26 ILLINOIS NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY CIRCULAR 39 



Minuten pins are short, extremely delicate steel pins, fig. 

 14d. One of these is thrust through the body of the insect and 

 into a small piece of cork, pith, or similar substance, which is in 

 turn pinned in the regular way that a card point is. This method 

 is especially desirable for minute moths. 



Insects Hard to Pin. — Wasps, lacewings, damselflies, and 

 like insects have an abdomen that sags readily when the speci- 

 men is killed and pinned. This unwanted drooping can be pre- 

 vented in three simple ways. (1) Stick the pinned insect on a 

 vertical surface of a block so that the body by its own weight 

 dries in normal position. (2) Pin the insect on a horizontal sur- 

 face and run a stiff paper on the pin beneath the body and sup- 

 porting it in a natural position until the insect dries. (3) Brace 

 the abdomen by crossing two pins beneath it and thrusting them 

 into the block, allowing the specimen to dry in the angle of the 

 cross. 



Crane flies are unwieldy and so are best pinned on a double 

 card point mount, fig. 15. The legs should be directed away from 

 the pin to avoid breakage in handling. 



Spreading Board for Moths and Butterflies 



Moths and butterflies should have their wings spread before 

 being put into the collection. To do this well it is necessary to 

 have spreading boards that are accurately made but that are 

 not necessarily complicated or expensive. 



Construction. — A convenient board for medium-sized insects 

 can be made at home of the following materials : 



1. — A hardwood base, 4 x 12 x X A inches. 



2. — Two hardwood end pieces, 4 x % x % inches. 



3. — Two softwood top pieces, I%xl2x% inches, with the top 

 surface planed at an angle, so that the thickness at one edge 

 is Vz inch and at the other % inch. 



4. — Two flat cork pieces, 1 x 11 x 3/16 inches. 



Nail the top pieces to the ends so that the slanting surfaces 

 of the tops are uppermost and the narrower edges parallel and 

 one-quarter inch apart, fig. 16. Glue one strip of cork beneath 

 the top pieces, covering the opening between and fitting snugly 

 at each end. Glue the other cork piece flat to the upper side of 

 the base, lengthwise along the middle, and extending to within 

 one-half inch of each end. Finally, nail the base across the bot- 

 toms of the end pieces, so that the two corks face each other. 



Use. — Before spreading the specimen, relax it as described 



