GRAVESEND DURING APRIL AND MAY, 1912. 149 



Gravesend during April and May, 1912 ; Some Beetle Jottings. 



By HEREWARD C. DOLLMAN, F.E.S. 



My first expedition to Gravesend this year was on April 11th, my 

 last on May 15th ; between these two dates I managed to get some 

 collecting there on two or three other occasions. Some of the species 

 I mention have been already recorded from Gravesend, but the fact 

 that they are still to be found there is not without its interest. 



Some of my pleasant excursions to this excellent, if somewhat 

 desolate, hunting-ground, were much enhanced both in their pleasure 

 and productiveness by the companionship of Mr. Donisthorpe and Dr. 

 Nicholson. 



Bi-mbediitiii fnui'ujatniii, Duft., not uncommon on April 28th, about 



one ditch ; only stray specimens were found, however, on subsequent 



searches. Ciieiiiitlotiis im/nrttsKs, F. — This local beetle was fished up 



not uncommonly on April 28th. lihantiis notatns, Berg., not easily 



captured, but apparently of very general distribution throughout the 



locality. ''^-Di/tixciis circiunjh.vua, F., rare. '■'''P^nocJinix In'cnloy, Pk., 



sometimes very abundant. Helnphonis vniUa)iti, Rye, found in great 



numbers upon submerged lumps of clay in one small pond. On 



roughly breaking up such clods beneath the water, the HelojihuvHs rose 



to the surface in plenty, and were easily collected. Hydrohiiis. obloiu/iix, 



Herbst., very common in the brackish ditches. The best of the 



Oct/ii'liiiis noted were 0. <,mratiis, Muls., very rarely, and (K n'riilis, 



Peyron, in considerable abundance. Some little attention given to the 



genus Anacaena was instructive to me ; I found that all the large 



specimens [A. (ilohtibia, of course, excepted) proved to be A. ovata, 



Reiche. This form I have found to be very much more generally 



distributed than A. linihata, F. The latter is a very distinct insect 



when alive, and I have as yet found it only in Epping Forest. The 



smaller ^(/rtfflp^rt proved to be both A. ovata, Reiche, •And''- A. hipiistidata , 



Stepb., the smallest ones always being the latter, easily differentiated 



by the colour of the head and maxillary palpi. On April 11th I sifted 



a nice series of ■■'I-li/jxicj/jitiis divcoideim, Er., fi'om some sedge refuse, 



where on May 15th I found Philont/iKs quitiqiiilian'iis a,h. (limuliatua, 



Er., not uncommonly, but easily outnumbered by the type-form. 



P/iilouthiis fiiiiiai-iiis, Grav., was found in small numbers among cut 



reeds on May 5th, on which day was taken also one of the very rare 



Philont/iKs piDicfiis, Grav. "^''Acfobiiis pnn-endiis, Grav., occurred to me 



once or twice among pond refuse. ■'■'Steniis hiciassatns, Er., and 



'■'''Steniis cajialicidatiis, Gyll., Avere both found not uncommonly by the 



side of the ditches, while two {3 and 2 in cop.) '^ Stenas fuseicoruis, Er., 



were taken off a plant in the small chalk pit close to Higham railway 



station, on May 15th. Sifting pond refuse gave me one or two 



''-IrJouiaiitiiii o.ri/aca)itJuie, Grav., diligent search failing to reward me 



with further examples of it. By sifting cut reeds, stray ■■'Choleva 



ai/ilis, 111., were occasionally noticed ; this is a species that always 



limits itself to casual specimens when it comes my way. ■■'■Atoinaria 



beroliiieiisis, Kr., occurred sparingly in dry sea refuse, in company with 



many common members of the genus. Among some heaps of 



cut Spariianiniii, etc., I took a short series of ''•TdinatopJiilnx brcvicollis, 



Aub. I have to thank Dr. Nicholson for "putting me on to" this 



June 15th, 1913. 



