CHAPTER VI. 



DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING, PRESERVING, AND 

 REARING INSECTS. 



Where to Look for Insects. In collecting, whenever the 

 two sexes are found united they should be pinned upon the 

 same pin, the male being placed above. When we take 

 one sex alone, we may feel sure that the other is somewhere 

 in the vicinity; perhaps while one is flying about so as to 

 be easily captured, the other is hidden under some leaf, or 

 resting on the trunk of some tree near by, which must be 

 examined and every bush in the vicinity vigorously beaten 

 by the net. Many species rare in most places have a 

 metropolis where they occur in great abundance. During 

 seasons when his favorites are especially abundant the 

 collector should lay up a store against years of scarcity. 



At no time of the year need the entomologist rest from 

 his labors. In the winter, under the bark of trees and in 

 moss he can find many species, or detect their eggs on trees, 

 etc., which he can mark for observation in the spring when 

 they hatch out. 



He need not relax his endeavors day or night. Mothing 

 is night employment. Skunks and toads entomologize at 

 night. Early in the morning, at sunrise, when the dew is 

 still on the leaves, insects are sluggish and easily taken 

 with the hand ; species fly then that hide themselves by day, 

 while at night many caterpillars leave their retreats to come 

 out and feed, when the lantern can be used with success in 

 searching for them. 



Wollaston (Entomologist's Annual, 1865) states that 

 sandy districts, especially towards the coast, are at all times 

 preferable to clayey ones, but the intermediate soils, such 

 as the loamy soil of swamps and marshes, are more produc- 

 tive. Near the sea, insects occur most abundantly beneath 



