Collection and Preparation. 9 



leaves of a plant are disfigured by a deposit of black fungus, we 

 may reasonably expect to find a flourishing colony of Scale-bugs, 

 though sometimes the same fungus follows the attacks of Aphides. 

 By this last means alone a badly infested tree may often be noted 

 from a long distance. Small spots of white powdery matter pro- 

 jecting from some crevice will often repay closer inspection, and 

 a busy string of ants ascending the stem of a plant may point 

 the way to an unsuspected establishment of the insects of which 

 we are in search. 



The members of this family are either without means of 

 locomotion or slow to use their limbs when present. They are 

 usually more or less permanently anchored to the plant by their 

 long sucking-tubes. The leaves or stems to which they are 

 attached should be removed with them, or pieces of the bark 

 may be sliced off with the insects ; but it is advisable not to 

 detach the insects themselves, for, in so doing, their mouth parts 

 are liable to be injured, and for cabinet specimens the insects 

 must be mounted in their natural position on pieces of their food 

 plant. 



Before drying the insects and storing them away, they should 

 be carefully examined in the living state, and notes made of 

 their colour, markings, natural forrti, &c. If there are any tenanted 

 male scales, these should be placed in small glass-topped boxes, 

 to allow of the emergence of the winged insects. After the 

 preliminary examination, the specimens may be killed (in a 

 stifling-bottle) and stored away until it be convenient to examine 

 them more thoroughly. All the minute microscopical details may 

 be studied as well, or even better, from the dried specimens, if 

 properly prepared in the manner described below. In the mean 

 time the specimens may be folded — leaves and all — in some soft 

 (preferably absorbent) paper, and placed inside a stout envelope 

 (such as is used by florists for their packets of seeds) upon which 

 must be noted the name of the insect (if known), the date, and 

 the locality. The notes made at the preliminary examination 

 may be included in the envelope. Empty cigar boxes form 

 convenient receptacles for these packets. A few lumps of 

 naphthaline and camphor should be placed in the box to keep 

 out mites. 



For a working collection it will be necessary to make two 

 separate arrangements ; one of dried specimens to show the 

 external characters, and another of prepared mounts for the 



c 



