i2 The Irish Naturalist. February, 



Having now pretty well exhausted the immediate 

 environs of Waterford, we were anxious to explore new 

 ground and see what Lismore and the surrounding country 

 might produce in the way of coleoptera. We left Waterford 

 accordingly on July ist, in torrents of rain which, however, 

 abated as we neared the old town after a voyage in the 

 train of two or three hours. We had intended to put up 

 at the " Devonshire Arms " but found that this old- 

 established hotel had quite recently closed down. This 

 was a disappointment, but luckily our friend Captain 

 Penrose of Tramore had provided us with a letter of intro- 

 duction to the Dean of Lismore, who received us most 

 hospitably and actually put himself to the trouble of finding 

 suitable accommodation for us at Mrs. Hale's Private 

 Hotel, where we were made as comfortable as possible 

 for the remainder of our stay. The kindly Dean, who 

 only lived a stone's throw away from the hotel, begged us 

 to take tea with him and his wife, and both entertained 

 us with many good stories racy of the soil. The Dean 

 afterwards showed us over the beautiful grounds of Lismore 

 Castle, of which we did not fail to admire the wonderful 

 old avenue of beech trees. In the evening after dinner, 

 we strolled down to the river Blackwater and took a few 

 beetles, but nothing calling for special mention. Next day, 

 after Sunday devotions, we spent most of the afternoon 

 collecting on the banks of the Blackwater, and found the 

 usual riparian species there and a few others of more than 

 ordinary interest, such as : — Chlcenius nigricornis and the 

 rare var. melanocornis, Anchomenus augusticollis, Bem- 

 hidium decorum, B. punctulatum, Laccohius oblongus, Philon- 

 thus quisquiliarius and var. dimidiatus, Silpha dispar, Cryp- 

 iohypnus dermestoides, C. iv-giUtatus, Gastroidea polygoni. 

 On Monday, July 3rd, we decided tc collect in a new locality 

 and, walked to Balliaspie woods about two miles due 

 south-east of Lismore, situated on rising ground. Many 

 of the trees, mostly firs, had been cut away within recent 

 times and nothing but the unsightly stumps remained. 

 Here a few lepidoptera were flying about us, Cidaria 

 populata (plentiful), Venilia macidaria, Bomolocha fontis ; 

 but the coleoptera came in for most attention, and the 



