The Spring-tails, Fish-moths, etc., representing the primitive stock from which the higher forms have developed, have a varied habit and hence are to be found in divers situations. The Spring-tails (Collembola, etc.), occur in damp and moist places, usually in immense numbers. The Fish-moths and Book-mites are common household pests, but also occur outdoors under logs, boards, bricks, and rubbish of all sorts. In houses they feed on the starch paste beneath wall-paper and also on the starch in bookbindings and other domestic articles. They may be collected at all seasons and a sieve is the only implement necessary.
Fig. 85.—b, a May-fly
(Palingenia bilineata);
c, its larva; a, a Caddis-fly
(Macronema zebratum).
Fig. 86.—A Dragon-fly (Libellula).
(From Packard.)
The Bird-lice or Mallophaga may be collected at all seasons on birds and mammals. A number of species infest domestic animals, horses, cattle, etc., but the majority of them can be found only by the examination of domestic fowls and wild birds. The Stone-flies (Perlidæ) are found in the neighborhood of water courses and ponds, are very sluggish in flight, and easily captured with the sweep-net. They are also attracted to light. The Psocidæ are a small family of certain degraded wingless forms, comprising the Book-lice, which, as the name implies, infest books, feeding on the starch of the binding. Others have ample wings and closely resemble large Aphides. They occur on the trunks of trees and on foliage, and feed on lichens and other dried vegetable matter. They are gregarious in habit and frequently occur in immense numbers together. In the case of the Termitidæ or White-ants, their abundance renders their collection an easy matter. Effort, however, should be made to discover the different forms, the females and soldiers as well as the workers. The former may be found in rotten tree trunks, but are very rarely met with. In the tropics many species occur and construct curious nests, either attaching them to the boughs of trees or building them in the form of pyramids on the ground. The Dragon-flies (Libellulidæ,) are collected in the same way as the Diurnal Lepidoptera. They are very swift flyers, and are practically always on the wing. Their collection requires some degree of skill in the use of the net. A good method consists in visiting, in the early morning, water courses in which the larval and pupal states are passed, and capturing the adults just as they issue from their pupal skins at the edges of the pond or stream. In cold weather they are less active and may frequently be found clinging to trees and plants, particularly in the vicinity of their breeding places. May-flies (Ephemeridæ) occur in immense numbers near their breeding places in ponds and streams and are also attracted in large quantities to electric lights. Their collection is therefore an easy matter, but on account of the very fragile nature of these insects the utmost care must be employed in handling them. The early states of all the aquatic forms mentioned above may be obtained for breeding by the use of the dip net by dragging it forcibly against water plants.
Fig. 87.—A Dragon-fly (Agrion).
(From Packard.)
Fig. 88.—An Ant-lion, adult (Myrmeleon).
(From Packard.)