October, 1807.1 217 



A PRELIMINARY LIST OF COLEOPTERA AND REMIPTERA OF 

 THE SCILLY ISLANDS. 



BY a. C. CHAMPION, F. Z. S. 



Very little appears to have been done in the way of entomological 

 collecting in the Scilly Islands, and a list of the Coleoptera and Semi- 

 ptera met with during my recent visit (July Gth to July 15th) may be 

 of some interest from a faunistic point of view. Making my head 

 quarters at Hugh Town, St. Mary's, I visited in turn Tresco, Samson, 

 Bryer, St. Martin's, St. Agnes, and Arthur, but was unable to land on 

 Annet, Kosevear, and others, when I made the attempt, the sea being 

 too rough at the time. Most of the outer coast is very rocky and 

 unsuitable for work, but on the inside there are several beautiful sandy 

 beaches, well sheltered from the wind, as on Tresco, though the sand 

 is too coarse and gritty on some of them to be of much use ; these 

 beaches having a fair amount of coast plants, such as Euphorbia para- 

 lias, Qlaucium, Erodium, Cakile, CritJimum, Eryngium, Salsola, &c. 

 The rough higher ground is mostly covered with furze, heather, and 

 bracken, the latter growing right down to the beach. On the slopes 

 of the larger islands most of the available ground is under cultivation 

 (chiefly Aarcissus and other spring flowers), divided up into small 

 squares, separated by hedges of Veronica or EscaUonia, or else by 

 stone walls, upon which there is an abundance of Mesemhryantliemum 

 in places, these cultivated patches being neaidy all choked with weeds 

 at the time of my visit. On several of the larger islands, as on Tresco 

 and St. Mary's, there is a certain amount of fresh water and marshy 

 ground. Altogether, some of the islands looked likely enough for 

 collecting, Tresco especially, but the result of nine days' work amounted 

 only to 102 species of Coleoptera and twelve of Hemiptera ; the very 

 dry weather prevailing at the time of my visit may, however, partly 

 account for the paucity of insect life. The Coleoptera observed were 

 nearly all of the commonest description, while in the Hemiptera tbe 

 hitherto very rare (as British) Emblethis verhasci was abundant on 

 two of the islands (Tresco and Samson), this being, in fact, the only 

 interesting species met with. 



The following list could no doubt be considerably augmented if 

 the smaller dung- and seaweed-frequenting StaphyHnidce, &c., were 

 properly collected, and doubtless a good deal more could be done in a 

 general way earlier in the season, in April, May or June. Mr. J. J. 

 Walker has supplied me with a list of Coleoptera (40) collected by 

 him on St. Mary's on July 28th, 1879, and the llev. H. S. Gorham a 



