io;:.i 79 



ill certain instances, that the least fre(|ueiit form of a species becomes 

 the type of it ! 



In the present case there is no evidence whatever that a " typical " 

 C. bijnincfafus is in any sense more archaic or more representative of 

 the species than any other of its numerous forms, and in this country 

 at any rate is in a quite iiet?ligible minority as compared with the 

 " var." sanguinoleutui^. 



As to the occurrence of these several forms in Britain, Mr. Cham- 

 pion and Mr. Newbery have the " type " from Devonshire, and 

 Mr. Donisthorpe and Mr. Pool have taken it near Niton, in the Isle of 

 Wight. Mr. Newbery has specimens of the form immacrdafns Pic, 

 taken with samjuinolentus at Totnes, Devon. This latter form seems 

 to be generally, but by no means commonly, distributed over the whole 

 of England where suitable localities exist, such as heaths and mosses, 

 for its maintenance. The var. thomsoni has been taken by Dr. Power, 

 Mr. Champion, and Commander Walker, at Horsell or Woking, and 

 by Mr. Tomlin near Crowthorne. 



So far, I have b'een unable to verify the occurrence of the vars. 

 inimaculipennis Pic, quadrinotatus Schaff., or dericus Seidl. as British, 

 but I have no doubt that among the numbers of sanguinolentus taken, 

 examples have been found which might be referable to one of these 

 forms. Of the bionomics of the species, including its food-plant, or 

 whether its various forms all feed on the same plant or plants, nothing 

 definite is known. 



Crowtliorne, Berks. : 

 February, 1917. 



REMARKS ON THE TABLE OF THE BRITISH SPECIES OF 

 RHYNCHITES BY MR. J. EDWARDS. 



BY E. A. NEWBERY. 



Having had some correspondence with Mr. Edwards on the above 

 subject, a few remarks on his useful table may not be out of place. 



B. aurutus Scop, and hacchus Linn. — The only record for more 

 than a hundred years of the capture of either of these in Britain 

 appears to be the single specimen of hacchus alluded to by Mr. Edwards 

 as taken by B. Standish in 1843, i.e., 74 years ago. The food-plants of 

 both being common here, I think it may be fairly assumed that they 

 are now extinct. 



