10 ILLINOIS NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY CIRCULAR 39 



many such projects, there are special pieces of collecting equip- 

 ment that are easy to make and extremely valuable in obtaining 

 specimens in greater numbers or in better condition. 



Aspirator or Sucker 



Small, rapidly moving insects, such as leafhoppers, diminu- 

 tive beetles, and flies, may be obtained rapidly by using an aspi- 

 rator or sucker. This is made from either a piece of glass tubing 

 about 114 inches in diameter, fig. 4a, or a capsule vial of the same 

 size, fig. 5a. 



When made from a piece of glass tubing, the aspirator is 

 constructed in accordance with the following directions. 



1. Cut the glass tubing, which has an inside diameter of 

 1 inch, to length, 8 inches, 4a. 



2. Secure two rubber stoppers, 46, to fit the tubing, and 

 bore a hole one-fourth inch in diameter down the exact center 

 of each stopper. 



3. Cut two more pieces of glass tubing, 4c and 4d, from a 

 piece one-fourth inch in diameter. One piece should be 8 inches 

 long and the other 3 inches long. 



4. Insert each piece through one of the rubber stoppers so 

 that one end of the long piece projects about 2 inches beyond 

 stopper 4b, the other end about 5 inches beyond ; let the ends of 

 the short piece project about an equal distance beyond the other 

 stopper. 



5. Over one end of the short tube, tie two thicknesses of 

 cheesecloth, 4e. 



6. Over the other end slip one end of a piece of rubber 

 tubing, 4/, 12 to 14 inches long. 



7. Into the other end of the rubber tubing slip a piece of 

 narrow glass tubing, 4g, about l 1 /^ inches long. 



8. Heat the exposed ends of glass tubing so that the sharp 

 edges melt slightly and round out. 



The parts are now ready to be assembled, as in fig. 4, and 

 used. To catch insects, put end piece, 4g, in your mouth, grasp 

 the body tube, 4a, in your dextrous hand, aim the intake tube, 

 4c, at a bug and almost touching it, and suck. The air current 

 pulls the bug in ; the bug usually does not find its way into the 

 intake tube to crawl out. Do not forget the cheesecloth, 4e; it 

 prevents the bugs from being sucked into your mouth. 



If a vial is more easily obtained than a wide glass tube, the 



