LABELLING DIPTERA. 573 



ON LABELLING DIPTERA FOR THE CABINET. 



Labelling specimens for the cabinet is a very important matter, 

 since a precisely dated and localised collection of well-preserved 

 uniformly mounted insects is of much superior value to one in 

 which the localities given are vague or indefinite. The widest 

 record that should be allowed in a standard collection is the month 

 of capture, county (or province, etc.), with an abbreviation of the 

 country, such as " June, Sussex, Engl.," or " vii, Orissa, India." 

 Care must be taken in making abbreviations to avoid confusion ; 

 for instance, Middlesex and Surrey are counties in Jamaica as 

 well as in England, and there are scores of towns bearing well- 

 known English names in Canada, the United States, Australia 

 and elsewhere. Moreover, each of the American States has 

 its definitely accepted abbreviation and these must be adopted 

 without change. The student should always label specimens so 

 that if they ultimately find their way into a general collection of 

 Diptera there may be no ambiguity as to their origin. 



The more complete the data the more scientific value has the 

 collection, but little exception can be taken to the first and last- 

 day only being given of a short period, as "3-10. viii. 07," 

 *' 1st week. viii. 09." I have been accustomed, when not more 

 than three days collecting has to be labelled, to date all the 

 specimens for the middle day, because a single day can make 

 no material difference in the appearance of a species, and if the 

 specimens be numerous the saving of time is worth more than 

 the minute precision. 



It is desirable that the date should be written in the logical 

 sequence of day, month and year ; and if the month is indicated 

 by figures, which is the more preferable method, it is of importance 

 that Eoman numerals should be used for it (the day and year 

 being in Arabic), in order to prevent any possible confusion 

 between the day and the month. 



Printed labels are always to be preferred to written ones ; they 

 are more legible, do not fade so quickly, and are usually more 

 compact, but the date may be written in by hand if more con- 

 venient, care being taken to write clearly. Additional information 

 is always welcome, such as " on sunny bushes," " salt marsh," 

 "sea shore," etc., or still more precise details peculiar to the 

 species, as, " in aerial dances under trees at sunset," " on under- 

 side oak leaves at dusk " ; or if the species is especially partial to 

 a certain kind of plant, the name of the latter may advantageously 

 be added. 



Again, collectors' names should invariably be written sideways 

 to the rest of the data, so that they may be recognised as such. 

 The collector's name, if the latter be well established, is a valuable 

 asset in the opinion of most entomologists. 



