April 1, 1S6S.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



73 



ON COLLECTING AND MOUNTING COLEOPTERA. 



By E. C. RYE. 



HE present space at 

 my disposal being 

 necessarily limited, 

 I can only indi- 

 cate the habits 

 and haunts of our 

 Coleopterous Fauna 

 in a very superficial 

 way ; and, unfor- 

 tunately, it is precisely in the 

 case of this order of insects, 

 both on account of its nu- 

 merical extent (containing as 

 it does upwards of 3,000 re- 

 corded species in the British 

 Isles), and the very varied 

 and mostly light - shunning 

 proclivities of its members, 

 that a considerable amount 

 of specific knowledge on those 

 points is required before the 

 collector can expect to be at 

 all successful. Moreover, it 

 is of the greatest importance 

 that the student should be enabled to detect his 

 captures specifically at the time ; which to do 

 requires acute vision and a good memory — a com- 

 bination not developed in all men. It is to these 

 considerations that I attribute the paucity of rare 

 or new species among the beetles that occur to 

 beginners. Luckily, however, the field of obser- 

 vation is so large, the structural details of the 

 species so varied, and (as yet) their preliminary 

 stages so little known, that there is more than room 

 for all. 



Looking at the British Isles in a Coleopterous point 

 of view, it may be remarked that Ireland is the least 

 worked, and should, for various reasons (especially 

 the set of the Gulf stream on its southern coasts), 

 be most likely to produce novelties. The boundary 

 counties of Wales are also promising and corn- 

 No. 40. 



paratively virgin hunting-grounds. In certain parts 

 of Scotland (especially towards the west) an unex- 

 pected development of Alpine and Swedish forms 

 occurs ; and Scotland itself, as a whole, is much 

 more productive, both of species (whether recorded 

 or new) and individuals, than the dweller in the 

 Midland Counties would expect. The neighbour- 

 hood of London, both on account of its geographical 

 position and its command of varied soils, through 

 the numerous railroads of which it is the centre, 

 is perhaps the best of any district, judging from 

 results, which, however, may be fallacious, the 

 numerous captures of good things in its vicinity 

 being possibly due to the number of resident 

 entomologists. Anyhow, it is beyond doubt that 

 beetles are to be found nearly everywhere ; though 

 it is also still more so that a chalky or sandy soil (or, 

 still better, the point of junction of chalk and sand) 

 is the most, and a clayey soil the least, productive. 

 Nevertheless, fenny districts (wherever such now 

 remain undrained) are exceedingly prolific in beetle 

 life, the ffydradephaga being of course propor- 

 tionately predominant. 



As instructions for collecting, the method at once 

 most exhaustive and most likely to be efficacious 

 would be to go through our list of Coleoptera, point- 

 ing out localities for the different families or minor 

 subdivisions of them ; but want of space prevents 

 me from adopting such a course, and I can only 

 throw out general hints for the use of the beginner. 



Eirst, then, it may be remarked that the pre- 

 vailing notion as to the abundauce of insects, and 

 therefore of beetles, in the hot summer months is 

 scarcely a correct one. Eor the most part, beetles 

 attain the last stage of their metamorphosis at the 

 latter end of the autumn, passing the winter without 

 leaving their hiding-places, and coming into outer 

 light with the first warmth of spring. Many, also, 

 which come to maturity during the earlier autumn 

 hybernate in all kinds of nooks and corners, ap- 

 pearing also again in the ensuing spring. The 



D 



