COLLECTING AND I'KKSKKYI .\<J OUTI lOl'TKKA. 



30 



This 

 well 



Fig. jo. One form of a sweeping or beating net 

 opened and attached to handle, with frame of same 

 folded. (After Kiesenwctter.) 



ring the insects into the net, where they can be captured with 

 fingers or forceps, or by placing the mouth of the killing bottle 



quickly over them, 

 net also serves 

 instead of an 

 umbrella as a beat- 

 ing receptable. For 

 this purpose it is 

 held under the foli- 

 age with one hand 

 while the limb is 

 struck a quick, sharp 

 downward blow with 

 a strong stick. The 

 sweep net serves best 

 in the capture of such 

 Orthoptera as do not 

 fly quickly as man- 

 tids, phasmids, most 

 katydids, long-horned 

 grasshoppers, tree crickets, ground and sand crickets, etc. 



For the quick flying or leaping Orthoptera, as the short-horned 

 locusts, species of tfcudderia, etc., a strong butterfly net with the 

 bag of gauze, bruxelle or mosquito netting will be most useful. 

 With this the insect may usually be taken by a quick swoop just 

 as it rises, or by bringing the net suddenly down over it from 

 above, as it rests on the ground. The thin meshed bag has the 

 advantage of the insect being readily visible when captured, 

 whereas one must open the sweep net and peer into its depths, 

 thus giving many a fine specimen a chance to dart out and away. 

 A cheap frame for either sweep or butterfly net can be made of a 

 piece of heavy No. 4 or larger wire bent into the proper form with 

 about three inches of each end bent in such a way that they can 

 be made parallel and then forced into the end of a bamboo or 

 other handle. 



Another device used by collectors is the forceps net made of 

 two rings five or six inches in diameter, each with gauze stretched 

 tightly across it, the two handles to which the rings are attached 

 being hinged like a pair of large shears and the rings tightly fit- 

 ting when closed. This net is useful in taking tree crickets and 

 other Orthoptera which have been located by their song at night. 



