COLLECTION OF INSECTS FOR STUDY. 3 



SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING THE ARRANGEMENT OF MATERIALS. 



Wlieii insects or other materials are collected for ordinary purposes 

 of study and reference, it will generally suffice to arrange the speci- 

 mens in their logical order, according to their scientific classifica- 

 tions. When, however, it is intended to prepare a set of specimens 

 for an educational display, very interesting and attractive groups 

 can be arranged to show strikingly the agricultural relationships of 

 the particular insects in question. For example, a display might 

 be centered about some farm insect pest which would show the insect 

 in various stages of its development; specimens of the plants upon 

 which it feeds, showing the injury it does to these plants; specimens 

 of other insects which are hostile to it; and pictures of birds which 

 prey upon it. Exhibits such as this take time to prepare, but they 

 will prove enough more attractive than an ordinary collection to 

 warrant the extra labor and thought involved in their preparation. 



COLLECTION OF INSECTS. 

 WHAT INSECTS TO COLLECT. 



Wlien proper methods are followed, the collection of insect speci- 

 mens can be made the basis of a great deal of useful instruction in 

 connection with the subject of agriculture. There are numerous 

 species that are really beneficial to the farmer, and these should, of 

 course, be studied, but one generally thinks of insects as injurious to 

 agricultural interests because of the great number of species that are 

 annoying about the household or injurious to farm animals or farm 

 crops. These insect pests should form the basis of most of the work 

 of the class in agriculture rather than the butterflies and harmless 

 insects of purely entomological interest, or even the beneficial species. 



It should be the aim of the student of agriculture to collect and 

 become familar with not only the adult forms of these insects, but 

 also their larvae and pupge, since it is often in the larval stage that 

 these pests are most injurious. Further, the pupil should become 

 familiar with the life histories of the various species, since this will 

 often furnish the key to the proper methods of combating the pests. 



EQUIPMENT FOR INSECT-COLLECTING TRIPS. 



The articles necessary for collecting insects are not very numerous 

 and such as are most needed can be made by the pupils or the teacher 

 with very little expense or trouble. The necessary equipment for an 

 insect-collecting excursion should include collecting nets, killing 

 bottles, a box containing some vials partly filled with alcohol in 

 which to place specimens of larvae and pupae, a trowel for digging 

 specimens out of the earth, a small hatchet for breaking open rotten 

 stumps, some sheets of newspaper or other soft paper, size about 



