10 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



there was a very great deal in a name. To be termed a " fly- 

 catcher," though perhaps savouring a little of contempt, is 

 not so galling to the thin-skinned entomologist as the title 

 " bug-hunter," or such like opprobrious appellation ; and this 

 is perhaps one reason why the Hemipteia have never been 

 popular among collectors generally. A more probable reason 

 is that, Hemipterists being few and far between, a beginner 

 does not readily meet with that appreciation of his good 

 fortune (when he has made some notable capture) that a col- 

 lector of Lepidoptera does. For example, if A, being a 

 Lepidopterist, catches a Catocala fraxini, then C, D, E, F, 

 and all the rest, can appreciate and envy his good luck ; but 

 poor B, a hard-working Hemipterist, may get no end of 

 rarities, and on recording his good luck, no shout of admira- 

 tion is elicited from A, C, D, &c., but merely the query, 

 " What the dickens is that ? " or the remark, " That's only a 

 bug, or something of that kind." Most of us like appreciation, 

 and if a little envy is excited at the same time the value of our 

 Catocala fraxini is not diminished in our eyes thereby. 

 Possibly, however, there might be more collectors of 

 Hemiptera if the method of collecting and preserving these 

 insects was more generally known. A collector of Lepidoptera 

 will have, after a time, got most of the species to be found in 

 his locality, and may be expected, consequently, to have 

 more lime to devote to other insects. Let me recommend 

 him then to lake up the bugs. There are not too many of 

 them, and they vary so much in colour and structure, and in 

 their natural history, that he cannot fail to be interested in 

 them. And besides he runs a very great chance of dislin- 

 tinguishing himself by the discovery of species new to 

 Britain, if not to Science, a bit of excitement which few 

 collectors of British Lepidoptera may expect to happen to 

 them. 



We will suppose, then, that some collector, glowing with 

 the noble ambition to put on record two bugs where only 

 one was known before, determines, not quite perhaps to 

 throw Lepidoptera to the dogs, but at least to include 

 Hemiptera in his studies. At first he may find a little 

 difficulty in determining whether certain specimens belong to 

 the Hemiptera or not, but an examination of the structure of 

 the mouth will at once show him whether he is right, and he 



