CHAPTER XLIH. 



PREPARATION, CAEE, AND DISPLAY OF INSECTS. 



THE next step after the capture of the specimens is to pre- 

 pare them either for transportation or for the cabinet. If col- 

 lecting upon a journey, or where facilities for the preparation of 

 B specimens for the cabinet are lack- 



ing 1 , the insects may be preserved in 

 papers. Common drug-gists' envel- 

 opes are a very convenient resource 

 for the preservation of lepidoptera. 

 They may be purchased by the thou- 

 sand at about sixty - five cents. If 

 these cannot be had, envelopes may 

 easily be made from pieces of paper, 

 preferably stiff newspaper or com- 

 mon writing-paper upon which ink 

 has not been used. The manner of 

 folding these is illustrated by Figures 94 and 95. Care should 

 be taken to write upon the envelope, before the insect is placed 

 in it, the date and the locality of capture. Beetles, if black and 

 devoid of hairy vestiture, may be pre- 

 served in alcohol, and the same course 

 may be taken with many insects of 

 other orders. It is preferable, how- 

 ever, to pack beetles and other hard- 

 bodied insects in layers of cotton bat- 

 ting. A small box may be made to 

 contain an immense number of insects in envelopes or in cot- 

 ton, and they may thus be safely transported anywhere. In 

 case alcohol is used as a preservative all the specimens of a 

 species should be sorted out and tied together in a small sack 



FIG. 94. Manner of Folding Paper 

 Envelope. A-B, First fold ; B-C, 

 second fold ; A-D, third fold ; B-F, 

 fourth fold ; A-E, flfth fold. 



FIG. 95. Butterfly in Envelope. 



