BULLETIN 39j UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [116] 



specimen alone is apt to crawl about and settle on tlie top of tlie cage, 

 and not go near the food plant. When there are two or three they dis- 

 turb each other and are frequently moving and falling on the food plant, 

 when they will stop for a moment and lay an egg. A stubborn female 

 of Coleus eurytJieme was only induced to lay by having a male placed 

 in the cage with her, and by his impatient fluttering and efforts to 

 escape she was frequently knocked down from the top, and every time 

 she fell upon the clover plant beneath, she laid an egg before crawling 

 to the top again." Some insects, even with all care in making their 

 surroundings as natural as possible, will persistently refuse to lay. 

 Mr. Fletcher has successfully obtained eggs from some of these by a 

 method which he says one of his correspondents styles " Egg-laying 

 extraordinary." It consists simply in '^ gently pressing the abdomen 

 of a female which has died without laying eggs, until one and some- 

 times two perfect eggs are passed trom the ovipositor." Mr. Fletcher 

 has secured a number of eggs from rare species in this way, and suc- 

 cessfully reared the larvse. The following directions for obtaining the 

 eggs and rearing the larvse of Lepidoptera, given in this paper by Mr. 

 Fletcher, are excellent, and I quote them entire : 



" There are one or two i:)oints which should be remembered when ob- 

 taiidng eggs and rearing larvne. In the first place, the females should 

 not be left exposed to the direct rays of the sun ; but it will be found 

 sometimes that if a butterfly is sluggish, putting her in the sun for a 

 short time will revive her and make her lay eggs. Confined females, 

 whether over branches or potted plants, should always be in the open 

 air. If females do not lay in two or three days they must be fed. This 

 is easily done. Take them from the cage and hold near them a piece of 

 sponge (or, Mr. Edwards suggests, evaporated apple), saturated with 

 a weak solution of sugar and water. As soon as it is placed near them 

 they will generally move their antennae towards it, and, uncoiling their 

 tongues, suck up the liquid. If they take no notice of it the tongue 

 can be gently uncoiled with the tip of a pin, when they will nearly 

 always begin to feed. It is better to feed them away from the plant 

 they are wanted to lay upon, for if any of the sirup be spilled over the 

 flowerpot or x^lant it is almost sure to attract ants. I kejDt one female 

 Colias interior in this way for ten days before eggs were laid. When 

 eggs are laid they should, as a rule, be collected at short intervals. 

 They are subject to the attacks of various enemies — spiders, ants, crick- 

 ets, and minute hymenopterous parasites. They may be kept easily in 

 small boxes, but do better if not kept in too hot or dry a place. When 

 the young cateri)illars hatch they must be removed with great care to 

 the food i)lant ; a fine paint brush is the most convenient instrument. 

 With small larvfe or those which it is desired to examine often, glass 

 tubes or jelly glasses with a tight-fitting tin cover are best. These 

 must be tightly closed and in a cool place. Light is not at all necessary, 

 and the sun should never be allowed to shine directly upon them. If 



