218 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



probably not been recorded hitherto from Kincardineshire. It is 

 a native of pine woods, where its larva; feed upon those of the 

 wood-wasp, Sirex. A. Macdonalp, Durris. 



Pterostichus sethiops, Panz., at low elevations in 

 Argyllshire and Arran. This beetle is usually regarded as 

 a mountain species, being taken, as a rule, under stones at fair 

 heights. In highland districts of Scotland, however, it can be 

 found at quite low elevations. In March 191 2 I shook two 

 specimens out of moss in a wood not much above sea-level at 

 Ardentinny (Main Argyll); and during March 1913 other two 

 occurred in the decayed trunk of a tree at Brodick, in Arran 

 (Clyde Islands), between 100 and 200 feet above sea-level. I 

 found it again at Lochgoilhead (Main Argyll) during September 

 1915, under the loose bark of fir, on the shores of Loch Goil. 

 This is the kind of situation in which one expects to find the 

 common Agonum assimile, Payk., and that species in fact occurred 

 under the bark in company with P. cethiops'. At Lochgoilhead 

 cethiops also occurred under stones on the slopes of Ben Donich 

 at a height of about 1000 feet; but, although this was apparently 

 a more typical habitat, it was much scarcer there than in the 

 other locality at the lochside. A. Fergusson, Glasgow. 



Aphodius foetens, P., and A. nitidulus, P., in Arran. 



Both these species are very local in Scotland. A. foetens has only 

 been recorded from North Queensferry, where Dr Sharp found 

 a colony on 30th June 1865 {Scottish Naturalist, iv., 176); and 

 from Macrihanish, where Commander Walker took it in sheep dung 

 in July 1895 (Ent. Mo. Mag., xxxii., in). A. nitidulus was not 

 known as a Scottish insect until Commander Walker found it also 

 at Macrihanish in July 1895 (Joe. eit.), and I am not aware that it 

 has been recorded from any other locality in Scotland. When 

 collecting at Machrie Bay in Arran during July and September 19 12 

 I was fortunate enough to find a fair number of both species in 

 cattle droppings on a stretch of sandy ground. The area over 

 which the insects were found was a comparatively small one, and 

 observations made in subsequent years, while indicating that both 

 beetles are still present in the original locality, have not shown 

 that they have extended their range appreciably. A. Fergusson, 

 Glasgow. 



