[49] 



COLLECTING AND PRESERVING INSECTS RILEY. 



FIG. 68. A Tiger Beetle 

 (Cicindela limbata), drawn 

 by Miss Sullivan enlarged. 



Collecting aquatic Beetles. The fishing for water beetles in deeper water by means of 

 the water net has already been alluded to (p. [32]), but many species live in shallow 

 brooks with stony or gravelly bottom, where the water net can not be used. The 

 Dytiscida? audHydrophilid;e living in such places usually hide under stones, and can 

 in most cases be easily picked up with the hand, or a little 

 tin dipper or a spoon will be found convenient for catching 

 them. The species of the family Parnida? are found on the 

 underside of rough stones or logs which are either partially 

 or entirely submerged. They are more numerous, however, 

 in the moss or among the roots of other plants that grow in 

 the water. Such plants have to be pulled out and examined 

 over the collecting cloth. 



Collecting at the Seashore and on sandy Places. A large 

 number of species belonging to various families live exclu- 

 sively in the vicinity of the ocean, some on the open 

 beach, others along the inlets, bayous, or salt marshes, and 

 still others on the dry sand dunes. The Cicindehe are 

 actively running or flying about close to the water's 

 edge and have to be captured with the butterfly net. The 

 remaining maritime species live hidden under the seaweed 

 and other debris cast up by the waves, or in the sand 

 (sometimes quite deep below the surface) beneath the de"- 

 bris or between the roots of the plants growing on the 

 dunes. The majority of the maritime species do not ap- 

 pear before June (in the Middle States), but the collecting 

 remains good until September. 



In dry sandy places away from the seashore, the collect- 

 ing at the roots of plants is especially to be recommended, 



and the plants, and more especially the bunches of coarse grasses usually growing 



in such places, should be pulled up and 

 shaken out over the collecting cloth. This 

 mode of collecting acquires a great im- 

 portance in the arid regions of the West 

 and Southwest, where, in the warm sea- 

 sou, nearly all Coleoptera are hiding dur- 

 ing da\ time in the ground at the roots of 

 plants. 



Collecting Dung-beetles. The collecting 

 of the numerous species (Hydropliilidw, 

 Stfipltylinida 1 !, Hhterlda; Xcaraba'ida.', etc.) 

 which live in the droppings of various 

 animals is by no means an agreeable task. 

 The collector shoul 1 provide himself with 

 a pointed stick and collecting tweezers, 

 and must manage to pick up the speci- 

 mens as best he can. The larger speci- 

 mens are best collected in alcohol, while 

 the more delicate species can be collected 

 in a cleaner condition by removing the 

 droppings and sifting the ground beneath 

 the same. Some species hide deep in the 

 ground beneath the droppings and have 

 to be dug out. Summer freshets, when 

 pasture lauds are inundated, offer an excellent opportunity for collecting the dung- 

 inhabiting species in a clean condition. 



1>564 4 



FIG. 69. The Beaver Parasite (Platypsyllus can 

 toris), adult greatly enlarged. 



