COLLECTING AND PRESERVING • 

 COLLEMBOLA 



It is often desirable to examine specimens alive, and tliis, 

 owing to their small size, is impracticable in the field. Small vials 

 containing some moist wood, earth or filter paper, serve well to 

 carry the creatures in, if they can once be induced to enter without 

 being so roughly handled as to injure their health. Moisture in 

 the vial is essential, as their lease of life in a dry atmosphere is 

 extremely brief. It is best to keep the vials containing live spec- 

 imens in the dark as much as possible, as the insects are liable 

 to injure themselves by the effort to find dark crannies; and the 

 scaled species are almost certain to become denuded of their 

 scales by their activity under cramped conditions. For ordinary 

 work, I find it best to collect and preserve the material in 80% 

 alcohol. It seems to require as high a grade as that to sink 

 them. Apparently they are covered by a sort of wax which re- 

 quires a solvent before they will sink in liquid. Species vary 

 somewhat in their readiness to sink in alcohol. Mr. MacGilli- 

 vray recommends the use of a mixture of alcohol and glycerine 

 to collect in, and later transfers the specimens to 80^ alcohol. 

 The virtue of the mixture is that it is sticky and the insect will 

 stick readily to a tooth-pick wetted in it, while with clear alco- 

 hol one must use a camel-hair brush. Dr. Folsom collects his 

 collembolans in vials and brings them in alive. He kills them 

 by pouring upon them hot 95;^ alcohol. 



Specimens may be examined either alive or in alcohol, but 

 to get at their minute characters it is preferable to clear and 

 mount them. Dissection and mounting in glycerine is very good 

 for a quickly prepared, non-permanent mount ; while one may 

 preserve a good glycerine mount, if desired, by ringing it with 

 asphalt cement. I have found it best, however, to mount in 

 xylol damar, which is clear, easily manipulated, and seems to 



