40 



BULLETIN 67, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



use material which has not the slightest tendency to stiffen or kink. 

 Some collectors use green or gray nets for Lepidoptera, but for general 

 purposes a white net is the best. In length the net should be twice 

 its diameter and should taper to the bottom. A sweeping net should 

 be of stouter material, and where fastened upon the ring is sewed on 



to stout twill muslin. 

 Some collectors fasten the 

 net to small rings upon 

 the main ring, as in figure 

 79. This saves the net 

 from wearing out, as it is 

 very apt to do when used 

 much in dense brush. For 

 beating a still stouter net 

 is required; heavy twill 

 muslin is good material. 

 For aquatic collecting 

 an open net (fig. 80) is 

 preferable. A mesh of 

 one-eighth inch is plenty 

 large enough, as a larger 

 mesh will permit the es- 

 cape of many small in- 

 sects. The water net should not be as long as the other kinds, 

 and indeed may be very short (fig. 80). The top of the net may 

 be covered by a coarse wire netting, either flat or conical, which 

 will prevent plants and large debris from entering the net. For 

 aquatic collecting, however, a dip net of wire mesh (fig. 81) is very 

 useful, especially in collecting mosquito larvae and other insects 

 swimming in the water. With its sharp edge one may scrape in- 

 sects from submerged stones. For insects in mud, 

 among leaves on the bottom, among weedy marges, 

 etc., a dragnet or a sieve net 

 (fig. 82) is the right thing. 



Some collectors, particularly 

 in Europe, have advocated the 

 use of a scissors or forceps net 

 (fig. 83) for small insects, but 

 this is rarely used by American collectors. Mr. Conradi attaches to 

 the forceps net, in the center of one of the nets, a tin tube one-half 

 inch long, with outer end corked. When he desires to remove the 

 insect the cork is taken out and the tube fitted into a cyanide bottle. 

 A rattan net, made by some dealers, is very light and useful in cap- 

 turing butterflies and other insects in flight. 



Fig. 79.— A beating net, opened and attached to handle, 



WITH FRAME OF SAME FOLDED. (AFTER KlESENWETTER.) 



Fig. 80.— A water net. 

 (After Packard.) 



FlG. 81.— A SMALL WATER 

 DIP NET. 



