1150 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVIII- 
strictly attached to a certain kind of habitat and each of the above named habi- 
tats bears its special fauna. Collecting Orthoptera is, surely, not more difficult 
than that of beetles, though a stout butterfly-net is wanted to catch some 
strong flying species and to sweep the grass and shrubs ; many quite interesting 
species (particularly of gryllidae, or crickets) may be taken also at night. As 
for preserving, the majority of Orthoptera may be perfectly well preserved 
in paper packets, like butterflies and moths, or simply wrapped singly in tissue 
paper, with the date and locality legibly inscribed on it ; the packed insects 
must not be put into a tin box, but in a wooden or cardboard one, where they 
may dry quickly. Some very large species require special attention, as they 
are liable to jnould or rot ; in these the abdomen must be slightly cut open 
from the underside with fine scissors, and the moisture sucked out by 
slips of blotting paper stuck into the wound and changed several times ; in 
a dry and hot climate there is usually no necessity to take out the viscera and 
to stuff the insects with cotton-wool, a procedure which is supposed to be quite 
necessary and which makes a collector avoid taking Orthoptera altogether. It 
must be remembered that, for a specialist, even a badly preserved specimen 
may be of great value, though of course good series of well preserved and care- 
fully labelled specimens are more desirable. I mention long series deliberately, 
because it often happens that a collector does not care to take more than one 
or two specimens of what he considers to be a “ very common ” insect, while 
for a specialist it is always very important to study a series in order to find out 
the range of individual variability of the species ; besides, it is very easy for a 
collector to confuse more than one, superficially alike, species. Of equal im- 
portance is the collection of the same species in different localities as also in 
different habitats. 
As I have mentioned in my papers in this Journal (Vol. xxviii. No. l,p. 71, a.o.) 
the orthopterous fauna of deserts of S.W. Asia is almost entirely unexplored 
and even some of the most common and striking species are still undescribed. 
This gives a guarantee that every collection, however small, will contain new 
or interesting species and even genera, and this should surely make collecting 
of Orthoptera worth the trouble, the more so as I shall be very glad to work 
out collections of these insects without delay, being much interested in the 
fauna and having worked on it specially for many years. I hope that the 
Bombay Society will publish the results in its Journal, so that collectors maj^ 
see that their efforts are not wasted. 
Further enquiries and collections may be sent to me either through the Society 
or direct to me at the British Museum (Xatural History), London, S.W. 7. 
B. P. UVAROV, F.E.S., 
Assistant Entomologist, Imperial Burea 2 t of Entomology. 
4 
