1904.] 177 



SOME NOTES ON MANX COLEOPTERA. 

 BY J. n. T,E n. TOMLTN, INF. A., F.E.S. 



Insular faunas always have a special interest, and one lias only 

 to read Wallace's " Island Life" to see their importance in helping to 

 unravel an island's (geological history. It is surprising that so little 

 has hitherto been done to work out the Coleoptera of the Isle of Man, 

 accessible as it is now, in view of the light they may be expected to 

 throw on tlie origin of the present fauna. It seems to be generally 

 agreed that the island was completely covered by a vast ice-sheet 

 during the Glacial epoch. Was there land connection with England 

 and Ireland nffer the disappearance of th(! ice, and if so, w^as the 

 connection with England or that with Ireland severed first? Or was 

 the island isolated at an earlier epoch, and is its present fauna entirely 

 due to fortuitous arrivals by water and air, and by human agency? 



Such are some of the moot points connected with the Isle of 

 Man, and the entomologist can certainly hope eventually to throw his 

 quota of light upon them. The only published list of Manx beetles 

 is one by Rev. Hugh Stowell in the "Zoologist," 1862, p. 7895. 



There are besides, of course, scattered but very few scanty 

 records in the Magazines. The subject has, however, been taken up 

 energetically by Dr. J. II. Bailey of Port Erin during the last three 

 years, and it was as his guest that I made a first acquaintance with 

 the Manx Goleoptern last September. 



Within so moderate an area there is a remarkable diversity of 

 ground in the island, from a collector's point of view. What one 

 most misses is woodland, and so far not a single species of Longicorn 

 has occurred, with the exception of one exotic specimen that had 

 doubtless escaped from a neighbouring greengrocer's shop. Possibly 

 when the woods near Ramsey have been searched this statement may 

 be somewhat modified, but the Longicorns and other xylophagous 

 beetles will always be poorly represented on the Manx list. 



For general collecting there is plenty of scope, and the glens, 

 which are so characteristic of the island, afford excellent sweeping, 

 while Dianoils and other beetles of similar tastes are not uncommon 

 where the gleu provides a suitable mossy habitat. 



In spite of an extensive littoral, the opjjortunities for shore 

 collecting are few ; the only sandhills are to be found in the most 

 inaccessible part of the island towards the Point of Ayre, but a very 

 limited patch of sand at Kentraugh baa produced some good beetles. 



