Excerpt from The Hawk Moths of North America The best months for hunting the larvae of the Hawk Moths are July and August; and one of the most prolific spots, a Vineyard. Caterpillars may be prepared for the Collection in their various stages to illustrate the growth of the species. For thispurpose they must be first killed by being placed in a chloroform bottle. The dead caterpillar should then be placed between two pieces of blotting paper and, by a gradually encreasing pressure of the fingers, the contents of the body expressed out of the anus, so that at length nothing is left but the empty skin like the finger of a glove. Care, by avoiding sudden and unequal pressure, must be taken not to break the coloring cells of the skin; with the best of care, however, green caterpillars lose their color under the operation. The empty skin is then to be fastened, by the introduction of a small tube in the vent, to an india rubber inhalator (such as can be had at any drug store) and. Forcing the empty skin gently full of air, keeping itdistended till dried over a stove. A tin box with one end out makes a very good impromptu stove, which must be used in drying the inflated skin. An alcohol flame held under the box (i have used a seltzer - powder box attached moveably to a stand so that it could be removed from or approached to the flame) heats the air within it and the caterpillar, being introduced through the open end, must be kept inflated, by the rubber inhalator until dried. With a common. Insect pin, introduced through the dried and protruding intestine, the Specimen may be pinned in the cabinet. Caterpillars so prepared may be also artificially colored, but as a rule. With care in the preparation, which needs practice, this is not necessary. Pupae killed by heat may be also pinned (after a thorough drying) in the collection. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.