RETROSPECT OF A COLEOPTERIST FOR 1002. 5 



finally summed up the conclusions which may safely be drawn from 

 the observations so far recorded in the three papers published on 

 pages 262, 292, and 315. A most valuable local list, to which atten- 

 tion has already been drawn, has appeared this year — c/:., " A List of 

 the Beetles of Ireland," by the Rev. W. F. Johnson and Mr. J. N. 

 Halbert. This is a bulky publication, extending to 293 pages, and is 

 a model of what such lists should be. In a carefully-written introduc- 

 tion the authors discuss the main problems which arise in trying to 

 formulate theories as to the origin of the present beetle fauna of 

 Ireland ; then follows a most complete and useful bibliography and an 

 outline map. The list proper follows the line of those by Mr. C. 

 jMorley, Mr. J. J. Walker, and others, that is, not only are localities 

 mentioned, but also, in most cases, much information is given as to 

 the habitats, the mode of life, and the time of occurrence of the 

 various species. Personally, I have already found these additional 

 notes of great use ; for example, a character is given for separating 

 Xa)iilioli)tiif<: linearis, 01. and A', loniiirentris, Heer, worth all the other 

 characters put together, and yet, singularly enough, not mentioned by 

 most authors. The I'ratisactians of the E ntuiii(ilo(/ical Hocietij of I^andon 

 during the past year contain, in addition to the admirable address 

 of the President, several other papers of exceptional importance. Mr. 

 Donisthorpe has contributed an excellent memoir, " The Life History 

 of ('li/thra i-junietata, L.," in which all the information previously 

 published has been brought together, and, to this, the author has added 

 a considerable number of valuable original observations, especially in 

 regard to the egg stage. Mr. Champion, in " An Entomological 

 Excursion to Central Spain," gives both an interesting account of the 

 visit paid by him and ]Jr. Chapman in the summer of 1901 to that 

 country, and also a complete list of their captures in Coleoptera and 

 Heniiptera-Heteroptera. Lastly, in Part iii, which has been issued 

 this month to members, Ave have, at length, in full, the paper dealing 

 with " the Bionomics of South African Insects," which was contri- 

 buted by Mr. G. A. K. Marshall and Professor Poulton. As this paper 

 extends to nearly 300 pages, and is one mass of experiments and de- 

 ductions draAvn from them, it is quite impossible to criticise it in this 

 sunnuary, even if I had been able in the brief time it has been in my 

 hands, to read it completely once through. I have no hesitation 

 in affirming that it points to South Africa as the country which will 

 in all probability furnish the necessary material for settling some of 

 the most difficult problems now confronting biologists, and many 

 theories will either find their confirmation or their overthrow in the 

 results deduced from experimental work in South Africa on the lines 

 of that of Mr. Marshall. In the Eut. J\lo. Ma;/., vol. xxxviii., p. 61, 

 Dr. Sharp describes some new species of oriental LijiinicJiini (fam. 

 Ihjnliidae ), and, in doing so, he points out the extreme similarity 

 of the Oriental forms to those from the New World. 



On the whole it has been a stimulating year to those anxious to see 

 a real scientific study of our beetle fauna, and the appearance in one 

 year of an English translation of Fabre's " Souvenirs of Insect Life " 

 and of the above paper, " Bionomics of South African Insects " must 

 most surely do something to turn our young workers from mere 

 collectors into observers and experimenters. 



