NOTES ON THE COMMON MAYFLY. 



269 



He says : — " The cast skin is sometimes carried up into the air, 

 clinging to the tail-filaments, and an Ephemera in this state 

 seems twice as long as usual." 



The great difficulty in collecting Ephemeridce for purposes of 

 identification is their extreme fragility and the tendency to 

 shrivel up when dry, until all the chief features are destroyed. 

 The specimens I have collected I now keep in spirit in glass 

 tubes. This method of preserving specimens I have found most 

 satisfactory, as the spirit hardens them, and they can afterwards 

 be handled with comparative safety. For their capture I have 

 found a small net made of the finest possible gauze of great 

 service. 



