Photographing Insects 195 



for all the insects have their chosen haunts, and, 

 more or less consistently, remain in them. One 

 cannot expect, for instance, to find a mourning- 

 cloak butterfly in low, swampy places, or one of 

 the Fritillaries in the high, dry woods. 



Insects can be found any and every where, how- 

 ever, and may be photographed the year round. 

 From early April until late October, and even 

 into November, they are abroad in greater or less 

 numbers, and during the winter months there is 

 always the pupal stage of which to make photo- 

 graphs. 



It is seldom if ever necessary to use a camera 

 larger than a four by five, for with this size it is 

 possible to obtain life-size pictures of nearly all 

 our native insects, provided we have a long-focus 

 lens and a sufficient length of bellows extension. 

 The focal length of the lens should not be less 

 than nine or ten inches, and the bellows of the 

 camera should be capable of an extension of at 

 least twenty inches. 



A great deal of the photography of insects can 

 be done indoors, and, when possible, this is the 

 best place in which to do it. 



If one is taking up this pursuit seriously, he 

 should have a place where he can rear insects, 

 especially the Lepidoptera, from the larvae, so 

 that he may be enabled to photograph them in 

 all their stages of growth and metamorphosis. 



