12 



COLLECTING AND PRESERVING- INSECTS. 



Fig. 11. 



board or stretcher is necessary. One that is simple and answers 

 every purpose is shown at figure 11. It may be made of two 

 pieces of thin white-wood or pine board, fastened together by 

 braces, especially at the ends, and left wide enough apart to 

 admit the bodies of the insects to be spread : strips of cork or 

 pith, in which to fasten the pins, may then be tacked or glued 

 below so as to cover the intervening space. The braces must 

 be deep enough to prevent the pins from touching anything on 

 which the stretcher may be laid ; and, by attaching a ring or loop 

 to one of them, the stretcher may be hung against a wall, out 

 of the way. For ordinary-sized specimens I use boards 2 feet 

 long, 3 inches wide and -i- inch thick, with three braces (one in 

 the middle and one at each end) 1 j- inches deep at the ends, but 

 narrowing from each end to 1| inches at the middle. This 

 slight rising from the middle is to counteract the tendency of 



the wings, however well dried, 

 to drop a little after the insect 

 is placed in the cabinet. The 

 wings are held in position by 

 means of strips of paper (Fig. 

 11) until dry." (Riley.) 



Moths of medium size should 

 remain two or three days on 

 the setting-board, while the 

 larger thick-bodied sphinges 

 and BombycidcB require a week to dry. The wings can be 

 arranged by means of a needle stuck into a handle of wood. 

 They should be set horizontally, and the front margin of the 

 fore wings drawn a little forward of a line perpendicular to the 

 body, so as to free the inner margin of the hind wings from 

 the body, that their form may be distinctly seen. When thus 

 arranged, they can be confined by fine threads drawn over the 

 wings, by pieces of card pinned to the board as indicated in 

 figure 1 1 , or, as we prefer, by square pieces of glass laid upon 

 them. 



After the insects have been thoroughly dried they should 

 not be placed in the cabinet until after having been in quaran- 

 tine to see that no eggs of Dermestes or Anthrenus, etc., have 

 been deposited on them. 



For preserving dried insects in the cabinet Laboulbene rec- 



