When the insects are captured, the next business is to know how to deal with them. There is not the least difficulty with soft-bodied moths or butterflies, as they can be easily killed when caught; but the hard-bodied Beetles are not so easily deprived of life, and a great number of them will fight if placed in the same vessel, and eat, or at least mutilate, each other. There is nothing better for such insects, or rather for their capturer, than the ‘ laurel-bottle.’ This is very easily made. Take a wide-mouthed bottle, and fit a cork very firmly into it. Bore a hole through the cork, and insert in the hole a swan-quill or short metal tube about two inches long, so that it may project at least half an inch through the cork into the bottle. The upper end should be stopped with a cork, and it will be better to cut the cork so long that it can be removed by holding it between the teeth. I always cut the upper part of the tube slopingly, so that a very small Beetle can be scooped up with it.

For many Beetles nothing more is requisite, except to put a piece of crumpled rag at the bottom, so as to give them a foothold; but for the fiercer and voracious Adephaga an additional precaution is required, and they must be killed as soon as they are put into the bottle, or an undisfigured specimen will never be obtained.

If a bottle can be obtained without any neck, the following is the neatest way of making a laurel-bottle : — Cut a flat cork that fits rather tightly in the bottle, but not too tightly to be pushed up and down. Take out a portion of its middle, and insert a piece of fine "wire gauze. It will be better to pass a string through each side of the ‘ plug,’ as we will call this cork, and knot them underneath, so that when the plug is to be withdrawn it can be pulled up by the strings.

Next, procure a handful of the young buds and leaves of laurel, put them into the bottle, and crush them into a paste with the handle of a knife or some such instrument. Now insert the plug, press it down upon the crushed leaves, put in the cork, and the ‘ laurel-bottle ’ is complete. If the bottle should have a neck, make a small gauze bag, tie up the

crushed laurel in it, and put it into the bottle. In either case, the bottle must be kept firmly corked, or the vapoui- will escape.

The use of the bottle will be shown as soon as it is employed. Let a Beetle, however large, fierce, or voracious, be put into it, and its fate is at once sealed. It begins to kick and struggle, as if it knew its danger ; but in less than a second the struggling is evidently over, and the insect turns on its back, with its legs quivering in the poisoned air. The fact is, the laurel contains a large amount of prussic acid, and the interior of the bottle is charged with its vapour. Now, as has already been mentioned, the breathing apparatus of an insect pervades the whole of the body, even to the end of the limbs ; and when the poisonous vapour is inhaled, it penetrates simultaneously the entire system, and causes almost instantaneous death. It will be as well for the beginner to use the laurel-bottle for all Beetles, as it does not damage them, and he need not trouble himself to distinguish the voracious from the harmless species.

There is only one drawback to the laurel-bottle, and this is more apparent than real. It stiffens the limbs, so that the insects cannot be ‘ set ’ properly, and the legs will rather break than bend. However, this diffculty is overcome in a very simple way — namely, by leaving them in the bottle for a few days, when the rigid limbs will become relaxed and as flexible as they were during life. Some care, however, is required, as, if they are left too long in the bottle, the process of softening extends too far, and the limbs are apt to fall off altogether.

Very few instruments are required for the capture of Beetles besides the digger which 'has already been described. Two nets are almost indispensable, one made of stout net, and the other of brown holland or the strongest linen. The former should be about seven inches in diameter, and is used for fishing Water Beetles and their larvae out of ponds, ditches, and streams.

The latter, which is called from its use the sweep-net, requires to be made with some care, as it meets with very rouo-fi usage, and, unless properly made, will soon be worn out. The depth should be at least twice its diameter.

The framework of the net is simply a ring or hoop about nine inches in diameter, made of iron or brass about as thick

as an ordinary quill. If it be of lighter material, it will not endure the rough work for which it is made. The ring is covered loosely with the strongest tape, and to the tape is sewn the net itself, which is nothing more than a hag of holland or linen. The best sweep-nets have a number of small rings soldered on the inside of the hoop. A stout wire is run through the rings, and the net is made fast to the wire. By this plan the net will outlast twenty nets made in the ordinary way. The angles at the bottom of the net should be carefully rounded oif.

Now for the mode of using it. The simplest plan is to attach to the ring a strong screw which fits into a ferrule at the end of a stout walking-stick. The entomologist can, therefore, go about his task without betraying any signs of his occupation. The sweep-net and water- net, folded round their rings, are placed in one pocket, the laurel-bottle is in another ; the digger is hidden under the skirts of the coat, and a pair of curved forceps is in the waistcoat pocket.

When a promising sweeping-place is found, such as a hedgerow, some long grass, fern or heather, a quantity of nettles, a turnip field, or any such locality, the sweep-net is screwed to the walking-stick, the laurel-bottle hung by a string to a button, and all is ready. The net is then swept at random backwards and forwards among the herbage, the stroke always having an upward direction. This, with a little practice, can be done so rapidly as scarcely to impede the walk. It is better, however, only to sweep one kind of plant at a time, so as to be sui-e of the particular herb or vegetable frequented by each species.

After a time, comes the examination of the net. Lay it flat on the ground, doubling it over, so that the pressure of the hoop prevents the inmates from escaping. Now, draw it through the hoop very slowly, taking care that none of the more active Beetles make their escape, especially those which hop and fly ; seize the insects as they make their appearance, and drop them into the laurel-bottle, always replacing the cork. INIost Beetles —and, in fact, nearly all that are taken in the sweep-net— will pass through the tube ; but the large Grround Beetles, some of the Water Beetles and chafers, and one or two others, require to have the large cork removed.

should take out the

On returning home, the entomologist and empty the insects into some cork from the laurel-hottle, as some of the species have the strongest objecboiling water,

tion to die, and, after they have been apparently killed, have in a manner that is rather startling to a habit of reviving It is no uncommon thing for an inthe young entomologist. sect-hunter to capture a number of Beetles, set them, put them and then, after a week or so, to find away in the ‘ setting-box,’ or four of them kicking about and doing their best to three Some of the Geodephaga have been known to drag escape. the pin from the board, and, though still impaled, to devour their fellow sufferers.

Ordinary Beetles can be taken by hand, but for the very small species the forceps is used. This instrument should be of good length. The regular dealers offer for sale a brass forceps about two inches in length. This is nearly useless. Get the forceps of steel, at least four inches long, and made with a cmwe. The curved forceps is just as useful as the straight instrument for picking up a Beetle from the ground, while it can be inserted into crevices which the straight forceps could not enter.

‘Setting’ Beetles is not a difl&cult matter. For moderatelysized Beetles the following plan answers perfectly. Take a fine pin, such as are sold for the purpose, and pass it through the disc of the right elytron, and so fix the Beetle on a board. Now draw out its legs, and place them in their natural position, fixing them, if required, with pins and little bits of card-board. Treat the antennae and palpi in the same way, and nothing more is needed.

V ery small Beetles should be fixed on white card-board with coaguline. If the cement be well thinned, there will be plenty

of time to fix the legs and antennae before it sets. Only one

Beetle should be set on one piece of card. In all cases, if the

Beetle have wings, and several specimens can be procrured, one of

them should be set with the wings expanded as in flight ; and,

when card is used, one specimen should be laid on its back, so

that the structure of the mouth can be examined. Should a

more detailed examination be required, nothing is easier than to

damp the card-board, remove the insect, and replace it after its

structure has been investigated.

For examining the details of a Beetle, especially if it be a small one, a pocket lens is required. These instruments are made with either two or three glasses, and are small enough to be suspended to the watch-chain by a ring. In order to examine a Beetle with ease, the pin should be stuck into a cork cemented on a flat piece of lead, so that it cannot be knocked over. My own instrument is made of a champagne cork, cut into a cylindrical form and rounded on the top. I prefer the champagne cork for two reasons — the first being that it is of an uniform and close texture, without the holes and hard spots which are found in ordinary corks, and the second being that it has not been pierced with the corkscrew.

Only one other English genus belongs to this family, namely, the genus Dyschirius. All its members are very brilliant, very active, and very small, the largest being barely one-sixth of an inch in length. Small as they are, they are as ferocious as the Tiger Beetles, and are most persevering in their chase of prey, which mostly consists of Beetles belonging to the Brachelytra. There are several Beetles belonging to the genus Bledius or Hesperophilus, which inhabit the sandy shores, and live in small burrows which they make in the sand just above highwater mark. On these little insects the Dyschirii feed, chasing them through their tunnels just as weasels chase rats.

All these Beetles are cylindrical, and their surface has a sort of brassy polish. The mandibles are stout, very sharp, and toothed at the base. The antennae are slender, with the second joint the longest, and the thorax is globular.

CHAPTER III.

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