Directions for Collecting and Preserving Insects. Charles V. Riley
of which they conceal themselves and wait for any soft-bodied insects which may fall into the trap. This family also includes the peculiar Mantis-like insects belonging to the genus Mantispa. As in the true Mantis, the prothorax of these insects is greatly elongated and the first pair of legs are fitted for grasping. The larvæ are parasitic in the egg-sacs of certain large spiders (genera Licosa, Dolomedes, etc.), and undergo a remarkable change in form after the first molt. In the first stage the larvæ are very agile, with slender bodies and long legs. After molting the body becomes much swollen and the legs are much shortened, as are also the antennæ, the head becoming small and the general appearance reminding one of the larva of a bee.
The second section of the Neuroptera, characterized by complete metamorphosis, comprises the following suborders:
Suborder Platyptera (πλατυς, flat; πτερον, wing). Under this head are grouped the White-ants (Termitidæ), the Bird-lice (Mallophaga), and the Book-mites (Psocidæ). The suborder receives its name from the fact that in the case of the winged forms the wings, when at rest, are usually laid flat upon the back of the insect. The Mallophaga, or Bird-lice, are degraded wingless insects, and are parasitic chiefly on birds, but also on mammals. In shape of body and character of the mouth-parts they are most nearly allied to the Psocidæ. The latter family includes both winged and wingless forms, the Book-mites belonging to the latter category. The winged forms may be illustrated by the common species, Psocus venosus (see Fig. 40). The legs and antennæ are long and slender and the wings are folded roof-like over the body when the insect is at rest. They feed on lichens and dry vegetation.
Fig. 40.—Psocus venosus. (From Comstock.)
The Termitidæ are represented in this country by the White-ant (Termes flavipes), which is frequently so destructive to woodwork, books, etc. The term White-ant applied to these insects is unfortunate, as in structure they are widely separated from ants and resemble them only in general appearance and also in their social habits. Like the ants they live in colonies and have a number of distinct forms, as winged and wingless, males and females, and workers and soldiers.
Fig. 41.—A Stone-fly (Pteronarcys regalis). (From Comstock.)
Suborder Plecoptera (πλεκτος, plaited; πτερον, wing). Closely allied to the latter suborder is the suborder Plecoptera, which includes the single family Perlidæ or Stone-flies. The larvæ and pupæ of these insects are aquatic, being often found under stones in water, whence the name. The adults are long, flattened insects, with long antennæ. The wings are ample and are somewhat folded or plaited, from which character the suborder takes its name.
Suborder Odonata (οϑους, tooth). This includes the Dragon-flies or Libellulidæ, the most common and the best known of the Neuroptera. The larva and the active pupa or nymph are aquatic and are predaceous, as is also the adult. A common species is represented at see Fig. 33
Fig. 42.—A May-fly
(Potamanthus marginatus).
(From Packard.)
The Suborder Ephemeroptera (εϕημερον, a day-fly; πτερον, wing) comprises the May-flies, or Ephemeridæ (see Fig. 42). These insects are very fragile and are often attracted in enormous numbers to electric lights. They have large front wings, while the hind wings are small, rudimentary, or wanting. They are furnished with two or three very long, jointed, threadlike caudal appendages. The larval and nymphal stages are passed in the water and aquatic vegetation furnishes the food, although some species may be predaceous. The adults have very rudimentary mouths and eat nothing; their term of life is also very limited, not exceeding 2–4 days.
Fig. 43.—(Lepisma 4-seriata). (After Packard.)
Suborder Thysanura θυσανος, tassel; ουρα, tail). This suborder comprises minute, degraded insects commonly known as Spring-tails, Bristle-tails, Fish-moths, Snow-fleas, etc. They occur in damp situations and also infest books, wall-paper, etc., eating the starch paste in the book-bindings, or beneath the wall paper. They comprise very primitive forms and are interesting because they are supposed to represent the original stock from which the higher orders of insects have sprung. They are wingless, usually with simple eyes, and clothed with scales, and undergo no metamorphosis. Some of them, as the Fish-moth (Lepisma sp.), run very rapidly and are furnished at the end of the body with a number of long bristles. In other forms these anal bristles or stylets are united at the base and bent under the body and become a powerful jumping organ, giving them the very appropriate name of Spring-tails.
Footnote:
[2] Euplexoptera of some authors from ευ, well; πλεχω, folded, referring to the folded wings.
COLLECTING.
General Considerations.—“Few departments of natural history offer greater inducements or facilities to the student than Entomology. He need not pass his threshold for material, for it may be found on every hand and at all seasons. The directions for collecting, preserving, and studying insects might be extended indefinitely in detail, as volumes have already been written on the subject; but the more general and important instructions are soon given.
“Beginners are very apt to supply themselves with all sorts of appliances advertised by natural history furnishing stores. Many of these appliances, when it comes to real, practical field-work, are soon abandoned as useless incumbrances; and the greater the experience, the simpler will be the paraphernalia. My own equipment, on a collecting trip, consists chiefly of a cotton umbrella, a strong and narrow steel trowel or digger, a haversack slung across the shoulders, a cigar box lined with sheet cork, and a small knapsack attached to a waistbelt which girts a coat, not of many colors, but of many pockets, so made that in stooping nothing falls out of them. The umbrella is one of the indispensables. It shields, when necessary, from old Sol's scorching rays and from the pelting, drenching storm; brings within reach, by its hooked handle, many a larva-freighted bough which would otherwise remain undisturbed; and forms an excellent receptacle for all insects that may be dislodged from bush or branch. Opened and held inverted under a bough with the left hand, while the right manipulates a beating-stick, cut for the occasion, it will be the recipient of many a choice specimen that would never have been espied amid its protective surroundings. Some collectors use an umbrella painted or lined on the inside with white, to facilitate the detection of any object that drops into it; but as there are fully as many, if not more, pale and white insects as there are dark or black ones, the common dark umbrella is good enough for all ordinary purposes; and if any improvement on the ordinary cotton umbrella is desired, it should be in the way of a joint or knuckle about the middle of the handle, which will facilitate its packing and using. The trowel is valuable for prying off the loosened bark from old trees, whether felled or standing, and for digging into the ground or into decaying stumps and logs. The haversack is for the carriage of different kinds of boxes (those made of tin being best) intended for larval and other forms which it is necessary to bring home alive for breeding purposes; and if made with a partition so that the filled and empty boxes may be separated, all the better; it may also be used for nets and other apparatus to be mentioned, and for such