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Sierra Club Bulletin 



with pressed cork or peat or the pith of the flowering stalk 

 of the Century plant. The pin should be thrust deeply and 

 firmly into the cork or pith so that jarring cannot loosen them. 



Soft-bodied insects, especially larvae (caterpillars, grubs, 

 etc.), may be kept in small bottles of alcohol of about 85 per 

 cent strength. Common commercial alcohol is about 95 per 

 cent strength; add about i-io part of water to it. However, 

 alcohol takes out the color, and injures the hairy covering of 

 insects to such a degree that only such fleshy and soft-bodied 

 kinds should be preserved in it as would become too much de- 

 formed by drying. The butterflies in the papers and the in- 

 sects on the pins are preserved, of course, simply by drying. 



Careful records should be made of the time and place of cap- 

 ture of all insects taken. Indeed there is hardly any excuse for 

 collecting insects without such records, which give the entom- 

 ologist a basis for determining such important matters as dis- 

 tribution, seasonal appearance, etc., of the insects collected. 

 Field notes on habits of the insects observed are especially valu- 

 able. All too little is known of the life of the insects of the 

 high mountains. Of such familiar mountain regions as the 

 California Sierra Nevada, we are, indeed, pretty well acquainted 

 with the insect fauna. But this only means that we know 

 that such and such insects are found there and such others are 

 not. It does not at all mean that we know why and how they 

 live there. 



Finally, I may say that I shall be glad to add to these few 

 and general suggestions more specific ones at the personal re- 

 quest of any Sierra Club members. And I shall be glad to 

 learn, after the summer's collecting season is finished, of any 

 interesting captures. 



Stanford University. 



