and Laboratory Methods. 2363 



Instructions for Collecting Insects. 



First catch your specimen, if a bug or beetle, simply put it into a cyanide- 

 bottle or in a bottle having some strips of blotting-paper moistened with chloro- 

 form. If a butterfly or large moth, catch it in a net and gently pinch the thorax 

 between the thumb and finger, one on each side of the thorax, until the fluttering 

 either ceases or becomes feeble, and drop into the killing-bottle and leave for 

 several hours. If a bee or wasp, then more care may be necessary. Flies should 

 be kept in a separate bottle and only a few should be put together, as they are 

 delicate and become mussy very readily. Butterflies and moths lose some of 

 the scales from the wings and bodies, and these scales are apt to become attached 

 to other insects, so keep all such specimens by themselves. 



A cyanide-bottle is a constant source of danger and should never be made or 

 used except by responsible persons. It is made as follows : A large mouth bot- 

 tle is selected, usually a six-ounce bottle such as is used for quinine. On the 

 bottom drop one or two pieces of cyanide of potassium, about half as large as a 

 hickory nut in all. Cover these pieces of cyanide with dry plaster and over all 

 pour a layer of plaster freshly mixed with water to the consistency of thick 

 cream. This upper shell of hard plaster should be a good quarter of an inch 

 thick and should be free from bubbles. Gently tap the bottle on the ground 

 while hardening to get rid of the bubbles. Place the newly filled bottle in a cool, 

 dry place out of the sun, for a few hours, and then, when it is dry, place the 

 stopper in position and keep it stoppered on all occasions except when putting in 

 or taking out insects. Never put a bottle in the sun, for fear that it will become 

 moist, and do not put insect-pins in the bottle, for the fumes of cyanide attack 

 the german-silver of the pins and later they are sure to corrode. 



MOUNTING OR PINNING. 



Bugs, grasshoppers, large Hymenoptera, and flies should be pinned through 

 the thorax, passing the pin perpendicular to the long axis of the body and allow- 

 ing just one-fourth of its length, from the head to the point, to project above the 

 insect. Beneath the insect, and spaced so that it easily may be read, should be 

 placed the locality and date label. Always put this label on when the insect is 

 pinned. The locality and date label should be printed or written with drawing- 

 ink (which will not fade) and it should be very small. S mall parasitic Hymenoptera 

 are fastened by thick shellac to paper points and these points are pinned. Beetles 

 should be pinned through the right elytron or wing-cover near the median line and 

 at a point about one-fourth the distance from the base to the tip. Moths and butter- 

 flies should be stretched or spread on specially made spreading-boards. This is to 

 render the wings flat and to expose the desired parts to view. The figure shows the 

 manner of spreading. The board has a channel running lengthwise and on the 

 underside of the channel is fastened a strip of corn-pith in which the pin may be 

 set. The wings are carefully pulled forward with a pin and a thin sheet of mica is 

 placed over them and pinned down with mourning-pins. In doing this, the hind 

 margins of the front wings should form a straight line. The hind wings should 



