There are many greatly interesting features to look for in an insect, varying among the vast number of kinds. Drawing, notes and diagrams of each will be of lasting value to you. The breathing organs, or spiracles, the hearing organs of those which hear found in such unlikely places as the front leg of the cricket and katydid and the first abdominal segment of the grasshopper, the hairs and bristles which cover many insects in a profuse but meaningful way try to identify all of these. Feelers or antennae, each with a nerve from the nerve center or brain traversing its length inside, bear sensory receptors of taste and smell in the form of hairs and pits. Different segments of an antenna may even have different functions. Hairs on some mosquito antennae even catch sound waves Insect mouth parts are for chewing, as in the grasshopper, piercing and sucking as in plant lice and mosquitoes, and simply for sucking, as in the long, coiled tube of the butterfly or moth. All of these make good studies, particularly the large, seven-part mouth of the grasshopper, which can be nicely dissected.

Look for the remarkable small halters, or balancing organs, just beneath the wings of a housefly, and the pad pulvillus between its two claws by which it clings to windows and ceilings. Look for the remarkable pollen baskets on the most remarkable hind legs of a honeybee, and study the fearsome and specialized front legs of a praying mantis. Ants and termites have within their extraordinary societies different sorts of citizens like workers, soldiers, nursemaids and queens. Of the fighting caste of termites, one kind is armed with awesome jaws, the other with a squirt gun spigot in its head for forceful ejection of poison. Insect eyes are near the top of the list for studies in exquisite geometry and anatomy. Excellent material for permanent mounting, includes comparisons of the numerous kinds of antennae, wings and legs and by all means don’t miss the different kinds of beautiful scales on mosquitoes, moths and others.

Your steady hand and system of dissecting will now develop skill, as will your powers of observation. A preliminary inspection with your constant companion, the hand lens or magnifying glass, followed by the lowest power of the microscope around 50X is important. Only after this is done can you decide on an orderly method of progressing.
Spiders are not insects. They are arachnids, and in a group with the daddy longlegs, ticks, mites and scorpions. Its two body parts cephalothoraxes and abdomen; its lack of antennae; and its six pairs of appendages characterize a spider. These consist of four pairs of legs compare to insect, and one pair of less conspicuous pedipalps for grasping and holding and a pair of chelicerae, which are fangs for injecting poison into prey. Most spiders have eight eyes of different types of arrangement; these are simple ones, which reveal little more than light and dark in most cases, and perhaps dim images. The hairs, which cover the body, are sensory.

Spiders may be found in a wide variety of places and in collecting, remember that they are generally very beneficial in destroying harmful insects, so take only those, which you intend to study well. Fear of them is unfounded, for they are harmless to us except, in the United States, for the black widow spider, recognized by its glossy, black globular body with a yellowish shape underneath the abdomen generally resembling an hourglass. The famous tarantula, seen rarely in this country, though fearsome to look upon, does indeed deliver a bite, but the poison of its chelicerae is not usually as lethal as its fame gives it credit for. Spiders can be found in and about flowers, sometimes resembling their colors, on trees, leaves and weeds. Some kinds hunt only on the ground and among grasses, or in warm, dry and sandy places. Old houses, barns, sheds, attics and stacks of lumber, brush piles and heaps of stones are favorite hideouts. Often a glint of sunlight on a web is a giveaway and don’t neglect to notice the beauty of the web itself. Their various types of web are themselves splendid architectural structures worth close scrutiny, and can be discovered behind pictures, above old window frames, in ceiling corners and behind doors of little used or vacated rooms. Incidentally, sections of web itself are material for the microscope. The amazing silk-weaving apparatus of spiders is a project for advanced study and dissection. Arachnids as well as insects have great box-office appeal as actors on the stages of our microscopes.

EXPERIMENT: Circulations in a Living Animal

A small fish not exceeding two inches is the best subject. Handling it gently, wrap all but tail in wet cloth and place in a Petri plate, so tail is over aperture of microscope stage. Focus on tail with medium power to view the remarkable spectacle of the actual circulation of blood through the capillaries, the very small blood vessels. Do not keep fish out of water more than two or three minutes at a time. If it does not revive quickly when replaced in water, gently dunk it up and down a few times, holding by the tail, to force air and oxygen into gills. A small frog may be used instead, preparing it in the same way, but viewing the web of a hind foot.

EXPERIMENT: Eggs

Development of animals before birth or hatching embryology is a deeply fascinating and significant subject. Of the eggs most available to you there will be those of frogs, toads and other amphibians, found in March, April and into May, most often in ponds, streams, lakes, in Jellylike masses just below the surface, often wound around sticks or weeds. Take only what you will use, as it is pointless to destroy any life without good reason, and because these animals can be useful. Clear Jellylike blobs containing eggs of snails and other creatures may be found in home aquariums, under lily pads and on and around other waterleaves and stems, on seaweed and elsewhere. Examine some eggs alive and watch their development, being careful to simulate natural conditions as much as possible. Examine others dead, after placing in alcohol or fixers at different stages of their growth. You may also be lucky enough to find eggs of crabs, roe from fish, or other kinds. Try free hand sectioning, after fixing, and try different stains.