DRAGONFLY COLLECTING IN INDIA. 
895 
Some species are cryptic in colouring and take advantage of this by selecting 
appropriate coloured surfaces to settle on, such as slab-rock, whilst others lurk 
in dark, shado^vy spots amongst the rocks of mountain streams. 
The ends of the two monsoons are the two best times of the year for taking 
dragonflies' and the close seasons between these periods the best time for hunting 
for larvae, so that one never need be idle — eollecting can go on all the year 
round. 
At the end of the day’s shikar no time must be lost in preparmg the captured 
specimens for the store box or paper collection. The abdomen contains a large 
mass of food and that of the female a large mass of eggs as well. This soon 
decomposes and unless removed leads to complete loss of colour in the specimens. 
The larger ones must be treated as follows : — With a pair of sharp pointed 
scissors open the abdomen below, at a point where it joins the thorax and slit 
it up as far as the anal end. In the case of the male avoid cutting through the 
genitalia which will be found beneath the 2nd segment from the thorax, and in 
the case of the female, below the 8th and 9th segments from the thorax — these 
structiu’es should have the incision curved round them. 
Now with a pair of forceps, seize the gut near the thorax and draw it out com- 
pletely in its length. The eggs should be scraped out with the blmit point of 
the forceps. The procedure sounds tedious and difficult but it is simplicity 
itself, especially with a little practice, and occupies only a mmute or so. Small 
species do not lend themselves to this treatment so must be strengthened by pass- 
ing a bristle (hog’s bristles or stout horse-hair are the most suitable) through 
the thorax and running it along to the end of the abdomen. The bristle should 
be sharpened by cutting it obhquely with scissors and must be entered between 
the second pair of legs, that is at the juncture of the prothorax with the thorax 
[Fig. 2. — How to bristle a dragonfly. The bristle a-h is passed through the 
body from between the second pair of legs to the end of the abdomen. The parts 
at a and b are merely shown to give the direction of the bristle, that at b being cut 
off as soon as the bristle reaches the end of the abdomen.] 
as shown in the diagram (Fig 2). After this is completed the specimens can be 
put to dry in powdered napthalinc which I find the best preservative for colours 
in the smaller species. A spirit collection of the smaller species may be made 
by putting them up in lengths of glass tubing and sealing off the ends in a blow 
lamp. They keep their colours absolutely perfect in spirit. 
Rapid drying after cleansing is essential for the preservation of colours and 
after papering my specimens I drop them into an ordinary drying tin as used for 
drying cigars for a few days. In the dry hot weather which one gets in the 
plains this is badly necessary as specimens dry rapidly and often preserve their 
coloms absolutely intact. 
To keep out mould or mites I find the best plan is to remove the drawers 
from the cabinet periodically and paint the recesses with creosote. Each 
drawer is thus surrounded with an atmosphere of creosote vapom- which will 
sterilize moulds and kill off mites. 
III. Classiflcation of Dragonflies. 
Dragonflies belong to the order Odonata and this is again split up into two large 
.suborders : — the Anisoptera and Zygoptera. 
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