Direction Leaflet Number Four HOW TO MOUNT AND LABEL HARD-BODIED INSECTS By ALICE GRAY Department of Insects and Spiders The American Museum of Natural History The value of a collection of insects depends largely upon the care with which it has been mounted and labeled. A successful system of mounting must preserve the insects in such a way that they can be handled and viewed from all sides without breaking, and must keep associated with each specimen all the information which the collector may have about it. Indeed, without data, any collection of insects, however perfectly mounted, is valueless for scientific purposes. Any orderly method of keeping a collection which satisfies the basic requirements is acceptable. The one here described is that now used by most advanced amateur and professional entomologists for dealing with hard-bodied forms. TOOLS AND MATERIALS The tools and materials which you will need for mounting your collection are few but essential. They include: 1. Insect Pins. Since most hard-bodied insects are preserved simply by drying and, when dry, are extremely brittle, they are usually impaled upon special insect pins, as shown in fig. 1. The pins serve both as convenient number the thicker the pin. Most insects commonly taken by beginners can be pinned on number threes. Number fives are good for the largest species, while a specimen too small for a number one is too small for simple pinning and must have special treatment. Insect pins are sold, in lots of one-or five hundred, by scientific supply houses, which can be found in the classified telephone books of most large cities. If there are none closer to you, you will find the following firms good sources of entomological equipment: Wards Natural Science Est., P.O. Box 24, Beechwood Station, Rochester, New York; General Scientific Supply House, Inc., 761 East 69th Place, Chicago, Illinois. 2. Forceps. Many insects are too small to handle without the aid of tweezers or forceps. You will have to have at least one pair, slender, pointed, and straight or curved at the tip, according to preference. For butterflies and moths you may want a broad-ended, smooth-faced stamp forceps and, though not absolutely necessary, a heavy, curved, rough-faced pin forceps will be very useful. All may be obtained at the same place that you get your pins. 3. Scissors. Small and sharp. 4. Paper. Stiff, hard surfaced, white, and about as thick as a visiting card. This will be used to make pin labels and points for mounting very small insects. 5. Pen and Ink. The pen should have the finest available point. The kind called "Crowquill" is very good. Black waterproof India ink will make the clearest and most durable labels. 6. Glue. This is used to fasten small insects to points, and to repair broken specimens. True glue, water soluble and slow setting, can be used at need; but it will not stick to oily specimens and in hot and humid weather tends to soften and "come unstuck." White shellac diluted with alcohol was, for a long time, the best available adhesive. It sets in a moderately short time Fig. 1. The accepted scientific method of mounting hard-bodied insects. handles and as a means of securing the specimens in the storage boxes. They are made of steel, an inch and a half long and of various thicknesses. The diameter is designated by a number, the higher