i«i.] 139 



otherwise the fine earth would of course fall through again. The sieve with 

 its contents is then placed very gently on a white plate containing a little 

 water, and the whole exposed to the light and air. Under these conditions the 

 drying of the earth takes place from the top downwards, and the insects, in 

 order to escape from the dryness, tend to bury themselves till they reach the 

 bottom of the earth. Then they fall through into the plate beneath. A glance 

 at the plate from time to time, in which they can easily be seen floating on the 

 water, permits an easy capture." 



Signor Dodero was kind enough to show me his very successful method in 

 operation at Genoa last summer, when I had the pleasure of seeing that extra- 

 ordinarily minute Staphylinid genvis Leptotypldus alive for the first time. 

 During an excursion to Sardinia with this gentleman and Signor Ferdinando 

 Solari, I was also introduced to the mode of obtaining and sifting the 

 earth from beneath the enormous boulders on the oak-clad slopes of the 

 Gennargentii range of mountains where many blind Coleoptera were captured 

 belonging to the genera Reicheia, Scotodipnus, Scotonomus, Scotodites, Bathy- 

 scia, Amaurops, Raymondionymus, &c. The sifted earth was brought back to 

 Genoa, and the finer particles have since yielded, I believe, various Lepto- 

 typhlus ; and the coarser earth, after being placed for a few days in very 

 shallow close fitting wooden boxes, has produced more specimens of the genera 

 noted above, as well as many others not previously seen ; the insects in this case 

 always coming to the top as the earth dried. — G. C. Champion, Horsell, 

 Woking: May I6th, 1911. 



Tachyporina, ^c, at Nethy Bridge. — I spent my summer holidays in 1910 

 in the same quarters at Nethy Bridge that we occupied in 1908. Diu-ing this last 

 visit I worked carefully the moss which is such a characteristic feature of these 

 northern pine forests, and secvired as a resvdt some interesting insects. Oiit of 

 a thick climip of moss by the side of a cart-track through the forest I shook on 

 22nd August a pair of Lamprinus saginatus, Heer. The only previous record 

 from Scotland was one due to Dr. Sharp, who took this species sparingly in flood 

 refuse in the Solway district. Mr. W. E. Sharp, who spent a few days with 

 me in September, swept up a specimen of the species near Forres. These 

 captures greatly extend the northern range of this species ; in the moss in which 

 my specimens occxiiTed there was a number of a species of Myrmica, but ap- 

 parently it was not a nest. In the genus Tachinus, I foiind Jlavipes, F., not 

 uncommon, though very local, and, as in 1908, proximus, Kr., and pallipes, Gr., 

 occurred in fair numbers, all in sheep droppings ; one specimen of elongahis, 

 Gyll., was captui'ed while it was taking an evening stroll along one of the forest 

 roads. A nice series of Megacronus inclinans, Grav., was obtained from thick 

 moss in the forest ; this insect is not rare at Nethy Bridge ; I always found a 

 specimen when I specially went out to look for it, and it occurred apparently all 

 over a widely extended forest area. A long day's climb on the Cairngorms was 

 rewarded by a specimen of Bryoporus rugipennis, Pand. ; it occurred in moss 

 growing in an almost inaccessible spot at an elevation of about 3,500 feet; I had 

 to work my way up to the place liy the careful vise of both hands and feet. 

 Several species of the genus Mijcetoporus turned up in tlie moss, including 



