248 ] The Wonderful Ways of Insects and Spiders 



bottom of a wide-mouthed pint jar. Over the cotton, place a piece 

 of wire screening to prevent the moisture of the carbona from 

 touching the insect. Keep the jar tightly covered. 



When you remove the specimens, it is best to use tweezers rather 

 than your fingers; but if tweezers are not available, pick up the 

 insects by their legs or antennae and not by their wings. Then 

 you may place them temporarily in triangular-shaped holders 

 made of rather stiff paper. 



How to Mount Butterflies and Moths: Mounting butterflies and 

 moths for permanent exhibit is not too difficult for children if 

 they have the patience and are guided by expert advice. If the 

 specimens have been kept for a while and have stiffened, you must 

 soften them. You can accomplish this by placing them in a metal 

 box with a tight-fitting cover and a layer of wet sand on the 

 bottom. (Add a few drops of carbolic acid to the water which 

 wets the sand to prevent any mold from forming.) 



After twenty-four hours in the sealed box, the specimens are 

 ready for the setting board. This is simply two pieces of soft wood 

 set side by side with a narrow channel between them. At the 

 bottom of the channel there is a piece of cork or balsa wood. 



Carefully take the softened butterfly handling it with tweezers 

 is best; stick a long, fine pin through its thorax and set the body 

 in the channel with the pin pushed down into the cork or balsa 

 wood. Spread the four wings outward on the wooden sides until 

 the wings are in a good position. Do not put pins in the wings, 

 but keep them from moving by pinning narrow strips of cloth 

 across them, placing the pins outside the wings. 



The Storage Box: Several days on the setting board are needed 

 before the wings are thoroughly dried out. Now they are ready 

 to be stored in real exhibition fashion. Storage boxes should be 

 shallow and may be made of any of several materials but some are 

 decidedly wrong for the purpose. In a red cedar box, resin may 

 ooze out and make your exhibits greasy. Cardboard boxes absorb 

 moisture from the air and this will cause the specimens to get 

 moldy. White pine is one of the best woods. 



