The Capture, Preparation, and Preservation of Specimens 



fined may be fed with a mixture of honey and water placed 

 upon the leaves. 



In collecting caterpillars it is well to have on hand a number 

 of small boxes in which to place them, and also a botany-box in 

 which to bring from the field a supply of their appropriate food. 



The process of breeding may begin with the caterpillar. The 

 collector, having discovered the caterpillar feeding upon the branch 

 of a certain plant, provides the creature with a constant supply 

 of the fresh foliage of the same plant, until it finally pupates. 



Breeding-Cages.— Various devices for breeding caterpillars and 

 rearing moths and butterflies are 

 known. One of the most impor- 

 tant of these devices is the breed- 

 ing-cage, which is sometimes called 

 a vivarium. The simplest form 

 of the vivarium is often the best. 

 In breeding some species the best 

 method is simply to pot a plant 

 of the species upon which the lar- 

 va is known to feed, and to place 

 the potted plant in a box over 



which some mosquito-nettinar is c r , f , , ,. 



n ° Fig. 49. — Cheap form of breeding- 



tied. The writer frequently em- cage: c, lid covered with mosquito- 

 ploys for this purpose cylinders of f e "'"^ n f' pan of earth; B ' bottle for 

 glass over the top of which per- 

 forated cardboard is placed. This method, however, can be re- 

 sorted to only with the more minute forms and with plants that 

 do not attain great height. Another form of vivarium is repre- 

 sented in the adjoining woodcut (Fig. 50). The writer has suc- 

 cessfully employed, for breeding insects upon a large scale, ordi- 

 nary store boxes provided with a lid made by fastening together 

 four pieces of wood, making a frame large enough to cover the top 

 of the box, and covering it with gauze. The food-plant is kept 

 fresh in bottles or jars which are set into the boxes. Be careful, 

 however, after you have put the branches upon which the caterpil- 

 lars are feeding into the jars, to stuff something into the neck of the 

 jar so as to prevent the caterpillar from accidentally getting into 

 the water and drowning himself— a mishap which otherwise 

 might occur. When breeding is undertaken on a still larger scale, 

 it may be well to set apart for this purpose a room, preferably in 



35 



