3. A pair of flexible forceps, 10 to 12 centimeters (about 4 to 5 inches) long, with slender prongs.
4. One or two camel’s-hair brushes for picking up minute insects.
5. A few vials or small bottles containing fluid preservative.
6. Folded papers for butterflies.
7. A few small tins or boxes lined with cellucotton.
These items may be purchased from commercial supply houses such as those listed on [page 71]. Many items, however, may be made by the collector at nominal cost.
Nets
Nets are the most important items in the collecting kit of the entomologist. For this reason nets should be rigidly constructed and handled with care.
Construction.—Nets may easily be made at home. The necessary parts are a handle, a loop or ring to be attached to it, and a cloth bag to be hung from the loop, figs. [1] and [2]. The handle should be strong and fairly light. At the net end, [fig. 1]a, a groove is cut down each side to receive the arms of the loop. The grooves are as deep as the thickness of the wire used in the loop; one groove is 3 inches long and the other 2½ inches; and each ends in a hole through the handle at right angles to the length.
The loop, [fig. 1]b, is made of steel wire, preferably three-eighths-inch piano wire, which if bent by rough usage springs back into shape and will stand a great deal of hard wear. The wire is shaped, as the figure shows, to form a loop with two straight arms, the tips of which are bent at right angles toward each other. The arms and hooks thus formed must be exactly long enough to fit along the grooves and into the holes in the handle. After the bag or net has been attached to the loop, and the wire has been fitted to the handle, the joint may either be wrapped tightly with wire, [fig. 1]c, or bound by a metal cylinder or ferrule slipped over the arms of the loop, [fig. 1]d.