1875. 17 



In oouoliHion I woiikl aiUl lliat, as oiu' wlio li:is a "ival regavil t\.r Mr. SimkUIit, 

 I offer those renmrk.s in no captious spirit ; indeed, I looii upon all scieiitifie criticisms 

 as oiTered in a professional, and therefore purely friendly, character ; and I should 

 lie exceedingly sorry to think that ctcu my adversaries as entomologists were not my 

 friends as men. — Akthur G. Butler, 17, Oxford Road, Ealing : 19th April, 1875. 



On kilUnj and preserving Hymenoptera. — The neglect of these insects has, to a 

 certain degree, a reason : viz., — that collections of them, such as one generally sees, pre- 

 sent anything but a charming picture, as the insects arc unequally pinned, some high, 

 some low, with antenna;, legs, and wings stretched out in all directions, or, on the 

 contrary, pressed to the side like the limbs of a mummy. The neglect on the aesthetic 

 side is also a great disadvantage in a scientific point of view, as it increases the 

 ditficnlties, great enough already, in naming the species. For instance, how is it 

 p issible to ascertain the distinction between the veins of the wings if the wings lie 

 on the top of each other on the body ; or, how can one examine the structure of tlie 

 meta-thorax and the abdomen, if these parts are covered by the wings ; or the 

 characteristic mark of the legs (for instance, the marks on the fore-leg of many male 

 Megachile, &c.), if the tibiae lie on the thighs, or the legs are all contracted ? What 

 a nuisance it often is to determine the species or genus of such a creature ; whereas, 

 it could be told in a moment if the sj)ecimen was in a good state of preservation. 



To obviate this evil, and to cause the care in treatment which is due to the 

 Hymenoptera to be given to the order, 'such as is bestowed on beetles and butterflies, 

 I take the liberty to make public my method of arranging Hymenoptera for a 

 collection, it being the residt of thirty years' practice. 



As the mode of killing is of great importance, as preparatory to preserving, I 

 cannot help touching briefly upon it. Sulphuric ether, chloroform, benzine, and 

 cj'anide of potassium, are the means of producing death, which are generally made 

 use of. But all the ways have the same inconvenience ; — that the limbs become very 

 soon tender and stiff, whereby the chance of preserving them is made very difficult, 

 if not impossible. 



I speak strongly against cyanide of potassium for two reasons ; first, because 

 with this highly dangerous poison a slight want of care may cause a misfortune ; 

 and, secondly, because it works strongly on the colour of the insect ; for instance, 

 it changes beautiful yellow into red, whereby the insect cannot be recognised, and 

 often gives rise to a new pseudo-species, as we already have in the Amhlyleles 

 regius, which is nothing mm'c nor less than A. fascialorius {vide Stettin. Ent. Ztg., 

 1871, p. 142) with the colour changed in the above manner. 



The method which I use was, according to my knowledge, first employed by a 

 collector in this neighbourhood for killing beetles, and his good success occasioned 

 me to make use of it for other insects. A snndl bottle (if possible, somewhat com- 

 pressed) of white glass, and with rather wide neck, is half-filled with dried moss, or 

 instead, especially for smaller insects, which are easily lost, small bits of jmpcr nuiy 

 be taken. Before I begin my excursion, I choose my bottles according to the booty 

 T expect to bring home ; I put some sulphuric vapour into each by means of a 

 lighted sulpluir match, and take care to close the bottle well. 



