18-i [A„a„st. 



anteriorly ; <aiii;Milarlv' excavate and I'oiuprcssed on ear.li side behiud the luiddU', 

 and also obliquely prrooved laterally and bi-impressed in the centre before tlie 

 base. Elytra long, broad, uneven, depressed along the suture and witliin tlie 

 humeri anteriorly, and also on the disc beyond the middle. Abdomen gradually 

 narrowing from the base, the last two dorsal segments much smoother than 

 tho«-e preceding, the anal brushes long. Metasternum and ventral segments 

 with a sharply-delined broad polished space down ttie middle, the rest of the 

 under surface densely punctulate. Legs extremely elongate, slender ; fourth 

 tarsal joint narrowly cleft and penicillate. 



cf . Sixtli ventral segment triangularly emar<jinate. the seventh hmijitudi- 

 iially imjjressed in the middle. Genital armature : lateral lobes very long and 

 slender, scarcely thickened at the ti]), the lattf^r set wich several lung projecting 

 Jiairs ; median lobe gradually narrowed to the ]>ointed apex. 



T-eiigth 8i-10mm. ( J $ .) 



Hitb. llanikhet Division of Almora, ( //. G. C). 



Twenty-two examples seen. Separable from D. onuandalei fsub- 

 •spquently sent in large numbers from W. Almora by my son) and 

 D. oeriiieolor by its much larger size, tlic very long and slender antennae 

 itnd legs, and the almost smooth, laterally excavate, less nodose pi'othorax. 



{To be continued.) 



The Hdliplidae as vet/efariana. — It may be of interest if I briefly recajiitu- 

 late my observations on the feeding-habits of certain species of the British 

 Ilaliphdae. At Ilartlebury, AVorcestei shire, last April, I confined three 

 species in small tumblers containing Spinu/i/ra and a little TJIoihri.r. All 

 aquatic creatures likely to prove of value to the species as food had previously 

 ^een removed by careful washing. In each ease the specimens fed quite happily 

 on the alg-ae, and were not observed seeking for animal food. When I was 

 satisfied as to this point, and the beetles had been thus confined for thirteen 

 ■•days, I took one Haliphis out of each tumbler, and having killed it (by chloro- 

 form), I squeezed out the contents of the stomach and alimentary canal, and 

 •examined them under the low power of the microscope. In all three samples 

 a greenish-looking substance analagous to chlorophyll was seen. These and the 

 following con.siderations seem to show that the Haliplidae are at any rate par- 

 itially vegetarians. Furthermore to confirm these experimental results, I was 

 able in Ilartlebury Castle Park to examine the sides of a small fountain which 

 were covered with a luxuriant growth of Spiroyyvd, with a little Ulothri.r. 

 Here the Haliplidae {H. icehickei, H. IhieaTocoUiK, Cnemichtus it)ipre.'<si's) 

 could be seen feeding on these algae under natural condi lions, though there 

 ■were present large numbers of aquatic larvae, etc., which one would expect to 

 be the natural food of the Haliplids. During the last month 1 have also 

 noticed that when collecting in the Eiver Yeo, Rherborne, Dorset, ma.sses of 

 Elodea and Callitriche have only yielded a small supply of Haliplidae (chiefly 

 Brychius), the algae, however, producing myriads of H. Hneatccolli.t and 

 iivehnckei. Whether some of the other larger species have modified their diet 

 remains to be seen.— E. J. Pjcaece, The Lodge, Corpus Christi College, Cam- 

 bridge : Julijbth, 19L'l. 



