238 [October, 



conifers in the Royal Deer Park at Shute, tolerably common. [Ectopsocus Briggsi, 

 McLach., Seaton, in the house]. Clothilla pulsatoria, L., Seaton Junction, in the 

 hotel. 



Odonata : — Sympetrum striolatum, Clip., Whitford, at overflow pools. JEsclma 

 cyanea, Mull., seen once or twice in lanes. Calopteryx Virgo, L., abundant on the 

 Axe, also on tributaries to the Coly. Platyctiemis pennipes, Pall., not rare on the 

 Axe. Ischnura elegans, V. d. L., a few at Whitford at overflow pools. Agrion 

 puella, L., a few at a weedy meadow pond near Shute. The scarcity of sunshine was 

 fatal to the appearance of dragon-flies on the wing ; the marshes towards the mouth 

 of the Axe, where not under tidal influence, should furnish several species. 



Lewisham, London : 



August 31st, 1902. 



SILPHA ATRATA, L., VAR. SUBROTUNDATA, Steph., IN THE 

 ISLE OP MAN. 



BY J. HAROLD BAILEY, M.B. 



During the present year I have made special search for this form 

 in the neighbourhood of Port Erin, stimulated thereto by reading in 

 Mr. W. E. Sharp's paper on " Some Speculations on the Derivation of 

 our British Coleoptera " (Trans. Liverpool Biol. Soc, vol. xiii, 1899, 

 p. 1 70) that "even that peculiarly Irish form, Silpha subrotundata, 

 occurs in the Isle of Man." I have so far been successful in finding 

 between forty and fifty specimens. The first example was taken 

 under a stone on March 31st, and others were captured in April, 

 May, June, and July ; April producing the greatest number. All 

 except five occurred under stones, usually singly or in pairs, never 

 more than four specimens being taken under one stone. They were 

 found scattered over an area of ground three miles from one point 

 to the other. Stones by the sides of lanes on the level ground (30 to 

 50 feet above sea level) were the most productive ; a few occurred on 

 hilly ground, 300 to 400 feet high, at Bradda, Surby, and the Mull 

 Hills ; on the sea shore only three examples were taken. Those which 

 were found otherwise than under stones occurred as follows : — one 

 crawling up a stone wall, two crawling on the footpath in the day- 

 time, one similarly at dusk, and one after dark whilst searching with 

 a lantern. 



On examining the series, the most interesting fact is that not 

 only do they correspond to the Irish form, subrotundata, Steph., but 

 they are all of the brown form of this variety. 



Messrs. Johnson and Halbert, in their " List of the Beetles of 

 Ireland," p. G92, suggest that the type form Silpha atrata, L., is in 

 Ireland represented solely by the var. subrotundata, which is found 





