PINNING AND SPREADING 



29 



Lights in an open window, or, better still, the electric lights in 

 :he streets of our towns and cities, offer excellent opportunities for 

 light collecting. 



Pinning and Spreading. In pinning insects a Comstock spac- 

 ing block will be found useful. Its construction is easily under- 

 stood by a glance at figure 36. Each layer from which the block 



FIG. 30. A block used in pinning insects, spacing block. 



is made is one-fourth as thick as an insect pin is long. The hole 

 on each step is large enough to admit the head of the pin. Each 

 insect should be, when pinned, just one-fourth of the length of the 

 pin from the head. This is brought about by inserting the head 

 of the pin, after the pin has been pushed through the insect, into 

 the hole of the lower step the back of the specimen should rest 



FIG. -57. The proper way to pin a 

 grasshopper. 



FIG. 38. A bee properly FIG. 39. The proper 

 pinned. way to pin a beetle. 



on the step. By reversing the pin and using the first and second 

 steps the proper spacing of labels is secured, and when small in- 

 sects are mounted on points the hole in the highest step receives 

 the point of the pin. The German insect pins appear to be the 

 best, and are made in several sizes. Perhaps sizes 0, 1, 3, 5, and 9 

 would be those most commonly used by the amateur collector. 

 The thing to be sought is uniformity in height of insects and labels 

 in the box, that the collection may present a neat appearance. 



