OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XII, llllll. 47 



from Texas (S. ocellatus Reut. ). Having only one single ex- 

 ample no description can be given unless more specimens of both 

 sexes are collected. 



"It may be of interest to note that Aradus vanduzeei\\&i> for 

 the first time also been found in the vicinity of Washington, 

 at Plummer's Island, by Mr. McAtee. The species is widely 

 distributed; it is recorded from Pennsylvania, New York, 

 Lake Tahoe, California, and Colorado." 



Mr. Barber exhibited specimens showing the result of a 

 test of various preservatives and said: 



"The preservation of the early stages of insects is a matter 

 of much importance, and but few collectors seem to realize 

 the advantage of putting up first-class material. It is usually 

 considered sufficient to drop a larva into alcohol, label it, and 

 put it away. Some, perhaps most, of the coleopterous larvae 

 will stand this treatment, but many become shrunken and 

 greatly discolored, losing all the characteristic appearance of 

 the original specimen. 



"With a view of testing the merits of various suggestions 

 that had been made, I put up in November, 1905, a set of 24 

 vials of various mixtures containing specimens of the common 

 typhoid fly, as an example of a fairly hard insect, and of the 

 larva of Anthophora (and probably also an inquilinous bee) , 

 as samples of soft larvae. The experiment may not have been 

 a very scientific test, and in some of the mixtures was very 

 ridiculous, but it is of interest in a few of the results indicated 

 now after the set of vials has stood more than four years with- 

 out a cork being removed. 



"Other test lots of a somewhat similar nature should be 

 put up with more care and by persons better qualified to judge 

 the results than in the present case, for it is a subject in need 

 of more general attention. It is intended to hold the present 

 test lot intact for a much longer time, and eventually subject 

 the specimens to critical examination. 



"I tried to cover, in a general way, the value of formaline, 

 alcohol, and synthol of at least two strengths each, also the 

 effect of adding glycerine, the value of boiling, and the value 

 of dipping the cork in hot paraffin. The flies stand the test 

 well in nearly all cases, but the larva* do not. The principal 

 superficial results are as follows: 



"The specimens exhibiting the best external appearance are 

 in 4 per cent formaline. 



