1905.] 19 



Rhagium indagator, F., very conimon ; Asemum striatum, L., scarce ; and Clerus 

 formicarius, L., a number of examples. Out of fir stumps I dug specimens of 

 lihyncolus ater, L., Melanotus casfanipe.i, Pk., Rhizophagus ferruginens, Pk., 

 and F.purxa pusilla, 111., and from under the bark, Trypodeiidron lineatum, 01. 

 Corgmbites cupreus, v. seruginosus, F., was exceedingly common flying in the sunshine, 

 but I d'd not see a single specimen of the typical form. A single example of 

 Triplax russica, L., was taken off a post on a fir fence, and lastly Polydrusus imdatus, 

 F., was beaten in great numbers off birch, and was the only beetle that I found 

 by beating and sweeping the young birch trees. 



My second visit was in July, from the 16th to the 19th. The weather was very 

 hot, and during the first two days free from any wind. On Monday, July 18th, one 

 of the most beautiful days of the summer in that part of the country, I captured 

 Trichius fasciatus, L., in some numbers off white roses in the garden of Cross Craig 

 House, by the lake side, and in a cottage garden by the road, and also, again off 

 roses, in the garden of Dall House. I have been told by the local people that 

 this beetle occurs generally in the gardens on the Sweet William, but I could 

 not find a single ezample on this flower, though there was abundance of it in bloom 

 in the garden of Dall House ; all the specimens occurred on the roses. It is certainly 

 one of the most beautiful beetles in life which occur in Great Britain ; dead ex- 

 amples give no real idea of its beauty. In the hot sunshine it flies and is as active 

 as a humble-bee. I caught all my specimens by knocking them off the blooms 

 into the net, and it required a very rapid hand to then secure them before they 

 flew out. When held in the closed hand the beetle makes a noise exactly like the 

 humming of an irritated bee, and I was once almost induced to open my hand in 

 the fear that it was a bee I had caught and not a beetle. On the following day, 

 when there was again very bright sunshine but a cool wind, they were much less 

 abundant, but were still as active and as rapid in flight. Other species taken during 

 this visit include Donacia sericea, L., and D. discolor, Pz., both swept off Potamo- 

 geton occurring in a pool near the lake side ; Athous niger, L., found running on 

 the dusty road ; TropipJiorns elevatus, Hbst., swept off flowers by the lake side ; 

 and, lastly, Pitgogenes bidentatus, Hbst., also swept, but in this case off bracken. — 

 T. Hudson Beare, 10, Regent Terrace, Edinburgh : December Ith, 1904. 



Coleopfera taken in the Flannan Itlands by Mr. W. Eagle Clarice. — During 

 the month of September of this year Mr. Eagle Clarke was living on these remote 

 islands for the purpose of studying the migration of birds. He collected, whenever 

 possible, specimens of insects, and I have had the pleasure of going through the 

 Coleoptera and naming them. The Flannans are a group of small, uninhabited 

 islands lying out in the Atlantic, situated about 20 to 23 miles west of the Island 

 of Lewis, and are probably one of the wildest spots in the British Isles. The speci- 

 mens were all taken on the largest of the group, on which a lighthouse is situated ; 

 this particular island is an elevated plateau, about 16 acres in extent, and is sur- 

 rounded by steep rugged cliffs. The following is a list of the beetles taken :— 

 Carabus catenulatus, Scop, (five specimens) ; Pterostichus niger, Schal. (seven 

 specimens) ; Nehria hrevicolli.i, F. (twenty specimens) ; Calalhus melanocephalus, 



B 2 



