6 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD. 



records ior these species, all very rare and very local. Those 

 coleopterists who are studying the Cassnnidae should consult Mr. 

 Champion's notes on that family (loc cit., pp. 103, 121), in which 

 there is much valuable information on synonymy, distribution, etc. 



There were two references to the dispersal or migration of coleoptera ; 

 one by Mr. W. E. Sharp describing his experience last May at Brid- 

 lington (Ent. Rmord, xxi., p. 164), when he found the sea-shore 

 covered with vast hordes of Gastroidea polygoni, L., and other species 

 of beetles, a sudden spell of warmth after severe cold having given an 

 impulse probably to nuptial flight ; the other was an account given by 

 Dr. Longstaff at the meeting of the Entomological Society of London 

 on 2nd June, of a flight of Coccindla 11-pnnrtata, L., which he had 

 witnessed about 40 miles above Khartoum {Ent. Mo. Ma;/., xlv., p. 168). 



Mr. Donisthorpe published {Ent. Eecord, xxi., p. 257) his Myrmeco- 

 philous Notes for 1909, in which he gave additional localities for many 

 ants' nest species ; the conclusion of the notes for 1908 appeared on 

 p. 17 of that journal. 



In the Transactions of the Ento)iiolo(/ical Society of Londo)i for 1909, 

 there appeared only a few papers dealing with coleoptera ; one of 

 these, however, was a valuable memoir ; it was by Mr. A. M. Lee, the 

 government entomologist of Tasmania, and Avas entitled, " A Eevision of 

 the Australian and Tasmanian Malacodennidae.'' It extended to just 

 over 200 pages (pp. 45-252), and was illustrated by five plates. Mr. Lea 

 brought up the total known species of the family from these regions to 

 363 ; he described a large number of new species, corrected synonymy, 

 and gave valuable tables for separating the species of the different 

 genera. He drew attention to the fact that several species of 

 Oedenieridae bear a very remarkable resemblance to certain members of 

 the Malacodermidae in the company of which they are usually found. 

 He instanced Pseudohjchiis lioemorrlioidalis, Fab., which is usually found 

 with M«trio)i/n/nchiis ni/'ipennis, Fab., which it strongly resembles, in 

 fact, like that species, it varies in regard to colour of elytra from 

 entirely reddish to a mere tip of red at the extremity of the elytra. In 

 pt. iii., pp. 397 and 413, Mr. Donisthorpe had two papers; the first, 

 entitled " On the Origin and Ancestral Form of Myrmecophilous 

 Coleoptera," gave an account of the species of coleoptera which are 

 occasionally or often found with ants or in ants' nests in Britain, but 

 more generally away from them ; in the second paper, entitled " On 

 the Colonisation of new nests of Ants by Myrmecophilous Coleoptera," 

 after discussing briefly possible hypotheses, the author proceeded to 

 consider the evidence afforded by some of the ants-nests' beetles found 

 in Britain ; both papers are very interesting, but much more extensive 

 field observation is wanted before any definite conclusion can be 

 arrived at. 



In " The Annals of Scottish Natural History," 1909, April, p. 76, 

 July, p. 146, October, p. 218, Mr. F. Balfour-Browne contributed a paper 

 on " The Aquatic Coleoptera of the Solway District," in which he 

 summarised the previous records of this district, and gave the result of 

 his own three years' work. The paper is characterised by the thorough- 

 ness which we always expect from Mr. Balfour-Browne. He recorded 

 about 120 species, and gave a full account of his discovery of such 

 interesting and unexpected species as Bidessus i)iinvtissi;nns, Germ., 

 and Oeldhchius lejolisi, Key et Muls. 



