BULLETIN OF THE BROOKLYN ENT. SOC. 



RAISINS BEETLES IN CAPTIVITY. 



Aniroals of all orders are raised now a days in captivity, from the 

 most minute to the largest, even of those classes that require a large 

 space for breeding, such as lions and elephants. 

 In the field of Entomology the lepidopterist knows the greater ■ 

 part of the larva of his pets, while the coleopterisfc is acquainted 

 with but very few. 



Why is this so ? Is it because it is so very difficult to rear them or 

 is io because t'.ere have been so few workers in this department of 

 Natural History. 



Such thoughts agitated my mind two years ago, and I collected a 

 number of our common Cicindelas viz. vulgaris, repanda, 12 gutta- 

 ta and hirticollis. I made for them a box ( 2 x 1£ x 1 foot ) of wood, 

 glass and woven wire such as used for wire screens, and filled it 

 \ Lot deep with sand making here and there a few miniature hills 

 and in the middle of the box a valley, in which I placed a flat tin 

 pan filled with water. At the two sides I placed pieces of green turf 

 io represent a meadow. 



I fed the Cicindelas with different soft larva, small ChrysomelidaB 

 ( Cr>ocerus asparagi & Diabrotica ) etc. and kept them alive over 

 two months. They copulated, dug holes in the sand, were running 

 i round during sunshine very lively till July 1., when I left for the 

 country. After setting free the captive cicindelas, I could not detect 

 any live thing in the box, but I did not consider my experiment a 

 failuie. 



During the last winter, I as well as several other members of our 

 Society made preparations for raising Insects from the egg more 

 extensively. For this purpose we use boxes of zinc, the two longer 

 sides and the cover of glass, the two smaller sides of wire-screen, 

 and we are very much pleased with them. I already succeeded in 

 obtaining larvae from Cucujus c.avipes. I feed the imagines and the 

 larvss with sugarwater, with which I soak small thin pieces of wood. 

 The imagines were collected Jan. 15th. 1878. 



I also have in breeding cages, Carabus limbatus, Cychrus Lecontei, 

 Galerita janus, Chlaenius aestivus, several Platyni, Cicindela 12 

 guttata, etc. 



Cychrus are fe 1 on snails ( Patula alternata Say ) but th&y also very 

 ] eadily feed on soft 1-irvse of woodborers, Carabus, Chlaenius and 

 Ga.erita are fed with veal, and it is very interesting to look at the 

 12 Carabus limbatus, ( 6 males & 6* female ) while devouring the 

 meat, tearing and lifting it, : all standing around it like the mem- 

 bers of a poultry yard arouni a trough. 



