lid ^^^''^• 



Coleoptera at CampheUoxcn, N. B. — During the time I was attached to H.M.S. 

 " Northampton," tlie ship on yarious occasions visited the prosperous little seaport 

 of Campbeltown, in Kintyre, its well-sheltered harbour being eminently suited to 

 her special work. To these visits I owe my first experience of Scottish collecting, 

 wliich I need not say I found very interesting and productive, though no great 

 rarity in Coleoptera turned up, and during our longest stay of sis weeks, in June 

 and July last, I was on leave in the South of England for most of the time. 



The hills which nearly surround Campbeltown Loch, and on its south side 

 attain in " Bengullion " a height of more than 1200 feet, afford very good collecting- 

 ground within a few minutes' walk of the town. The steep slopes of these hills are 

 for the most part heathy pasture-land, the heather predominating towards their 

 summits, where there are extensive tracts of peat-bog. Except near the shore, where 

 a few Scotch firs and beeches have been planted, trees are scarce, and in the glens a 

 little brushwood, chiefly of hazel, sallow, birch, and mountain ash, is occasionally to 

 be met with. Westward from Campbeltown, a stretch of very fertile arable and 

 pasture land, with patches of boggy heath here and there, extends across the penin- 

 sula of Kintyre to Machrihanish Bay. This bay presents a grand spectacle during 

 a westerly gale, as it faces the open Atlantic, and the great oceanic rollers then break 

 on the level sandy beach with a roar which is distinctly audible at Campbeltown. 

 Eound the bay extends for several miles the finest range of sand-hills which I have 

 yet seen in the British Islands, and I am sure that they would well repay a much 

 more complete exploration than I was able to give them. As is only to be expected 

 north of the Border, golf here reigns supreme, but the " links " are so spacious that 

 the entomologist finds ample scope for his occupation, without fear of being dis- 

 turbed by the warning cry of " Fore !" 



Among a large number of species of Coleoptera met with, the following seem 

 noteworthy : — Cychrus rostratus, under stones, occasional ; Nebria O yllenhali, rare, 

 one specimen only, under a stone at high-water mark on the beach at Machrihanish ; 

 Dyschiriiis impunctipennis and salimis, both rare in the same locality, where Brady- 

 celkts placidus also occurred singly at roots of bent-grass in November, 1895. 

 Pterostichus niger, occasional, and P. vitreus, not uncommon, under stones, on low 

 as well as on high ground ; P. nigrita, common in wet places, and varying greatly 

 in size, a curious form with clear red femora occurring rarely ; Anchomenus lavis, 

 abundant, nearly always very dark, and often of a rich bronze-black colour, but I did 

 not meet with the beautiful blue-black form which sometimes occurs in the north 

 of Ireland ; A. gracilis, in wet places. Bembidium rufescens, eeneum and bruxellense, 

 more or less common in flood rubbish at the mouth of a " burn " which traverses 

 the Machrihanish sand-hills, with Trechus micros and obtusus rarely ; B. pallidi- 

 penne, at roots of bent-grass in the same locality, plentifid in November, 1894, scarce 

 in the same month in 1895 ; Dromiu.i agilis, i-are, under bark. 



Maliplus fulvus, plentiful in " Aucha Lochy," a small clear water lake at an 

 elevation of 300 feet, about a mile from Campbeltown ; usually found clinging to 

 small pieces of wood, &c., in company with Hydroporus 9-l>>ieatus, not rarely. Ily- 

 droporua lepldus, obscurus, Gyllenhali, ei-ythrocephalus, &c., in peaty pools on high 

 ground; incognilus, one, &\\A obsoletus, iv/o s^ecimans m flood rubbish at Machri- 

 hanish, with Ochthebius hicolon, rare. Agabus Sturmli, abundant in stagnant water 

 close to the town. 



