196 Bugs, Butterflies, and Beetles 



kills the insects so that they may be removed at 

 leisure. 



A great many beetles may be collected in the 

 springtime by scooping up the rubbish in the woods 

 and paths, putting it in a sieve and shaking the 

 latter over a piece of white paper. 



Of course all the finer bits of rubbish will fall 

 on the paper, but with them will come a lot of sleepy 

 beetles which have been dozing away all winter 

 under the leaves. 



The driftwood and rubbish left by the brooks, 

 streams and rivers on their shores may be examined 

 in the same way for specimens. Sometimes a drop 

 of ammonia water on a pile of rubbish, Hke the 

 poison gas used by the Germans, will force the 

 beetles to leave their hiding place and crawl on 

 the white paper spread there for that purpose. 



Many insects, including some beetles, have a 

 habit, when frightened, of letting go all hold and 

 dropping to the ground and thus escaping cap- 

 ture ; but knowing this habit of theirs, the collector 

 will often invert an umbrella — that is, put an um- 

 brella upside down under a bush and then strike 

 the bush with his hand and thus frighten the beetles 



