THE WEEKLY ENTOMOLOGIST. 
235 
All communications to be addressed 
to Mr. T. or Mr. J. B. Blackburn, 
The Ycios, Woodford, NJl. No notice 
will be talccn of anonymous communi- 
cations. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
COLEOPTERA. 
Collecting Coleoptera. — In a recent 
article headed “ August ” the writer 
laments the scarcity of coleoptera 
during that month and July, but 
it strikes me forcibly that far from 
being the poorest, these are the 
very richest months of the year for 
beetles, if one only knew where 
to look and how to catch them, 
and I here intend to make known 
one or two methods by which I 
manage to fill my bottle, even 
during these times of supposed 
famine. 
What a rare occurrence it is to 
meet with a coleopterist who collects 
Hydradephaga, yet it is this very 
family which is found in greatest 
abundance, when nearly all others 
mysteriously disappear. I cannot 
imagine why they are so shunned, 
Geodcphaga and Brachelyira have 
plenty of devoted admirers, and 
water beetles are much commoner 
than the former, and certainly less 
difficult to distinguish than the 
latter. Some species of the genus 
Hydroporus are very pretty, and 
those of Haliplus are scarcely 
inferior. Thjtiscus boasts some noble 
species, and it may, perhaps, be the 
lot of some out of the way beetle 
hunter in the North, to discover 
Baponicus in some of those clear, 
deep mountain tarns so common 
among the Scottish hills. Perhaps, 
it is because they are so troublesome 
to set, that they are so neglected, 
and I am inclined to think that this 
is really the case. There is “ a 
trick in every Trade,” and the grand 
secret in setting water beetles, is to 
let them lie among damp laurel 
until almost putrid. The gum used 
should be of the thickest and clean- 
est description. Care must also be 
taken that they are properly dried 
before being placed in the cabinet, 
as otherwise they are very apt to 
induce mites. The larger species of 
Thjtiscus, Acilius, and Colymbetce, 
are best pinned, and a little careful 
observation of their attitudes, when 
alive and swimming in their native 
element, will soon render setting 
a matter of comparative ease. Jly- 
dradephaga are found in almost 
every collection of water, from the 
smallest dub on the roadside to the 
largest lake or river but, as a rule, 
ponds in meadows and drains in 
marshes are the most productive. 
Old quarries when filled with water 
yield many species, so dq ditches, 
horseponds, lakes, rivers, and 
streams. These should all be care- 
fully and systematically searched. 
It is no use trying far from the 
