ON THE PREPARATION AND PRESERVATION OF 



INSECTS, WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE 



TO COLEOPTERA 



By J. MAN SON VALENTINE 



Bureau of Entomology and Plant Qtiurantinc 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture 



It is beyond the scope of the present paper even to enumerate the 

 multiplicity of methods employed and customs adhered to in the prepa- 

 ration of insect specimens for the cabinet. Rather, what is intended 

 is solely a presentation of certain procedures which have proved most 

 useful to the writer after a period of considerable experimentation. 



Broadly classified, there are two schools of technique in the mount- 

 ing of Coleoptera. The European entomologist habitually displays his 

 smaller specimens by gluing each of them, ventral surface down, to 

 a standard rectangular card which is then pinned. The American 

 prefers to mount his at the apices of small cardboard triangles whose 

 bases hold the pins. In the first method, the appendages are protected 

 but only the dorsal aspect of the insect is visible, an examination of 

 its ventral characters necessitating the removal of the specimen from 

 the card. This is a tedious and dangerous routine which the average 

 collector is reluctant to undertake ; its avoidance, however, cannot fail 

 to result in identifications based entirely on dorsal anatomy. The 

 American system, on the other hand, while providing opportunity to 

 study lateral and ventral characters (though only those not obscured 

 by the legs in their flexed positions) fails to afford proper protection 

 to the specimen. Neither technique ordinarily includes any degreas- 

 ing treatment with the result that too often, during the passage of 

 time, escaping oils render the specimen unfit for study. 



The following is a description of a third procedure which attempts 

 to combine the merits of both schools and, at the same time, to elimi- 

 nate the more undesirable features of each. This technique was 

 developed specifically for the purpose of preparing good research 

 material in the Cicindelidae and Carabidae. However, it has proved 

 equally useful in other groups of beetles ; and it has been adapted 

 with success to insects of various additional orders, especially to 

 those whose membranous wings, if present, are folded and concealed. 

 Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. Vol. 103, No. 6 



