8G i:\TOMOLOGICAL RAMBLES IX THE MIDLANDS. 



Saving had enough of bark-stripping, we next collect some of the 



fl 1 leaves Lying around, shake them over paper, and put the residue 



■ extract " as it is ealled — into bags, to be taken home and searched 



at our convenience. From tins we shall obtain plenty of good things — 



(,, idephaga, Brachelytra, Clavicornia, &o. 



Then we turn to the moss growing on the tree trunks, which we 

 also shake over paper, pulling it thoroughly to pieces, and bagging 

 the '• extract " as before. In this we find great numbers of micro- 

 scopical beetles, such as Bryaxis fossulata and juncorum, Pselaphus 

 Il,i<ii. Tychns niger, Eumicrus tarsatus, Scydmcenus scutellaris and 

 collaris, and probably Cephennium thoracicum; besides hosts of other 

 things. These will require much care and patience to set and 

 name, but when properly mounted and examined, by means of our 

 microscopes, their exquisite beauty will prove ample compensation for 

 all our pains. 



Reallv, winter work out of doors seems inexhaustible. By exam- 

 ining Fungi on old trees and palings we discover new treasures. 

 1 interesting species are obtained from rotten wood, whilst from 



ing birch stump we take several larvae of Skip-jacks (Sternoxi) 

 and of the Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa serratieornis) all of which we 

 carry home, in fragments of the wood, to be reared. But, perhaps, one 

 of t be favourite resorts of insects in winter has yet to be examined, viz., 

 a h ivstack. Yonder is one that looks promising, having evidently been 

 a rick at least two seasons. Here we can lie down on the dry hay, 

 ahi Ltered from the cold wind, and, spreading our sheet of paper, work 

 in o (reparative comfort. Taking a handful of rubbish from the very 

 bottom of the stack we shake it over the paper, when, lo ! insects in 

 tiii: beds Be1 up a Bcramble for dear life. Some species are extremely 

 active, and escape over the side before they can be secured; others 

 content themselves with a leisurely march over the paper as if 'twere 

 hen iath their dignity to hurry, even under such extraordinary circum- 



; whilst not a few manifest a remarkable degree of self-pos- 



!.\ remaining perfectly still for several minutes, only venturing 

 to move off when they think all danger has passed. This habit is a 

 ver\ '• Baving" one for thoso that possess it, few insect-hunters having 

 sufficient patience to wait until these insects resume the use of their 

 lees, (and it is almost impossible to see them until they do,) the whole 

 lot. as a rule, being pitched away after a merely cursory examination. 

 Steni, Leptacini, Philonthi, Homalia, Micropepli, Megarthri are here in 

 moe ;Tyhph<i fwnata, several species of CryptopJiagi, Atomarice, 

 Corticarice, Lathridii, and VY/VAcy^. ■/•//. r are extremely plentiful, and 

 -. ith them we find two Bpeoiesof dnthicus, tl iralisajadantherinus, 

 the first named being the commonest. Nearly all sections of the order 



ra are, however, well represented, from the smallest of the 

 Clavicoraga (such as Trichopteryx atomaria) to the largest of the 

 Qeodephaga (e.g., Oarabus nemoralis.) Under refuse and moss, in a 

 boggy part of the l'ark, I have found the uncommon Scydmcenus hirti- 

 colli*, a beetle worth searching for. 



