brittle so that the appendages break off easily. 

 6. Empty the jar of insects before too many 

 have accumulated in a mass at the bottom. This 

 will prevent damage to the smaller specimens 

 and avoid discoloration due to "sweating." 



Care of Insects after Capture 



Presei~vation in Alcohol. It frequently 

 happens that the collector cannot attend 

 to his catch at once and it may be even 

 months before he is ready to mount the in- 

 sects collected. If this is the case many 

 specimens may be dropped directly into 

 75% alcohol. All hard-shelled insects such 

 as Coleoptera (beetles), as well as Orthop- 

 tera (grasshoppers, cockroaches, etc.) can 

 be placed in alcohol as soon as captured 

 to be pinned and dried later. All soft 

 bodied insects such as mayflies, stoneflies 

 and all immature stages must be kept per- 

 manently in alcohol since they will shrivel 

 when dry. 



If alcohol is not available, 4% formalin 

 may be used, but this is not recommended 

 because it renders insects so brittle that 

 legs and antennae are apt to break off. 



Very small insects are best handled with 

 a camels-hair brush such as is used for 

 water colors. Moisten the brush with alco- 

 hol to make the insect adhere to it, then 

 immerse the brush in the preserving solu- 

 tion where the specimen will drop off and 

 sink to the bottom of the vial. Data should 

 be written in soft pencil or India ink on 

 a good rag bond paper and placed inside 

 each container. (See Fig. 14.) (Instructions 

 regarding data will be given later.) 



Fig. 13. Proper way to use a killing tube with 

 small insects. 



The preserving fluid in vials should be 

 changed within a day or two from the date 

 of capture to prevent dilution of the pre- 

 servative by the body fluids, as well as dis- 

 coloration of the insects from the stained 

 preservative. 



Dry Preservation. All hairy, scaly, green 

 or fragile-winged insects should be pre- 

 served dry. Such specimens are butter- 

 flies, moths, lace wings, damsel flies, drag- 

 onflies, etc. 



Fig. 12. Stunning a butterfly. 



Fig. 14. Data label in vial. 



Paper Triangles and Glazed Paper En- 

 velopes. All larger specimens which must 

 be preserved dry may be' placed in paper 

 triangles or glazed paper envelopes. The 

 latter not only save time but are semi- 

 transparent, thus making sorting and iden- 

 tification of the papered specimens easier. 



Paper triangles may be made from any 

 rectangular sheet of paper folded thru the 

 successive stages diagrammed here. (See 

 Fig. 15.) The size of the sheet used de- 

 pends upon the size of the insects. 



Never place more than one specimen in 

 an envelope and always be sure to write 

 the date and localtiy of capture on the 

 flap of the triangle or envelope. 



Packing in Boxes. In caring for smaller 

 specimens it is often more convenient to 

 store them between layers of cellu-cotton 

 and place them in cigar, small cardboard 

 or metal boxes. Never pack moist insects 



