6 



its blue-black lustre, one would scarcely expect, as the majority of dark- 

 loving species are dull and of sombre colours. Other species live exclusively 

 in wine cellars, feeding not upon the contents of the bottles but upon the 

 corks, or upon the fungi often found in such localities. Then when we go 

 into the country we find beetles everywhere (if we look for them). Scarcely 

 a tree, shrub, or herb but has species attached to it ; in the case of trees often 

 feeding beneath or in the bark. And while the majority of British beetles 

 are phytophagous (that is plant-feeding), many are carnivorous, regaling them- 

 selves without the slightest remorse upon their weaker relatives ; while a 

 large number are also feeders on animal and vegetable substances in a state 

 of decomposition. A pickle-bottle, within which is placed a small piece of 

 raw meat, buried up to its mouth under a bush, will in fine weather in a few 

 days produce a plentiful supply of this group of beetles. Ponds, lakes, and 

 rivers all contribute their quota to our beetle fauna, while a small number, 

 but often of very scarce species, live in the nests of the various species of ants, 

 and can only be found in such situations. 



Before starting on a collecting expedition, when beetles are our quest, we 

 must provide ourselves with a small quantity of apparatus, by means of which 

 we may capture and bring home in safety whatever we may meet with. 

 Every coleopterist has his own ideas of what is absolutely necessary, but 

 so far as I am concerned I prefer the following : — 



(1.) A wide-mouthed bottle capable of holding about four ounces (what 

 is known as a one ounce quinine bottle will do very well), the mouth of which 

 is closed with a well-fitting cork. A quill or tin tube of about the diameter 

 of a penholder passes through the centre of the cork, projecting about an 

 inch into the bottle and two inches outside. This tube is fitted with a not 

 too tight wooden plug or stopper, which goes nearly the length of the tube 

 and which is prevented from slipping into the tube by a larger head, by seiz- 

 ing which with the teeth and withdrawing the cork when one hand holds the 

 bottle, and the other is engaged with a beetle, the " facilis descensus Averni " 

 of the beetle is insured. It is advisable to have a crumpled piece of white 

 paper or calico inside the bottle, to allow of the smaller specimens hiding 

 among its crevices from any of their relations who are inclined to be too per- 

 sonal in their attentions. Tor larger specimens (Carabi, Pterostichi) whose 

 presence along with smaller ones would bo very prejudicial to the .good pre- 

 servation of the latter, either separate pill boxes may be carried for each, or 

 what I have lately found very useful during a day's collecting on Snowdon 

 when boxes were scarce. That is 



[%.) A smaller bottle of similar shape closed with a plain cork and con- 



