Natural-History Collectors. 5649 



Proceedings of Natural- History Collectors in Foreign Countries. 



Rev. Hamlet Clark. — Rio Janeiro, March 14, 1857. — In my 

 last communication (posted on February 25th) I pointed out the loca- 

 lities around Rio that we had visited. I will now notice the modes 

 of collecting Coleoptera that we found profitable, and one or two 

 other points that to a future tourist may be useful. 



MODES OF COLLECTING COLEOPTERA. 



It is impossible for anyone, without much larger opportunities than 

 we have had, to speak with decision as to the best modes of obtaining 

 species; different localities and different seasons of the year would 

 demand, doubtless, different treatment: the following are, however, 

 generally the results of our collecting experience during the hot sea- 

 son through the different Serras. 



The herbage and undergrowth of plants in tropical countries are, 

 as might be expected, entirely different from what we see in England : 

 there grass and vegetation are short, easily commanded by a sweeping 

 net; here we find it rank aud luxuriant and gigantic, so that a sweep- 

 ing net has as little value in obtaining species as it would have among 

 branches of oak or pine at home : some larger substitute must be 

 found. I used at Constancia, and with some success, a large sheet 

 with two poles, for beating ; but this was heavy and cumbrous, and 

 required one or two assistants. The best instrument was an umbrella 

 inverted ; this is light and portable, of easy application, and on the 

 whole the best instrument for collecting. Three well-made, steel- 

 ribbed alpacas will, with care, suffice for an expedition of three or 

 four months; the seams well stitched, and handles curved (for pulling 

 down branches), and of the same wood as the stem. 



Sugaring by night is certainly very profitable for Lepidoptera, ants 

 and cockroaches ; probably, also, for Coleoptera. Mr. Fry was very 

 successful in attracting insects by the light of a strong lamp, and the 

 species that we have taken by this means are a sufficient proof of its 

 value, although if a coleopterist has his days for collecting he w r ill 

 find it better to spend his nights in rest. Decaying timber is of 

 course valuable ; many species of the fine genus Brenthus are found 

 under the bark of felled Canella Batella (a species of tree remarkable 

 for its hard and heavy wood) ; the diamond beetles on the leaves of, 

 and on the ground under, a wild orange tree, " Larangeira do Mato," 

 XV. 2 R 



