CHAPTER II 



THE CAPTURE, PREPARATION, AND PRESERVATION OF SPECIMENS 



" Does he who searches Nature's secrets scruple 

 To stick a pin into an insect ?" 



A. G. OEHLENSCHLi«GER, Aladdin's Lamp. 



Everything that has been said in "The Butterfly Book" in 

 reference to the capture, preparation, and preservation of speci- 

 mens holds good in the case of the Heterocera. Inasmuch, 

 however, as many of the moths are exceedingly minute in form, 

 it is worth while to state that a greater degree of care must be 

 observed in the collection and preservation of these minute 

 species than is necessary in the case of even the smallest butter- 

 flies. The best method of collecting the micro-lepidoptera is to 

 put them, after they have been netted, into pill-boxes, which have 

 glass covers, or into vials or test tubes of large size. These 

 receptacles may be carried in a bag or pocket by the collector. 

 When he has returned from the field, the specimens maybe killed 

 by subjecting them to the action of sulphuric ether applied to the 

 corks of the vials, or introduced into the boxes on a camel's-hair 

 pencil. By dipping the cork into the ether and moistening it 

 with a drop or two and then replacing it in the vial the insect is 

 stunned. Sometimes two or three successive applications of 

 ether are necessary. When the insect has been killed and is still 



Fig. 1 6. — Setting needle used in adjusting wings of micro- 

 lepidoptera upon the glass surface of the setting board. 



lax, it is fixed upon a small silver pin of a size proportionate to 

 that of its body, and is then transferred to the setting board. 

 Setting boards for mounting micro-lepidoptera should be made 



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