BULLETIN 39, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [36] 



Tineidae and even ISToctuidte hide uuder old leaves, but the specimens are 

 usually rubbed and rendered useless in the process of sifting. Many 

 larvee and pupae can, however, thus be obtained. 



If the locality chosen for sifting prove to be a good one, it pays to 

 put the sifted material in a small sack and to carry it home where it 

 can be investigated at leisure, and with a greater thoroughness than is 

 usually possible outdoors. This sack can be easily arranged to be at- 

 tached to or drawn over the lower ring of the sieve, so that the sifting 

 can be done directly into the sack. 



As a rule it may be said that very dry places are least productive, 

 while more or less moist places are apt to furnish a rich harvest. Old 

 wet leaves lying immediately along the edges of swamps, or wet moss, 

 harbor many interesting insects, but such wet material is sifted with 

 difficulty. 



The sieve can be used with great advantage at all seasons of the 

 year, but more especially late in fall or early in spring, when so many 

 species are still hibernating. 



The Chisel. — For securing the many insects living or liiding under 

 bark of dying or dead trees an instrument of some sort is indispen- 

 sable, as, in most cases, the bark so firmly adheres to the wood 

 that it cannot be torn off with the hand. A stout pocket-knife will do 

 good service, but far better is a common chisel of medium size and 

 with a short handle. This chisel is also useful as an instrument for 

 digging in the ground or for investigating the interior of partly de- 

 cayed logs. 



The Trowel. — Aside from the fact that many insects enter the ground 

 for the purpose of hibernation in various stages, there is a rich subter- 

 ranean life to be found during the summer. There are many burrowing 

 Coleoptera; many, if not most, ants construct subterranean nests; 

 the number of other fossorial Hymenoptera is very large, and there 

 are also various burrowing Orthoptera and many Lej)idopterous larvae 

 which hide in the ground during the day. Some instrument for 

 digging in the ground is therefore of great importance, and while, as 

 stated above, the chisel will answer this purpose if nothing else be at 

 hand, yet there are other instruments which perform the work much 

 quicker and more thoroughly. The most available instrument is a 

 rather small steel trowel, such as can be had at the hardware stores in 

 a great variety of patterns, and which can be carried on excursions 

 without much inconvenience. One with a long and narrow blade, made 

 very stout, I have found very useful, though somewhat awkward to 

 carry. 



Fig. 53.— The collecting tweezers. 



The collecting Tweezers. — In the ]3icking up of specimens and trans- 

 ferring them into the various bottles, vials, or boxes, the trained col- 



