More satisfactory in some respects is the method of obtaining the eggs from captured gravid females, and the general collector should always be on the lookout for females of rare species from which he may be able to obtain eggs. A single battered female may, in this way, be the source of large numbers of excellent reared specimens. Many rare Lepidopterous larvae may be obtained by the use of the beating net and by beating foliage over an umbrella. A very satisfactory method consists in collecting pupae, which may frequently be found in numbers about the bases of the trees on which the larvae feed. Many larvae of the large family of Owlet Moths (_Noctuidae_) are found either on the surface of the ground or under various substances, while others burrow into the stems of the different herbaceous plants, some being subaquatic and feeding on the underside of leaves or in the stems of aquatic plants. In the case of Microlepidoptera, their habit as larvae, of mining leaves or tying or webbing them together, affords an easy means of detecting their presence in most cases. The miners are easily noticed by the discolored spots on the leaves or the wavy, pale, or brown lines marking their burrows. The presence of others is indicated by the leaves being drawn together and united with webs, or withered and brown from being skeletonized by the larvae. Many species are case-bearers, and live upon the leaves and branches of trees and plants, dragging their cases along with them. Others burrow in grasses or in the stems of plants or the trunks of trees, or in fungi. In the case of the leaf-miners and leaf-tiers, little difficulty is experienced in rearing the imagoes. The care of the larvae, the outfit required, and the methods of breeding will be described in later sections. COLLECTING HEMIPTERA. [Illustration: FIG. 74.--A Pentatomid (_Stiretrus anchoraga_).] [Illustration: FIG. 75.--The Blood-sucking Cone-nose (_Conorhinus sanguisuga_). _a_, mature bug; _b_, pupa.]