164 



PSYCHE. 



[January 189S 



hour or two. Tlie quart size army 

 canteen will answer for most occasions 

 but for trips of considerable length a 

 more capacious one is necessary. In 

 all cases it should be covered with 

 thick, durable cloth kept wet in order 

 to cool its contents by evaporation. 



Collecting' apparatus. The col- 

 lector should start with an aliundance 

 of apparatus in the shape of net-frames, 

 nets, cyanide-bottles, etc. At least two 

 net-frames should be carried, ajjd parts 

 especially liable to be broken should be 

 taken in duplicate. Nets are extremely 

 subject to damage owing to the thorny 

 character of much of tlie vegetation. 

 Pasteboard boxes for packing can be 

 found in quantity in the largest cities 

 only, but used ones (thread, button, 

 knife, etc. ) may often be obtained in dry 

 goods and hardware stores. Cotton 

 batting may be found anywhere. Carry 

 cheap envelopes, for specimens of plants 

 which it is desirable to determine, and 

 blotting-paper to keep cyanide-bottles 

 dry. 



Preservation of fnaterial. This is 

 a simple matter owing to the dryness of 

 the atmosphere, the chief precaution 

 necessarj' being to guard effectually 

 against rough handling. The method 

 followed was one I have used for several 

 years on collecting trips in New Eng- 

 land, slightly modified to meet the 

 greater risk of breakage during trans- 

 portation. The material was' simply 

 packed between layers of cotton in 

 pasteboard boxes perforated with nu- 

 merous holes and with very few excep- 

 tions came out in excellent condition. 



For several days after packing the boxes 

 were exposed freely to the air by plac- 

 ing them in an extra net hung up in a 

 current or tied to the handle of my grip 

 when traveling. Some large-bodied 

 insects, like Ste?!opeltnatits, were 

 opened and stuffed, but this is seldom 

 necessary. 



Collecting season of Orthoptera. 

 While the Orthoptera, like otlier insects, 

 may be obtained at all seasons of the 

 year, there is with them likewise a 

 period when the number of species and 

 individuals in the adult state is greatest 

 and which is consequently the most 

 advantageous season for collecting. 

 For several orders the earlv summer 

 months are undoubtedly the most favor- 

 able time but to this rule the Orthoptera 

 form a notable exception. In the major- 

 ity of species the winter is passed in 

 the egg stage, the 30ung appear in 

 spring, grow through the summer, and 

 reach maturity in late summer or early 

 fall. In New England the most favor- 

 able time for collecting is from mid- 

 Julv to mid-September, while for most 

 orders it is in June and July. On the 

 Pacific Coast also this rule holds good : 

 in Washington and Oregon the best 

 period will be found in August and 

 September, in California from July to 

 September according to latitude and 

 elevation. This fact of a later col- 

 lecting season for Orthoptera than for 

 other orders seems to have been over- 

 looked by several collectors and ento- 

 mologists who were consulted before 

 setting out. As it proved, I was a 

 little earlv in the southern and late in 



