BaIESTOW : icHNEUMONID.1!. 



163 



a conTenient spot wherein to undergo its metaniorpiiosis, there Tvill 

 then be offered plenty of places and ample room to suit the most 

 fastidious taste, and the cage will come in alike useful both to grub 

 and to breeder. Every workman prefers good tools, and I must 

 confess, for my own part, to a decided partiality for adaptable 

 apparatus. 



Ichneumons do not succumb to fumes of potassic cyanide, chloro- 

 form, or laurel leaves as soon as do various genera of lepidopterous 

 insects, and very often when released from the killing bottle we notice 

 with chagrin that they are " coming round " ; nevertheless as facile 

 and expeditious methods of removal for larger-bodied ones, such as 

 some of the genus Metopius or Amhlyteles, and others, I cannot find 

 better. Numerous entomologists strap their insects to setting boards, 

 by means of small slips of card, through the extremities of which pins 

 are pierced, and into the wood at either edge of the wings, thus 

 avoiding damage, yet firmly fixing them. Xow this is undoubtedly 

 a fair idea for lepidoptera, as the wings of moths and butterflies are 

 feathered, and very liable to be defaced ; but it scarcely acts as 

 efficiently for hymenoptera. The wings of ichneamons are similar in 

 texture to the wrappers employed for sweet-packets, consequently the 

 smooth surface renders them likely to slip away from the card, and 

 when we return to unstrap them from the setting-board, to our 

 astonishment the insect is set certainly, but quite unfit for any cabinet. 

 The better plan is to use thread and wind it aroimd both insect and 

 board. It can do your ichneumon very little if any harm. By drawing 

 the thread around and across we can fix our capture without fear of 

 accidents. Where a travelling case is used, the cardboard slips are 

 apt to produce insect slips, bodies and wings falling out of position. 

 Loose setting boards have numerous and obvious disadvantages, and 

 though answering in part for home use, they are utterly inadequate 

 for journeying purposes. I would advise every collector to keep a 

 travelling-case. Setting-boards must be of different dimensions, to 

 suit all sizes of insects, and each one is spliced with a wooden base to 

 run in a groove, the whole kept in position by the lid when closed. 

 Drawers will be found useful, also corked lid and an empty shelf. 

 The box can be manufactured with two lids if desired, so as to provide 

 a case arrangement, in which to deposit the insects when taken from 

 the boards. 



Mr. W. D. Roebuck's advice (quoted from Ent. Ann.. 1874, p. 128, 

 by Rev. T. A. Marshall) is as follows : — " Any small-winged hyme- 

 nopteron, if left to itself is sure to dry with the wings doubled up, or 



