24 



ILLINOIS NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY CIRCULAR 39 



is a small piece of wood or metal usually in the form shown in 

 fig. 13, into the top of which are drilled holes slightly larger than 

 the pin diameters. Such a block may be fashioned of wood with 

 holes made by small nails and covered with a cardboard square 



Jp=db 



a 



/A/tor, , ni. I 7 



f 



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/■Ptra 

 / neb 



c 



f.#.?AyW./ 



r 



e 



lT'ne.a. 



I Oaf. Braun. ,933 



Fig. 14. — Pinning small insects and labeling. The insect may be glued to 

 a card point, a, which has been crimped to meet the right side of the body, 

 b, c; or it may be pinned with a minuten pin, d, to a piece of cork or pith, 

 which in turn is regularly pinned. All pinned insects should be labeled, as at e. 

 In the case of some small insects, such as tiny moths, the minuten pin may 

 be run down through the body and then into the cork; in the case of others, 

 such as mosquitoes, it is often desirable to run the minuten pin up through 

 the cork first and then impale the specimen on the point of the pin. 



through which have been stabbed holes the exact size of those in 

 the wood. The depths of the holes in the block should be three- 

 eighths inch, three-quarters inch and lYs inches, respectively. To 

 use the block, pin the insect and insert the pin into whichever 

 hole allows the specimen to be pushed up the pin and still leave 

 room, allowing for the thickness of the insect's body, for handling 

 at the top. 



Tiny Insects. — Very small insects, of which many will be 

 encountered, cannot be pinned through the bodies with regular 

 pins, which will break too many of the insects' parts. Instead they 

 are mounted on card points or on minuten pins. 



Card points are small triangles of cardboard or celluloid 

 pinned through one of the sides and crimped over at the opposite 

 apex ; a spot of good glue is put on the angled tip, and the right 



