96 The Irish Naturalist. [April, 



BHETl^ES COLLECTED AT MOTE PARK, MOUNT 

 TALBOT, AND CLONBROCK. 



BY J N. HAI^BERT. 



The excursion to Mote Park, Co. Roscommon, last June, was 

 productive of very satisfactor}^ results to those of our party 

 who devoted their time to the insect fauna. As might be 

 expected, the bulk of our captures was similar to what we 

 had already noted at Clonbrock in the previous 3'ear, seeing 

 that both localities afford practically the same kind of 

 collecting ground. At Mote Park, however, we had an 

 opportunity of working in a new county that had not been 

 previousl}^ visited by an}^ coleopterist. Hence, our efforts 

 were rewarded by the capture of a fair number of novelties, 

 and a delightful day spent on Lough Ree and its islands 

 helped to swell our list. For many of the rarer species we 

 have to thank the Hon. R. E. Dillon, who had been collecting 

 in the neighbourhood for some days previous to our visit. 



The most interesting of Mr. Dillon's captures is undoubtedly 

 Lytta vcsicaioria, the well-known '' Spanish Fly," of which he 

 found a single specimen on Mountain-Ash in Cloonca Wood. 

 This handsome insect was previously unknown as an Irish 

 species, and is of such extremely local occurrence in southern 

 England, that it was considered not to be indigenous by one 

 of our most experienced coleopterists, the late Mr. E- C. Rye. 

 But the insect is very widely distributed in Europe, and there 

 seems to be no good reason why it should not occur native in 

 Britain. The wood where this important capture was made 

 is close to Mount Talbot, Co. Roscommon, and is said to be a 

 remnant of what was formerly a forest of considerable extent. 

 The Longicornia are but poorl}^ represented in our Irish list, 

 but the capture, by Mr. Dillon, of such rare species a.s A romia 

 vioschata (Musk-beetle), Hylotrupes bajtilus, Rhagium ifida- 

 gator, Lcpiura sciiicllata and L. ftilva clearly proves that this 

 w^ood-frequenting family only requires looking for in suitable 

 localities, and at the proper time of the 3'ear. It is to be 

 hoped that Mr. Dillon will be able to continue his researches, 

 as there are yet many genera amongst the "longicorns" that 

 we should expect to find represented in the old woods of our 

 western counties. 



