

f # 





m 



Mi 



* ," 





ff »####! 



M ^ 



4 , *"** 



Fig. 27. The unit tray system affords one of 

 the most satisfactory means of storing a 

 large insect collection. 



The advantages of this system of storage 

 are manifold, its most important one being 

 its greater flexibility. Additional specimens 

 or groups to be included in the collection 

 are merely pinned into a suitable sized tray 

 and the other trays in the drawer are 

 moved along to make room for the addi- 

 tions in their proper places. There is no 

 necessity for repinning a whole drawer of 

 insects because several insects must be add- 

 ed, nor any need for leaving large open 

 spaces to accommodate future acquisitions. 



Because trays are built to absorb consid- 

 erable shock before transmitting it to the 

 specimens, danger of breakage is lessened. 

 An occasional "floating specimen" can en- 

 danger only those in the same tray. Lost 

 parts, automatically retained in their prop- 

 er iray, may be replaced with certainty and 

 speed. 



Labels bearing the name of the species 

 and author may be placed in the tray with 



the specimens, they may be pinned on the 

 tray bottom or they may be pasted on the 

 inside back of the tray. (See Fig. 27.) A 

 plan used with the large Ward Collection 

 is to paste the labels to a piece of stiff 

 cardboard of a size to fit vertically against 

 the back of the tray. This label can be 

 held in position by two large insect pins. 

 An advantage of this label card is that a 

 large amount of space is this saved and the 

 labels may be transferred and the trays re- 

 used. In large collections, "label blocks" 

 may be used to spot the beginning of each 

 genus. Pieces of {-inch soft wood, cut to 

 correspond in size to the back wall of the 

 tray, are stood on edge before the first nay 

 of the genus. A label showing the name of 

 the genus and the author is placed on the 

 top of the block. (See Fig. 27.) 



Trays are available for both the Cornell 

 University drawer (15^ x 17jjx2£" inside) 

 or the U. S. National Museum drawer 



