48 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



to add anything further. I only regret to see that so many of 

 our entomologists still use the old and indefinite State labels 

 originally issued by the Smithsonian Institution, and unfor 

 tunately reprinted by the Brooklyn Entomological Society. 

 Some entomologists who are aware of the insufficiency of these 

 labels still use them, but add in writing various signs thereon 

 to give a more definite indication of locality, e. g., one of the 

 four corners is marked with a red or black dash, to indicate re 

 spectively the northern, southern, eastern or western part of 

 the State. It is, however, at once apparent that this is a 

 much less satisfactory mode of labeling than the use of definite 

 localities, e. g., Los Angeles, Cal., instead of Southern Cali 

 fornia ; Lake Worth, Fla., instead of Southern Florida. 



2. Date of capture. This is very useful, and sometimes 

 quite important in various ways. It indicates at what time 

 additional specimens of some rare species may be secured ; it 

 greatly helps to construe the life-history of species which 

 cannot be bred in captivity ; and in some instances, e. g. , the 

 Cerambycidous beetles Cyllene picta and robinitz, assists in 

 correct determination. It can be abbreviated in various ways 

 according to individual taste, and conveniently written on 

 small labels or combined with other labels. 



3. Label to indicate the sex. Since the sexual differences 

 have recently acquired such importance for the distinction of 

 species, this label will be found of great convenience and 

 time-saving by all entomologists. The well-known signs for 

 male, female and worker, printed in convenient form, are well 

 adapted for our collections. They need not to be attached to 

 specimens of large size where the sexes can be distinguished 

 at a glance ; and further, it has been found out by ex 

 perience that only one sex, the male, needs to be labeled, it 

 being understood that all not-marked specimens are females or 

 species in which the two sexes cannot be distinguished exter 

 nally. In the few families containing more than two sexes 

 each specimen should be labeled according to sex. 



4. Name of the collector. This will be found of importance 

 in many instances, e. g., a specimen simply marked ' ' Ari 

 zona " does not furnish much information, but if by another 

 label it is indicated that the specimen has been collected by 

 Mr. Morrison, everyone knows that there is some doubt 

 regarding the locality. Those entomologists who are active in 

 the field usually do not attach their own name to the specimens 

 collected by themselves, and they are, of tourse, always able 

 to recognize in their collections these specimens. Still, this 

 practice should be discontinued, since the record is lost when 

 the collection comes into other hands. Specimens received in 



