T. M. M‘GREGOR ON HEMIPTERA-HETEROPTERA, ETC. 
9 
able, perhaps more so than to the student of the more elevated 
branches of entomology, and that is the amazing wealth of hidden 
life in Nature, a fact which time and again brings us face to face with 
the problem as to why and wherefore such countless numbers of 
living creatures are called into being. Under stones and amongst 
shingles, by streams and rivers, by loch and tarnside, under moss 
and dead leaves, at roots of grass, amongst dead and decaying 
vegetation, in almost every conceivable place, we find the same 
prodigal profusion of life. 
Like all Nature’s secrets, however, this profusion is only revealed 
to the patient searcher and ardent collector. It is really very wonder¬ 
ful how easily some insects, and especially Hemiptera, can be over¬ 
looked by the novice. Time and again hunting-grounds have been 
visited without success, when the subsequent discovery of certain 
habits has revealed.the species looked for in large numbers. 
The work of preserving such minute creatures is naturally a 
laborious one, especially if they are to be preserved in the popular 
way. For this purpose the insects are mounted on small pieces of 
pure white cardboard, upon which is first put a dab of specially- 
prepared gum, on which the specimen is placed and allowed to 
remain a few minutes. The antennae and legs are then carefully 
brought into position with a fine camel-hair brush, after which a pin 
is passed through the card. A small label is then affixed, upon 
which is written the date and locality, when the specimen is ready 
for the cabinet. 
To prepare these insects for scientific examination is a much 
easier process, the insect being simply gummed sideways upon the 
card, in order to allow of all the generic and specific characteristics 
being seen to the best advantage. 
From the long list of species recorded from Perthshire it will be 
seen that our county is rich in Hemiptera, as indeed we feel confident 
it is in all other orders, were they only worked up to advantage. . 
Passing on to the actual list of captures during the past two 
summers, I find that in 1892 about 100 species of Heteroptera 
were found, all being collected within a radius of ten miles of Perth. 
A list of these insects, together with a list of the whole species 
hitherto recorded as occurring in Perthshire, appeared in the issue of 
the “Annals of Scottish Natural History” for October, 1893. Amongst 
the insects collected were many species hitherto recorded only from 
Rannoch and Pitlochry, while some are new to Perthshire, and others 
have not been previously recorded from the north. The recurrence of 
such insects as Elatophiliis 7 iigricornis^ H. S., of which we have only 
one previous record, by Professor Reuter in 1876, from Moncreiffe 
