HOW TO KNOW THE INSEQS 



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may be cut with scissors. Some collectors like points made of 

 celluloid or heavy cellophane. Insects thus mounted on points 

 are fastened to the extreme tip of the point with glue. Lay the 

 Insect to be pointed on Its back or edge on the pinning stand. 

 Pin the point through Its larger end to the proper height. Bend the 

 tip of the point down as Illustrated, and touch It to a drop of 



fresh glue letting 

 only a very little 

 glue remain on 

 the point. Bring 

 the point In 

 gentle contact 

 with the specimen 

 so as to atto.ch 

 the end of the 

 point to the 

 right side of the 

 Insect. This 

 leaves the left 

 side, and dorsal 

 and ventral sides 

 wholly exposed 

 for study. 

 Straighten the 

 Insect on the 

 point. Points 

 must extend to 

 the left of the 

 pin with the in- 

 sect heading away 

 from you. Be 

 very neat and do 

 not get unneces- 

 sary glue on the 

 insect or point. 

 With some prac- 

 tice one can become so skilled that the insect is touched with 

 the glued point at just the right place and it adheres at once 

 and needs little or no straightening. 



Several other 

 schemes are sometimes 

 employed to mount 

 small insects. "Min- 

 uten nadeln" are 

 short and very fine 

 steel pins. This tiny 

 needle is pushed 

 through the specimen 

 and into a card or 

 small cube of cork 

 which in turn is 

 pinned on a regular 

 insect pin. (See a, c, 

 and d of Fig. 25). An 

 elbow pin is also 

 shown. 



Figure 24, If ventral characters are not used for identi- 

 fication, small insects may be mounted as at a. Usually 

 it is better to bend the tip of the point as in b or c, 

 d, cellulose acetate mount. 



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d 



Some larger but 

 rather fragile long- 

 legged insects such at 

 crane flies may be 



Figure 25, a, c, d. Different ways of using minuten 

 nadeln; b, elbov/ pin, 



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