108 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Titan, Ptilmm foveolatiim, Pteridium ajncale (the most abundant 

 beetle at all seasons of the year, the next perhaps being Acritus 

 miniitus), and one or two other species that may perhaps prove 

 new to Science. This list will serve to show what may be 

 obtained from a hot-bed, as other groups are equally abundant. 

 It is a very good plan to put a little moss in a corner of the hot- 

 bed, and examine it from day to day. It will also be found very 

 productive to examine the under side of the glass some time 

 after the plants have been watered and the frame closed. When 

 the steam has condensed in thick drops on the under surface, a 

 great number of beetles are always flying from the inside of the 

 frame to the light, and get stuck in the water. It is astonishing 

 what large species {Oxyteli, &c.) may be found in this way, 

 besides the minuter species. Boards placed round the bed, if 

 examined on hot days, are often found to have good beetles 

 adhering to their under sides. In autumn, when the heat has 

 more or less left the bed, good species may be found in the 

 manure and grass round the edge. I have taken Philonthiis 

 thermarum, good Cryptophagi, and other things, which I have 

 not seen earlier in the year. Even in winter, it is a very rare 

 thing to find a hot-bed wholly unproductive ; in fact, sometimes 

 more species may be obtained then than at other times, as the 

 slight warmth left is a great attraction to hybernating Coleoptera. 

 In the warm days of spring these beetles come out in great 

 abundance, and may be seen flying over the manure ; and both 

 at this time and in the hot days of summer promiscuous working 

 with the sweeping-net backwards and forwards over the bed will 

 produce many good beetles, the various species of the very rare 

 genus Euthia being perhaps the best that have been taken in 

 this way. A list of the species to be procured from grass and 

 hot-beds would take up too much space for our paper, but I can 

 only advise any collector who is studying the minuter groups to 

 leave no frame untouched that he can get access to. Beginners 

 had better not spend too much time over them, as very many of 

 the species are difficult to set properly, and hard to determine ; 

 after the experience of a year or two, however, a season almost 

 entirely given up to hot-bed collecting will amply repay any 

 collector. 



A very fair collection of beetles for a beginner may be made 

 from pavements, roads, and pathways, ; the whiter the better. 



