312 METHOD or COLLECTIKG INSECTS. 



If a sufficient quantity oi" camphor is not constantly kept in the 

 drawers, the insects will soon be destroyed by niitcs : where these exist, 

 they arc easily discerned by the dust which is luider the insects : cam- 

 phor must be immediately put in the drawers, and the insects taken out, 

 (the dust being brushed off by a fine soft camel's hair pencil) and 

 baked by the fire; care must be had that too great a heat is not applied, 

 as it will utterly destroy the specimen. 



Store Boxes. — The neatest method for these is to make them about 

 a foot square, the top and bottom about two inches deep, on the prin- 

 ciple of back-gammon boards ; the inside must be lined witli cork, 

 and, if with a hinge and neatly covered with paper or painted, they may 

 be kept very conveniently on a shelf in an upright position like books, 

 and lettered accordingly. 



METHOD OF COLLECTING INSECTS. 



Insects are so various in their habits that they may be found in 

 every part of the world, at all seasons of the year, and in every situ- 

 ation. As some parts are more congenial to their nature than others, 

 I shall slate the best methoils of searching in those places which in 

 general are the most profitable to the Entomologist. 



Woods, Hedges, and Laxes.— These situations produce by far the 

 greatest portion of insect^. In woods, the Entomologist must beat the 

 branches of the trees into his folding net, and must select for this pur- 

 pose ojien paths, the skirts, &c. The trunks of trees, gates, and felled 

 timber, should be carclully examined, as many of the Lepidoptera 

 and Coleopterous insects are I'oiuul in nf) other situations. Many rare 

 and very beautifid insects arc found in the hedges, in lane:-, as also in 

 the nettles, &c. which grow under theni: these should be well beat, 

 especially when the white thorn is in bloom in the months of May and 

 June. Should the reader collect only for the microscope, he need not 

 go to the trouble or expense of a net, as an open umbrella inverted will 

 answer his purpose. Hedges in dusty roads are seldom productive. — 

 The principal woods near London, and the most frequented by Ento- 

 mologists, are Coombe Wood and Norwood in Surrey, — Birch ^\()od, 

 Darent Wood, and woods round Bexley in Rent. CooiTibe Wood has 

 long been celebrated for the great variety of insects which it produces. 

 Birch Wood is on the Maidstone road, and is of great extent: near the 

 14-mile stone on this road is a large chalk-pit in which many rare insects 

 are to he obtained. Bexley, a small village, lies between Crayford and 

 Foot's Cray. In these woods I have collected with great success: near 

 the village is a large sand-pit which produces an inmicnse number of 

 Coleopterous and Hymenopterous insects. There are also some very 

 rural lanes round the village which produce a great variety ul insects : 

 in the rivers and brooks I have taken many rare aquatics. Norwood 



