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Species List for Card Backs
The following list denotes the various insects featured on cards and posters.
This text appears on rear of card in both English and French.
Collecting Humans can be great fun and an extremely interesting hobby. Use
a large sweep net, so as not to damage the exceptionally delicate body coverings
and appendages. Wigs, false teeth, hiking boots etc, are essential for later
study and accurate identification.
Humans are found practically everywhere, usually in considerable numbers. The
ideal time to start a collection is in early summer, though they are fairly
active year round. Collecting humans in a given area depends on recognising
various collection sites in which they are most likely to occur and involves
many diverse habitats. For example, litter-dwelling types tend to hide in untidy
government offices and can only be lured out by beer-baiting, or early retirement
packages. Most humans are found in the vertical position. At night they tend
to become horizontal, undergoing a form of moult, and crawling into a layered
cocoon. Increase wing pitch or stridulate in an aggravating manner and they
will emerge quite rapidly, though somewhat dazed. Excellent collecting can be
had in Taverns where after an evening of imbibing, most specimens will voluntarily
jump into large vials containing alcohol. Some sub-species are nocturnal, irresistibly
attracted to bright lights. Examination of dance halls, theatres and apres Entomological
congresses often reveal a sizable hominid fauna. Large buildings with revolving
doors eject many specimens simultaneously, where they can be conveniently netted.
Narrow exits from football and hockey arenas' can be used to advantage by simply
excavating large pitfall traps adjacent to turnstiles. Unlighted and surreptitiously
drained swimming pools provide excellent ready made pantraps.
In winter, many hominids are observed leaping around on snow, favouring hills
and mountainsides. Erecting a large net at the base of a slope will add significantly
to your collection. A much prized specimen is an Entomologist. These rather
strange hominids tend to dash around with fixed expressions. Once captured,
they must be quickly subdued as they are most cunning, behaving not at all like
other Homo sapiens. Some have the appearance of being permanently stunned,
and will show signs of life around 5pm. Others play dead when disturbed, but
may simply be asleep at their desks. A proffered pay check may result in an
spontaneous reflex. Inevitably, they attempt to escape to the nearest cafeteria
from which they may not reappear until late afternoon.
Dipterists can present a problem when pinning, being generally hairy and
diverse in body structure.
Lepidopterists, being soft bodied are mounted then spread on a large board.
Hard bodied Coleopterists often must be forcibly held down by pinning
forceps some giving off rather offensive body odours. They keep well, usually
retaining their normal appearance and colour. Tricopterists definitely
have a problem. They're dull! Many of them suffer from thoracic warts. Their
young are rather scruffy individuals, often covered with bits of lint and twigs.
Hymenopterists on the other hand are an interesting social group exhibiting
a great diversity of habit and behaviour. They can be stored in alcohol and
refrigerated indefinitely until ready for identification. Hemipterists
do not generally fit any of the above descriptions. They are erratic, unpredictable
and best quickly subdued with a 2 x 4. The much coveted Acarologist may
be found rooting around in organic detritus, tending to congregate in overcrowded
conditions of at least 5 or 6 specimens per 1000 square feet.
Overall, the scientific value of a hominid collection largely depends on the
information recorded. Labels are placed on mounting pins beneath the specimens
as shown in the manual. It is important to protect your collection against such
degenerates as Dermestes maculatus, whose propensity for reducing
hominid specimens to heaps of bare bones within days is well documented.
Garden Springtail, Bourletiella hortensis, Sminthuridae, Collembola.
Dung Rolling Beetle, Garreta nitens, Scarabaeidae, Coleoptera.
Dung Rolling Beetle, Sisyphus sp., Scarabaeidae, Coleoptera.
Human Crab Louse, Pthirus pubis, Pediculicidae, Anoplura.
Human Flea, Pulex irritans, Pulicidae, Siphonaptera.
Carpenter Bee, Xylocopa aestuans, Anthrophoridae, Hymenoptera.
Robber Fly, Laphria saffrana, Asilidae, Diptera.
Surinam Cockroach, Pycnoscelus surinamensis, Blaberidae, Orthoptera.
Odd Beetle larva, Thylodrias contractus, Dermestidae, Coleoptera.
Red Velvet Mite, Allothrombium sp., Trombidiidae, Acari.
Virgin Tiger Moth, Grammia virgo, Arctiidae, Lepidoptera.
European Earwig, Forficula auricularia, Forficulidae, Dermaptera.
Treehopper, Thelia bimaculata, Membracidae, Homoptera.
Cave Cricket, Ceuthophilus maculatus, Gryllacrididae, Orthoptera.
Botany Bay Weevil, Chrysolopus spectabilis, Curculionidae, Coleoptera.
Data label.
Microvial (for preserving terminalia)
Pitfall Trap
Wide-mouthed killing jar.
Collecting net.
Fogger.
No.10 Mounting pin (for Hominids)
Dissection scissors.
Card point.
Curved forceps.
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