PRESERVATION OF COLEOPTERA. 9 
fMINTS ON THE /;COLLECTION AND PRESER- 
Ve PON OF COLEOPTERA. 
———-(qVcTcT-- 
BY CAPTAIN THOMAS BROUN, M.ES. ETC. 
(soe ee 
Inquiries having been frequently made as to the best methods 
of capturing and preserving beetles, I have been induced to offer 
a few suggestions which, if acted upon, will ensure success. 
The predaceous ground-beetles, classed as Carabid@, may be 
found from the sea beach to the line of perpetual snow. The 
Cicindele, popularly termed tiger-beetles, frequent spots exposed 
to the sun, are exceedingly active, and sometimes difficult to 
overtake—with the exception of such genera as Amarotypus, 
Demetrida, Scopodes, &c., which occur under bark and on the 
trunks of trees ; the Caradide prefer stones, logs, tussocks, &c., 
for concealment during the day. The finer species usually affect 
hilly regions, and may often be found in numbers by turning 
over logs in the forest clearings as well as in grass fields ; tus- 
socks also harbour many. These should be cut down and up- 
rooted in order to obtain satisfactory results. 
The Staphylinide, often gregarious, will be found almost any- 
where. Our largest species (Staphylinus oculatus) is a carrion- 
beetle, and is not above such work as the removal of human 
excrement. Occasionally, numbers of the smaller Homalde 
may be secured by cutting down such plants as Areca sapida, 
whilst others venture to the edges of streams, and even as far as 
the loose drift and 4/gc just beyond reach of the tides. 
The members of such groups as the Wzt7dulide, Trogositide, 
Colydudee, Rhysodide, Cucujide, and Cryptophagide inhabit old 
wood in a state of decay and the foliage and parasiticjplants of 
living trees. 
The Lucanide are generally to be met with in logs, some- 
times below them, and in fern-roots, but they very rarely fre- 
quent leaves of inflorescence. 
The MWelolonthide are chiefly nocturnal, and can be taken off 
plants of all kinds, even introduced apple trees ; but the pretty 
Pyronota festiva often abounds on Leptospermum exposed to the 
full power of the sun. 
The £/ateride are essentially wood-feeders in the larval state, 
but many, if not nearly all, may be obtained from flowering 
shrubs, branches of trees, and amongst decaying vegetable mat- 
ter on the ground ; the latter being the true habitat of the curious 
genus Amphiplatys. 
The Tenebrionide are exceedingly diverse in habit, some 
