170 ON MAKING USEFUL 



are, when caught and killed, not easily packed for transmission ; 

 the usual and, I beHeve, best plan being to wrap up each speci- 

 men in a triangular piece of paper and place them all in a box 

 together. But this method is very unsatisfactory, the insects being 

 liable to get rubbed, and only too often eaten up by mites before 

 they are relaxed and reset at home. 



There have been and are now genuine workers who have 

 studied the Macro-Lepidoptera only. Some of these have not 

 only collected many rare species, but have worked out the life-his- 

 tory of each by rearing the insects from the eggs, and have made 

 accurate drawings and descriptions of the larvae and pupae. I 

 need only mention the very beautiful and careful drawings of the 

 larvae and pup^ of the Lepidoptera made by the late Mr. W. 

 Buckler, and of which those of the Butterflies have been published 

 by the " Ray Society" as their annual volume for 1885. Again, 

 the preserving specimens of the larvae and placing them in the 

 cabinet by the side of those of the perfect insects, has of late 

 years been prosecuted by some energetic and enthusiastic collec- 

 tors with great skill, one of the most successful of whom is Lord 

 Walsingham, whose magnificent collection is said to be a treat to 

 see. Another who has persevered in this line is Miss Golding- 

 Bird. I may also mention that several ladies have distinguished 

 themselves in rearing these insects through all their stages, and 

 would more particularly name Mrs. Hutchison, of Leominster. 

 Such earnest workers deserve the greatest praise, but compared 

 with the number of collectors these genuine entomologists are 

 very few. 



I think one thing which prevents collectors from turning their 

 attention to small insects — particularly beetles — and those even 

 who do so from the more general study of their minute structure, 

 is the want of a microscope. One of our very best authorities on 

 Beetles says, " If you cannot determine the species of your 

 insect with a pocket-lens, and a Stanhope or Coddington for the 

 very small ones, give it up and take to collecting stamps or some- 

 thing similar." He, however, goes on to say, " If you want to 

 study the structure of your insects, you must dissect them, and 

 then a compound microscope is necessary." It is a fact that the 

 majority of collectors do not possess a microscope ; they simply 



