SOME COMMON INSECTS 7 



from invasion of the Rocky Mountain locust, and the locusts of the Old 

 World have frequently invaded civilized communities and have played 

 havoc with growing crpps. Read the article, " Jerusalem's Locust Plague," 

 in the National Geographic Magazine (Vol. 28, p. 511, December, 1915). 



Insect collection. If an insect collection is to be made each pupil 

 should provide himself with an insect net, bicycle oil can full of gasoline, a 

 deep cigar box, a sheet of cork, and insect pins. 



Insect net. To make the net frame use an old broomstick or a two- 

 foot length of bamboo for a handle and a forty-inch length of stiff wire for 

 the hoop. Bend the wire so that the ends will cross each other six inches 

 from their tips; twist these crossed wires about each other two or three 

 times. Now bend the ends so they will lie on opposite sides of one end of 

 the handle and with fine wire or strong cord bind the net frame securely to 

 the handle. If preferred, the wire frame may be soldered to a brass ferrule 

 made to fit onto a jointed handle. The net is best made of coarse bobinet, 



FIG. i. Diagram of the spreading-board 



although cheesecloth or fine-meshed mosquito netting will do. It should 

 be about eighteen inches deep and large enough around to fit the hoop. 

 Sew it onto the wire frame and then bind a strip of cloth over the wire to 

 prevent wear. 



Box. Glue sheet cork to the bottom of the cigar box in which the 

 insects are to be kept, stuck on pins set into the cork. Insects, like bugs 

 and flies, may be pinned by running an insect pin of appropriate size through 

 the thorax; beetles, by sticking the pin through the right wing cover. 

 Dragon flies, moths, butterflies, etc., must be spread so that the wings will 

 remain expanded. 



Spreading-board. For spreading the wings a spreading-board is a 

 necessity. Take two soft-pine boards a foot or more long and three or four 

 inches wide. Cut two strips as shown in the diagram (Fig. i). Then 

 fasten the boards to these ends so they will incline toward each other and 

 have a groove between them. Underneath this groove fasten another strip 

 of pine or cork. Run the pin through the thorax of the animal and stick 

 its point into this lower strip of cork or pine, the body of the insect in the 

 groove of the spreading-board. Fasten the wings on the boards by means 



