27 



rotten trees, and may be procured by means of 

 the digger: this is also the method of obtaining 

 the caterpillars of the wood-feeding insects. 

 Trunks of trees in woods and forests must be 

 examined with care, especially in the evening 

 and early in the morning, as it is common for 

 the night-flying species to crawl up those places 

 for the purpose of drying their wings or seeking 

 their mates : they will also occasionally be 

 found, apparently asleep, during the day, whilst 

 numbers will be seen sporting in the noontide 

 sun, alighting at intervals to feed on certain 

 juices that may exude from the trunks of trees. 

 The moss also at the foot of trees affords shel- 

 ter, during the winter or rainy season, to many 

 insects ; which may be obtained by collecting 

 the moss, and shaking it over a cloth or a sheet 

 of white paper ; others secrete themselves, at 

 this period, a few inches beneath the surface 

 of the earth near the trunks of trees. Beetles 

 that inhabit the foliage of trees or shrubs 

 may be obtained by holding the folding net, or 

 placing a sheet beneath the branches, beating 

 them with a long stick ; by which means the in- 

 sects are disturbed, fall into the net or cloth, and 

 are easily captured: this mode of collecting is 

 most successfully rrnrsued early in the morning, 



