Fig. 57.—Pinning forceps.
Fig. 58.—Pinning forceps for Lepidoptera.
Suitable tweezers may be obtained at the larger hardware stores or of watchmakers. Excellent tweezers made of steel (see [Fig. 55] are sold for about 40 cents a pair by Codman, Shurtleff & Co., Tremont street, Boston, Mass. Aside from their utility in picking up specimens from the collecting cloth or the umbrella, the tweezers are indispensable for extracting insects from cracks, or holes in timber, or from their burrows in branches and stems of plants, or from places whence it is impossible to dislodge them by hand. The larger “collecting forceps,” sold by various dealers, do good service in certain emergencies, as when large scorpions or other very large and ferocious insects are to be secured.
For the handling of mounted insects various special forceps are employed, a number of styles of which are shown at Figs. 56–8.
[The Brush.]—A common camel's hair brush, of smaller or larger size according to individual preference, is useful for picking up very small or soft-bodied insects. For this purpose the brush is slightly moistened with saliva, and the tip brought in contact with the specimen, which then adheres to the brush, so that it can readily and without injury be transferred to the collecting bottle or box. The brush is indispensable also for preparing small specimens for the cabinet. If taken into the field the handle of the brush should be of a bright color, otherwise the brush is often lost.
Fig. 59.—The Fumigator. (After Kiesenwetter).
[The Fumigator.]—This is not used by American collectors, but there are several patterns sold by European dealers. It is intended to smoke out specimens that hide in otherwise inaccessible places, e. g., cracks in the ground, holes in hard wood, etc. The accompanying figure and the following description of a fumigator are taken from Kiesenwetter. A common smoking-pipe mouthpiece ([Fig. 59], a) with flexible rubber joint (b) is attached to the cover (c) of a very large smoking-pipe head (d). To the mouth (e) of the latter a rubber hose (f) is attached, which has a convenient discharge at its end (g). The pipe is then filled with tobacco, and the latter ignited by means of a piece of burning tinder placed on top; the cover is then screwed on, and the smoke can be directed to any desired point by blowing air through the mouthpiece. The smoke from a common pipe or cigar is often useful. In sifting in cold weather a puff of tobacco smoke gently blown over the débris on the collecting cloth will induce many specimens to move, which otherwise “play possum” and could not be observed; and, further, tobacco smoke blown into holes and cracks in timber by means of an improvised funnel made of a piece of paper will be the means of securing many rare specimens.