198 Transactions. — Zoology. 



also more prettily marked or variegated. As they soon show 

 their activity when disturbed, the collector should be ready to 

 secure them at once, otherwise they elude capture by hiding 

 amongst the adjacent herbage, or by burrowing into the 

 ground, where they form their nests. They should be put into 

 a wide-mouthed bottle, about half- filled with the bruised 

 leaves and twigs of the common laurel. This killing-material 

 costs nothing, and can be prepared in a few minutes. Two or 

 three leaves may be held on any flat iron — an old axe or toma- 

 hawk answers the purpose — with one hand, whilst a hammer 

 held in the other soon reduces the leaves to a sort of pulp, 

 which should be pressed into the bottle. When out collecting, 

 two bottles should be carried, the " killing-bottle " and a re- 

 serve one. Every now and then the beetles should be turned 

 out of the first — as soon as there are three or four dead spe- 

 cimens — as the living very often mutilate the dead, and spoil 

 them as cabinet specimens, but by transferring them to the 

 "reserve bottle " the risk of injury is greatly reduced. When 

 sent to be named they should be packed amongst bruised 

 laurel in common tin match-boxes, which generally form a 

 sufficient protection during transit by post. The worst killing- 

 material is, in my opinion, alcohol : it makes the insects brittle, 

 so that any attempt to open the mandibles or " set out " the 

 limbs results in damage. As the Carahida do not travel far, 

 almost every separate locality produces some species peculiar 

 to itself, and for scientific purposes it is important that they 

 should be described before the progress of settlement dooms 

 them to extermination. I hope some of the members of your 

 Institute will take enough interest in the matter to respond to 

 my appeal. I have seen very few beetles from Canterbury, 

 and I shall be glad to name those that may be sent to me. 

 The mountainous region will yield, I feel sure, a considerable 

 number of interesting forms. :;: 



* For the systematic description of the foregoing species the reader 

 is referred to page 1400, Part VII., of the " Manual of the New Zealand 

 Coleoptera," by Captain Thomas Broun ; published by the New Zealand 

 Institute, Wellington, 1S93. This is a continuation of the same author's 

 Manual, published by the Museum Department, Part I., June, 1880 ; 

 Part II., May, 1S81 ; Parts III. and IV., April, 1886 : 973 pages in all, 

 and describing 1,756 species. Additional species, bringing up the number 

 to 2,591, are described in Parts V.-VIL, which will be issued concur- 

 rently with this volume of the Transactions. — J. PL, Ed. 



