1897.] Gl 



that his insect has pale legs) ; he gives as varieties : — a, austraUs, Weise (femoribus 

 posticis rufo-flavis), and, b (elytris sub humeris rufo-flavis). Our British insect 

 belongs to liis var. a, and the name australis, Weise, cannot, of course, be used for 

 it, as the definition applies exactly to the form described by Marsham. I captured 

 a long series of the form with dark hind femora at Mendel, in the Austrian Tyrol, 

 at an elevation of about 4000 feet, in July last ; these specimens are not nearly so 

 large as any of the British examples I have seen, some of them being very small. 

 They were found upon Populus tremula, the only food-plant mentioned by Weise. 

 Z. scutellaris, SufFr., in one of its varieties (frontalis, Suffr.), closely resembles Z. 

 flavicollis, but may be known from it by the moi-e pubescent body, &c. ; it is the 

 only European species of the genus not found in Britain. — Id. : Jan. 23rd, 1897. 



Notes on the Coleoptera of the Liverpool district, 1896. — The Liverpool district, 

 which comprehends S.W. Lancashire and W. Cheshire, shai'ed in the general climatic 

 conditions common to the rest of the country during last year. An exceptionally 

 mild winter, an early spring, a hot and extremely dry May and June, were succeeded 

 by a general break of the weather in July, and a late summer, wet and inclement 

 beyond the average. 



It may be interesting to record the salient features of such a year, as regards 

 the local Coleoptera. There seems no reason to doubt that the correlation between 

 atmospheric conditions and the absence or abundance of any species of insect is 

 fundamental and persistent, although often indirect and always exceedingly complex. 

 Did, however, annual records exist over a sufficient number of years, giving on one 

 hand accurate meteorological statistics, and on the otlier the observed entomological 

 phenomena of any certain district, it is certain that such observations would afford 

 valuable material for investigation into what seems one of the most difficult problems 

 of entomological biology — the disparity between the annual scenes of individual 

 occurrences in any sequence of years, the extraordinary extremes experienced by the 

 same species in seasons of scarcity and seasons of abundance. 



In this district the most prominent features of the past year were : — early 

 appearance and brief continuance of all species up to the end of June ; comparative 

 scarcity of Oeodephaqa and Staphylinidre ; abundance of Phytopliaga ; particular 

 relative abundance of Longicornia ; extreme paucity of imaginal life during July 

 and August ; and almost utter absence of usual autumnal fungivorous species. 



Turning more to detail, we have to record as species not previously noted in our 

 district: — Silpha obscura, Aphthona ccerulea (Payk.), Ernohius mollis, Apion 

 rufirostre, A. radiolus, A. cBneum, Hypera suspiciosa, Bagoiis tempestivus, Cceliodes 

 quercus, Ceuthorrhynchus marginatus, and Cionus scrophularice. 



Of species of whose previous occurrence we have only single records during a 

 period of some twenty-five yeai's, we can report Heptaulacus villosus, PogonochcBrus 

 bideniatus, Strangalia arniata, Adimonia tanaceti, and Cassida obsoleta. Carabus 

 nitens, lost to local collectors for many years, occurred again this spring at Formby, 

 one of its old localities. MalacMus bipustulatus was abundant in June, having 

 only occurred in two previous years, and then very rarely. Clytus arietis, more 

 plentiful than in any previous year of which records have been kept. C. mysticus, 

 abundant in a single and very circumscribed locality. Gastrophysa raphani, gene- 

 rally a scarce insect, in the utmost profusion in May, and again in July, in certain 



