HOW DID HE DO ALL THIS??
COLLECTING
James May personally collected insects wherever he was, starting as a boy in Brazil, then in Africa after serving in the second Boer War, as a ranger and game warden in the Riding Mountains of Manitoba, Canada, and during travels all over North and South America. He also traded extensively with other naturalists world-wide.
The tools of his trade and techniques for collecting included:
TRADING
James May traded extra specimens, canned food, ammunition, and other commodities via air mail or ship. On display at the museum, you will see open cigar boxes with typical examples from all corners of the world, some countries whose names and governments have changed several times in the last hundred years. Shifting political environments, tightened shipping regulations, and extinction due to deforestation and pesticide usage have all contributed to the uniqueness of this collection, never to be duplicated in modern times! Each specimen was placed in carefully folded paper triangles (or rolled tubes for stick insects) to prevent rubbing the color off wings or damaging delicate antennae and legs. They were not considered museum quality unless the location and date caught was included.
PRESERVATION AND DISPLAY PROCESS
Film cans were ideal for long term, air tight storage. In addition to the air storage, insecticide was used in the preservation process.
Large tin boxes were used to restore the natural flexibility of the specimen prior to pinning. Blotting paper was placed on the bottom of the box with the specimen(s) resting on it. A heavy tea towel, soaked in water with a few drops of carbolic acid and then rung out, was then put over the top of the box and the lid replaced tightly. After eight hours to several days at 70 degrees F, the creature relaxed enough to set.
Special insect pins were needed for spreading onto the setting board. These pins are resistant to rust and corrosion and are very sharp and narrow. Their fine tips were even used for labeling purposes by dipping them in ink to record the details on tiny labels
Every case in the collection was hand built by James' son, John May, who started at age 13 after learning from a German cabinet maker how to make air tight seals.
COLLECTING
James May personally collected insects wherever he was, starting as a boy in Brazil, then in Africa after serving in the second Boer War, as a ranger and game warden in the Riding Mountains of Manitoba, Canada, and during travels all over North and South America. He also traded extensively with other naturalists world-wide.
The tools of his trade and techniques for collecting included:
- hand net
- white sheet lit up at night
- Intoxicating paste put on tree trunks (rum, molasses, rotten fruit mix)
- pheromone/communication technique of placing unfertilized female silk moths in a glass jar to attract males
- picking up sluggish flyers on cool mornings
- fine sand in 410 shot gun fired up and over flyers to weight down wings
TRADING
James May traded extra specimens, canned food, ammunition, and other commodities via air mail or ship. On display at the museum, you will see open cigar boxes with typical examples from all corners of the world, some countries whose names and governments have changed several times in the last hundred years. Shifting political environments, tightened shipping regulations, and extinction due to deforestation and pesticide usage have all contributed to the uniqueness of this collection, never to be duplicated in modern times! Each specimen was placed in carefully folded paper triangles (or rolled tubes for stick insects) to prevent rubbing the color off wings or damaging delicate antennae and legs. They were not considered museum quality unless the location and date caught was included.
PRESERVATION AND DISPLAY PROCESS
Film cans were ideal for long term, air tight storage. In addition to the air storage, insecticide was used in the preservation process.
Large tin boxes were used to restore the natural flexibility of the specimen prior to pinning. Blotting paper was placed on the bottom of the box with the specimen(s) resting on it. A heavy tea towel, soaked in water with a few drops of carbolic acid and then rung out, was then put over the top of the box and the lid replaced tightly. After eight hours to several days at 70 degrees F, the creature relaxed enough to set.
Special insect pins were needed for spreading onto the setting board. These pins are resistant to rust and corrosion and are very sharp and narrow. Their fine tips were even used for labeling purposes by dipping them in ink to record the details on tiny labels
Every case in the collection was hand built by James' son, John May, who started at age 13 after learning from a German cabinet maker how to make air tight seals.
Column align: middle
710 Rock Creek Canyon Rd
Colorado Springs, CO 80926
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May Natural History Museum