CHAPTER II. 



Collecting Insects. 



So many excellent essays have been written on collecting 

 insects that it would probably be a most difficult task to 

 supply much fresh information on the subject ; but as many 

 of my readers may be unable to consult works specially 

 devoted thereto, the present chapter will, perhaps, be of 

 some value in showing them a few of the most convenient 

 methods of collecting insects in New Zealand. 



Coleoptera, or Beetles, may be found almost everywhere. 

 Overturning logs and stones, peeling off bark, and cutting 

 into the solid wood of trees, all produce a great variety of 

 species. A small axe and an iron wrench, shaped some- 

 thing like a chisel, but bent round at the upper end, are 

 the best instruments for working old trees. The bark should 

 be all stripped off and examined, as well as the surface of 

 the log underneath. The same remarks apply to stones, 

 which should be searched as well as the places from which 

 they were removed. Sacks, if left about the fields for a 

 few weeks, often harbour good beetles, and when found 

 they should always be pulled up and examined. 



An umbrella, held upside down under flowering shrubs 

 in the forest, will often be found swarming with beetles 

 .after the plants have been sharply tapped with a stout 



