) 
5 
COLLECTING MOTHS. 
. 
~ 
be induced to lay their eggs in this manner; and sometimes it is 
only by watching the female at liberty depositing her eggs that they 
may be had at all. Many of the eggs are smaller than the head of a 
doll’s pin, and are frequently attached to the underside of the leaves 
of the food plant, so that diligent and careful search is necessary to 
find them. Most of them are covered when first laid with a gum or 
varnish which when dry securely fastens them to the objects upon 
which they are deposited. 
The number of eggs laid by a single female varies from one hun- 
dred to five or six hundred or more, according to the species. They 
are often laid singly, especially by the butterflies; but a large num- 
ber of the moths deposit their eggs in a compact patch and in regular 
rows so close together that they touch each other on all sides. 
The eggs deposited during the warm days of summer soon hatch, 
while those of autumn remain unchanged until the following spring. 
The heat of summer and the cold of winter seems to have no 
injurious effect upon the eges of butterflies and moths; and if it 
were not for the army of creatures whose life work it is to keep these 
hosts in check, every green thing in the way of vegetation on the face 
of the earth would be devoured. 
Just before hatching, an egg frequently assumes a leaden hue, 
and the young larva eats his way out of his prison and escapes, often 
devouring before he goes the egg-shell which has sheltered him. At 
this stage the larva is frequently very unlike the mature caterpillar. 
He should now be placed in a glass jar with an inch or two of moist 
loam at the bottom, with young and tender leaves of the food plant. 
He will have a sufficiency of air if the cover is kept on, and the 
leaves will be kept fresh longer. Care should be taken not to place 
the jar where the direct rays of the sun will shine on it, as the tem- 
perature may become too great. One may introduce into the jar a 
small botile of water, holding the leaves if this is desired; but the 
mouth should be plugged with cotton or the larva may fall into it 
and be drowned. The caterpillar will grow rapidly, and will require 
a good deal of fresh food. For this reason it is best when it is one- 
third grown to place it on a branch of its food plant and enclose the 
whole in mosquito netting. 
In rearing quantities of larvee a barrel without either head may 
be placed over a bush and all the branches brought up through the 
top. Then after enclosing the branches which protrude in mos- 
quito netting and introducing the larve to be reared, fasten the 
