s nf oA y = me Owed Biwi 7 aa SS, Py 7 j 
‘4 i ‘ ce), vel * a 7 
ra’ 
Siraresitic oF predaceous insects submitted for determination 
. “be accompanied by the name of the host insect, if the same be 
This is necessary for the information and guidance of the per- 
aking determinations and will aid materially in securing them 
une) mp a 
_ When determinations are received at field stations they should 
t once be entered on the notes. This becomes of especial importance 
a case the notes have not been submitted to this office for copying, 
or the reason that an omission to enter such determinations may cause 
aless complications and confusion when, perhaps years afterwards, the 
tes are worked over for the purpose of publication. 




































In the dry air of the Southwest one loses but few epecimens from 
1d 6ven when material is tightly corked in glass vials. I refer to 
a: that is reared and preserved unmounted. But I find that in 
pe More humid air of the Mississippi Valley insects so preserved are 
»to mold in a very short time. For years, in field work, I have been 
Bing gelatine capsules and find them admirably adapted for the purpose 
if keeping uimounted insects. They are light, unbreakable, transparent 
mough so that labels can be read through the gelatine, and the capsules 
;ppear to absorb the surplus moisture from the insects within so that 
mey have never molded, so far, I use the No. 00 size, and in a properly 
managed drug store these should be bought for 10 cents per hundred. | 
; may be that in the still more humid air of the Gulf States these 
Bules will suffer from excess of moisture, for of course they are 
sensitive to humidity and easily dissolved. Experience alone would 
settle the question of their use in Southern surroundings. C. N. AINSLI 

Por a good many years I have been looking for some medium that . 
Would be perfectly adapted for use *n mounting soft-bodied larvae, such 
is those of Isosoma, for microscopic study. For many such objects, 
Blycerine is an ideal medium, except that it tends to make tissue too 
rransparent, and, being a 60 1verit of certain minerals and gums, it is 
often a€ifficult to Seal it permanently. 
© Glycerine jelly is good, but not easy to manipulate, and possibly 
Ot well adapted for general microscopic mounting, although an admirabie | 
eatum for the preservation of tissue, both animal and vegetable. | 
© Por thirty years and more I have experimented with Farrant’s 
fedium (gum, glycerine, and water), and sometimes it affords mounts of 
anexpec ted beauty and value. Recently I have been using this compound 
fOr mounting small larvae of Diptera, and the like, and although there 
ig @ siight shrinkage there is not the general mummification that 
vanada balsam nearly always produces. The medium penetrates the tra- 
pmecac slowly, if at all, while striated muscle shows finely for some 
time. I put the living larvae directly into the Medium and there is 
fo cloudiness afterwards as with balsam. Air bubbles are easily ac- 
juired in this medium, and they do not disappear as in balsam, but 
these can be avoided, as they can in Glycerine jelly, if one knows how. 
' Can any of the men suggest any other medium that will preserve 
these iarvae in better condition than Farrant’s? I want one that will 
0 for hymenopterous eggs and the most delicate objects, and am still 
in search of a perfect mountant. C. N. AINSLIE. 
