Evening star., 1896-07-18

,M Sc sport for girls to en-
\WkW gage in during their
much-wecomed vacation. 1t is exercise of
| the most beneficial character. and is never
| uninterestng. To think that there are,
out of the 100000 species of the entire
globe. 10000 in North America, should en-
courage the beginner. You must capture
the little and big; let not size guide you,
nor pecularity. nor beauty; be not guided
as to what specimens to catch, but strive
to obtain a complete collection, and you
may some day be well repaid, through a
sale to a wealthy entomologist or museum.
The Outfit.
To follow this study of insects no large
outlay is necessary. The ordinary outfit is
so simple and easily obtained that expense
is seldom an item in the mind of the col
lector. Remember that collection, to be
good one should be extensive. well ar
ranged ard systematically mounted
The usual and best and easiest obtained
outfit consists of cotton umbrella, a
small trowel or digger, a haversack to he
slung across the shoulders. cigar box
lined on the bottom with sheet cork, and
perhaps some sort of small Satchel or
nand bag for odds and ends 1t Is we'll to
wear coat with many pockets, and COM
Portable ciothing in general.
The Use of the Outfit.
The umbrella proves the most useful arti-
Gle. 1t is handy when footing in sunshine
or rain. Its other use Is in collecting spec
linens. 1t should be placed open and in
verted under an overhanging bougn to
catch the insect which you beat from the
leaves and branches. If it has a curved
| handle, all the better. for then it is inds-
pensable in securing specimens from high
boughs The trowel you take in hand when
beneath the rotten bark of dead or fallen
tree. or in the ground, you perceive ex-
pect to find stray specimen. Without
lhlS instrument you will nave con3ide Ia bic
difficulty in catching a beetle which is
making his way through the private nails
of his earthly mansion. The haverSack is
the best thing in which to carry small
boxes to hold the specimens taken home
alive. 1t is advisable to carry all captures
home before mounting, or even killing, as
In your haste you will likely injure the
specimens. The cigar box is intended to
temporarily receive the pinned specimens
which you kill on the field.
There are nets and other appliances
USED in the collecting of any one of the
several classes into which the great fam
uy of insects is divided. The principal
Glasses are: Coleoptera, BEETLES; Diptera,
l"o-wirsed flies; Hemiptera. bugs: Hymen-
optera, bees wasps. ETC.; Lepidoptera. but
.eiii.es ahd ino.ns. Nenuroptera, lace-wing-
ed insects, the dragon fly, scorpion fly
ETC.; and Orthoptera, locusts, grasshoppers
class is advised to provide certain extra
appliances.
Different Kinds Of Nets.
For collecting Lepidoptera a mosquito
netting or wire gauze net is needed: 1t is
preferable to make it out of wire gauze
| line and strong, it then being suitable not
only as sweeping net for flying insects.
but also as a sieve dip net for aquatic
Mill
used by the professional entomoiogists in
| the capturing of Lepidoptera, in order to
prevent injury to the wings A pair OF
broad pincerS will be needed in Collecting
especially Coleoptera Don't worry about
providing whole carpen nter shop of pock-
Ell tools. but carry stout pocket knife. In
attempting to capture a nest of bees, You
had better first throw upon the nest some
chloroform or benZine TO stun the sting
carriers. Diptera should be taken from the
net with pair of iorceps. appearing much
like combination OF the handles OF a pair
Of large shears, and two small fiat nets
d pair OF net tongS. Sc your net freely in
catching the Neuroptera seen about electric
lights at night. And above all, use COM
mon sense as freely in collecting any in
sects: don't be il, hurry, don't try to
catch butterfly with the net and at the
same time beetle with the pincers.
Killing and Mounting.
From the several methods of killing in
sects, It is an uneasy task to decide the
best one. For killing Coleoptera. Hemip-
terra, some Neuroptera and larvae of all
sorts. alcohol proves most satisfactory,
provided only pure alcohol which has been
| diluted with 35 per cent of pure water
| be used. For Lepidoptera, Diptera and Hy-
menoptera, Chloroform. ether or benzine is
the best agent "A small, stout bottle of
choroform or ether, with a brush securely
inserted into the cork, will be found very
/ serviceable,' said the late Prof. c. v.
| Riley. A similar bottle to that just men
toned Is arranged for killing purposes by
putting into 1T several small strips of blot
| ting paper previously soaked in chloroform
| or ether. The cyanide bottle is tine best
I for killing the larger insects. and quite
satisfactory for ali kinds. This bottle,
much larger than those already mentioned,
has a wide mouth and should be fitted
with glass stopper convenient size is
| five inches in height by three in width
obtain from druggist small quantity of
cyanide OF pota assium small handful, say;
break 1t up into pieces the size of peas and
pour into the bottle level. Then mix in a
suitable vessel a quantity of plaster OF
paris with 1ust enough water to make the
whole semi-1iuid; pour this slowly and care
| fully over the cyanide iE the bottle, cover
| ing 1t evenly. Allow the plaster to thor
| oughly dry before replacing the cork. Clear
the sides Of the bottle of particles of plas-
| ter, and put In some narrow strips of
white paper, on which the captured insect
| can find support while undergoing the dead
| ly effect of the cyanide fumes. In all cases.
| the stopper should be replaced Immediate
ly and securely after opening the bottle.
as, If the agent be chloroform, ether or
benzine, it will rapidly evaporate, and if
the cyanide bottle be allowed to remain
open its strength will diminish
A small tube may be similarly trans
| formed into a cyanide bottle" to be car
| ried on the field Gasoline is CHEAP and
| satisfactory agent for killing I.enidon-
terra. and few whiffs Of cigar smoke will
| Kill the smallest insects. Creosote and am.
| monia will prove efficient in an emergency
| How to Pin Specimens.
| Pins used in mounting should onlv be
those expressly manufactured for entomo.
| logical purposes. The pin should mass
| through the insects thorax. then through
| the labels which you may have on each
| specimen, giving such data as when and
| where collected, and what the insect 10
| If you know. The box mostly used for nra.
| serving collections Is Of Vanished wh;.s
| pine wood, about thirteen by eight inches
| by four inches, outside measurement. There
| Is no especial top or bottom, the box open
ing on hinges exactly in half. Each of the
halves being used for pinned specimens
| sheet cork one-fourth Of an inch thick is
| glued to the inner bottom of both. This
| cork enables the pins to be stuck in anv
/ desired position without bending them. The