44 



specimens of Hymenoptera, and those collected in alcohol are less satisfactory. I have 

 found the method advised by Dr. Williston (Psyche, vol. iv., p. 130) for collecting Diptera, 

 so satisfactory that I will" quote a portion of his description : — 



" I select several two-ounce, wide-mouthed bottles of the same form, and carefully 

 line the bottom and sides with a good quality of blotting paper. Good firm corks are 

 selected, which are interchangeable in the different bottles ; in one of these corks a small 

 hole is made, in which it is better to fit a small metallic ferule; a strip of blotting paper 

 is then coiled within this cavity, and it is over this that a. few drops of a solution of 

 cyanide of potash is poured." 



For those who may not desire to keep on hand a solution of this poison, I would 

 suggest a modification of this method which I find very satisfactory. Scrape a few 

 grains of cyanide into the cavity in the cork and then insert a small wad of damp cotton 

 wool or sponge. The fumes will be readily given off, and it is only necessary to occasionally 

 renew the cyanide. As Dr. Williston suggests, it is well to have several bottles, but it is 

 sometimes impossible for the collector to take more than the minimum amount of 

 apparatus, and he will then limit himself to two, reserving one of them for delicate or 

 small insects. Bees should never be placed in a bottle with previous captures, as honey 

 is often disgorged, and the specimens greatly injured by the matting of pubescence and 

 soiling of the wings ; the pollen which the bees so generally carry is almost as bad in its 

 effects. The safest and most desirable plan is for the collector to carry a supply of small 

 pasteboard pill boxes, and transfer his specimens frequently to these, putting only one 

 specimen of such insects as Bombus in a box. These boxes can be obtained of very small 

 sizes, permitting a sufficient number to be packed in a small space. Their use ensures 

 perfect specimens and enables the collector to keep a better record of them by numbering 

 the boxes, and in his field note-book entering full particulars of the contents of each. 

 When possible, it is better to pin the insects before they stiffen, but if time or circum- 

 stances do not permit of this, they will keep safely in the boxes, and may be at any time 

 easily relaxed in a damp atmosphere, care being taken not to allow them to become wet. 

 In pinning, it is not at all necessary to set the wings and feet symmetrically, unless one 

 has plenty of time and desires pretty specimens. The wings, however, should be separated, 

 so as to admit of a full examination of the venation both of the anterior and posterior 

 ones, and of the metathorax and the basal segments of the abdomen. 



USE OF CHLOROFORM IN COLLECTING. 



BY J. A. JACKSON, DES MOINES, IOWA. 



In the article of Henry S. Saunders, on Collecting at the Electric Light (Can. Ent. r 

 Feb., 1887), he gives his experience in the use of cyanide of potassium and chloroform as 

 follows : " Cyanide of potasium I found the best poison ; a few drops of chloroform on 

 cotton would quiet them more quickly, but was more troublesome, the chloroform having 

 to be frequently renewed, occasionally as often as four or five times during the same 

 evening, and sometimes even then the moths would be found alive the next morning." 



I should like to explain my method of collecting with chloroform. I have found it 

 better than any other, whether at the electric light or in the field : 



Take a glass fruit jar, one in which the lid screws down upon a rubber cushion or 

 packing. Put a bunch of cotton in the bottom, retaining it in its place by pressing down 

 upon it a circular piece of pasteboard, made to fit tightly in the jar, except that two or 

 three notches should be left in the edge for the chloroform tc run through to the cotton. 

 Saturate the cotton with chloroform and screw the lid down tight. The bottle is now 

 ready for use, and it will be found that an insect dropped into it will be suffocated almost 

 instantly by the fumes of chloroform that completely fill the bottle. A feeble flutter for 

 a second, a kick or two, and all is over. As soon as the insect is dropped into the bottle, 

 screw the lid down again, and as it fits air tight, the chloroform will not evaporate too 

 rapidly. Less than a teaspoonful will last for a whole evening's work. If on retiring 



