BULLETIN 39, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [82] 



For the biological-display collection, larvse may be blown in various 

 natural positions, to be subsequently fastened on leaf or twig or in bur- 

 rows whicli they liave occupied. Fastened to artificial foliage in wMcli 

 nature is imitated as much as possible, such blown larvae are quite 

 effective. 



Stuffing Insects. — Large larvse may sometimes be satisfactorily pre- 

 served for exhibition purposes by stuffing them with cotton. The 

 method consists simxDly in making a small slit with the dissecting scissors 

 or a short scalpel between the abdominal prolegs, and removing the body 

 contents. Powdered arsenic or some other preservative should be put in 

 the body of the larva with the cotton used in stuffing it, and the slit 

 closed by a few stitches, when the larva may be dried and mounted on a 

 twig or leaf. This method of stuffing with cotton is also applicable in the 

 case of certain large-bodied insects which, if mounted and put away 

 without x)reparation, would be liable to decompose, as, for instance, the 

 larger moths, grasshoppers, etc. A slit can be made in the center of 

 the abdomen or near the anus beneath, and the body contents removed 

 and replaced with cotton. Stuffing in this way with cotton is of especial 

 advantage in the case of certain of the large endophytous insects which 

 grease badly. The cut will not be noticed after the insect has dried, or 

 it may be closed by a stitch or two. 



Dry Preservation of Aphides and other soft-bodied Insects. — Difficulty 

 has always been experienced in preserving soft-bodied insects, particu- 

 larly Aphides, in a condition serviceable for subsequent scientific study. 

 Kept in alcohol or other antiseptic fluid, they almost invariable lose 

 much of their normal appearance, and many of the important charac- 

 teristics, especially of color, are obscured or lost. The balsam mount is 

 also unsatisfactory in many respects, as the body is always more or less 

 distorted and little can be relied upon except the venation and the 

 jointed appendages. A method of preserving soffc-bodied insects by 

 means of the sudden application of intense heat was communicated to 

 the Untomologische Nachrichten, Yol. iv, page 155, by Herr D. H. E. 

 von Schlechtendal. It is claimed for this method that the Aphides and 

 other soft-bodied insects can be satisfactorily preserved in form and col- 

 oring, the success of the method being vouched for by a number of 

 well-known German entomologists, Kaltenbach, Giebel, Taschenberg, 

 Mayr, and Endow. A condensed translation of the method emjDloyed 

 by Schlechtendal is given by J. W. Douglas in the Entomologists^ 

 Monthly Magazine for December, 1878, which I quote : 



The heat is derived from the flame of a spirit or petroleum lamp Above this is 

 placed a piece of sheet-tin, and over this the roasting proceeds. A bulging lamp 

 cylinder, laid horizontally, serves as a roaatiug oven. In this the insect to be dried, 

 "when prepared as directed, and stuck on a piece of pith, is to be held over the flame ; 

 or the cylinder may be closed at the lower end "with a cork, "which should extend far 

 in "wards, and on this the insect should be fastened ; the latter mode being preferable 

 because the heat is more concentrated, and one hand is left free. The mode of pro- 

 cedure varies according to the nature of the objects to be treated. For the class of 

 larger objects, such as Hemiptera, Cicadina, and Orthoptera, in their young stages of 



