The person interested in insects should have no difficulty in finding speci- 

 mens, even in his own home and garden. During a summer evening a light 

 on an unscreened porch will attract almost innumerable forms. In the day 

 time a sweep net can be swished back and forth through grass, bushes and 

 other vegetation to gather many small terrestrial forms. In the ponds one can 

 find insects running on the surface, swimming in the water, or crawling in the 

 ooze on the bottom. Most of these aquatic forms can be collected by means 

 of the common dip-net. Insects can be killed by the use of a prepared cyanide 

 bottle or by a wide-mouthed bottle containing a little blotting paper saturated 

 with carbon disulphide or tetrachloride. Large insects, such as beetles, butter- 

 flies and moths, can be quickly killed by a drop or two of gasoline put on the 

 abdomen of each by means of a small oil can. Most insects can be preserved 

 dry, speared on non-rusting pins especially made for the purpose. Most en- 

 tomology texts and handbooks give information concerning the proper way to 

 mount, pin and label insect collections. Butterflies and moths can seldom be 

 caught in perfect condition and so for collections are best reared in captivity 

 from the caterpillar stage or collected as chrysalides or cocoons and preserved 

 soon after they complete their development. Contrary to popular belief even 

 an expert collector cannot make a fortune gathering butterflies for sale, as many 

 rare and beautiful tropical forms seldom sell for more than four or five dollars 

 apiece. Fleshy forms like caterpillars can he preserved dry only after rather 

 difficult preparation, but can be preserved in a solution of one hundred parts 

 of 95% alcohol to ten parts of glycerine. Almost all the other forms of insects, 

 except butterflies and moths, can be so preserved and will remain sufficiently 

 flexible so that, if desired, they can later be pinned out and dried. 



KEY TO THE PRINCIPAL ORDERS OF INSECTS 



L Animal with functional wings (sometimes the outer pair are hard and 



leathery or horny, concealing and protecting the second pair when 



the animal is at rest) 2. 



Animal without functional wings 25. 



2. With one pair of transparent wings, the second pair being represented 



by minute knobbed structures called balancers or halteres 

 Diptera Flies 

 With two pairs of wings, the second pair sometimes completely covered 

 by the first 3. 



3. First pair of wings horny or leathery and completely covering the second 



pair when the animal is at rest 4. 



First pair of wings not horny or leathery, or else not completely cover- 

 ing the second pair 8. 



4. Front pair of wings thick at base, membranous and overlapping at tips 



Heteroptera True Bugs 

 (Hemiptera (part) ) 



227 



