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A Penny Weekly Magazine of Natural History. 



No. 71. 



MABCH 5th, 1881. 



Vol. 2. 



HOW TO BEGIN 

 COLLECTING COLEOPTERA, 



AT this season of the year Coleop- 

 tera must be sought for in such 

 places as they select for* their winter 

 retreat, and a rich harvest may be 

 reaped by the energetic collector. It 

 will very often happen that lie 

 stumbles upon the hybernaculum of a 

 rare species, and finds quite a number 

 of them together, that at another 

 period it would be impossible to find 

 except singly. Many species hide for 

 the winter under the loose bark of 

 trees, others hide under stones, among 

 moss, <fcc, &c. Water Beetles very 

 generally bury in the mud at the 

 bottom of the pond, but a lively 

 specimen of Dytiscus Marginalis was 

 brought us a year ago, that had been 

 turned up by the plough, in the middle 

 of a field. As spring advances, and 

 they waken up from their winter's 

 sleep, the more ordinary methods of 

 collecting can be resorted to. 

 Herbage should be swept ; trees and 

 bushes beaten ; and other similar 

 means adopted, and kept up regularly. 

 The same places that were found 



productive during winter, will still 

 be found with examination, though 

 they will probably not produce such 

 large numbers when beetles are 

 moving about, as when they are 

 hybernating. For some species traps 

 may be set with great success. A 

 hole in the ground, rilled up with 

 bones j a wide mouthed bottle sunk to 

 the neck and rilled with the same bait, 

 will be found very attractive. These 

 should be examined every morning. 

 A dead dog, cat, or smaller animal 

 will also attract many species. The 

 burying beetles, as well as other 

 species, will be found on turning them 

 over. Refuse of almost all kinds 

 should be regularly examined. Where 

 a field has been Hooded, and the 

 floating debris is collected at the 

 margin, the coleopterist will generally 

 do well by a careful examination of 

 this rejectamenta. The loose droppings 

 at the side of a hay stack ; tufts of 

 decaying grass ; a manure heap, 

 especially in a garden where house 

 refuse is deposited, are all productive. 

 By the seaside, an accidental depres- 

 sion in the sand, a foot print, or 

 similar hollow, will often he filled with 

 beetles of various sorts. They cannot 



