58 



BULLETIN 67, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Fig. 102.— A method of 



MOUNTING DUPLICATES. 



Some use a fine brush, moistened, for picking up the insect and 

 transferring it to the point. However, with some insects one is apt 

 to use too much moisture. In pinning small specimens with micro- 

 pins it is useful to lay the specimen on a piece of velvet or a folded 

 handkerchief. One can thus do the work under a lens. Some 

 have advocated the mounting of duplicates on strips of cardboard, 

 as in figure 102, and then pinning up these strips 

 several on one pin. It is, however, hardly to be 

 advised, as one is too apt to leave such specimens 

 without further attention — an eyesore in a good 

 collection. 



For especially long or slender insects a double- 

 tipped point (fig. 98,/) is handy, the thorax of the 

 insect resting on one tip and the abdomen resting 

 on the other tip. It is well to cut the points 

 in winter time and have them on hand for use 

 when the collecting season opens in the spring. 

 Leaves showing the work of insects should first be 

 dried, and then a small square of cardboard pinned 

 above and below them to hold the leaf in place. 

 The appendages of insects may be mounted on the following plan, 

 proposed by Doctor Horn: A hole, round or square, is cut in a piece 

 of bristol board. A cover glass is fastened to one side by a thin 

 circle of shellac. Into this cell put the appendage and cover it with 

 a drop of Canada balsam; then put on another cover glass. This 

 preparation may be pinned, and placed in the collection by the 

 side of the insect. 



SPREADING INSECTS. 



Such insects as butterflies and moths, dragonflies, etc., should have 

 their wings spread out at right angles to the body (fig. 103). This is 

 effected by the use of spreading 

 boards (fig. 104), such as shown in 

 the figure. Two strips of some soft 

 wood, as linden, pine, or white 

 wood, are fastened at the ends to 

 braces, leaving a narrow groove 

 between them. A strip of cork or 

 pith is tacked or glued to the under 

 side of the boards covering the 

 groove. Many entomologists prefer to have the boards inclined 

 slightly upward; others have them level. Some cover the boards 

 with a thin strip of cork. Sometimes a board is fastened to the bot- 

 tom of the braces and the cork attached to this; this gives more 

 room for the less of the insect. 



A MOTH, "WITH WINGS SPREAD. 



