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or before a shower of rain, as, during the heat 

 of the day the insects are, for the most part, on 

 the wing, occasionally alighting on the blos- 

 soms of trees and shrubs, and particularly on 

 flowers of the umbellate kind. There are many 

 species of this order that may be taken crawl- 

 ing in pathways, road-sides, and hedge-rows, 

 also on the stalks of grass and plants of a low 

 growth: others will be seen flying in the even- 

 ing, in clouds, around the summits of the high- 

 est trees ; while many may be detected by the 

 light which they emit. The roots of grass on 

 banks with a southern aspect generally abound 

 with small beetles and other insects. It will be 

 well to remark in this place, that sudden inun- 

 dations and the overflowing of rivers will fur- 

 nish the collector with some thousands of in- 

 sects, and that he will have but little trouble i?i 

 collecting them. 



The method of obtaining insects from floods 

 is, to watch the retiring of the waters, and where- 

 ever a narrow channel is produced, to gather all 

 the small pieces of wood, floating grass, or other 

 substances, which will be found to be literally co- 

 vered with insects. At this time, also, the rejec- 

 tamenta left on the banks of rivers may be 

 examined, and a portion should be collected* 



