you return to your base in the evening the morning's catch will still be pliable and ready for mounting. Many of the immature insects discovered in the field will be unidentifiable unless reared to maturity in the laboratory. It is easy to get them there alive and well if you have small metal boxes in which to carry them. Baking powder tins, cocoa cans, and salve boxes serve admirably. For convenience in carrying, select them to nest one inside the other when not in use. To prevent injury by jolting, give each creature something immovable to which it can cling, a bunch of leaves, a piece of bark, or whatever the tastes of the species may indicate. A crumpled piece of paper towel ing, slightly damp, will also do. Subterranean insects can be packed in their native earth. Whatever material is used should fit the box so tightly that it cannot shift. Unless otherwise specified, insects and spiders secured by more complicated methods should be killed and packed in the same ways as those which were taken by hand. is particularly suitable. A killing jar which has con- tained Lepidoptera should not subsequently contain any other kind of insect as the loose scales cling to oily or hairy specimens so thickly as to obscure their characters and spoil their appearance. Although they can be packed between layers of cotton, moths and butterflies will rub less if each is stored in an individual envelope. Cellophane and waxed paper envelopes of convenient sizes are sold by wholesale stationers. The triangular paper envelope, traditional among Lepidopterists, is shown in fig. 5. Whichever you use, write the data on the outside before putting the insect inside, with the wings folded together over the back. The very small moths called Microlepidoptera are largely nocturnal, and are commonly taken in light traps. However, when collecting by day, especially in the late afternoon or early evening, you are certain to flush a number of them. If you are prepared to handle them properly, these make the more perfect specimens. Since the insects are tiny and very fragile 1 2 3 4 5 Fig. 5. Steps in making triangular envelopes for packing large-winged insects. AERIAL COLLECTING The most conspicuous and characteristic tool of the Entomologist is the insect net, used to capture insects on the wing. The construction and operation of such nets is discussed in Leaflet Number 2. The size and delicacy of the aerial net confines its use to fairly open country, fields, gardens, roadsides, clearings, deserts, beaches, and the like. Fortunately, it is in just such places that flying insects are most commonly observed. Although beetles, grasshoppers, true bugs, and others are not infrequently taken in flight, the majority of specimens so captured will be moths and butterflies, true flies, dragon and damsel- flies, wasps and bees, and members of some minor orders. Of these, moths and butterflies require the greatest care. If the tiny scales with which these insects are clothed become lost, the color pattern goes with them. They rub off very easily and may be detached if touched with an even slightly oily finger, or jostled together in the killing jar. Leidoptera should, therefore, be handled with forceps. A broad smooth stamp-forceps special tools for collecting them are correspondingly small and fine. The best net is of silk gauze, and need be no more than six inches across, with an eighteen inch handle. A killing bottle should contain, at most, three or four moths at once, so several very little vials should be provided. Carry a cork-lined storage box and a supply of "minute nadeln," insect pins about half an inch long and scarcely thicker than a hair. Some collectors prefer pins of standard length, number 000, but these bend so easily that they are a nuisance to handle ever after. Pin the specimens as soon as they are removed from the vial, separating the wings and fluffing up the fringes by blowing on them gently. If possible, spread "micros" on the day of capture. If it is too inconvenient to pin the insects in the field, leave them in the killing vial, which should be very slightly damp, until your return, and then pin immediately. Even with the best of care, it is probable that only about half your catch will be fit to keep by the time it is mounted. True flies also require special attention in the field. Not only are they often delicate in structure, but 7