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REPORT ON INSECTS COIvI^ECTED AT COOIvMORE, 



CO. DONEGAI,, 



FOR THE ROYAI, IRISH ACADKMY FI,ORA AND FAUNA 



COMMITTKE, JUI.Y, 1894. 

 BY RKV. W. F. JOHNSON, M.A., F.EJ.S. 



As I described Cool more and the surrounding district in my 

 last report,' I need not repeat the description. This year I 

 made expeditions to some neighbouring localities, those 

 visited being Bruckless, Coxtown, Mervagh, and Templenew. 

 Bruckless is on the opposite side of the bay to Coolmore and 

 about four miles from Killybegs. The shore there is very 

 different from that at Coolmore, the sand being replaced by 

 coarse gravel and large boulders. It did not prove a very 

 productive locality, though I obtained some nice specimens 

 there. Coxtown is near the town of Donegal. I spent two 

 afternoons there, and the grounds produced some interesting 

 specimens, chiefly by beating Oak trees. Mervagh is near 

 Ballintra on the lower course of the river that flows through 

 that town. I was particularly anxious to visit it, as I had, last 

 year, taken Siagara minutissima there, and wished to obtain 

 more. My kind friend, the Rev. John Hamilton, of Coolmore, 

 drove Mrs. Johnson and myself over to the spot. The afternoon 

 turned out wet ; however being equipped with waterproofs 

 we faced the weather, and were rewarded by capturing a large 

 number of Siagara as well as some other insects. The 

 Siagara were confined to one spot at the edge of the river, 

 and seemed to rest on the mud at the bottom. Templenew 

 is about two miles from Beleek on the River Erne. On a 

 former occasion I had tried the river and found it barren of 

 insects, so I turned my attention ta other parts, and in a pond 

 took Donacia crassipes and D. versicolorea. 



On the day after my arrival at Coolmore the beach was 

 strewn with numbers of insects. Where these came from I 

 cannot tell, though it seemed most probable that they came 

 from the opposite side of the bay, having been blown across 

 by the strong north-west wind which prevailed at the time. 



I sugared diligently, but it was not a success, and melanic 

 forms were entirely absent. I<ast year matters were quite the 

 reverse, sugar was most productive, and dark forms abounded. 



* Irish Nat.f vol, iii., 1894, p. 83. 



