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those unknown has from the same efforts been much reduced. 

 Tiiis improvement is largely due to such men as the late Rev. 

 Harper Crewe, the late Rev. Joseph Hellins, and the late 

 William Buckler, whose posthumous work is now being pub- 

 lished by the Ray Society. 



The good work that they initiated is still progressing, aided 

 by many worthy successors, such as Messrs. W. H. B. 

 Fletcher, G. T. Porritt, C. G. Barrett, etc. Still there remains 

 much to be done ; even in some fairly common species the 

 larvae are unknown ; for example, Hesperia comma is by 

 no means rare at Boxhill and Mickleliam. Nothing is known 

 of its larva ; and Colias hyale has never been reared in 

 England. The Geometras are now pretty well worked up, 

 but in the Noctus many remain for some of us to win our 

 entomological spurs. 



The great advantage of breeding lepidoptera over merely 

 catching them, is not only that we get a biological knowledge 

 of our study, but our cabinets are wonderfully enriched both 

 in number of species and condition of specimens. Whilst 

 many errors have been swept away by breeding, several 

 insects which from their great dissimilarity had been looked 

 upon as distinct, have been proved to be only extreme forms of 

 a variable species, and vice versa. 



After these short prefatory remarks, I will endeavour to 

 give a few practical hints on breeding, and will commence 

 at the Q.^^ stage. When possible I much prefer breeding 

 from ova. You not only get the whole life-history, but you 

 also get better results : larvae that have been beaten out, are 

 often either injured by the jar, or stung by various parasites. 

 Ova differ much in form, and also in the length of time they 

 remain unhatched. It is always desirable to have some idea 

 as to the period of hatching, not only keeping them properly, 

 so as not to kill them — for some remain in the egg-state eight 

 or nine months, others only a few days — but also to be pro- 

 vided with food for the larvae as soon as they emerge, a very 

 important matter. A glass-topped box or small wide-mouth 

 " bottle is convenient to place eggs in that are near hatching. 

 I prefer them to do so, before placing them on food, as you 

 then know hov/ many larvae to look for in the first change ; 

 that is very desirable and saves time. 



