COLKOPTERA. 



175 



the evening. On one occasion in late August I remember taking a 

 fine J of (^<>J(in dcntiiu's, G. hrunncum and Ananrojiliaiins nplialoti's, 

 before throe o'clocl<. Usually, however, about an hour before sunset 

 is a good time to commence, and on favourable evenings from then 

 till a'iirk may be profitably employed. In fact, some of the best thmgs 

 are sometimes met with when it is almost too dark to distinguish 

 them. I have twice taken single specimens of Kutheia scliaumi, when 

 it was too dark to be really sure what they were. On exceptionally 

 favourable evenings it is as well to sweep on after it is dark, and when 

 the net gets too full, tie it up tightly, and examine it carefully at home. 

 In this way I have taken such nice things as 'rmpiiiluirusrarinatiis and 

 Liosoina oUomiuluiH. 



By far the most important point of all, however, is the sort_ ot 

 weather which is adapted to evening sweeping. It is no use going 

 out in ami sort of weather. The atmospheric conditions must be just 

 right, or you get nothing ; as far as my experience goes wind is absolutely 

 fa'tal to success. No matter how bright and warm it may be, it is never 

 any good if there is a breeze. The sort of evening that is wanted is 

 a stiFl, hot, close one, following either a hot day or rainy weather. 

 If it be thundery, and the air heavy and oppressive, so inuch the 

 better. On such an evening it is astonishing how many species may 

 bo swept up in a favourable locality. A little rain— if not a cold ram 

 —is not always a drawback, although it makes it rather difficult 

 work to distinguish what you have got when each sweep loaves the net 

 dripping with wet. I well remember some years ago, when collecting at 

 Shiero,! took two specimens of Triarthron miirkdi, Tyichunijx mh'm^Uis 

 and Thah/cra scricca, when it was so wet that under ordinary circum- 

 stances I 'should not have been collecting at all ; but it was the last 

 day of my holiday, and although it rained sharply at intervals, I 

 swept on till dark, almost the last insect I took being the 'J'luih/rra. 



I have never found evening sweeping any good until quite the end 

 of ^lay. and I look on .July, August and Hoptember, as by far the best 

 three months of the year for this style of collecting. If you can get 

 the right sort of weather in the autumn, you can sweep with advantage 

 for Anisotoinidar until very late in the year. I once took a pan- of 

 AnisuUma qrandU, quite at the end of September, by sweeping a grassy 

 ride in Guestling wood in the afternoon, and I believe in some districts 

 where Anisotomidac are more plentiful than they are here, many good 

 species may be taken after most collectors consider the swooping 

 season has finished. 



The places I have found most suitable for sweeping are grassy 

 rides in woods, the wider and more open the better, lanes with sloping 

 banks, particularly if on the sides of woods; edges of parks and 

 commons, and ditch sides in marshy places. _ :Many of the best species 

 are found by sweeping grassy places under fir trees. 



To enumerate alltho species which may be mot with by evening 

 sweeping would take up far too much space in an article of this kind. 

 The following list, all of which I have taken myself, will give some 

 idea of what may be produced by persistent working: — ^iintnHiiiiin 

 ai-ufuin, Unmalmm. e.vi(jmun, Trivhonijx sulcirollis, KupLrtits /lirrus aud 

 /•;. liidstrni, Scijdinaenu's aniirdatua, dnitirornis and ixnrcri, Kutliciajilirat,!, 

 and srlidunii, ^Aijathidimit atniin, Amphiri/llis tjldhus, (.'ifitiisd paiuilla, 

 Anifi^tuiiui badia, calcanita, dubio, nujrita, parvnla, oralis and yrandis, 



