regalis and the Papilios, the male can be told by its claspers. Its tail terminates 

 in a cleft somewhat like the foot of a deer, on a very small scale. Females of 

 Parnassius, after mating, have a curious abdominal pouch, white and hard. In 

 moths the males of many species have broad antennae, slender abdomens, some- 

 times claspers, frequently tails terminating in a tuft of hairs, and always the males 

 have the single frenulum. Of course the microscope and dissection will in all 

 cases settle the question of sex. There are forms in which the body of the female 

 has three segments and that of the male four. The bodies of males are slender 

 when viewed from above, the bodies of females broader and larger. When dis- 

 tended with eggs the bodies of the females can be told readily. By examining 

 a number of specimens of a given species the pupil can usually separate the sexes. 

 In nearly half of the butterflies the colors of the sexes are different, as for instance 

 in the Colias. In the Pamphilas the upper surface of the wings are often different, 

 though the under sides are similar, but in all the other Hesperiidae it is very diffi- 

 cult to determine the sexes without dissection and the use of the microscope. 



BLOWING LARWE. 



Nathan Banks, "Directions for Collecting and Preserving Insects." "The 

 larvae should be killed in a cyanide bottle or in alcohol. Cyanide is generally 

 considered the best for most larvae. The caterpillar is placed on a piece of blot- 

 ting paper, a pencil is rolled over the larva from the head to the tip of the body, 

 thus protruding the tip of the alimentary canal. This is snipped off by a pair 

 of scissors or a sharp knife, and then by rolling a pencil, as before, a number of 

 limes over the larva the contents are squeezed out of its body. One should be 

 careful to do it rather slowly, at least with delicate larvae, so that the skin is not 

 broken, for if rubbed too hard or too long the pigment may be removed from the 

 skin. The caterpillar should be moved about on the blotting paper during the 

 operation, so that it is not soiled by its own juices. A glass tube with its tip 

 drawn out to a fine point is then inserted into the anal opening. The skin may 

 be fastened on the slender point by a bit of thread or a drop of glue. If the glass 

 tip fits rather tightly into the aperture the skin may be placed a moment in the 

 oven and then withdrawn. This will stick the skin to the end of the glass. A 

 spring or clasp of steel may be so arranged as to hold the larva to the tube, or the 

 skin may be held to the glass tube by a common insect pin bent around the tube 

 and then forward, with the tip recurved. One may inflate the skin by blowing 

 in the tube; but a more effective way is to have a rubber tube on which is a 

 large rubber pneumatic bag and a smaller inflating bag at the end. By squeezing 

 the inflating bag the larger, bag becomes inflated, and this makes a steady pressure 

 upon the larval skin. This operation of inflating the larva should be performed 

 over a small tin oven." 

 HOW TO SEARCH FOR LARWE. 



Herman H. Brehme, Newark, N. J., writes: 



"In many cases larvae hide during the day and feed at night. This is the 

 case with most Sphingidae. It makes it rather tedious to find them, but if the 

 plant shows traces of feeding the larvae are surely not far away and in most cases 

 can be found at the base of the bush or on the underbrush, weeds and stems of 

 grasses. It is best to look for the hiding larvae, as they are ninety-nine times 

 out of a hundred free from parasites, while larvae of most of the species which 

 are found close to the tops of the plants are parasitized, as the larvae after being 

 stung do not care to hide any longer. It seems as if they know that they are 

 doomed and their life is short. On the other hand many larvae of butterflies and 

 a few Sphingidae do not hide, that is they do not go to the ground after feeding, 



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