458 APPENDIX III 



cages and aquaria in his book, " Insect Life," that, with 

 his permission, his account is quoted here. 



Live-cages. "A good home-made cage can be built 

 by fitting a pane of glass into one side of an empty soap- 

 box. A board, three or 

 four inches wide, should 

 be fastened below the 

 glass so as to admit of a 

 layer of soil being placed 

 in the lower part of the 

 cage, and the glass can 

 be made to slide, so as to 

 serve as a door (fig. 166). 

 The glass should fit close- 

 Fro. 166. Soap-box breeding-cage for \ y wne n shut, to prevent 

 insects. (From Jenkins and Kellogg.) 



the escape oi the insects. 



"In rearing caterpillars and other leaf-eating larvae, 

 branches of the food-plant should be stuck into bottles or 

 cans which are filled with sand saturated with water. By 

 keeping the sand wet the plants can be kept fresh longer 

 than in water alone, and the danger of the larvae being 

 drowned is avoided by the use of sand. 



"Many larvae when full-grown enter the ground to 

 pass the pupal state ; on this account a layer of loose soil 

 should be kept in the bottom of a breeding-cage. This 

 soil should not be allowed to become dry, neither should 

 it be soaked with water. If the soil is too dry the pupae 

 will not mature, or if they do so the wings will not expand 

 fully; if the soil is too damp the pupae are liable to be 

 drowned or to be killed by mold. 



4 ' It is often necessary to keep pupae over winter, for a 

 large proportion of insects pass the winter in the pupal 

 state. Hibernating pupae may be left in the breeding- 

 cages or removed and packed in moss in small boxes. 

 Great care should be taken to keep moist the soil in the 



