2 The Irish Naturalui. [ January, 



BEETLES COI.LECTED IN I.OUGH FOYLE DISTRICT, 

 COS, DONEGAL AND DERRY. 



BY C. W. BUCKLE. 



The beetles included in the following list, which numbers 

 about 760 species, were alltaken within ten miles of the shores of 

 lyOUghFoyle during the years 1896 to 1899. Among the more 

 interesting beetles which are specially mentioned at the end of 

 the list are some forty species which had not previously been 

 taken in Ireland or hitherto remained unrecorded. 



On the north shore of Lough Foyle, where the majority of 

 the collection was made, the soil is chiefly a wet clay overlying 

 rock. A narrow .strip of land of a width varying from two to 

 four miles bordering the Lough is cultivated, and behind this 

 comes an uninterrupted chain of hills of moderate height — the 

 highest being 1,300 feet — extending from Culmore to Inish- 

 owen Head. These hills, which are covered with a thick laj^er 

 of peat, are, speaking generally, too wet and uncongenial for 

 most beetles, except aquatic and semi-aquatic species. The 

 beetles met with on the drier portions include Carabits 

 catenulattis, C. ?i7fe?is, Pterosiichus vitrciis, &c., but the Donegal 

 hills seem unproductive of many rarities ; the majority of 

 beetles met with being the commoner Carabidce. The most 

 successful collecting was done on the low-lying land bordering 

 the north shore of Lough Foyle. Very little collecting was 

 done on the south side of the Lough, \\ here the country is much 

 drier. The sand-hills at Magilligan, and at Buncrana, Lough 

 Swilly, were very productive, considering the small amount of 

 time that was spent there. They produced such local species as 

 Tachhuis elongatus, Acidota cre7iaia, Xayitholinus distans, 

 Bledius loiigtdus, B. crraticus, Helophorus rtcgostis, Cistela 

 lupertcs, Otiorrhynchus blajidus, Sitoties cambricus, S. lincellus, 

 Rhinondms castor, &c., besides a large number of commoner 

 things. 



The nomenclature used is that of the Catalogue of British 

 Coleoptera by Sharp and Fowler, 1893. 



