48 The Irish Nattiralist. 



Amara familiaris, V>vSX..,Bembidium decorum, Vdi\\z.,B.atrocceru- 

 leiwiy Stepli., and B. punct2dat2Lvi, Drap., were more or less 

 abundant. Some damp fields near at hand next claimed 

 attention ; my first capture by sweeping was Hydrocyphoyi 

 dejlexicollis, MiilL, a rare insect in England but evidently quite 

 common here. I cannot find a more recent Irish record for 

 this species than 1857 when it was recorded by Mr. Haliday 

 from the river Vartry, and by Dr. Perceval Wright from the 

 plantations about Newcastle, Co. Down. Another interesting 

 find was Elmis volkmaj'i, Panz., a small insect measuring only 

 3 mm. in length, and the largest of the six British species. 

 They are all provided with very long tarsi by which they 

 cling to the undersides of stones, etc., and although unable to 

 swim like true water-beetles, they can thus retain their hold 

 even in the swiftest rivers. As regards the distribution of 

 E. volkmaii, there are some unlocalised Irish examples in Mr. 

 Halidaj^'s collection, probably taken in the vicinity of Lough 

 Neagh, and Dr. Power has recorded it from Waterford. 



We next searched the north bank of the Blackwater above 

 the Castle ; the presence of so rich and varied a vegetation led 

 us to expect good results, and in this we were not dis- 

 appointed. Mr. Neale found a specimen of the very rare moth 

 Gnophria quadra clinging to the rough bark of an Oak-tree. 

 I was fortunate in securing two perfect specimens of the local 

 Leiopus ncbulos7is,\^., swept from amongst long grass ; they had 

 probably fallen from a neighbouring oak ; the Lo7igicor?iia are 

 very poorly represented in Ireland, and with few exceptions 

 are rare. In the hish Naturalist for September last I 

 recorded a weevil Orchestes ilicis, F., from lyUcan which would 

 seem to be the first record of the species; it also occurred 

 here, and will probably be met with in other wooded localities. 

 Many beetles are more or less peculiar to certain varieties ot 

 Salix, particularly if growing in a wild state ; even young 

 plantations will sometimes produce nice species. A small 

 osier-bed near the '' hanging gardens ' yielded amongst 

 others Do7iacia simplex, F., Galerucella lineola, F., Telepho7us 

 thoracicuSj 01., Stcuus tar salts, I^5^nn., and Crepidodera hclxines, 

 I/., etc. Of these the most notable is T. thoracicics, only pre- 

 viously recorded from two of the Irish Counties, Armagh and 

 Dublin. The T. fulvicollis mentioned in Mr. Haliday 's 

 Belfast list, may refer to this species, but it might equally be the 



