18(>5. 13 



Capture of Olophmm fitacum, Grav.; a i^pecies neiv to Britain. — On the borders 

 of a pond, close to Edinburgh, I have found several examples of a species of 

 Ohphrum distinct from the common picenm. Compared with it, they present the 

 following differences : — they are smaller, and considei-ably narrower; darker iu 

 colour, and much flatter ; the basal joint of the antennae is lighter in colour than 

 the others ; the thorax is not so transverse, and is less rounded at the sides, es- 

 pecially behind, with the punctures smaller and more numerous ; and the elytra 

 gra lually get broader from the shoulder to the apex in a much more marked degree 

 than in picenm. 



These differences, it will be observed, agree with those pointed out in Erichson 

 and Kraatz as characterizing 0. fuscum, Grav. ; so that I have no doubt the speci- 

 mens above referred to belong to that species. — Id. 



Further rcmarlcs on Anommatus 12-striatus. — Mr. Wollaston's note (vol. i., 

 p. 245) induces me to add what I have observed respecting the habits of this species ; 

 which, I believe, I took in larger numbers than anyone, after it had been lost sight 

 of for many years in England. I first detected it under a board in a kitchen-garden 

 at Coaver House, Exeter, in different parts of which I laid down similar traps ; but 

 I scarcely found any specimens, except under boards laid between rows of straw- 

 berries, whore I took as many as I required : I could not, however, trace any 

 further connection between the strawberries and the beetles. The peat soil referred 

 to by Mr. Wollaston had certainly nothing to do with the production of the insect 

 in this case, for no peat was used in the garden. I am convinced that Anommatus 

 is nocturnal in its habits, from the fact of my never finding any specimens after 

 the first or morning search ; although, for some time, I hunted over the boards at 

 different times iu the day. A certain degree of humidity seems necessary to the 

 well-being of the insect, for I found no specimens adhering to those boards which 

 had become partially dry by the circulation of air beneath, through not having been 

 pressed close to the damp soil. It is possible that the greater degree of damp 

 during the night may have some effect upon the beetle, for it remains without 

 motion in its hiding place during the dry day-time ; in any other way it seems 

 difficult to understand how, being eyeless, it can distinguish between the day and 

 night. — Edward Pakfitt, Devon and Exeter Institute, 4th April, 1865. 



Capture of Hypidus quercinus. — About a fortnight ago, Mr. Edwin Wheeler, of 

 Clifton, captured this species in a stump at Leigh Woods, from which we have 

 since taken a few more specimens ; the insect, however, is by no means common 

 there. — John Barber, Clifton Dispensary, Bristol, 20th April, 1865. 



Capture of rare Coleoptera in London. — On a warm day at the end of last 

 month, I took (amongst other insects) Calodera imihrosa and Trogophla:us tenelhi.':, 

 flying in the court-yard of the British Museum, where I have also recently captured 

 Ocypus fuscatus. The first of these is certainly any tiling but a common species, 

 and the Trogophloeus has only recently been added to our lists by my brother, 

 Mr. Chas. 0. Waterhouse, who found it at Kingsbury. It is astonishing to what a 

 '!i!-tancc Coleoptera travel ; as instances of this fact, I may mention that we have 



