MANUAL OF NATURAL HISTORY. 663 



INSECTS. 



No spot should be overlooked by the collector in 

 searcliing for Insects, as the places in which they 

 lurk are as numerous and diversified as the forms 

 of these creatures themselves. The thick wood and 

 the sandy plain, the hedge-row, and the mouldering 

 bank, the flowers which bedeck the fields and perfume 

 the atmosphere, as well as the putrid carcase which 

 fills the air with repulsive odours, must each be care- 

 fully explored ; the bark of trees must be raised, and 

 decaying timber broken up, in search of the species 

 which inhabit such localities ; and old banks and 

 sand-pits must be closely examined for the Hymenop- 

 tera, which burrow in them. The Entomologist 

 must sometimes patiently turn the stones on the 

 shore ; at others, he must dabble in the dark still 

 pool ; at all times and in all places he must be on 

 the alert, for he may extract a Carrion-beetle from 

 a filthy mass, or capture a Bee as it sips the nectar 

 from the flowers ; he may net a Butterfly in the 

 brilliant sunshine, or secure a Moth as it flits about 

 his midnight lamp. 



When it can be made convenient, the collector 

 will find it advantageous to prolong his visit in any 

 place he may select for exploring, as by such means 

 a better knowledge can be obtained of what the 

 locality affords, and much information may be glean- 

 ed relative to the habits of species ; if he reside 

 for any length of time in a particular spot, he should 



