Oct., '08] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 393 



need not necessarily be examined after each sweep, but when a 

 considerable quantity of matter is accumulated it may be spread 

 upon a piece of cloth, carried for the purpose, upon the shore, 

 and when ten minutes or so has elapsed the beetles will leave 

 the drying mass sometimes by the hundred. One of the best 

 places to collect is along the edges of shallow water areas 

 among the vegetable mould and old leaves. The material is 

 swept up with a net, placed on a cloth as above described, and 

 broken up into small pieces in order that dessication may be- 

 gin promptly. At first the mass may seem devoid of life, but as 

 the material becomes dry, the beetles will begin to emerge. In 

 this way Mr. Roberts has taken hundreds of Hydroporus dif- 

 formis which until then had been regarded as an extremely rare 

 insect. To collect in flowing streams a loosely woven cloth 

 should be stretched across and through the stream, and the 

 stones, gravel and sand overturned and stirred up a short dis- 

 tance above it. The dislodged beetles will be swept into the 

 cloth to which they will cling for support, and it is only neces- 

 sary to draw up the cloth and reap the harvest. On one occa- 

 sion Mr. Roberts collected by actual count seven hundred bee- 

 tles in this manner after stirring up about two feet of sand and 

 gravel. 



He also spoke of the absolute necessity of mounting small 

 aquatic Coleoptera from the side, i. e., by bending the tips of the 

 point downward at an angle to conform to that of the side of 

 the beetle and attaching the specimen in such a way as to leave 

 the center and one-half the under side free. Color is often de- 

 ceiving in the identification of water beetles ; but the characters 

 on the underside are good and reliable, hence the necessity of 

 this method of mounting. 



Mr. Brehme exhibited a box of Hcmilcuca clcctra, showing 

 the tendency toward black individuals, and Mr. Wasmuth ex- 

 hibited a specimen of Telea polyphemus with almost black sec- 

 ondaries. 



Mr. Doll showed specimens of Fapilin acanthi Oberth. and 

 spoke of the differences between that species and P. philcnor. 



JOHN A. GROSSBECK, Secretary. 



