HOW TO KNOW THE INSECS 



Of trips. A serlGG of crirel'uliy kei.t notebookr^ becomes increas- 

 ingly valuable. 



MOUNTING 



Most adult insects are mounted on pins. Beccinners some times 

 use coirmon pins. This is not a good practice as the pins are too 

 short and so thick that they needlessly mutilate the spec irons. 

 Ke:-ular insect pins, ^vhich are ip.ade of fine stiff steel v/ire, and 

 which are about one and a half inches long, may be bought from 

 the supply houses and should be used. The sizes are numbered 00 

 and and from. 1 to 8; 00 's and O's are very fine and 8 are the 

 heaviest. Number 2's are recommended for practically all Io\-7a 

 insects. The p:eneral collector may get along very nicely even 

 if he has no other size. 



Too much emphasis cannot be placed on neatness of mounting. 

 A cp.relessly m:Ounted collection is an eyesore. In this, as with 

 other things, the last five or ten per cent of knowledge and 

 effort put into it pays big dividends in satisfaction and results. 

 The beginner v;ill do "ell to set a high standard for himself from 

 the start and throw away all poorly mounted specimens. If char- 

 acters essential for determining the species of an insect are 

 lost or obscured the specimen is v/orthless. Through the years 

 some standards of procedure in pinning Insects have been estab- 

 lished by entom.ologists. They should be followed closelyo 



BEETLES 



Pin through the right 

 wing-cover close to its 

 front end and near the 

 middle line which sepa- 

 rates the two v/lng covers. 

 (Fig. 14). 



Figure 14. Llethod of pinning large beei-les, 

 (from TJ.S.D.A.") 



figure 15. I.'ethod of pinning 

 (from r.S.D.A.) 



GRASSHOPPERS , CRI CIvETS, 

 TREEHOPPERS, LEAFHOPPERS, 

 etc . 

 Pin through the 

 back part of the pro- 

 thorax Just to the right 

 of the middle line (Figo 

 15). It is often desir- 

 able to spread the left 

 wings of grasshoppers. 



grasshoppers, 



23 



