COLEOPTERA IN THE WEST OF ENGLAND. 257 



Coleoptera in the West of England. 



By Pbofessor T. HUDSON BEARE, F.R.S.E., F.E.S. 



I left London on the morning of Saturday, April 13th, with my 

 friend Mr. Donisthorpe, for a short collecting trip in the west of 

 England. Our first halt was at Weston-super-Mare, where we spent 

 April 13th and 14th. The special ohject of our stay in this district 

 was the capture of Haliplus mucronatus, Steph., but in this we were 

 unsuccessful ; and, though we worked a number of flitches in the marshes 

 near the town, nothing better than Haliplus variegatus, Stm., was 

 found. On the 14th, we discovered a large pond near the village of 

 Worle, a few miles out of Weston ; here were taken Hydrovatus 

 clypealis, Slip., a new locality for this very local insect; Hydroporus 

 Uturatus, F., Laccobius sinuatus, Mots., L. alutaceus, Tb., Haliplus 

 fulvus, F., Hydraena Hparia, Kug., Ochtkebius pygmaeus, F., 0. nanus, 

 Steph., and by sweeping the rough herbage growing in the water of 

 the pond. Stenus niveus, Fauv., Othius laeviusculus, Steph., and 

 Prasocuris junci, Brahm. In bunkers on the Weston golf links, we 

 found Sitoiics griseus, F., and Hypera variabilis, Hbst., and under 

 stones on the high ground south of the town, Aphodius zmkeri, Germt. 

 (a remarkable find), and A. pusillus, Hbst., were taken. On the whole 

 we were much disappointed with this district ; though there was a hot 

 sun, the wind was very strong and cold. 



Early on the 15th we left for Porlock, on the coast of Somerset- 

 shire, where we remained until the 18th. The beetle we were intent 

 on capturing was Quedius riparius, Kell., taken for the first time in 

 Great Britain in this district, in scanty numbers, in 1896, by Mr. Blatch. 

 We were able on the second day of our visit to run it down, and, on 

 the third day, to secure a good series each, and some duplicates. It 

 occurred almost exclusively in flood refuse caught against half-sub- 

 merged logs, and overhanging tree-trunks and branches in one of the 

 small rapid streams which come down from Exmoor ; the flood refuse 

 on the banks of the stream was of little use, as the insect appears to 

 leave it almost as soon as it is deposited. Other captures in this flood 

 refuse, and in refuse on the banks of another stream, were ijm'iliiis 

 auHcomus, Kies., Q. umbrinus, Er., Stenus guynemeri, Dixv. , Ischnopoda 

 coerulea, SahL, Callicerus obscurus, Gr. By sluicing shingle-banks in 

 these streams, the following were taken, Homalota currax, Kr., //. 

 pavens, Er., and Bembidium tibiale, Duft. In one of the valleys there 

 was a, good deal of fallen timber and rotten tree-stumps, and by 

 working these the following species were secured: — Diphyllus lunatus, 

 F., in its usual black fungus; Ips quadriguttatus, F., in numbers; 

 Quedius xanthopus, Er., Ischnoglossa />n>Ii.ra, Or., PMoeopora reptans, 

 Gr., Rhizophagus dispar, l'k., Prognaiha quadricornis, Kirb., Oca a 

 castanea, Er., and Proteinus brachypterw, F. A comparatively fresh 

 oak bough, with its wood in an inti o i I- hard condition, showed signs 

 of the burrows of a, Scolytid, and we were able, but only with great 

 difficulty, to dig out of tb. !se burrows in the hard wood a nice series 

 each 'if Trypodendron querciis, Eich., hitherto found very ran l\ outside 

 the limits of Sherwood Forest, and /'. domesticum, L. Other captures 

 in this district, mostly under stones, were Ocypns brunnipes, F., Oxypoda 

 spectabilis, Mark., Philont/ius longicornis, Steph., and Medon piceus, Kr., 

 this last insect is vary rare ; from the nests of Formica fusca, we' took 



