57 



THE BEETLES OF THE EASTERN COUNTIES. 1 



By CLAUDE MORLEY, F.E.S., &c. 



WHEN I last year(i904)wrotemycomparativeaccountof the 

 the Coleopterous fauna of Suffolk and Norfolk I had had 

 no opportunity of studying the very excellent catalogue of the 

 Essex beetles published in the Victoria History of that county. This 

 I have recently done with some care, and the results, as connected 

 and interwoven with those of a similar study of the neighbouring 

 counties, may be of interest to Essex Coleopterists, and will 

 indicate the directions in which they may most advantageously 

 strike out with a view to augmenting their list. 



Rich as are both Suffolk and Norfolk in coast sands and salt 

 marshes, those of Essex are of yet greater extent, and of a 

 conformation to shelter a broader fauna ; in the way of woods 

 and forests Norfolk is the worst off, and the small patches of 

 ancient timber at Staverton and Fakenham in Suffolk cannot be 

 compared with the large tract of land still covered by Epping 

 Forest. As regards the light lands, however, I do not think 

 Essex so well equipped as her northern sisters ; certainly she can 

 boast no inland dunes and sandhills such as those of the Breck 

 District. 



My personal acquaintance with the beetles of Essex is so 

 slight that it will hardly be wearisome to notice it here. In 

 September, 1893, Silpha atrata was very common at Maidon ; in 

 January, 1896, Homalium iopterum, Rhagium inquisitor and Scolytus 

 intvicatus^ were found at Chingford Hatch. At Harwich early in 

 June, 1897, Bembidium ephippium, Dyschirius salinus* Cercyon 

 aquations* Philonthus ventralis, Heterocerus obsoletus and Codiosoma 

 spadix turned up ; and at Wood Street, Epping, in May, 1902, 

 were Anchomenus gracilis, Bembidium lunulatum Fourc.,* Hydrous 

 caraboides and Balaninus villosus, with B. tessellatus t at Halstead. 

 In July of the same year, and again in April of the following, I 

 had several delightful days' collecting with my dear friend Mr. 

 Alfred Beaumont, who had the honour (with the exception of 

 Lord Avebury and two others) of being the oldest Fellow, among 

 500, of the Entomological Society ; and of whose death I have 

 to-day regretfully heard. We met with several nice beetles at 

 Gosfield, near Halstead, the best being Bolitochara lucida,* Liodes 



1 Written ist March, 1905. 



2 Trans. Norf. Nat. Sue, 1904, pp. 706-721. 



