352 



ELEMENTARY ENTOMOLOGY 



or other hard parts of insects, where nothing but the chitinous 

 portion is desired. For most purposes, however, such as mount- 

 ing the legs of bees for laboratory use, or mounting small, 

 hard-bodied insects, the following method will be found more 

 desirable. 



The insect or part of the insect to be mounted should first be 

 placed in 85 per cent alcohol. This rule applies to mounting both 

 fresh specimens and material previously preserved in alcohol or 

 glycerin. After the insect has become thoroughly saturated, it 

 should be transferred to 95 per cent alcohol and left for an hour 

 or longer. The specimens should then be transferred to xylol and 

 left until the alcohol is entirely replaced. The insect should then 

 be placed in the center of the slide, the excess of xylol removed 

 with a piece of blotting paper, and a drop of Canada balsam placed 

 over the insect. The balsam should then be warmed slightly over 

 an alcohol lamp, and a cover glass placed over it. Care must be 

 taken not to get on more balsam than is necessary to cover the 

 insect and fill out the space under the cover glass. For the be- 

 ginner there is less liability of having air bubbles in the mount if 

 the balsam is first placed on the slide and the insect laid on after- 

 wards. However, it is much more difficult to arrange the wings 

 and legs of the insect if mounted in this way. 



Preserving material in liquids. Directions have already been 

 given for collecting small, soft-bodied insects in liquid. When this 

 material is first brought into the laboratory, it should be thoroughly 

 washed in 50 per cent alcohol and then transferred to 85 per cent 

 alcohol. If the specimens are large, soft-bodied larvae, or insects 

 of considerable size, the alcohol should be changed at least once 

 before permanently storing the specimens. For permanently 

 storing alcoholic material small, straight-necked vials will be found 

 the most convenient. These should be of one-, two-, and four- 

 dram sizes and fitted with the best cork stoppers procurable. The 

 bottles should be numbered and labeled as in pinned insects, the 

 labels being written on strips of good linen paper in India ink, 

 which must be absolutely waterproof. These should be placed 

 inside the bottles with the specimens. Numerous trays have been 

 devised for holding alcoholic material, the one shown in Fig. 489 

 being very satisfactory. An improvement of this tray consists in 



