Footnote:
[2] Euplexoptera of some authors from ευ, well; πλεχω, folded, referring to the folded wings.
COLLECTING.
[General Considerations.]—“Few departments of natural history offer greater inducements or facilities to the student than Entomology. He need not pass his threshold for material, for it may be found on every hand and at all seasons. The directions for collecting, preserving, and studying insects might be extended indefinitely in detail, as volumes have already been written on the subject; but the more general and important instructions are soon given.
“Beginners are very apt to supply themselves with all sorts of appliances advertised by natural history furnishing stores. Many of these appliances, when it comes to real, practical field-work, are soon abandoned as useless incumbrances; and the greater the experience, the simpler will be the paraphernalia. My own equipment, on a collecting trip, consists chiefly of a cotton umbrella, a strong and narrow steel trowel or digger, a haversack slung across the shoulders, a cigar box lined with sheet cork, and a small knapsack attached to a waistbelt which girts a coat, not of many colors, but of many pockets, so made that in stooping nothing falls out of them. The umbrella is one of the indispensables. It shields, when necessary, from old Sol's scorching rays and from the pelting, drenching storm; brings within reach, by its hooked handle, many a larva-freighted bough which would otherwise remain undisturbed; and forms an excellent receptacle for all insects that may be dislodged from bush or branch. Opened and held inverted under a bough with the left hand, while the right manipulates a beating-stick, cut for the occasion, it will be the recipient of many a choice specimen that would never have been espied amid its protective surroundings. Some collectors use an umbrella painted or lined on the inside with white, to facilitate the detection of any object that drops into it; but as there are fully as many, if not more, pale and white insects as there are dark or black ones, the common dark umbrella is good enough for all ordinary purposes; and if any improvement on the ordinary cotton umbrella is desired, it should be in the way of a joint or knuckle about the middle of the handle, which will facilitate its packing and using. The trowel is valuable for prying off the loosened bark from old trees, whether felled or standing, and for digging into the ground or into decaying stumps and logs. The haversack is for the carriage of different kinds of boxes (those made of tin being best) intended for larval and other forms which it is necessary to bring home alive for breeding purposes; and if made with a partition so that the filled and empty boxes may be separated, all the better; it may also be used for nets and other apparatus to be mentioned, and for such provender as is necessary on the trip. The knapsack may be made on the plan of a cartridge box, of stout canvas or leather, and should be of moderate size and slung onto the belt so as to be slipped to any part of the waist and not hinder free bodily motion. It may be used to carry bottles, phials, and other small appliances, and should be accordingly partitioned and furnished with loops or pockets on the inside. The cigar-box is for the reception of pinned specimens, and may be slipped onto the belt, or buttoned to the trousers by means of leather.
Fig. 44.—The Butterfly net-frame.
“The greatest requisites in collecting are a pair of sharp eyes and ready hands, with coolness and self-possession; but a few traps will materially aid. One of the most important is the hand-net, which may be made so as to subserve the two purposes of a sweeping and an air-net.”