I—COLLECTING AND OBSERVING. 3 
As soon as the specimens are pinned, they must be 
placed in a relaxing box. This is an oval zine box, lined 
with cork, which has been thoroughly damped. In _ hot 
weather, specimens should only be kept in the relaxing box 
about 24 hours, but in colder weather this may be extended 
with advantage to two ur three days. When the insects are 
properly relaxed the next step is to set them. This is 
effected by means of various sized corked boards, provided 
with grooves for the reception of the insects’ bodies. The 
depth of the groove is varied according to the height at 
which the collector desires his specimens set, the modern 
tendency being in favour of high setting, which, if carried 
out within reasonable limits, is a distinct advantage. The 
Wings are spread out in a symmetrical position, and 
retained in their places by means of strips of tracing cloth 
transfixed with pins, the anterior legs and antennae being 
appropriately arranged at the same time, and also fastened 
by means of pins and small pieces of tracing cloth or card. 
A fine needle, mounted in a bone handle, known as a’setting 
needle, will be found useful, also a small sharp-pointed 
pair of scissors, a fine pointed pair of tweezers and a pair 
of entomological pinning forceps. These may all be 
obtained from the dealers and are indispensable. 'The wings 
should be moved by very gently pressing the setting needle 
behind one of the main veins, near the base, and every eare 
taken to avoid piercing the membrane of the wing, or 
removing any of the scales. ‘When the body of the insect 
has a tendency to sink too deep into the groove, it should 
be supported by means of small wad of cotton wool, and 
the same adjunct is often useful in adjusting the positions 
of legs and antennae. Plate IV., fig. 8; Plate IX., figs. 6 
and 7; Plate XVII., fig. 25; Plate XXII., fig. 3; Plate 
XXIII, fig. 11; and Plate XXXTV,., fig. 20, may be taken 
as typical of well set specimens belonging to different 
families. In hot, dry summer weather, ordinary specimens 
of Lepidoptera, stiffen in about a fortnight, and can then 
be removed from the setting board, but a longer period is 
often necessary, if the weather be cold or damp. The 
utmost care must be taken not to remove the insects toa 
soon, otherwise the wings will sag, and the best setting be 
completely spoilt. If insects from different localities are 
set on the same board, each locality should be briefly 
indicated in pencil alongside the respective specimens. 
Setting boards are best placed in well ventilated boxes, 
provided with battens for holding the boards firmly in one 
position. These are called drying houses and, if fitted with 
suitable handles, are most convenient to the entomologist 
when travelling. The art of good setting is difficult to 
master and, often tedious to carry out, but there is no 
question that, from a purely scientific, as well as from an 
aesthetic point of view, a well set. specimen is of much 
greater value than a badly set one. Now that photography 
plays such an important part in the illustration of entomo- 
logical subjects, the need for good setting is even greater 
than before. 
From the setting board the specimens must now be 
transferred to a store box, care being taken that insects 
from different localities are kept separate, so that the date 
of capture, locality, and other particulars can be accurately 
recorded before they are finally placed into the main 
collection. ‘Most entomologists write or print the date of 
capture and locality on a small paper or card label, which 
is placed on the pin beneath the insect. This is a most 
convenient method, its only drawback being the exceeding 
brevity of the information which can be recorded on so 
small a label. Another system is to give each species a 
number and each specimen a letter; full particulars in 
respect of every specimen being recorded in an indexed 
book or a Collection Journal. Thus Vanessa gonerilla would 
bear, say No. 6, and the first specimen taken, say at Nelson, 
a label ‘‘ 6a,’’ the second captured at Wellington ‘‘ 6b ”’ 
and so on. The labour involved under this system is very 
ereat, but a large amount of valuable information is sum- 
marized under each species in regard to the times of 
appearance, nature and altitude of country frequented, 
and habits, which is not available under the system of 
‘merely labelling specimens with a ticket giving locality and 
date of capture. Again, if an unknown species is taken, it 
is at once numbered, and if more than one specimen is 
found, a duplicate bearing the same number ean be sent 
away to some other entomologist for identification. T 
adopted the book system for my collection over forty-six 
years ago and have found it very useful, although at times 
somewhat laborious. I would, however, advise beginners at 
the present time to adopt the plan of attaching locality 
labels to their specimens, but in addition to doing go a card 
index should be prepared for the whole collection. For this 
purpose about 1500 printed cards must be obtained, 
similar to the accompanying pattern, the intention being to 
allot a separate card to each species as it is added to the 
: Name and Reference 
Localities... 
Time of Appearance... 
Class of Country where fownd 
Food Plant 
CHINE oo et | Se ee 
Miscellaneous 
collection. Guide cards should be inserted for each genus, 
and the whole series of cards kept in systematic order. 
Such an index would become invaluable as the collection 
inereased in size, and could be used for scientific investi- 
gation in many different ways. For example, if a list of 
the Lepidoptera inhabiting any given locality were 


