Jl8 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [May, 



ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 



Published monthly (except July and August), by the Entomological 

 Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences, of Philadelphia, with the 

 endorsement of the American Entomological Society. It will contain not 

 less than 240 pages per annum. It will maintain no free list whatever, 

 but will leave no measure untried to make it a necessity to every student 

 of insect life, so that its very moderate annual subscription may be con- 

 sidered well spent. 



ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION $1.00, IN ADVANCE. 



$3^" All remittances should be addressed to E. T. Cresson, Treasurer, 

 P. O. Box 248, Philadelphia, Pa.; all other communications to the Editor 

 of ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS, Academy of Natural Sciences, Logan Square, 

 Philadelphia, Pa. 



PHILADELPHIA, PA., MAY, 1892. 



Entomological rubbish. Why is it that in this country our entomologists 

 get so many poor and imperfect specimens? and when they do secure 

 them make matters worse by running pins through them out of all pro- 

 portion to the size of the insect. In Europe they do these things far better, 

 but it may be said that Europe is an older country, and that they have had 

 many years in which to learn entomological technique; true, but the dif- 

 ference in the perfection of the specimens and in the mounting seem out 

 .of all proportion to their respective ages. Some time ago a well-known 

 collector wished to know why so many poor specimens came in exchange 

 from Philadelphia entomologists; our reply was, that none of them were 

 caught in Philadelphia, but had been received from other parties. He 

 already had all our local species and those sent were from other places. 

 It is time we had learned dexterity in catching specimens so that they are 

 not ruined. Neatness in pinning, expanding and mounting, will greatly 

 enhance the value of a specimen, and it will receive more respect and be 

 much more likely to be preserved. If a large, heavy species has a No. i 

 pin in it and you attempt to move it from place to place, the chances are 

 the pin will bend and the specimen be ruined. It is a common thing to 

 find No. 4 pins put through our smaller moths and butterflies, and these 

 pins pointing at the cardinal points of the compass. Seek your specimens 

 at the proper time, while they are fresh, and catch and kill them in such 

 a manner that they wont look as though the cat or the baby had been 

 playing with them. Use a pin in proportion to the size of the insect, and 

 remember it goes through either the middle of the thorax or the right 

 elytron, and should be exactly perpendicular. Always have a uniform 

 length of pin above the thorax (^ inch.), and it is best to make a little 

 measure to test this if you wish your specimens to look well and be a 

 uniform height on the pins. For Macrolepidoptera use Nos. 2, 3 and 4, 

 Klaeger pins, and for Micros use the silver pins (Klaegur) that come spe- 

 cially for them. These micro pins are fastened to an ordinary No. 3 or 4 



