FRENCH BEETLE-FORCEPS. 



433 



of tliese, hoops should be fitted, covered with fine gauze, 

 and made to close accurately when moved like a pair of 

 scissors. It requires some experience and dexterity to catch 

 nimble insects with these ; but it is indispensable for a 

 collector to acquire this skill. Wiihout opening them at 

 all, the forceps may be used for securing an insect when 

 alighted on a wall, or other flat surface, by merely covering 

 it ; for which purpose some collectors also use a ring-net. 

 We are of opinion, however, that it is more convenient 

 to have few instruments, for multiplicity only serves to 

 embarrass. 



We have taken a great number of insects by means of a 

 pill-box, putting the lid on one side and the bottom on the 

 other side of a leaf, and suddenly shutting in both the 

 insect and the part of the leaf it was sitting on. When a 

 small moth, again, or other insect, is resting on a wall, a 

 pane of glass, or the smooth trunk of a tree, we take off the 



a, French beetle-forceps; and b. Pliers. 



lid of a pill-box, cover the insect with the bottom part, 

 which we move backwards and forwards till the insect 

 takes refage from the annoyance at the very bottom, when 

 we cover it as quickly as possible with the lid. This is by 

 far the best way of taking small moths, for their delicate 

 plumage is not injured, as it must inevitably be when they 

 are touched even in the most gentle way. 



We purchased last year, in Paris, a pair of insect forceps, 

 which do not seem to be known to our collectors, but 



2 F 



