76 



much larger nuniber are awaiting discovery. With very 

 few exceptioiis, marine insects are small in size, seldom 

 exceeding" more than a few millimetres in length, and 

 perhaps the only one which attracts the attention of the 

 casual observer is the fly Coelopa frigichi. This insect at 

 certain seasons of the year may be seen iiying in immense 

 swarms over the surface of decaving- Fuel and other Alsrse 

 cast up on the shore by the tides. 



Plateau has drawn up a list of 40 genera, and 

 embracing 80 species of Tracheate Arthropods, w-hich are 

 known to inhabit the sea-shore and to be subjected to 

 submersion by the water. In the greater number of these, 

 he remarks, the power of living under such conditions is 

 not due to their possessing anj- special mechanisms to 

 enable them to do so, but to the general property these 

 animals have of being able to resist asphyxiation for 

 prolonged periods. His list includes Insects, Myriapods, 

 Pseudoscorpions, and Acari. 



Most of what is known concerning marine insects is 

 comprised in the following works : — 



A. S. Packard. — On Insects inhabiting Salt Water. 



Am. Journ. Sci., 1871 ; also Froc. Essex Inst., 



18G8, and Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. -4, vol. viii. 

 r. Plateau. — Les Myriapodes Marins. Journ. de 



r Anat. et Phys., xxvi., 1890. 

 L. 0. Miall. — The Natural History of Aquatic Insects. 



London, 8vo. 

 G. H. Carpenter. — The Insects of the Sea. Knowledge, 



1901. 



The following list includes most of the marine Insects 

 inhabiting the British coasts, and has been principally 

 compiled from the writings of Plateau and Carpenter. 



