H»b PHOCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 



them in nature have adapted themselves to this habit, for instance, 

 mealy-bugs {Pscvdococcus nipce) and Tiagid bugs (Recaredus sp.) on seed 

 potatoes in store. 



Inducing oviposition. In order to observe and note details of life- 

 history it is often necessary to rear out adults or collect them from the 

 fields and make them lay eggs iii confinement. All insects will not 

 oviposit easily under such conditions. They require the conditions in 

 which they lay eggs in nature or at least conditions as far as possible 

 similar. Almost all plant-feeding insects require Uving plants in order 

 to oviposit. Sometimes when gravid females are obtained from outside 

 they deposit eggs even when kept confiiied i)i a small pill-box, because 

 then egg-laying is a necessity with them. Special means have to be 

 adopted to get eggs fi-om different insects. It is not possible to give 

 here our whole experience. We can only refer to a few cases. 



It is generally difficult to induce butterflies to oviposit in confine- 

 ment. They require living plants and a large amount of space to fly 

 about in and may have to be fed with sugar or honey syrup. We keep 

 them in the side-cages of the Insectary which give them sufficient room 

 to fly about. Potted plants are supplied. Feeding is done according 

 to the following method. The syrup is placed in a glass crucible or 

 watch-glass. The butterfly is held in one hand between the thumb and 

 forefinger with the wings turned over its back and with a pin in the other 

 hand the proboscis is stretched out and its end dijjped in the spnip. 



For moths the large-sized zinc breeding cages (PI. 133, fig. 1) are 

 used, potted plants being placed in them when necessary. These cages 

 also serve for bugs, sawflies and many kinds of beetles. Ant-lions can 

 be made to oviposit in these cages on a layer of fine dry sand placed on 

 the bottom. 



For grasshoppers we use the side-cages of the Insectary. Into one 

 of these cages one pair of HierogJyphus hanian was introduced in 1905. , 

 Since then we have been carrying on the progeny of this pair. Every 

 year young nymphs hatch out about June. They are fed and develop, 

 deposit eggs in the earth of the cage in October and November and then 

 die. The eggs in due course hatch about June again. 



In order to be able to observe the details of oviposition in the case of 

 grasshoppers and other insects which thrust their eggs into the ground, 

 they should be pkced in a cage with four glass sides and provided on the 

 bottom with a block of wood two or three inches high and in size about 

 half-an-inch less in breadth and width than the internal breadth and 

 width of the cage. This wooden block is covered with a very thin layer 

 of earth which however fills the quarter-inch space left all around 

 between the block and the glass sides of the cage. The grasshoppers, 



