

 which infest roots, can be studied in a Comstock root cage (Fig. 

 58). This, as shown in the illustration, consists of two plates of 

 glass held a short distance apart by a supporting frame. This 

 narrow space is filled with soil, and seeds of young plants placed 

 therein. 



Careful and frequent observations should be made of insects 



