100 [May, 



by the indistinctness of the elytral striae. Germar's original descrip- 

 tion o£ 31. micros (Mag. Ent., iv, p. 309) merely speaks of the elytra as 

 " punctato-striatis " ; but Thomson gives for this species " elytra 

 stronglij puiictate-striate." Fowler states that, up to the date of 

 publication of his Vol. V (1891) no other British specimens had been 

 found since the two above referred to, concerning the identity of 

 which he evidently had doubts, and in consequence his account of 

 this species is enclosed in brackets, and he states that " it requires 

 further confirmation as indigenous." 



While at Tintagel, Cornwall, last August, I took in the sweeping- 

 net two specimens of a Miarus, which I hoped would have cleared up 

 the mystery. This, however, has only partially been the case. The 

 specimens in question are obviously distinct from either of the three 

 acknowledged British species. The pubescence is intermediate in 

 character between that of cam2)a7nila' and graminis, while tlie shape is 

 not elongate enough for phmtarum, from which species, as well as 

 from graminis, they are further separated by having the femora 

 unarmed. They are rather smaller than the general run of our three 

 species. 



Through the kindness of Mr. Newbery, one of my insects was 

 sent to Capt. Deville, who considered that it might perhaps be micros, 

 Germ., but was not sure ; he has suggested the possibility of there 

 being two species mixed under the name micros, one with pubescence 

 raised (the Tintagel insect), the other with it depressed (true micros) . 

 Then Mr. Champion kindly sent me several British specimens from 

 his own collection, which he had provisionally placed under micros. 

 These, however, did not appear to agree with mine. One of Wol- 

 laston's original examples 1 have been able to trace ; it is now in the 

 Crotch Collection at the University of Cambridge. The other I have 

 hitherto failed to discover. Some of Wollaston's insects are in the 

 Dale Collection at Oxford ; but Prof. Poulton tells me this Miariis is 

 not amongst them. I sent my insect therefore, together with one of 

 Mr. Champion's, to Dr. Sharp at Cambridge, and he kindly compared 

 them both with Wollaston's. He tells me that all three differ con- 

 siderably ; Wollaston's is smaller than either of the others, and has 

 the pubescence almost entirely in single lines on the interstices, 

 whereas in each of the others it is in double rows. Nevertheless he 

 considers that the three insects may represent one species, although 

 he does not profess to say whether this is true micros. Germ. 



Meanwhile, I had seen some continental specimens of M. micros, 

 ex Colls. Champion and Newbery, and it seemed to me that some of 



