HOW TO KNOW THE INSECTS 



Keep special bottles for moths and butterflies and do not 

 put other Insects Into them. The scales from, the wings of moths 

 and butterflies come off easily and spoil specimens of other 

 orders. Wipe out these bottles occasionally to remove the loose 

 scales. 



Have one or more separate bottles for bees and flies, and do 

 not put anything else into them. Remove flies and bees soon 

 after they are dead and pack them, lightly in soft paper, in 

 smiall cardboard boxes. It is better to empty all killing bottles 

 often and to pack the speclm.ens carefully between layers of 

 cellucotton or cotton wadding. Butterflies and moths should be 

 put in papers (See Fig. 13). A penciled slip of paper showing 

 locality, date, and collector's name should alY:ays be included. 

 Insects marked with yellow often turn red or orange if left long 

 in cyanide bottles. Even the most sturdily built specimens 

 should not stay over 24 hours at the m.ost in a killing bottle. 



Keep cyanide bottles tightly closed all the time when not 

 putting insects in or out. This is very im.portant. Do not 

 smell killing bottles to test their strength. If a bottle is 

 broken be sure to put the poison where it can do no ham. 



Sm.all beetles, leaf hoppers, thrips, and many other small in- 

 sects miay be caught and killed in small vials of 80% alcohol. 

 i'lE^/ER put flies or bees in alcohol. Ants should be put in alco- 

 hol. Use a separate vial for each colony but try to get all 

 types to be found in the colony in this one vial. Be sure to 

 put the locality, date, and collector's name in each bottle of 

 insects caught in alcohol. V/rlte with lead pencil. 



Effects of Ki 1 1 ing 



Occasional objections are raised to the mioral effects of 

 children killing insects. The body and nervous system of an in- 

 sect are so different from those of the higher animals that it is 

 highly Improbable that they have a sense of pain at all compar- 

 able to that felt by man or the other vertebrates. They seem to 

 pay little attention to the loss of parts or to other mutilations 

 that frequently befall them. The unfavorable influence then, if 

 any, is a psychic one, on the part of the collector. Many ani- 

 mals must be killed. It would seem that the best that may be 

 done is to teach that they be killed quickly and as humanely as 

 possible. 



Many song and game birds, fish, and wild plants are ever 

 threatened with extermination, if vigorously collected. Insects 

 are so abundant and so v/ell able to take care of themselves that 

 there is no likelihood of endangering the future of any species 

 by collecting. A large percentage of the species collected are 

 directly or indirectly injurious to man but not a moment ' s worry 

 need be given to depleting the supply of even the beneficial 

 species. 



Stings and Bites 



The uninitiated public has a general fear of insects v/holly 

 unwarranted by the facts, llany quite harmless species are pur- 

 ported to be very dangerous or even deadly. Such completely in- 

 offensive and defenseless creatures as dragon flies, walking 

 sticks and tomato v/orm.s are said "to kill one" if they should 

 sting him. The story may be akin to the one of a guinea pig's 



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