658 



Collecting and Rearing Insects 



To "pin up" specimens special insect pins are used. These pins can 

 be bought of any dealer in naturalists' supplies at from ten to fifteen cents 

 a hundred. Order Klaeger pins No. 3 or Carlsbaeder pins No. 5. These 

 are the most useful sizes. For larger pins order Klaeger No. 5 (Carls- 

 baeder No. 8); for smaller order Klaeger No. i (Carlsbaeder No. 2). 

 Pin each insect straight down through the thorax (Fig. 80 1) (except beetles, 

 which pin through the right wing-cover near the middle of the body (Fig. 

 802)). On each pin below the insect place a small label with date and locality 

 of capture. If many specimens are going to be collected in one locality, small 



FIG. 801. FIG. 802. FIG. 803. 



FIG. 801. Insect properly pinned up. (Aftei Jenkins and Kellogg.) 

 FIG. 802. Mode of pinning beetle. (After Packard.) 

 FIG. 803. Pinning a bug. (After Packard.) 



"locality and date" labels printed in diamond or agate type on paper not 

 too stiff for the pin and yet not so thin and weak as to fold on the pin should 

 be got. The following is the kind of label in use by the students in my 

 laboratory: St jni96 al For each specimen the day of the month and 

 year is filled in. We have such labels for each month in the year. Insects 

 too small to be pinned may be gummed on to small slips of cardboard, which 

 should be then pinned up. 



The box for pinned specimens which is to be carried on the collecting 

 trip should be small : a cigar-box with its bottom covered with sheet cork 

 or compressed cork is excellent. Corn pith can be used; on the Pacific 

 coast the pith of the flowering stalk of the century-plant is much used, under 

 the name of pita-wood, and is unusually good for the purpose. For con- 

 taining the specimens permanently cigar-boxes are only to be used when 

 more carefully made boxes cannot be afforded. Certain small insects, 

 especially beetles of the family Dermestidae, have a particular liking for 

 dried insects and work their way into any but the tightest of specimen boxes. 

 If cigar-boxes have to be used, a small naphthaline cone fastened on a pin 

 should be kept in each box. It will be much safer to obtain tight boxes 

 or trays, either of the glass-topped sort used for display collections, or of 

 the book-shaped sort, used by the National Museum and many other museums 



