CHAPTER II
STUDIES OF INSECTS
The effect of great numbers upon the structure and habits of animals. The use of keys in finding the names of animals.
1. FIELD STUDIES
Materials.
1. Boxes for carrying insects. 2. A net. This may be homemade, using mosquito netting or fish net and a stout wire. If it is to be used for a dragnet for water insects, the wire must be stout and the netting strong. Make the net twice as long as wide. 3. A cyanide jar for killing insects. 4. A few paper triangles for carrying butterflies. 5. A notebook.
Note.—Your instructor will give directions for obtaining the material called for in 3, 4, and 5.
Directions.
Look carefully and quietly in the various situations noted below. Do not be in a hurry. Weedy meadows or vacant lots and neglected roadsides are good places for your first trips. Note concerning each insect found: (a) its name or something by which to identify it, (b) where you found it, (c) what it was doing, (d) its probable food. Record these observations in your notebook. Make a special study of such insects as your instructor may designate.