METHODS OF COLLECTING INSECTS 339 



this purpose ordinary pill boxes of various sizes are most conven- 

 ient. Each box should be partly filled with crushed tissue paper, 

 to prevent the insects from shaking about. Care should be taken 

 not to place too many insects together. If the insects cannot be 

 mounted at once, the date of collecting, the locality, and other 

 notes may be written on the outside of the box. For very small 

 insects gelatin capsules will prove more useful than the pill 

 boxes. Large-sized capsules especially adapted to this purpose 

 may be obtained of entomological supply companies or large drug 

 houses. Glass bottles should never be used for this purpose, as 

 the moisture from the bodies of the insects soon causes them to 

 deteriorate, or otherwise injures the more delicate specimens. 

 Also, cotton should not be used in the pill boxes or capsules, as 

 the claws and delicate hairs of the insects become entangled and 

 often broken off. Small paper envelopes will be found very useful 

 in carrying Lepidoptera, but they should be packed in a tin or 

 wooden box to prevent crushing. 



Collecting larvae. The method of collecting larvae depends 

 somewhat upon the manner in which they are to be preserved. 

 Small larvae, to be preserved in alcohol or mounted on slides, may 

 be placed directly in the alcohol-glycerin solution, as indicated 

 above. The larger forms, which are to be blown (see page 353), 

 should be placed in tin boxes, together with a small amount of 

 their food plant. Aquatic forms which it is desirous to keep alive 

 must be packed in damp moss or damp paper, or else carried in 

 a large, open receptacle filled with water. If placed in a bottle or 

 tightly closed receptacle, they will soon die. One danger of carry- 

 ing aquatic larvae or nymphs in water is that the larger forms will 

 often destroy the smaller ones, especially if dragon-fly nymphs 

 have been collected. There is much less liability of this occurring 

 if the nymphs are packed in wet moss or paper. 



Insect traps. Many insects can be collected much more easily by 

 means of traps than in any other way. These traps may consist 

 of some form of light for attracting insects, some attractive food 

 from which the insects may be collected as they come to it, or 

 a trap that the insects will fall into. 



The funnel trap. The ordinary glass or tin funnel is fre- 

 quently employed in trapping insects. One of the simplest ways 



