V8 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



ABOUT CLEANING OILY SPECIMENS OF LEPIDOPTERA, ETC. 



BY PH. FISCHER, BUFFALO, N. Y. 



If a specimen becomes oily, it is generally believed that its beauty can 

 never again be restored ; but with a trifling cost and a little labor, any 

 specimen will in a short time have again its former lustre, without injury 

 to the insect. This remedy has been tried on the most tender Diurnals, 

 as well as on Sphinges and Noctuids ; it can be used on every insect. 

 Should a specimen be oily throughout, body and wings, it may be put in 

 the following fluid : One part of sulphuric ether to two parts of the 

 strongest alcohol, and left therein for about 24 hours. Should the speci-i 

 men be very oily, another bath may have to be applied. Should this- 

 second bath, after removing the insect, be only slightly discolored, the 

 insect may be put in the last bath, which consists of pure sulphuric ether, 

 in which it is left a few hours only. After being taken out and 

 partly dried, it is put on the spreading board. Another way of cleaning 

 specimens, where only the wings are oily, is this : The specimen is put on 

 the spreading board, under side up, without fastening it in any way, and 

 the purest spirits of turpentine poured on it to fully soak the wings, after 

 which finely-powdered pipe clay is strewn thickly over the affected parts, 

 and this left to dry. Should the clay, after being dry, be yellow, the oil is 

 not all out of the wings, and the above has to be renewed. Should the 

 clay be perfectly white after drying, it can be relied upon that every 

 particle of the fatty matter is drawn out of the wings. To remove the: 

 clay it needs a little experience, though any one can do it with a little j 

 care. Hold your specimen on the upper part of the pin, and give the pin 

 a little jerk near the point, and the clay, being brittle, will easily fall off. 

 After it is all removed, the specimen may be brushed off with a fine camel 

 hair brush until clean. A specimen treated in the above ways will never 

 again become oily. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Dear Sir : Whilst out for an entomological ramble at Lachine on 

 Nov. nth last, I took a fine specimen of Dicerca obscura Fab. at the foot 

 of a tree, but whether the tree was an oak or a maple I unfortunately did 

 not at the time note. Now this is very interesting, as it seems to indicate 

 that this species, too, is double-brooded. I have read of some of the 1 



