COLEOPTERA. 368 



diameter being as one to four. Diameter about 0-2 mm. Under a 

 strong power the surface of the ovum appeared to be covered with 

 minute irregular depressions. The egg showed no change in appear- 

 ance till May 31st, when it became more glistening. On June 2nd it 

 exhibited a yellowish tint on one side. On June 8th it assumed a 

 darker hue and showed no further change till June 12th when it 

 hatched. The duration of the egg stage was therefore fifteen days. 

 When I saw it on the 12th the larva was already mining its way to 

 the upper surface of the leaf. The egg-shell contained the posterior 

 half of the larva and an amount of black excrement. The head of the 

 larva appeared green but it was difficult to see. The body was 

 yellowish-green with a darker central line. The following day a 

 brown fungoid (?) growth, which had previously attacked the leaf, put 

 an end to further observation. — Alfred Sich, P.E.S., 65, Barrowgate 

 Koad, Chiswick, Middlesex. October 16th, 1901. 



@^OLEOPTERA. 



Note on the Habits of Luciola lusitanica, Charp. — At Torre 

 Pellice, from July 31st to August 8th, a luminous beetle, which Mr. 

 Gahan informs me is Lru-iola liisitanica, was fairly abundant ; it was 

 also common at Bobbie from August 9th-18th. This beetle flies at dark, 

 and its habits proved most interesting to me. As soon as dark sets in, 

 from about 9.0 p.m. -11.0 p.m., the beetles maybe seen in considerable 

 numbers, their sudden flashes of light, followed by the suppression of 

 the light, being remarkable. One sees a bright sudden flash for less 

 than a second, a cessation for perhaps a full second, and then another 

 flash, and so on. The flash and its duration give one the idea that the 

 former is due to the energy of moving the wings and becomes distinguish- 

 able each time the beetle takes a fresh sweep with its wings. The light 

 comes from the two creamy-white ventral abdominal plates, and, in con- 

 finement, the luminosity is maintained, coming, however, only in faint pul- 

 sations with the activity of the beetle, and failing almost entirely when the 

 beetle is quiet. As many as 30 pulsations have been noticed from one 

 beetle before it rested, a distance of 20yards or more beingcovered during 

 this period. The beetles usually fly from 3ft. to 5ft. from the ground, 

 although sometimes much higher, and I have seen them go up into 

 trees to a considerable elevation and descend again. At Bobbie they 

 appeared to be attached to willows. Two beetles caught at Torre on the 

 evening of August 7th were seen to be dying on the morning of the 

 11th at Bobbie, and Avere then lying on their backs emitting faint 

 luminous pulsations. After death the luminous areas become dead 

 creamy-white, and the same colour is noticeable when the beetle is 

 not giving forth its light. Excitement will cause- a good healthy 

 beetle to produce its light at any time. — J. W. Tutt, F.E.S. 



Coleopterous notes FOR April AND May. — AtDeal, on April llth-14th, 

 in damp sand under small stones, I obtained Bledim opacus, Block., B. 

 tricornis, Hbst., in moss on sandhills, A»iara lucida, Duft, A. curta, 

 Dj., A. sprcta, Dj., Harpalus sercufi, Duft, and many others of the 

 common sandhill species. At Horsell, on April 27th, Ijnnhidium niijri- 

 cnrur, Gyll., and again on May 12th, on which date the following 

 were also obtained, Ihjrrhus fasciatitf;, F., Cardiophonis ascllux, Er., 

 ^Vnco.so/H«s bninneus, L., Apion r/enistae, Kirb., Gymnetron melanariux, 



