11 
posed symmetrically on the card disc so that all parts of 
them can be readily seen, instead of being left crumpled np 
beneath the body. These operations must be performed as 
gently as possible with the help of a needle mounted in a 
handle, or by the aid of a No. 20 pin held in the forceps, and 
care must be taken that hairs and scales are not rubbed off 
in the process. As the tissues contract in drying, the legs 
and wings are very apt to get pulled out of place, and, to 
correct these changes, the specimens should be examined 
one or twice during the next day or two after being 
pinned. 
Preservation of Larv^ie and Pupae. 
Specimens of larvae and pupae should always be preserved, 
especially when it is possible to breed some of them out, or 
otherwise to determine the species to which they belong. 
They should be killed and kept in alcohol orformol.* If the 
former is used, ordinary methylated spirit will do, provided 
that the specimens are killed and preserved for three or 
four days in spirit diluted with half its bulk of water ; after 
this they may be transferred to spirit of ordinary strength. 
Of formol a 4 per cent, solution (/.<9., one part of ordinar}* 
commercial 40 per cent, solution to nine parts of water) is 
quite strong enough for killing and preserving. 
Larvae and pupie (whether preserved in formol or alcohol) 
should be kept in small glass tubes, plugged with cotton 
wool to prevent the specimens from shaking about, and then 
corked ; the corks may be coated with paraffin wax, though 
this is not absolutely necessary. Each tube should contain 
a scrap of paper on which the necessary data (locality, date, 
whether from fresh or salt water, collector’s name, &c. — with, 
if possible, a reference to pinned specimens of the perfect 
insect, so that these may be identified) should be written in 
pencil. 
The tubes should be packed in cotton wool in a small tin 
box for transmission to England. 
* Otherwise known as formalrlehyde or formalin. 
