Section VI. SHIPPING PROCEDURES
4-15. GENERAL
There will be times when it may be necessary to ship specimens to another
person or laboratory. All the work done in collecting, identifying, and mounting wiII be
wasted if the specimens arrive at their destination in poor condition. The procedures
Iisted next have been found to be excellent methods for shipping mounted specimens
and are highly recommended.
4-16. PIN MOUNTED SPECIMENS
a. Most pin mounted specimens are shipped in Schmitt boxes. A Schmitt box is
a wooden box with a hinged Iid, Iined with white paper. The bottom of the box is
padded with a material that can be pierced with an insect pin. Figure 4-10 shows an
empty Schmitt box. An empty cigar box wiII suffice in case a Schmitt box is not
available.
Figure 4-10. Empty Schmitt box.
b. Specimens are pinned firmly to the bottom of the box using pinning forceps or
needle-nosed pliers. Specimens should be pinned far enough apart so they will not
touch each other in case they turn or swing. Long appendages or long abdomens
should be braced and supported by extra pins. Two or three additional pins are placed
in the corner of the box; the pins should be of the same height. A piece of cardboard cut
to the exact inner dimensions of the box is placed over the pins. The space between
the cardboard and the lid of the insect box is padded with folded newspapers, cotton, or
gauze. Repellent flakes or crystals should not be placed in the Schmitt box with the
specimens being shipped because the repellent can damage specimens if it moves
around in the box.
c. An inventory of the box contents should be taped inside the top left corner of
the box lid. This inventory should be as detailed as possible. The specimen should
always be identified by genera and species. If unable to identify specimens, it is
permissible to use common names.
MD0170
4-15