CHAPTER VIII. 



Arthropoda (continued). 



Order XIII. COLEOPTERA. 



THIS, the largest order of insects, comprises the beetles, of which we have 

 nearly 4,000 species in Great Britain alone. Obviously, therefore, it is im- 

 possible to deal with more than a selection in this book. The collecting of 

 these insects makes a fascinating hobby for the young nature student, and 

 therefore some brief directions may be given as to how to catch and mount 

 them. 



First of all, the would-be collector must know where to expect to find the 

 specimens he is seeking whether under stones or bark, in decaying wood, 

 dung, or carrion, in low herbage and rough grass, and so forth ; and as far as 

 possible details are given in the following notes of the figured species. Some 

 may be taken by beating the bushes, holding a cloth or an umbrella underneath 

 into which they may fall, whilst others are taken by sweeping the bushes and 

 rank grass with a strong net. They may be placed in small bottles or glass 

 tubes alive, but carnivorous species should be confined separately, or they 

 may attack the others. I think, however, that the best plan of all is to place 

 them in a wide-mouthed bottle containing fresh crushed laurel leaves, for here 

 they are quickly killed by the fumes given off by the leaves, and are also 

 protected from damage amongst the fragments of laurel on which they lie. 

 A pickle bottle with a metal-topped cork makes an ideal receptacle for this 

 purpose. Otherwise all hard-bodied beetles may be killed by being put in 

 boiling water, but the method advocated above is, in my opinion, preferable. 



Most collectors set their specimens by gluing them to slips of cardboard, 

 just touching their legs with the gum and then arranging them on the card. 

 This is the simplest and easiest way, although they may also be set, like butter- 

 flies and moths, on a pin through the right elytron. 



" Coleoptera " means " sheath-winged " (from the Greek koleos, " a 

 sheath," and pteron, "a wing"). It is an obviously appropriate name for 

 beetles, for their real wings are kept folded up under a pair of hard horny 

 covers, or wing-cases (in reality, the specially modified fore- wings). These 

 are called elytra, and are not used in flight, except as balancers or " planes." 

 The true wings are membranous, of a peculiar parchment-like appearance. 

 In many species the wing-cases do not completely cover the abdomen, and in 



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