86 THE CLASS OF INSECTS. 



of examining the under sides of stones in the vicinity of ants' 

 nests, in which position, during the spring and summer months, 

 many of the rarest of our native Coleoptera may be occasion- 

 ally procured." Excrementitious matter always contains many 

 interesting forms in various stages of growth. 



The trunks of fallen and decaying trees offer a rich harvest 

 for many wood-boring larvae, especially the Longicorn beetles, 

 and weevils can be found in the spring, in all their stages. Nu- 

 merous carnivorous Coleopterous and Dipterous larvae dwell 

 within them, and other larvae which eat the dust made by the 

 borers. The inside of pithy plants like the elder, raspberry, 

 blackberry, and syringa, are inhabited by many of the wild 

 bees, Osmia, Ceratina, and the wood-wasps, Crabro, Stigma, 

 etc., the habits of which, with those of their Chalcid and Ich- 

 neumon parasites, offer endless amusement and study. 



Ponds and streams shelter a vast throng of insects, and 

 should be diligently dredged with the water-net, and stones 

 and pebbles should be overturned for aquatic beetles, He- 

 miptera, and Dipterous larvae. 



The various sorts of galls should be collected in spring and 

 autumn and placed in vials or boxes, where they may be rear- 

 ed, and the rafters of out-houses, stone-walls, etc., should be 

 carefully searched for the nests of Mud-wasps. 



Collecting Apparatus. First in importance is the net. This 

 is made by attaching a ring of brass wire to a handle made 

 to slide on a pole six feet long. The net may be a foot in 

 diameter, and the bag itself made of thin gauze or mosquito- 

 netting (the finer, lighter, and more durable the better), and 

 should be about twenty inches deep. It should be sewed to a 

 narrow border of cloth placed around the wire. A light net 

 like this can be rapidly turned upon the insect w r ith one hand. 

 The insect is captured by a dexterous twist which also throws 

 the bottom over the mouth of the net. The insect should be 

 temporarily held between the thumb and fore-finger of the hand 

 at liberty, and then pinned through the thorax while in the net. 

 The pin can be drawn through the meshes upon opening the 

 net. The beating-net should be made much stouter, with a shal- 

 lower cloth bag and attached to a shorter stick. It is used for 

 beating trees, bushes, and herbage for beetles and Hemiptera 



