how do they do it? seeing larvae

[Kenelm Philip]

 >I think you need a room-sized insectary in sunlight for part of the day
with potted saplings of a selection of candidate larval foodplants.

	Many years ago I built a 24"x18"x18" screen cage, which has worked
fine for all the rearings I have tried. I gather a smaller one (even a one
foot cube) will work too. Commercial cages are now very expensive--
BioQuip wants $94.50 for a 24"x12"x12" rearing cage--but anyone with a
few hand tools can put such a cage together for a fraction of that cost.
My cage, which is unnecessarily complex, used 4 feet of 1x10" board cut
into 1/2" by 3/4" strips, one 18" square piece of 1/2" plywood, and some
fiberglass screen. The strips were joined with half-lap joints at the cor-
ners, and all screen panels are removable, with two hinged panels in the
front. Panels mount to the frame with captive dowels. If you don't want
removable panels, about half as much wood would be needed. This cage has
met all my needs for the past 30 years.

							Ken Philip
fnkwp at uaf.edu




 
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