JANUARY. 35 



Most of the insects included in the list for 

 this month, may be found the greater part 

 of the year. They hybernate copiously be- 

 neath moss and the bark of trees. Aquatic 

 beetles, being less subject to atmospheric 

 changes, may be observed and caught at all 

 seasons, but are more active during the sum- 

 mer months, when their food (the small aquatic 

 larvae) is more abundant. Being amphibious, 

 and well provided with wings, they can, when 

 their store of food is exhausted, fly from one 

 pool to another, thus avoiding death, either 

 from starvation or the drying up of the water in 

 summer. Equipped with wings, and having a 

 voracious appetite, they tend materially to keep 

 in check a myriad of noxious insects, and to 

 purify our ditches and stagnant pools, which 

 would otherwise become unfit for cattle. 



