6 
THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCEK. 
at work. Neither of us gratified the 
other, and so we couldn’t make a case of 
it. Vegetation seems much behind pre- 
vious years ; the grass as yet looks very 
small, and the whole place indeed wears 
a sickly look. To the eye of a stranger 
the junipers, in their rigid shapes, must 
have a very odd appearance; at least 
they had so to me, and I couldn’t get my 
mind disentangled from the notion that 
I had been dropped down in Egypt some- 
where, and tliese said junipers were the 
up-and-be-doiug Arabs on the out-look. 
Then there is a winding path, newly 
made, up the gulley, very much after the 
style of what one is accustomed to see in 
a picture, or in a theatre, when the “ lords 
(and ladies) of the creation” begin with 
a series of dolls and very distant music, 
growing larger and louder as they cross 
from side to side, until at last they do 
take the shape of something human, — or 
of a very much magnified mine of a 
Neplicida, — and at last we concluded 
that it resembled a great scar on the face 
of Nature. This settled, and no Lixella, 
1 bethought me of the junipers and the 
bugs. My friend Douglas had told me 
it was possible to meet with Picta here, 
although he had never taken it; so to 
work I went, and, with Mr. Stainton’s 
help, in a very little time I had taken 
thirty-one examples. It is a great beauty, 
and I have no doubt of its being so com- 
mon at Box Hill that two or three speci- 
mens may be shaken from each bush. 
Perfume, the quiiitescence of cucumbers. 
But when you come to love them well, 
And smell them 1 
There is also another and apparently 
scarcer species attached to the juniper — 
Penlaloma Juniperina. This we did not 
meet with ; probably it does not appear 
until later on in the season. Can any 
one say what Picta gets to feed on at 
present, or why it adheres to the juniper. 
Ill conclusion, I beg to say how very 
much obliged I shall be for specimens of 
all kinds from all parts of the country, 
with particulars as to appearance, whether 
common, &c. They w ill be divided with 
my other assistants ; and any one wishing 
to have his captures named, or who in- 
tends working out the Hemiptera, will 
be willingly assisted by us all. — John 
Scott, 13, Torringlon Villas, Lee, S.E.; 
March 30. 
Co LEO PIER A. 
Bag-collecting. — Having often read 
instructions for the examination of moss 
and shakings during the winter months, 
I made my first attempt the other day, 
filling a small bag with dirt and bits of 
reed, &c., shaken from coarse tufts of 
grass at Hammersmith Marshes. The 
large number of specimens to be obtained 
and the ease with which minute investi- 
gation can be pursued at home render 
this method of collecting very satisfactory ; 
and although I expect my introduction 
to bag-collecting was made under favour- 
able circumstances (owing to the insects 
being gradually driven by heavy rain to 
lake shelter at the roots of grass on a 
bank entirely surrounded by water), yet 
no doubt something is always to be found 
in this way. My “ sw'eepings,” though 
not more than a quart in ali, aftbrded 
work for three mornings, at about two 
hours each time, and even at the expira- 
tion of that time were hardly exhausted ; 
the greatest drawback appears to be the 
introduction of wandering spiders and in- 
quisitive Onisci to the domestic hearth ; 
these, with the common Tachypori (solu- 
tus and hypnorum) are not to be con- 
fined, and seem to get all over the room. 
Even comparatively large species, such as 
Stcnoloplius vespertinus, cofispntus, Ancho- 
memts piceus, Phytonomns pollux and 
others, are to be found in this manner; it 
is astonishing in how small a place they 
can conceal themselves: after my second 
investigation 1 found Anchumenus nuvstus 
— surely large enough to attract notice 
(and contemptuous dismissal) at first. 
