COLLECTING INSECTS 



9 



Fig. 5 Dip net (original). 



greater their value. Usually it is comparatively easy to place the open 

 bottle over an insect in the net and induce it to enter without touching it. 



Those wishing to collect 

 water insects will find a shal- 

 low net of coarse material much 

 more convenient than the ordi- 

 nary butterfly net, because the mesh of the latter is too fine to permit 

 moving it rapidly through the water. 



Collecting box. Those interested in butterflies and moths will find 

 a collector's box of great service. This is a flat box just deep enough to 

 hold pinned specimens and having a layer of cork on the bottom. Jt 

 may be made specially, or a cigar box of convenient size for carrying 

 may be utilized. Some collectors merely attach a short piece of leather 

 with a buttonhole in the free end, and when in the field the box hangs 

 from a convenient button. Others use a strap swung over the shoulder. 



Folded papers for butterflies. Butterflies may be killed in the net by 

 pinching the thorax between the fingers, taking care that the wings are 

 folded back before touch- . 

 ing the insects. They are 

 then placed in papers as 

 represented in the accom- 

 panying diagram, the slip 

 being proportionate to the 

 size of the insect, and the 

 locality and date placed 

 on the outside. Specimens 

 may be sent through the 

 mails without injury in such 

 papers. 



Vials and small boxes. 



It is well to carry on a 

 collecting trip a number of vials and small boxes in which insect eggs, 

 larvae, etc., with a little of their food plant, can be kept for closer ex- 

 amination later. For soft bodied insects several of the vials should con- 

 tain 50% alcohol. 



Capturing insects. The beginner will soon learn that certain locali- 

 ties are more productive than others and that the time of day has con- 

 siderable influence on insect activity. It would be well, though by no 

 means necessary, to take the first trip or two on bright warm days in 



bm. 6 Method of folding butterfly papers (original). 



