36 A. COTTAM — OFE BRITISH BEETLES. 



long enough to kill the herbage under them, and especially those 

 that are on moist ground ; for beetles love a certain amount of 

 moisture, although most of them dislike actual wet. 



Many of the vegetable-feeders are often to be found sheltering 

 under stones, and it seems often that they are the bait that tempts 

 the carnivorous beetles into the same places. 



Of course the best way to coUect the plant-feeding species is 

 to sweep or beat the particular plants or trees they are known to 

 affect, and some knowledge of botany is invaluable in collecting 

 these sections If the plant can be ascertained upon which any 

 particular beetle has been caught, it is often a guide to the acquisi- 

 tion of a good series of specimens, and where the food-plant is 

 not known previously, this should be noted for future guidance. 

 The majority of the plant-feeding beetles are named specifically 

 after their food-plants ; for instance, A^^mz Limonii is only to be 

 found on the sea lavender, Statice Limonium ; but it does not 

 always follow that the perfect insect is to be found on the food- 

 plant. The " nut-weevil " is, I believe, most frequently beaten out 

 of oak trees, and there are other similar cases. 



It is impossible, within the limits of such a paper as this, to 

 give more than a mere outline of the methods adopted for collect- 

 ing. There is a capital little book recently published by 

 David Bogue, called ' Kotes on Preserving and Collecting 

 Natural History Objects,' being a collection of papers by various 

 authors, that I can strongly recommend, and one of those papers, by 

 Mr. Rye, goes very fully into the subject of beetle-collecting. 



I will only add that mere chance collecting will produce no 

 good results, and that patience, perseverance, and thoughtful 

 application of experience — needful in all natural -history collect- 

 ing — are especially so where beetles are concerned. 



