^^ Entomological news. [Feb., '02 



But " grease " is my great bugbear of all. It was from the 

 Rev. Joseph Greene's Insect Hunter's Companion (first pub- 

 lished in England over thirty years ago) that I originally 

 learned my method of treating against this nuisance. I be- 

 lieve that the methods advised by Dr. Greene were at the time 

 entirely original. He used to remove the contents of the ab- 

 domen from the under side, by means of a sharp penknife, as 

 soon as they were firm, but before they were hard and dry. 

 Not only is that a most unnecessary amount of labor, but it 

 entails the necessity of treating each specimen within a fixed 

 time after killing, which — in my own case, at least — is rarely 

 convenient. It may be a good thing in the case of the very 

 largest insects, but the only advantage I can see is that it uses 

 up less of the grease-absorbing agent used afterwards, as it 

 seems impossible to remove all trace of grease without soaking 

 in benzine, naphtha, ether or something such. Amongst the 

 moths the most persistent greasers seem to be the internal 

 feeders, and many of these I find almost certain to become 

 saturated to the wing tips in a marvellously short space of time. 

 These I usually treat as soon as possible, whether they have 

 begun to show signs of greasing or not, but the majority I 

 leave until .signs of exudation become evident. 



Of all the preparations I have ever tried for the extraction 

 of grease from the bodies ether has certainly given the best 

 results, though, of cour.se, the vessel used must be as nearly 

 air-tight as possible. After removing the abdomen — of course 

 carefully labeled, with corresponding labels on the owners 

 — I usually soak in ether for two or three days, and in clean 

 ether again for two or three more, and with the Sphinges, 

 Bombyces, Geometridoe and Butterflies this is usually suffi- 

 cient. With many of the Noctuidae, however, especially if 

 taken at treacle, in particular, the Cucullias and Plusias, 

 which in this district do not come to treacle, no amount 

 of ether will completely prevent gr remove all the discolora- 

 tion due to internal juices. The l)odies of these I usually soak 

 previously once or twice for 12 or 24 hours in clean warm 

 water ; distilled water would doubtless be the best. These 

 genera are, it seems, i)articularly heavy feeders, and the sugary 



