_Traps._--The method of "sugaring," so important to the Lepidopterist, is by far less favorable for collecting Coleoptera. Still, certain rare Carabidae, Elateridae, and Cerambycidae are attracted by this bait, and the Coleopterist should not entirely ignore this mode of collecting. There are a few other methods of trapping certain Coleoptera. By laying out dead mammals, birds, fishes, snakes, etc., on suitable places and so that they are protected from dogs, rats, etc., the carrion-feeding Coleoptera can be found in great abundance, but a cleaner and less disagreeable method of obtaining them is to bury in the ground tin cans or glass jars so that the top is even with the surrounding ground and to bait them with pieces of meat, fried fish, boiled eggs, etc. Many Curculionidae, Scolytidae, and numerous other wood-inhabiting species can be successfully trapped in the following way: A number of branches, preferably of only one kind of tree, are cut and tied up into bundles of convenient size. The bundles are then laid on the ground in a shady place or firmly fastened on trunks of trees. When the cut branches begin to get dry they will attract many of these Coleoptera, which can then be readily collected by shaking the bundles out over the collecting cloth. [Illustration: FIG. 65.--An Elaterid (_Pyrophorus noctilucus_). (From Packard.)] _Freshets._--Freshets usually take place in springtime in most of our rivers and creeks, and furnish the means of obtaining a multitude of Coleoptera, among which there will be many species which can not, or only accidentally, be found otherwise. These freshets, sweeping over the low banks or inundating wide stretches of low land, carry with them all insects that have been caught by the inundation. Intermingled with, and usually clinging to, the various floating debris, these insects are eventually washed ashore by the current at various points and the Coleopterist should not miss this rare opportunity, but go out to the river bank at a time when the water is still rising, or at least when it has attained its highest point. Among, or on the washed up debris, a multitude of Coleoptera of various families can be found, and the specimens can either be gathered up on the spot or a quantity of the debris be put in sacks and taken home, where it can be examined more thoroughly and with greater leisure than out of doors. A day or so after the floods have receded the washed up specimens will have dispersed and only a few will remain in the debris for a longer period. Still more profitable than the spring floods are the summer freshets, because a larger and more diversified lot of Coleoptera is then brought down by the water. A similar opportunity for collecting is offered near the seashore if unusually high tides inundate the low marshes along the bayous and inlets. [Illustration: FIG. 66.--A Longicorn (_Prionus laticollis_).]