Too young to collect?

[Citheronia at aol.com]

Okay, it's my turn to add my two cents...

I began collecting Lepidoptera when I was about four, which lasted until I 
was about seven. At that time I hadn't even heard of a spreading board or a 
Cornell drawer. I simply put the specimen I caught into a container in the 
freezer, and hoped it died with its wings open. Later on when I was 10, I 
started once again. This time I used pins and a spreading board. The first 
10-15 specimens or so were pinned pretty badly, as would have been expected. 
As my spreading improved and my interest grew, I decided to join the 
Lepidopterists' Society in 1995 (I would have been 11), and I was able to 
meet people that I could trade with. I gradually learned the art of softening 
and spreading papered specimens, which came fairly easily to me. As my 
collection expanded, my specimens became more and more 'perfect,' looking 
nearly as good as ones in reference books. This hobby was pretty much my 
life, and was determined that I was going to be an Entomologist when I grew 
up. I was doing experiments with inbreeding, hybridization, and melanism when 
I was 14. I thought it was the greatest thing in the world to be able to do 
experiments and have my own little 'museum' of specimens from around the US 
and a few other countries. 

Well, now, a few years and several thousand specimens later, I'm 17 years old 
and still collecting with much vigor and enthusiasm. I think now that I've 
spread over 3,000 papered specimens that most of them turn out 
'professionally spread,' and are stored in California Academy drawers. I 
think that encouraging young children to collect insects or at least teach 
them about insects is a good way to make them interested in nature, and to 
keep them out of trouble. I don't think there is a such thing as "too young" 
to collect, because even if their specimens don't look great, their 
collections usually mean a lot to them, and it gives them something to 
motivate them. Although I no longer aspire to become an Entomologist (my 
trombone and music in general has become my main focus), I am willing to 
wager that I will be collecting Lepidoptera, and will continue to be 
interested in them for the rest of my life.

Randy Lyttle
Citheronia at aol.com