SETTING AND PRESERVING 



125 



needle, fix each one by a pinned strip. In spreading out the wings, 

 care must be taken not to pierce them at all, but simply to push 

 them into their place by pressing the needle at their bases, or by 

 putting the needle beneath and lifting them out. 



Instead of pointed pieces of card, uniform strips of paper may 

 be used, as shown in fig. 63, each strip passing over both wings. 



After the four wings have been properly arranged, a few extra 

 pins may be used to keep other parts in position. Thus, the 

 antennae may be placed at equal angles, the proboscis may be ex- 

 tended, and a couple of pins may be used to support the abdomen 

 if it is inclined to bend downward. 



As before men- 

 tioned, insects should 

 be set soon after they 

 are dead, while the 

 parts are still soft and 

 supple. But where 

 this cannot be done, 

 and the specimens have 

 become stiff, brittle, 

 and rigid, they must be 

 ' relaxed ' before any 

 attempt is made at 

 setting them out. 



This process of re- 

 laxing consists in plac- 

 ing the specimens in a 

 very moist atmosphere 

 for a few days. There 

 are several simple 



ways of doing this, many of which will readily suggest themselves 

 to the reader. Your collecting box, if a zinc one, may also be 

 used as a relaxer. Pin your stiff insects in it, after well moistening 

 the cork, and simply shut them up for a day or two. Any metal box 

 will serve the same purpose providing you put into it a piece of 

 sheet cork on which to fix the insects, and this cork may rest on a 

 bed of moist sand. 



Another plan is to float the pinned specimens on corks in a 

 shallow vessel of water, and cover them over with a bell glass. 



Insects that are being relaxed should be examined from time 

 to time, and the degree of flexibility acquired tested by a gentle 



FIG. 63. ANOTHER METHOD OF SETTING 

 BUTTERFLIES ANP MOTHS. 



