312 METHOD or COLLECTING INSECTS. 



If a sufficient quantity of camphor is not constantly kept in the 

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

 they are easily discerned by the dust which is under the insects : cam- 

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

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

 baked by the tire; 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 with cork, 

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

 be kept very conveniently on a shelf in an upriglit 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 arc more congenial to their nature than others, 

 I shall state the best methods of searching in those places M'hich in 

 general are the most profitable to the Entomologist. 



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

 greatest portion of insects. In woods, the Entomologist must lieat the 

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

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

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

 and Coleopterous insects are found in no other situations. Many rare 

 and very beautiful insects are found in the hedges, in lanes, as also in 

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

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

 June. Should tlie 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 princii)al woods near London, and the most frequented by Ento- 

 mologists, are Coombe AVood and Norwood in Surrey, — Birch Wood, 

 Darent Wood, and woods round Bexley in Kent. Coombe 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 

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

 are to be 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 immense number of 

 Coleopterous and Hymenopterous insects. There are also some very 

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

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



