APPENDIX 
COLLECTING AND REARING INSECTS 
The simpler the equipment the better for the beginning collector of 
insects. A net, collecting-bottle, box for pinning specimens, papers for 
“papered” ones, a few empty vials and pill-boxes, and a few vials contain¬ 
ing 85 per cent, alcohol—this is outfit enough for general work. For special 
visits to ponds and brooks, a water- or dredging-net, and a jar or tin pail for 
carrying home living specimens, are needed. A large-bladed jack-knife 
for digging and prying under stones, cutting into logs and stumps, and split¬ 
ting canes and galls is always useful. A pair of forceps, for handling sting¬ 
ing specimens, and very small or delicate ones, is convenient. 
The net (Fig. 799) should be of some strong non-tearing cloth netting— 
bobinet is excellent—12 to 14 inches in diam¬ 
eter at the mouth and about 24 inches deep, 
tapering to a rounded bottom about 4 to 6 inches 
in diameter. The handle should be light and 
about 3^ feet long. The wire ring supporting 
the net should be strong—No. 3 galvanized iron 
Fig. 799. Fig. 800. 
Fig. 799.—Collecting-net. (After Packard.) 
Fig. 800.—Insect-killing bottle; cyanide of potassium at bottom covered with plaster of 
Paris. (After Jenkins and Kellogg.) 
wire is good—and firmly fixed in the handle. For a water-net the meshes 
should be coarse and the handle, wire, and netting all extra strong. 
The killing-bottle (Fig. 800) is prepared by putting a few small lumps 
(about a teaspoonful) of cyanide of potassium into the bottom of a wide- 
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