NATURAL LOCALITIES OF BRITISH COLEOPTERA. 63 



used these feathers for the whole of his Trichopterygid(B. The 

 Staphylinida are perhaps the most aggravating, as, in the 

 first place, owing to the formation of their anterior coxae, they 

 are very hard to set flat, and it is the sine qua non of all setting 

 of beetles that they should be straight and flat on the card ; and, 

 even if this be overcome, they have a habit of curling up, the 

 segments of the abdomen all telescoping and rendering the insect 

 an unsightly object generally : if, however, the anterior legs be 

 drawn backwards instead of forwards (and they look just as well), 

 and if an extra supply of gum tragacanth or a little pure gum 

 arable be placed under the tail, both these disadvantages will be 

 avoided ; a card brace for the abdomen is also a perfect remedy 

 for contraction. 



The gum, as just mentioned, should be gum tragacanth, but 

 two or three lumps of gum arable should always be added, and 

 a little carbolic acid or spirit to preserve it from decomposition, 

 which soon sets in otherwise. 



The card should not be smooth, but rather roughened on the 

 surface : a thick post-card is an excellent type of card for general 

 setting, and as it is to be obtained at all country post-ofl&ces it 

 may come in very useful in out-of-the-way places, as an innumer- 

 able quantity of beetles may be set on one such card, if cut up 

 into small strips. 



The pins used should not be too thick or too long, and the 

 beetles should not be raised more than half an inch up them ; if 

 they are raised very high, as is the custom in some collections, 

 they are much more apt to jerk off the card when removed from 

 one box to another. 



It is perhaps waste of time to set all the minute species 

 correctly ; but unless they are set flat, with the antennae and one 

 anterior leg at least fully showing, they are in many cases 

 utterly useless : it is almost impossible to name many of the 

 Meligethes, Saprini, &c., without these parts being clearly dis- 

 played, the distinctive characters not only of species but of 

 genera depending entirely upon them. 



The localities in which Coleoptera may be found, and various 

 methods for their capture, will be mentioned in forthcoming 

 papers ; but there are two points that well deserve consideration, 

 which are considered essential with lej)idopterists, but are almost 

 entirely neglected by coleopterists, and these are breeding and 



