COLLECTING INSECTS. 



COLLECTING AND PRESERVING INSECTS 



The following directions are, with slight changes, those 

 which are contained in the American Museum's leaflet on 

 How to Collect and Preserve Insects. 



WHEN AND WHERE TO FIND INSECTS 



An entomologist is frequently amused at being asked 

 by well-meaning friends if he found anything when he 

 went out. Insect hunting is a sport in which there are 

 no blanks, if you know the game. Frequently the most 

 unpromising times and places are the best, for others 

 have been discouraged by the outlook and you get what 

 they have missed. We can never truly say that we know 

 an insect's haunts until we can tell where to look for it 

 every hour of every day in the year. Many insects are 

 great hiders and should be looked for under bark; in 

 rotten wood; under stones, dead leaves, etc.; among the 

 roots of plants ; in stems and flowers in short everywhere 

 and at all times. 



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COLLECTING APPARATUS AND How TO USE IT 



The great essentials for insect collecting were given 

 each of us at birth and need only be improved by use an 

 inquiring mind, eyes and fingers. Only a very few insects 

 sting to such an extent that collecting with unaided 

 fingers is uncomfortable and even the swiftest fliers can 

 be caught by hand when they are young or asleep. How- 

 ever, certain tools are handy. They can either be made 

 at home or purchased rather cheaply from dealers. J 



1 The principal dealers in this vicinity are Kny-Scheerer 

 Co., 404 West 27th St., New York City; Ward's Natural 

 Sence Establishment, Rochester, N. Y. ; New Jersey 

 Entomological Co., 74 Thirteenth Ave., Newark, N. J.; 

 O. Fulda, 812 Broadway, New York City; and Williams, 

 Brown & Earle, 918 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. 



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