76 INSECTS. 



ing small insects which may be caught ; the green, however, 

 is better adapted for catching Moths. The net-rods should be 

 made of hickory, beech, hazel, or holly ; they ought to be five 

 feet in length, quite round, smooth, and tapering to an obtuse 

 point, as at fig. 8. plate I V. ; the oblique cross-piece at the 

 point, fig. a., should be of cane, and fitted into the angularA 

 ferrule ; the rod, marked &., must be divided into three or fourT 

 pieces, so that it may be taken asunder and carried in the i/ 

 pocket ; the upper part of each joint must have a ferrule 

 affixed to it, for the purpose of articulating the othe*-jaieces> d. 

 Each joint should have a notch or check, as marked at c., to 

 prevent the rod from twisting'. ^I T >h#tQ u*At ff* i'i4t- 



The net itself, fig. 7., must have a welting all round it, 

 doubled so as to form a groove for the reception of the rods. 

 In the centre of the upper part or point, at /., it must have a 

 small piece of chamois leather, so as to form a kind of hinge ; 

 this must be bound round the welting, and divided in the 

 middle, so as to prevent the cross pieces from slipping over 

 each other ; g. shows about four inches of the gauzeUnimoiiup, 

 so as to form a bag ; h. h. are strings for the purpose of passing 

 through the staple e*, to which the net is firmly drawn on each 

 side. When the net is used, a handle is to be held in each 

 hand. 



If it is intended to take insects on the wing, by means of this 

 net, for which it is admirably adapted, it may be folded to- 

 gether in an instant. If the gauze is fine enough, and pre- 

 served whole, even the smallest insect canot escape. . It may 

 be also applied in catching Coleopterous Insects, which are 

 never on the wing, as well as Caterpillars. When used for 

 this purpose, the Entomologist must hold it expanded under 

 trees, while another must beat the branches with a stick. 

 Great numbers of both insects and larva will fall in the gauze, 

 and by this means many hundreds may be captured in a day. 



Another method is to spread a large table-cloth under trees 

 and bushes, and then beat them with a stick. An umbrella 

 reversed has frequently been used for the same purpose. Bosc, 

 the celebrated naturalist, used this last method, he held the 

 umbrella in the left hand, while lie beat the bushes with the 

 other. 



THE HOOP or AQUATIC NET, plate IV. fig. 9. This net ia 



