78 



BULLETIN 67, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 





Fig. 121.— A Chrysomelid beetle. Disonycha xantho- 

 mel.ena: a. Beetle; 6, eggs; 66, sculpture of same, 

 highly magnified; c, larva; d, pupa; e, NEWLY 

 hatched larva; /, segment of same. 



species are flying about, especially toward evening. On favorable 

 clays the. number of specimens and species that can thus be found is 



astonishingly great, and this 

 is one of the few occasions 

 when the coleopterist can ad- 

 vantageously use a light 

 butterfly net. The flying 

 beetles preferably alight and 

 rest on the top of wooden 

 fences (especially newly made 

 ones), on the railings of 

 bridges, etc., where they can 

 be easily seen and secured, or 

 they are attracted in great 

 numbers by the white-painted 

 surface of buildings. This 

 flying season lasts in the 

 latitude of Washington from 

 the end of April to the middle 

 of June, but favorable days 

 are not of frequent occur- 

 rence, since a peculiar combination of atmospheric conditions appears 

 to be necessary to induce the Coleoptera to fly about in great 

 numbers. 



Beach collecting. — Along the shores of the ocean and the Great 

 Lakes untold numbers of 

 Coleoptera and other insects 

 fall at this season into the 

 water, and, if the tides, the cur- 

 renls, and the winds be favor- 

 able, they are washed ashore 

 by the waves on the sandy 

 beaches, where they often form 

 windrows several inches in 

 height and width. If the col- 

 lector is happy enough to be at 

 the right place on the right day 

 he has then the opportunity to 

 pick up hundreds of rare spe- 

 cies within a very short time 

 and without any trouble. Many 

 of the specimens thus washed 

 ashore are dead and decayed, Fig - 122 - The rhinoceros beetle, dynastes tityi-s. 



but the majority are alive and in excellent condition. This ' ' beach col- 

 lecting" affords also an excellent opportunity for the hymenopterist 



