I go THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



Silpha quadripunctata at Aberfoyle. Whilst collecting in 

 an oak wood near Aberfoyle on 30th May last, I obtained two 

 specimens of this beetle running among the dead leaves. I under- 

 stand they are not very common in Scotland. D. Hamilton, 

 Edinburgh. 



Clyde Tenthredinidae (Sawflies). In explanation of some 

 points raised by Mr Dalglish in connection with my recent paper 

 on Clyde Sawflies, I desire to state the following facts. The paper 

 was written nearly five years ago, before my departure for America. 

 The identifications were, so far as my own material is concerned, 

 made by Rev. F. D. Morice. Several of the species mentioned by 

 Dalglish have been dealt with in papers written by other authors 

 subsequent to the completion of my manuscript. The synonymy 

 is complete only so far as I could ascertain, and, unless one cares 

 to arbitrarily decide certain points, almost as complete as it is ever 

 likely to be. Many of the species mentioned by Dalglish were 

 accidental omissions, and would have been rectified had I remained 

 in Scotland. My purpose in writing the list was solely to bring 

 together the recorded species. Lastly, I accept Dalglish's criticisms 

 as an addition to our knowledge of the group, and not as criticisms 

 of myself or my work. I consider that the work should have been 

 undertaken by Dalglish in 190T when he compiled the list for the 

 Glasgow " Handbook." J. R. Malloch, Urbana, U.S.A. 



Nacerdes melanura in Scotland (Forth Area). Whether 

 the following incident does or does not furnish a genuine addition 

 to the list of Scottish Coleoptera, it seems worth recording in the 

 pages of this magazine. On 9th July (1914) when on board the 

 Forth pleasure-steamer Redgcmntlet, about a mile off Methil, 

 on the Fife coast, I noticed a beetle running on the deck, and, 

 needless to say, promptly secured it. At first I thought it was a 

 Leptura, but closer examination showed that it bears only a 

 superficial resemblance to that genus, and is in reality a female 

 example of Nacerdes melanura, Schmidt ( = hpti/roides, Thunb.). 

 The habitat of the species is stated in Fowler's British Coleoptera 

 to be " on old posts and timber on the seashore and near the 

 mouths of large rivers ; sometimes introduced further inland with 

 timber." A number of localities in which it has occurred in the 

 south of England, and a few others northwards as far as Sunderland 

 and Shields are given ; also two in Ireland ; but I can find no record 

 for Scotland. How this specimen came to be on the Redgauntlet 

 it is impossible to say. Perhaps it came from Methil, and had 



