154 THE YOUNG 



he fails in rearing the greater number 

 of his larvae. 



Another very easily managed larva 

 is the Common Tiger (Arctia caja), 

 the "woolly bear" of children, who 

 sometimes throw one over their left 

 shoulder, and, "wish a wish," which is 

 certain to be obtained if no one else 

 finds the same "woolly bear," and so 

 spoils the charm. This larva is most 

 abundant amony nettles, though it will 

 eat almost anything. It has long silky 

 black hairs, with white ends, browner 

 on the sides, and a blue spot at each 

 spiracle. Like the Drinker it has hiber- 

 nated as a young larva, and comes out 

 with the first sunny days of spring. 

 It may be fed as easily in the same 

 sort of box, and will eat almost any- 

 thing, though it will not take kindly to 

 grass. When it approaches maturity 

 it must be differently treated, for if 

 kept in a hat box, it will spin a cocoon 

 in the angle between the side and the 

 lid, and will therefore be disturbed 

 when the top is taken off, but if you 

 turn the box upside down, so that it 

 may open without the cocoons being 

 broken when you give them fresh food, 

 it will do well. Its cocoon is not so 

 regularly shaped as that of the Drinker, 

 is pale bluish grey in color, and of a 

 looser texture, it is also intermixed with 

 the long hairs which it bites out while 

 spinning, seemingly to strengthen the 

 structure. The perfect insect, though 

 very common, is one of the most gaily 

 colored of our British Lepidoptera, and 

 from the fact of it being a very variable 

 species it is one that is always worth 



NATUBALIST. 



feeding, for the novice is as likely to 

 rear a good variety as the more ex- 

 perienced collector, and if he has not 

 arrived at that stage, when varieties 

 are much prized, he will always find 

 Entomologists who will give him a 

 good exchange for them. 



A few words as to feeding larva?. A . 

 caja will eat almost anything, as will 

 many other species. 0. potatoria will 

 onlyeat grass, and would prefer death, 

 to trying any other food. Now the 

 beginner, when he obtains some larvse 

 that he does not know must first try 

 to find out what they feed on. Be 

 careful then to notice the plant on 

 which your larva was sitting when you 

 found it. If on a dead stem, or under 

 a stone, get a bit of every plant near, 

 and the larva will soon show you 

 which it prefers. Some plants are 

 special favorites, a large number of 

 species will eat nettle, groundsel, haw- 

 thorn, willow, &c. ; very many noctua? 

 will eat lettuce, while most of the 

 geometers will eat knot grass, (polygo- 

 num avicuh.re ) especially if given to 

 them when they first hatch — many 

 noctuse will eat this also in confine- 

 ment, though few seem to take it when 

 at large, and as it grows freely on every 

 lane, &c, it is a valuable food for un- 

 known larva;. Some use lettuce freely 

 for feeding purposes, but the writer's 

 experience of this plant is such that he 

 does not recommend it, except for 

 occasional use, when nothing else is 

 convenient. Larvse fed exclusively on 

 lettuce and on some other similar 

 plants, have a tendency to become 



