21 



and the best advice is to sweep everything, giving special attention to 

 any plants that are aromatic and strong -smelling, as these often har- 

 bour special species which occur nowhere else. From the sedges and 

 such like plants along the sides of and in ditches and marshes good 

 results may always be expected, and aromatic plants that spread on 

 the ground, such as Ononis and Erodium, require special working ; 

 their spreading stems should be lifted up, and the ground under them 

 carefully examined. Some Hemiptera, such as Odontosce/is, Sciocoris, 

 .Pseudophlosus, &c, are very sluggish, and resemble the ground very 

 closely in colour, so that plenty of time should be allowed for them 

 to move. On sand-hills by the sea, as at Deal, Camber, &c, very 

 good results may be obtained in this way. I generally take the pre- 

 caution to sweep the plants first and examine the contents of my net, 

 and then to lift their branches and grub about underneath them. 



The common broom, Sctrothamnus scoparius, is a very productive 

 plant, and harbours several species peculiar to itself. Three species 

 of Orthotylus may be found on it — O. conco/or, O. chloropterus, and 

 O. adenocarpi — all very similar, but distinguishable apart in the 

 umbrella when the eye has caught their characters. O. chloropterus 

 is slightly the largest, and has a very dark membrane ; O. adenocarpi 

 is slightly paler in colour, and of a yellower green, with the membrane 

 paler ; O. conco/or is smaller and of a decidedly paler, bluish green, 

 with pale, almost diaphanous membrane. With these Heterocordylus 

 tibialis almost always occurs in more or less abundance, and much 

 more rarely H. genista. Old broom bushes sometimes yield Antho- 

 coris sarot/iamni, and the very beautiful but rare Dictyonota fu/iginosa, 

 but often as I have hunted for this last, it has never been my good 

 fortune to find it. 



Searching at the roots of grass, sedges, &c, in marshy places is 

 most profitable, and many rare species are likely to reward one's 

 labour. Drymus piceus, Cyrtorrhinus pygmaus and flaveolns, Nabis 

 /ineatus, and many others are to be found in such localities ; and 

 similar work in dry spots will often produce such things as Plagio- 

 gnathns saltitans and pulicarius, Conostethus roseus, and, if near ants' 

 nests. Systeilonotus triguttatus, the female of which, when running, so 

 closely resembles a common garden ant {Lasius niger) that it requires 

 careful scrutiny to establish its identity. 



Salt marshes are the favourite resorts of several species of Sa/da 

 and of a few Capsidce : the former are to be found running and 

 jumping on the ground. The Capsidce attack such plants as Atrip/ex, 

 Sa/so/a, &c, and are best obtained by sweeping or searching under 

 their stems, &c. Sa/da is not by any means exclusively a salt marsh 

 genus, as several of our rarer species are found on the margins of 

 inland streams, lakes, &c, and on mat shy ground on commons; 

 whilst one species — 6". ortho hi/a — is found on quite dry sandv 

 spots. 



Other hopeful localities are the trunks of trees and old palings. 

 Hemiptera may often be found sitting quietly on these, either in the 



