BUGS, OR HEMIPTERA. 57 



should be fastened to a piece of mica or to a round bit of 

 card-board with a little gum-arabic, and the pin placed 

 through the mica or card, or they may be transfixed with 

 very fine silver wire ; this wire must then be inserted in 

 a bit of cork, through which the common insect -pin is 

 placed. 



Beetles that are collected in remote countries should 

 always be transported in alcohol. When they are to re- 

 main long in alcohol it should be changed once, then 

 they will keep for years uninjured. After they have been 

 in alcohol for two or three weeks there is no need of its 

 covering them, as a little in the bottom of the bottle will 

 keep them sufficiently moist; but they should never be 

 allowed to dry. 



Beetles may be preserved in a weak solution of carbolic 

 acid as readily as in alcohol. This has the additional ad- 

 vantage of preserving the specimens that have been im- 

 mersed in it from the ravages of noxious insects for some 

 time. Glycerine can be used to advantage in preserving 

 beetles that have delicate colors which fade in alcohol; 

 but they cannot be pinned without cleansing. 



Bugs, or Hemiptera, may be found generally upon plants. 

 The common thistle (Cirsium lanceolatum) furnishes a pas- 

 ture for several species. Numerous representatives of this 

 order may be found on low bushes, and in the grass during 

 summer and autumn. At least one species may be found 

 in cheap boarding-houses during the midnight hours. The 

 almost endless variety of Plant Lice come under this head, 

 and may be taken everywhere on plants during summer 

 and autumn. 



These insects, like the beetle, are first immersed in 

 alcohol, and afterwards placed upon pins, with the legs 

 arranged in natural positions, and the peculiar sucking- 

 tube, with which they are all provided, brought well for- 

 ward so as to be more easily examined. The numerous 

 3* 



