THE BREEDING OF INSECTS. 



327 



quire running water or can be kept in an ordinary 

 aquarium. And if they are predaceous, the nature 

 of their food should be ascertained, if possible, al- 

 though many predaceous insects can be fed on raw 

 meat. 



Great care should be taken not to injure the 

 specimens when collecting them. Plant-eating spe- 

 cies can be carried in tight boxes, in which should be 

 placed a quantity of their food. Air holes in the 

 boxes are not necessary. It is more important that 

 the food be kept from wilting than that there should 

 be fresh air. If aquatic insects are to be collected, 

 large bottles with wide mouths or glass fruit-cans 

 will be convenient for transporting them. If the 

 bottles or cans be only partly filled with water they 

 may be closed tightly for the time occupied by an 

 ordinary field trip. 



Breeding Cages. — Several styles of elaborate 

 and expensive breeding cages are in use by profes- 

 sional entomologists, but it seems hardly worth while 

 to describe them here, for equally good results can 

 be obtained with simple and inexpensive cages, which 

 can be made by any handy boy. 



A good home-made cage can be built by fitting a 

 pane of glass into one side of an empty soap-box. A 

 board, three or four inches wide, should be fastened 

 below the glass so as to admit of a layer of soil being 

 placed in the lower part of the cage, and the glass 

 can be made to slide, so as to serve as a door (Fig. 

 287). The glass should fit closely when shut, to pre- 

 vent the escape of insects. 



In rearing caterpillars and other leaf-eating larvae 

 branches of the food plant should be stuck into bot- 



