28 



duck quill, on a wooden handle. 3. A pair of flexible tweezers with fine points. 4. A 

 small palette knife, the use of which is when a small insect is covered up among the dust 

 and debris of the moss, to take up a portion and scatter it on a bare place on the paper, 

 when the beetle will become accessible. 5. A hand or pocket magnifier. 6. Two cya- 

 nide bottles, without sawdust. 7. A basket or box to receive the spent moss. 



The operator will place the sieve upon a sheet of strong white paper, — cartridge 

 pap.^r is best — and taking up a moderate handful of moss, tease and shake it well over 

 the wire ; he will then lift the sieve, giving a couple of smart taps on the end to dislodge 

 any clinging insect — and look out for the "bugs." The Carabidae and Staphylinidae will 

 first run at racing pace over the paper ; the Pselaphidse and Scydmsenidae will progress 

 more deliberately, though still pretty rapidly, in a steady, straightforward march, with 

 their prominent antennae stretched out before them, while the Trichopterygidse will 

 circle about, like the Gyrini upon the surface of a still pool, at an astonishing pace for 

 such molecules of beetles. The larger insects may be captured with the fingers or forceps ; 

 the smaller ones by moistening the brush between the lips and touching them with the 

 point, to which they will adhere ; the brush with the insect attached is introduced through 

 the neck of the bottle, when a slight fillip with the fingers will dislodge the captive. In 

 the meantime the Curculios, Chrysomeias, Tenebrios, etc., will recover from the shock, 

 and betray their presence in their own slow, deliberate manner, when they too can be 

 secured. Along with the beetles there will be seen numerous spiders, ants, mites, poduras, 

 etc., and now and then a few small Diptera and Hymenoptera. 



To display the smaller captured beetles to the best advantage, they should be suffered 

 to remain for twenty -four hours in the bottle, when the cyanogen vapour will have caused 

 their limbs to be limber and relaxed. They may then be attached to a strip of cardboard 

 by a small portion of mucilage, previously thickened by evaporation till it will not spread 

 out or sink into the card. A sufficient number of spots of this are placed about 

 a quarter of an inch apart, and on each spot is laid a beetle, back down, care being 

 taken that the head, legs, and antennae are kept from contact with the cement. When 

 the latter has hardened sufficiently to hold the insect in its place, its antennae, palpi, legs, 

 etc., may be adjusted with a very small, short-haired, red sable pencil, just moistened 

 enough to make the hairs adhere together and form a single point. For the larger and 

 more refractory ones, a fine sewing needle, set in a wooden handle, and bent at an obtuse 

 angle at the point, may be used. 



When the limbs have been properly adjusted, the insects may be laid away to dry, 

 which will require three or four days for the smaller, and twice that time for the larger 

 ones. When dry they may be removed from the card by inserting the point of a fine 

 needle under the shoulder ; if this is carefully done the insect will generally come clear 

 off* without damage to the most delicate pubescence or the longest bristles. Any portions 

 of the mucilage which may adhere to the elytra, may be removed with the needle point 

 or sable pencil moistened as before. Each specimen may then be mounted on a strip of 

 cardboard, or fastened to the cell of a microscope slide with a minute touch of Canada 

 balsam, and a thin glass cover cemented over it, when it will form an interesting object 

 for examination either by direct or transmitted light. 



ALYPIA OCTOMACULATA. 



By H. H. Lyman, Montrp:al, P.Q. 



Last June 1 was in Boston, from the 14th to the 30th, and during this time Alypia 

 oclonmculata was in season and very abundant. Had I chosen to carry a net in the 

 public gardens and uptown streets, I suppose I could have taken a couple of hundred 

 specimens, always provided that I wasn't "run in" as a lunatic. As it was, I contented 

 myself with carrying a supply of pill boxes, and succeeded in taking about thirty-five 

 specimens. During two days I was visiting a friend about seven miles from the city, but 

 did not see a single specimen of this species ; but in those streets in which there were 



