310 PRACTICAL TAXIDERMY. 



it liavlng been proved tliat certain motlis more tlian others die 

 in tlie chrysalis or pupa state if left to go their full time, notably 

 the " Death's Head," the " Spurge," and other hawks. The 

 best time for forcing is about Christmas, and the conditions are 

 simply heat and moisture, the pupae being placed over a spirit 

 lamp, in a hothouse, on the kitchen mantelpiece, or by the fire 

 grate even, kept for a week or so at a temperature of 85deg. or 

 thereabout, and constantly damped with moss wrung out in 

 warm water. Bear in mind that heat without moisture will not 

 do by any means. 



Tie breeding cage itself need not be used, but only the tray, 

 provided that gauze is stretched over in such a manner as to 

 allow room for the moth to dry its wings on emergence. But if 

 the whole of the breeding cage were made of framed zinc (such 

 as aquaria are made of), and the glass and perforated zinc fixed 

 in, the cost, though greater at first, would be more than counter- 

 balanced by its greater strength, with lightness and capability 

 of resisting wear and tear, added to which is the advantage of 

 being used as a whole during the operation of " forcing," wood 

 not standing, of course, the heat and moisture necessary. 

 Breeding cages should not be painted. Fresh food, and plenty 

 of it, should, if possible, be supplied to the larvae. Dry f uod is, 

 as a inile, the best, though the larvae of one or two of the 

 foreign SaturnidcG require their food to be sprinkled with water, 

 and sometimes even with the addition of salt, to make them 

 thrive. Moths on emergence should not be killed at once, as 

 they are then too flaccid, and have not sufficiently purged 

 themselves. Yet they should not be left too long or over night, 

 as they often fly at that time, and knock themselves about in 

 the cage, to the detriment of their beauty ; destroying, in fact, 

 the whole aim and end of breeding, which is, of course, insti- 

 tuted to procure specimens for the cabinet as fine as it is 

 possible to get them. 



In collecting insects it is always as well to bear in mind that 

 a "worn" female, though not of the slightest use to the ento- 

 mologist, unless she can be induced to lay in confinement, may 

 become the progenitor of many, and may thus afford you 

 during the next season great pleasure in collecting. This being 

 so, I should like to impress upon my readers (the young espe- 



