600 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. X11I, 
wound round the twisted wire of the handle to afford amore comfortable 
grip. 
(c) By breeding ont from larve and pupe:—The Jarve are found in 
pools, and in domestic collections of water, and when undisturbed, generally 
remain at the surface. 
Place a score or so of full-grown larve and pupéee,in the water in which 
they have lived, in a tumbler, and tie over it a coveriug of gauze supported on 
a twig or piece of wire, bent into an arch, 
In the course of a few days the adult insects will escape from the pup and 
be found in the gauze. They should not be killed for a day or two, and it is 
better to introduce a slice of banana into the net so as to enable them to 
feed, and so fill out to their full size. 
When a sufficient number of specimens have appeared and been pinned 
the remaining larve should be preserved in a small phial, in rectified spirit, 
or in 4°/, formaline solution, and marked with a distinguishing letter or 
number in order to identify them with the adult pinned insect. 
KILLING COLLECTED MOSQUITOES. 
The first step in the preservation of collected specimens is to kill the 
mosquitoes, and for this the best plan is to employ a “killing bottle” 
which any one can easily manufacture for himself, 
Those supplied by dealers are always far too large for small Diptera such 
as the Culicide. 
Select a wide-mouthed phial about 33” high by 2” wide, fitted with either 
a well-fitting cork, or preferably with a metal screw-top. 
In the latter case the disc of cork in the top of the cap should be 
removed and replaced with one of thick rubber, which may be secured in 
position by means of ordinary bicycle tyre-repairing cement. Mix equal 
bulks coarsely powdered cyanide of potassium, and dry plaster of Paris, 
and put a depth of 3” in the bottom of the bottle ; dust over this a little 
dry plaster ; and then pour over all, 2” in depth, of liquid plaster of the 
consistence of cream, When the plaster has set, the bottle is ready for 
use, 
A bottle such as this is very handy for slipping over and catching sitting 
mosquitoes, as in a few seconds the insect is stupified, and drops into the 
bottle uninjured by attempts to escape, When the insect has been taken 
by the net, the bottle is passed into it, and it is easy to slip the bottle over 
it as it sits on the gauze. The mosquito should never be left in the bottle 
for more then 90 seconds or it will get too stiff to be conveniently set ; 
and it should be pinned immediately. 
Another very effectual killing agent is tobacco smoke, which may be 
applied by holding a lighted cigarette a few inches beneath the net and 
letting the stream of smoke play over the entangled insect—or by puffing 
smoke from the lips into the pill box or bottle, if it has been caught in 
that way. ; i 
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