THE COLLECTION OF SPECIMENS. 



291 



collecting serve to dispel such belief. The net should 

 be swung so quickly that the insects have not time 

 to escape. In collecting butterflies, dragon-flies, and 

 other swiftly flying insects, it is usually better to wait 

 till the insect alights before attempting to catch it. 



For general collecting the most important mode 

 of using the net is that commonly known as sweep- 

 ing. Larger returns, both as regards the number of 

 species and of specimens, can be obtained in this way 

 than in any other. In order to sweep, the collector 

 grasps his net handle eighteen or twenty inches 

 above the ring, and with a quick motion back and 

 forth in front of him as he walks through the grass 

 or other herbage, sweeps the insects from it into his 

 net. Of course, the net must be turned at the end of 

 each stroke, and must be kept in rapid motion, so 

 that the insects can not escape from it. After sweep- 

 ing a greater or less distance, depending upon the 

 abundance of specimens, the net is examined, the de- 

 sirable specimens secured, and the others allowed to 

 escape. 



Another method of using a net is to beat from 

 beneath the foliage of shrubs and trees; in this way 

 many specimens can be jarred into the net. 



In using a net in water it should be moved back 

 and forth as rapidly as possible, care being taken to 

 beat or sweep any plants growing on the bottom of 

 the pond or stream. Sometimes many specimens can 

 be obtained by sweeping into the net leaves and other 

 rubbish from the bottom of a pond, and bringing them 

 to the shore and looking them over carefully. 



In swiftly flowing streams an excellent way to 

 collect is to stand where the water flows swiftest, 



