RECORDS OF COLEOPTERA COLLECTED IN SCOTLAND 221 



variation not only in form but also in habit, the substitu- 

 tion of one species by a closely allied one, the change of 

 food-plant, etc. Such observations may at any time shed 

 remarkable light on some of the deepest problems of Natural 

 History. I should like to remark with respect to the speci- 

 men of Amara Quenselii, Schon., recorded it is somewhat 

 damaged. The species has only as yet occurred in the Dee 

 district, and suspicion must therefore rest on a mere fragment 

 found so far away as Carrbridge, Inverness ; it is just possible 

 it may be Amara rufocincta, Dej. But this species appears 

 to be confined to the Lowlands. It would be interesting to 

 hear whether any Scotch Coleopterist has taken Quenselii in 

 the county of Inverness, and so be able to corroborate this 

 record. The specimens of Tachinus proximus recorded were 

 also a little troublesome to determine, apparently differing 

 in some particulars from that species, which led to the hope 

 that they might be the rarer pallipes, Grav. As the species 

 was abundant on the sea-cliffs at Thurso, perhaps some 

 naturalist in that neighbourhood could procure us some fresh 

 specimens. On Castletown sandhills (Caithness) Otiorrhynchus 

 atroaptcrus was found feeding exclusively on the small thistle 

 Cirsium arvense. I should like to know whether this has 

 been noticed to be the case in any other locality. With 

 these few short notes I append my list. 



CYCHRUS ROSTRATUS, L. Moffat, 1890, one specimen (July). 



LEISTUS RUFESCENS, F. Moffat, 1890, common on moors, under 

 stones (July). 



MISCODERA ARCTICA, Payk. Two specimens, Carrbridge, Inverness- 

 shire (July). One on Ben Nevis, 1891 (August). 



PTEROSTICHUS VITREUS, Dj. Not uncommon on moors, Moffat, 

 1890 (July). 



AMARA APRICARIA, Sturm. A single specimen on cliffs at Thurso, 

 1892 (August). Canon Fowler says of this common species : 

 "Widely distributed throughout the kingdom, except in the 

 extreme north of Scotland, from which district it has not yet 

 been recorded " (1887). 



AMARA QUENSELII, Schon. I possess a broken specimen, which 

 appears to be this species. I took it under a stone at Carr- 

 bridge, Inverness-shire, in July 1890. 



CALATHUS MELANOCEPHALUS, Z., var. NUBIGENA, Hal. Not un- 

 common at Moffat in July 1890. 



