282 THE entomologist's record. 



the fields and vineyards over which they had come. He also notes as 

 curious that another flight of beetles was observed at Zeitz about this 

 time, although it was not known if it was composed of the same 

 species. 



Eomanes records {Ent., v., p. 98) that, towards the end of April, 



1870, the Firths of Moray and Cromarty were covered with a species 



of small pseudo-tetramerous beetle (Gallernca). They appeared first 



on the 18th, floating by millions upon a calm sea and were afterwards 



thrown upon the shore in heaps by every tide. This sudden arrival of such 



a multitude of insects must, it would seem, be due to their migration 



especially as it would otherwise be difficult to account for their presence 



in the sea. On their arrival only a small proportion of the insects were 



alive, but dissection showed all to be much emaciated. Previous to 



their arrival there had been little or no wind. Romanes is inclined to 



set aside as untenable the view that they came to grief flying across 



the Firth, only some nine miles in width at its broadest part, since none 



appeared to have succeeded in reaching the opposite shore, especially 



when one considers how strong these beetles are on the wing ; he 



thinks that the idea that they drifted in from the North Sea equally 



strange, because the nearest point from which they could have started 



(supposing the flight to have come in a straight line) was from the 



coast of Norway. De Rivaz, writing of the massing of beetles by the 



seashore, records {Ent. Mo. Mm/., iv., p. 17) that in May, 1867, he 



was walking along the cliff from Ramsgate to Margate, when a strong 



south-wester was blowing, and later descended a gully or stair 



to the beach below ; the tide was up and he found himself on a small 



bay of sand, bounded landwise by perpendicular chalk cliffs. The 



sand to the lower part of the cliff's, was covered with thousands of 



beetles evidently blown down from the fields above by the wind ; he 



counted over thirty genera, most of them represented by four or five 



species. The insects were mostly on their backs, and, with the 



exception of some Bemhidia and a small Choleva (cmistoni aides), they 



were almost torpid ; when put upon their legs they made but feeble 



efforts to get away, and seemed to be unable to get a footing on the 



fine sand. He never before saw such a quantity and variety of beetles 



together in so small a space (about thirty yards), to be got without 



the least trouble, beyond picking them up. The exact spot was 



between Foreness and Whiteness, the following, so far as he could 



recollect, being a list of the genera observed : — Nutiophilus, Calatlius, 



Anchonienus, PterosticJnis, Ainara, Anisodactylus, Harpalus, Beiiibidinm, 



llybius, Homalota, Mycetoporns, PhilontJms, Xantholinus, Litlwcaris, 



Silpha, Cholera, Sphaeridimn, Cercyon, ApJiodrus, Ayriotes, Cneorliinus, 



Sitofies, Alophiis, Phytonomus, Trachyphlaens, Cryptorliynchus, Lema, 



Crepidodera, C'occinella, Cocddula, &c. Another case in which large 



numbers of coleoptera were found near the seashore is thus described 



{Ent., iv., pp. 142-143) by Moncreaff : " The evening of August 3rd, 



1868, was very lovely, but the heat was intense (90° F.) although the 



sun had well-nigh set. There was not a breath of wind sufficient to 



ruffle the surface of the sea (which appeared like molten lead), or to 



bend a blade of glass. I was sauntering along the sea bank (at 



Southsea), enjoying the moist salty exhalation, which was beginning 



to arise from the water, when my attention was attracted by the 



curious appearance of the grass-stalks along the extreme edge of the 



