954 rEOCEEDI>"GS OF TJIE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETIKG 



Insects killed iu a bottle or tube become very stiff after death, as 

 rigor mortis sets in ; this passes oft' after some hours. If insects are to 

 be set, therefore, they should be left in the bottle overnight when they 

 will usually be found in proper condition for setting the next morning. 



Tobacco smoke makes an effective temporary stupefying agent, 

 very useful in the case of Microlepidoptera which have been collected 

 in glass-bottomed boxes. The lid of the box is raised very slightly on 

 one side and a pufi' of smoke blown into the box ; in a few seconds the 

 moth is stupefied, when it can be shaken ogt, pinned, given a nip on 

 the thorax with the forceps and will then be in beautiful condition for 

 setting forthwith. 



After using chloroform, benzine, tobacco smoke or any similar agent 

 to stupefy or kill insects in collecting-boxes, care should be taken that 

 the boxes are left open and thoroughly aired afterward.'? as, if any trace 

 ■of the killing agent lingers inside the box, any insects subsequently 

 placed in the box are likely to be made very restless and knock about 

 until they spoil themselves. 



Occasionally a specimen will be found which is too large to go into 

 any ordinary killing-bottle. Such insects as large Coleoptera, Phasmids, 

 etc., may be dropped into a basin of boiling water, which kills them 

 immediately ; they should, of course, be well dried before putting them 

 away. Larger moths, such as Attacus atlaSj may be killed by holding 

 them with the wings over the back and thrusting into the side of the 

 thorax a pen or stoiit pin dipped in a saturated solution of oxalic acid ; 

 if no such killing agent is available, a red-hot needle thrust into the 

 lower part of the thorax is a barbarous but effective method. 



Dragon-flies, especially large ones, should not be killed at once if 

 it can be helped, as the subsequent putrefaction of the intestinal contents 

 will spoil the colour of the bodies. It is better to place them alive 

 each in a separate box or dry glaSs tube plugged with a wad of crumpled 

 paper and to leave them until next day before killing in order to give 

 them time to empty their alimentary canals. 



The intestinal contents of large dragon-flies may also be removed, 

 after killing them in the cyanide bottle, by slitting up the underside 

 of the abdomen with a pair of scissors and pulling out the stomach 

 and intestines with a pair of forceps. A blunt-pointed pair of scissors 

 is better than a fine-pointed pair, as the latter is more likely to pene- 

 trate the skin of the back. In the case of male dragon-flies, care must 

 be taken to make the slit around the secondary sexual apparatus found 

 beneath the anterior end of the abdomen so as not to spoil these organs, 

 which are of importance for systematic discrimination of the species. 



A stout bristle may be passed in through the front of the thorax 



