﻿173 



vent the larvae from crawling into the water below. They will do 

 so, if you are not careful. Now by simply tying a piece of muslin 

 over the top of the glass, you have a perfect breeding-cage. 

 Food keeps well, larvae get air and light, and the results are 

 perfectly satisfactory. You can readily watch your pets, and 

 note their growth, change of skin, and peculiarities. I recol- 

 lect once being much struck at the mode in which Chesias 

 rufata fed itself. It feeds on the common broom, the 

 trifoliate leaflets of which are attached by short pedicels 

 to the stem, and instead of nibbling off the sides of the 

 leaflets, as is general with larvae when feeding, nifata went 

 at once for the short pedicel, bit it quite through, holding 

 it the while securely in its fore legs. It then held the leaflet up 

 to its mouth by its legs, as a boy would a penny bun, twisting 

 it round and round most deftly till all was eaten. I never 

 before saw a larva feed itself in that way. This was not an 

 isolated or single occasion, but time after time the operation 

 was repeated. 



But to continue with my breeding experience. The second 

 way in which this bee-glass is conveniently used, is the 

 reverse of the one just described, and is specially adapted to 

 those larvae that pupate under the ground. The modus 

 operandi is as follows : — Take a large-sized earthen pan — 

 what is known as a propagating pan — that is, a shallovv one 

 from 4 to 6 inches deep — and fill this with prepared earth. 

 I say prepared, as it is very desirable that earth in puparia 

 should be absolutely freed from insect pests, such as pseiidos- 

 pretella, by baking. The best soil is a light sandy peat, with 

 pieces of rotten wood, commonly known as touchwood, mixed 

 with it. This is a good addition, as many larvae are very fond 

 of boring into such substances. Well, having filled your pan 

 with this earth, then place upon it a perforated zinc ring or 

 cylinder some 4 or 5 inches deep, the top or upper edge of 

 which is turned over, to fit the broad diameter of the bee- 

 glass, so that it can rest on this ring of perforated zinc. By 

 this plan you get a free passage of air through the zinc, and 

 out of the top of the bee-glass, which is most necessary for 

 many larvae. This necessitates, of course, some ready 

 means of having a small vessel of water to plunge the 

 stems of food-plant in, and this is best done by the zinc 



