304 PRACTICAL TAXIDERMY. 



at rest during tlie time of day or night at wliicli they should 

 naturally be upon the wing are unimpregnated, and may be used 

 for attracting with fair chances of success. There may be 

 exceptions to this rule ; my opinion inclines to the belief that 

 the butterflies take wing before impregnation ; but of this I am 

 certain, namely, that the females of butterflies — at any rate of 

 certain species — have considerable influence over the males. 

 Doubtless, too, there are many skittish Geometrce or slender- 

 bodied moths, and Pyrales, or Pearls, which are easily frightened, 

 the females of which will rush from their places of concealment 

 even before they are prepared to start on the mission of oviposit- 

 ing. The converse of this rule, that female insects captured on 

 the wing are almost invariably impregnated, may be taken as an 

 axiom, at least so far as the moth tribe is concerned. Of course 

 females which have made their appearance in our breeding cages 

 are the most eligible for the purpose of attraction ; but whenever 

 we breed these with the intention of using them for attracting, 

 we must bear well in mind that the rearing process, whether 

 from the chrysalis, the caterpillar, or the egg, must be conducted 

 under surrounding conditions of temperature, &c., as nearly as 

 possible resembling those to which they would be subjected in 

 their natural state. Otherwise, if we retard their appearance by 

 keeping our breeding-cages in too cool a situation, we shall be too 

 late for our sport, or at best capture only worn specimens; while, 

 if we force them by an unnatural state of warmth, the males 

 will not have made their appearance at large by the time we are 

 ready to arrive upon the hunting-ground. Having furnished 

 ourselves with a bred female, the next procedure will be to con- 

 struct a cage for her reception in such a manner that the males 

 will be compelled to keep within a respectful 

 distance, and formed of su,ch material as will 

 permit the air to readily permeate the sides of 

 the prison. The cage (Fig. 55) adapted to our 

 requirements is a very simple affair; it is 

 formed by bending our three strips of cane of 

 Pig. 55.— Assem- about equal lengths each into the form of a 

 circle, and fixing them in that form by means 

 of twine; these three circular pieces are then placed in such 

 a manner that they cross one another at right angles (Fig. 55), 



