THE WEEKLY ENTOMOLOGIST. 
67 
of the manner I went to work may be 
of use to others during the ensuing 
season. — In the first place it is neces- 
sary to obtain the larvse or pupse ; the 
best time to look for the former is from 
the middle of July to the end of 
August, — go into a potato field — those 
situated on hill sides facing the South 
or west will be found the most prolific 
— and look well up and down each 
row. If Atropos is there you will soon 
perceive a gap, the bare stalks of the 
plant alone remaining, the larva if it 
has not buried will be close at hand 
probably concealed on the stem of a 
neighbouring plant or else hidden 
under a clod of earth. When you 
take the larvse home get a large flower 
pot, fill it half full of earth and in the 
centre plunge a bottle of water in 
which you can put some potato stems 
which will thus be kept fresh for some 
time ; over the top of the pot tie a 
piece of strong gauze and keep it in a 
light and airy situation, the food of 
course can be renewed as soon as 
devoured. — I have been told by some 
Entomologists that the larvse often re- 
fuse to eat in confinement, but I did 
mot find such to be the case with anv 
•f 
of mine. — They are all full fed by the 
middle of September and bury several 
inches in the ground, taking ten days 
or a fortnight turning to pupse. The 
pupse you cannot very well find your- 
self but must visit the fields when the 
potatos are being dug and as you will 
most likely have considerable difficulty 
in making the labourers understand 
what you want, it would be advisable 
to take a pupa of A. Atropos as a 
specimen to show them. If you have 
not one that of 8. Ligustri will do 
equaly as well. As an inducement it 
will be prudent to offer them some- 
thing for each, I gave three pence 
which I now think was a penny too 
much ; you must also impress upon 
them the necessity of carefully hand- 
ling the pupae when they find them, 
as they are very apt to give them 
anything but a gentle nip just for the 
pleasure of seeing them wriggle their 
tails. And now presuming you have 
been successful and have obtained a 
dozen or two pupse the next thing to 
be done is to take all the earth out of 
the flower pot and fill it half way up 
with sherds to allow drainage ; over 
this put a layer of moss upon which 
the pupae are to be placed and' then 
finally covered with another layer of 
moss which it is necessary to wet 
slightly every other day. The best way 
to do this is to remove the whole of 
the layer, dip it into lukewarm water 
thoroughly wring and replace it — the 
pot must then be removed to a warm 
spot in the kitchen. I treated thirteen 
pupse in this manner in the autumn 
of ’59 and succeeded in breeding eleven 
most splendid specimens. The remain- 
ing two had been slightly injured, and 
in consequence damped off a few days 
after I commenced forcing them. The 
pupse I kept through the winter never 
reached the perfect state. I know not 
why, — some lived until the following 
May but by June they had all ceased 
to exist. It is also a remarkable fact 
that all the females I bred were bar 
ren, nor could I discover the slightest 
