HOW TO KNOW THE BUTTERFLIES 



they can then be pinned and preserved dry. It is 

 more difficult to preserve caterpillars, on account 

 of the soft nature of the body. They can be 

 preserved in vials of alcohol ; this is the simplest 

 way. But the fact that the appearance of many 

 larvae is greatly altered by preserving them in 

 alcohol leads many entomologists to remove the 

 viscera from such larva; and inflate and dry the 

 skins. The process is somewhat difficult and dis- 

 agreeable to perform, 

 but if it is well done 

 very beautiful speci- 

 mens are obtained, 

 which preserve the 



Fig. 21. — A blown larva. r j l c j-U 



form and color of the 

 larvae much better than those prepared in any 

 other way (Fig. 21). 1 



In collecting butterflies each specimen should 

 be carefully labeled with the name of the locality 

 in which it was taken and the date of capture. 

 While this is important for all specimens, it is 

 especially so in the study of those species that 

 occur under different forms in different sections 

 of the country, and those in which the successive 

 generations of a year present a different appear- 

 ance. 



1 Directions for inflating larvae are given in Insect Life, pp. 301-303. 



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