THE GENUS CALOSOMA. 



15 



ladder and permits the beetles to reach the top of the jar and feed 

 upon any of the caterpillars that may crawl to this Location. A 

 small amount of foliage to serve as food for the caterpillars should be 

 placed in the jar, and it should be cleaned daily and all dead speci- 

 mens removed. This^ is necessary in order to prevent the develop- 

 ment of certain species of mites that feed on caterpillar remains 

 and in turn attack and sometimes kill the breeding beetles or larvae. 

 The earth should be examined from time to time to determine whether 

 eggs have been deposited, and when they are found the beetles should 

 be transferred to a fresh jar and the eggs allowed to remain undis- 

 turbed for hatching. As soon as larvae appear they should be re- 

 moved and placed in other jars containing earth. Ten larvae of 

 most species of Calosoma can be reared through the first stage in a 

 jar of earth 6 inches in diameter, but if it is desired to carry the 



Fig. 3. — Box cages for hibernation of Calosoma beetles. (Burgess.) 



larvae through to the adult stage each specimen should be placed in 

 an individual jar, as they show a decided tendency to attack one 

 another, especially at the time of molting. The size of the jars 

 should be determined according to the size of the species which is to 

 be studied, but in the writers' experience none of the species can be 

 satisfactorily handled in jars less than 4 inches in diameter. In case 

 definite records are not desired or if time is not available to care for a 

 large number of individual jars, rearing can be carried on by using large 

 cages, the bottoms of which are filled with earth (fig. 3). In all 

 cases it is necesasary to keep the earth moist, but not wet. If too 

 much water is added, the legs and mouthparts of the beetles and 

 larvae become coated with earth and the insects soon die. When the 

 larvae are fed in jars and it is desired to secure adult specimens, one 

 of the most satisfactory methods is to construct small cylinders of 



