regarding the importance of accurate data: 

 "Do not forget that information about the 

 insect is usually of as much value as the 

 specimen— or more." Dr. A. B. Klots of 

 the College of the City of New York also 

 states: "A specimen without data is hard- 

 ly anything more than a mere object of 

 curiosity, and the necessity of keeping ac- 

 curate and complete data permanently at- 

 tached to every specimen cannot be too 

 strongly impressed on the collector." 



To be useful to the entomologist, the 

 specimen must be accompanied by such in- 

 formation as the name of the specimen, 

 locality and date of capture and biological 

 data regarding habitat or host. This in- 

 formation is obtained from permanent rec- 

 ords which every careful collector will 

 make in his field notebook. Lack of suf- 

 ficient data has destroyed the value of 

 thousands of specimens that might have 

 been of great scientific importance. Do 

 not neglect this very important matter. 



Recording Data. The source of the in- 

 formation which is to be placed on the data 

 labels is the field notebook in which de- 

 tailed notes have been recorded. A field 

 notebook, carefully kept, is not only of im- 

 mense importance in enabling the collector 

 to label his specimens accurately but it also 

 may be of great assistance to later workers 

 who may study your collections. 



It is only by chance that the beginner 

 gets a new or very rare species on ground 

 that has been worked over by experienced 

 collectors but even the beginner may add 

 to scientific knowledge if he keeps his field 

 notes well. Date of capture and locality 

 are of prime importance. Record any ob- 

 servations made of their habits. On what 

 are the insects feeding? Under what con- 

 ditions are they found— and when, day or 

 night, winter or summer. Train yourself 

 to observe accurately and carefully record 

 these observations. 



The best type of field notebook is one 

 which will fit the pocket and one which is 

 bound with a strong and durable cover. 



Numbering the Specimen. A catalog or 

 accession number should be given each 

 specimen or lot of specimens bearing iden- 

 tical data. This number should appear in 

 the field notebook and should be placed 

 with the specimens. In this way it is not 

 necessary to place any further data with 

 the specimens until the data labels are af- 



fixed to them after pinning. For easy ref- 

 erence it is desirable to place the accession 

 number on either the "Collection of—" 

 label or the "data" label. 



Pin Labels. Data concerning each speci- 

 men is placed on labels which are attached 

 to the insect pin. (*)nly the best rag bond 

 paper should be used as this will not curl 

 or yellow with age. Printed labels are 

 preferable but they may be hand lettered 

 if neatly done with India ink. The follow- 

 ing instructions are given to make it pos- 

 sible for every collector of insects to label 

 his specimens correctly. Nearly all ento- 

 mologists have adopted certain uniform 

 labels to bear all of the necessary data con- 

 cerning an insect specimen. These are 

 usually placed on the pin in the following 

 order, listing from top to bottom. (See 

 Fig. 24 showing proper position of each.) 



2. BIOLOGICAL 

 JX20LLECTJ0N OF - — 4 



4. DET. LA6CL [ 



Fig. 24. Positions of data labels accompanying 

 pinned insect. 



1. Locality label. 



2. Biological Data label. 



3. Collection of — label. 



4. Determiners' label. 



Note: When affixing labels use great 

 care not to damage specimens. Do not 

 touch the specimens or handle roughly or 

 antennae and legs will be lost Use pin- 

 ning forceps and grasp the pin below the 

 insect when possible. 



The Locality Label. Locality labels 

 should always include the following data: 



a. Locality of capture. 



b. Date of capture. 



c. Name of collector. 



For the sake of uniformity the dale 



