The Capture, Preparation, and Preservation of Specimens 
differently from setting boards commonly used for butterflies and 
larger moths. The best form known to the writer is one, which has 
for many years been employed by Mr. Herbert H. Smith, the vet¬ 
eran collector. Small pieces of glass about one inch square, with 
their edges very lightly beveled, so as to remove all sharpness, 
are spaced upon a strip of cork fastened to a wide piece of soft 
pine in such a way that an interval of from one-sixteenth to one- 
eighth of an inch occurs between them. This serves as the 
groove to receive the body of the specimen. Having been fixed 
upon the pin the insect is placed in one of these grooves. The 
wings are then carefully expanded with a crooked needle 
fastened in a handle, as illustrated in Figure 16, and are then bound 
e * 
Fig. 17.—Setting board for mounting micro-lepidoptera ; a, 
pieces of glass attached to papered cork with shellac ; b, base 
of soft pine ; co., cork ; d, white paper covering cork ; ee, brads, 
to which setting threads are tied ; ff, pins set firmly beyond 
groove to secure alignment of setting threads ; tt, setting 
threads ; pp , pins to which setting threads are fastened, and 
which are stuck into the pine base to hold down the wings in 
position ; h, small silver pin transfixing thorax of specimen. 
in place by a thread which is held in place by a pin, as shown in 
Figure 17. Though the wings of these small insects may, when 
mounted, at first curl up a little under the pressure of the thread 
drawn across them, they generally recover their position after 
removal from the setting board. The advantage of mounting 
these insects upon glass arises from the fact that the sharp point 
of the needle will glide over the glass and the surface is smooth, 
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