4806 Insects. 



to fly off to some remote spot in the jungle. I then walk off into the 

 swamp along the path of logs and tree-trunks, picking my way 

 cautiously, now glancing right and left on the foliage, and then sur- 

 veying carefully the surface of the smooth round log I am walking on. 

 The first insect I catch is a pretty little long-necked Apoderus sitting 

 partly upon a leaf : a few paces further, I come to a place where some 

 Curculionidae, of the genus Mecopus, are always seated on a dry sun- 

 shiny log. A sweep of my net captures one or two, and I go on, as I 

 have already enough specimens of them. The beautiful Papilios, 

 Evemon and Agamemnon, fly by me, but the footing is too uncertain 

 to capture them, and at the same moment a small beetle flies across 

 and settles on a leaf near me— I move cautiously but quickly on — see 

 it is a pretty Glenea, and by a sharp stroke of the net capture it, for 

 they are so active that the slightest hesitation is sure to lose the spe- 

 cimen. I now come to a bridge of logs across a little stream ; this is 

 another favourite station of the Buprestidae, particularly of the elegant 

 Belionota sumptuosa. One of these is now on the bridge, r— he rises 

 as I approach, — flies with the rapidity of lightning around me, and 

 settles on the handle of my net ! I watch him with quiet admiration, — 

 to attempt to catch him then is absurd ; in a moment he is off again, 

 and then settles within a yard of me ; I strike with all my force, he 

 rises at the same moment, and is now buzzing in my net, and 

 in another instant is transferred in safety to my bottle : I wait a few 

 minutes here in hopes that another may be heard or seen, and then go 

 on ; I pass some fallen trees, under which are always found some 

 Curculionidse, species of Alcides and Otops, — these I sweep carefully 

 with my net and get two or three specimens, one new to me. I now- 

 come to a large Boletus growing on a stump, — I push my net under it, 

 two Thyreopterse run on to the top, I knock one with my hand into 

 my net, while the other has instantly escaped into a crack in the 

 stump and is safe for this day, but his time will come. In some dis- 

 tance now I walk on, looking out carefully for whatever may appear ; 

 for near half-a-mile I see not an insect worth capturing; then sud- 

 denly flies across the path a fine Longicorn, new to me, and settles on 

 a trunk a few yards off. I survey the soft brown mud between us, look 

 anxiously for some root to set my foot on, and then cautiously advance 

 towards him : one more step and I have him, but alas ! my foot slips 

 off the root, down I go into the bog and the treasure escapes, perhaps 

 a species I may never obtain again. Returning to the path, another 

 hum salutes my ear, and the fine Cetonia, Macronota Diardi, settles on 

 a leaf near me, and is immediately secured : a little further, a yellow- 



