METHODS OF COLLECTING INSECTS 



341 



Many insects can be secured in the fall by providing suitable 

 places in which they may hibernate, such as boards, old gunny 

 sacks, etc. placed on the ground. Another method is to place 

 strips of cloth or gunny sacks around the trunks of trees, and 

 examine them frequently for insects. 



Light traps. Numerous forms of traps have been constructed, 

 to take advantage of the habit of some insects of flying toward the 

 light. One of the simplest of these 

 traps (Fig. 476) is made by placing 

 an ordinary lantern in a shallow 

 pan eighteen or twenty inches in 

 diameter and four inches deep. 

 This apparatus is then placed on 

 a stump, fence post, or other con- 

 spicuous locality. The lantern is 

 then lighted, and an inch or two 

 of water, covered with a film of 

 kerosene, is placed in the pan. 

 Leave the trap overnight (the 

 darker the better) and in the morn- 

 ing remove the insects and place 

 them in gasoline or benzine for a 

 short time, to remove the kero- 

 sene. They can then be laid on 

 blotting paper, dried, and mounted 

 in the usual way. 



Another method of using the 

 trap lantern is to suspend a lantern 

 above a large tin funnel with a 

 diameter of twenty or twenty-four 

 inches. At the bottom of the funnel is placed a cyanide bottle. 

 The insects, particularly beetles, fly against the light and fall into 

 the funnel and, the sides being smooth, roll down into the cyanide 

 bottle. Other more elaborate arrangements may be fitted up, but 

 either of the above forms will do for most cases. 



Baiting insects. This form of collecting is used principally 

 in capturing moths and other insects that have a fondness for 

 sweets. As usually practiced, the entomologist goes out just at 



5 ins. , . 



FIG. 477. The Gillette trap light 



A lantern is hung over the mouth of the 

 funnel 



