_Beating living Trees, Shrubs, and Vines._--The success of beating into the umbrella branches of living trees and shrubs depends on the particular kind of tree or shrub, on the condition and situation of these, and largely also upon the season. Pine trees are very productive from early in the spring to early in the summer, but much less so in midsummer and later on. Young Oak trees or Oak shrubs are much more preferred by the leaf-eating Coleoptera peculiar to this tree than the older trees. The Beech, which, next to the Oak, is the best tree for wood-boring species, harbors but few leaf-eating species. The leaves of the Chestnut are also generally not attacked by Coleoptera; still a surprising number of species can be beaten from this tree when it is in blossom. There is not a single species of Coleoptera known to live in the wood or to feed on the leaves of the Holly (_Ilex glabra_); still it will pay the Coleopterist to beat this tree when it is in bloom. Trees, shrubs, and vines in the interior of unbroken forest districts are, as a rule, unproductive, while the edges of the woods, narrow strips of hedges, and especially solitary trees are excellent collecting places. In the Rocky Mountains, especially in the more southern sections, long stretches of mountain slopes are occasionally perfectly bare of vegetation with the exception of a few solitary, sickly-looking, and dwarfed trees, but every one of these is a veritable gold mine to the Coleopterist with his umbrella. _Sweeping._--The use of the beating net continues profitable from spring till fall, a different set of species appearing with each season. Low and swampy meadows, meadows on the slopes of mountains or surrounded by woods, low underbrush, and herbage in smaller patches of woods are very good beating grounds. Dry and sandy meadows are less productive, but harbor usually a different set of species on account of the difference in the flora. Pastures and meadows much frequented by cattle and horses are much less productive, and where a large number of sheep are kept there is usually no chance for using the beating net, since neither grass nor specimens are left. The lawns in our parks and gardens are usually poor collecting ground on account of the limited variety of plants in such places; but the few species found there occur in enormous number of specimens. The endless stretches of our western prairies swarm at the right season (in June) with numerous Coleoptera (mostly Malachiidae, Chrysomelidae, Mordellidae, Curculionidae, etc.), provided prairie fires have not swept too frequently over the place. Fires and cattle produce a remarkable change in the flora and fauna of the prairies; many indigenous species disappear or become scarce and are replaced by a much smaller number of imported species. [Illustration: FIG. 67.--A Dermestid (_Anthrenus scrophulariae_). _a_, larva, dorsal view; _b_, larva, ventral view; _c_, pupa; _d_, adult--all enlarged.]