268 [November, 



Lcemostenus complanatus, Dej., at Plymouth. — The beetles which I recorded in 

 this Magazine in May, 1899 (p. 118), as P. terricola are, I now find, referable to 

 the above-named species. They were included in my note at that time (as men- 

 tioned therein) on account of their small size and the peculiarity of the habitat in 

 which they were discovered ; the specimens having been found at rest in a deep 

 crevice in a tree which had been blown down by a storm on the day prior to my 

 visiting it. When the ti"ee was standing the beetles would have been at an altitude 

 of some twelve feet from the ground. Being possessed of ample wings, may it be, 

 therefore, that L. complanatus is more or less arboreal in habit ? I have also an 

 example of L. complanatus from Mr. J. J. Walker, taken in Sheppey in 1898 or 

 1899.— J. H. Keys, Plymouth : October, 1902. 



A colony of Hister merdarius, F. — II. merdarius is, judging from the records, 

 usually a scarce species in this country, and it may therefore be of interest to men- 

 tion that I have recently come across a colony of it. The site is a small enclosure 

 by the side of the River Lea, near Broxbourne, Herts, close to a lock-keeper's cot- 

 tage. The soil in this place is a warm, damp, evil-smelling compound, the upper 

 surface of which is formed of large lumps ; it is no doubt the residue of a heap of 

 gas-lime deposited from a passing barge. On the top of this stuff, which was 

 riddled with borings, a quantity of vegetable refuse from the adjacent house had 

 been thrown, the whole appearing an attractive habitat for beetles occurring in such 

 situations. The Misters were found in the warm soil under the clods ; two species 

 occurred, of which //. merdarius was by far the commoner, there being probably 

 between fifty and sixty specimens present, besides numerous grubs, which I believe 

 were its larvae ; the other species was II. \2-striatus. Acritus minutus also occurred, 

 together with two species of Cercyon, Eumicrus tar sat us, Aphodius granarius, and 

 Trox scaber, but Staphylinidce were not numerous. I had only once previously 

 met with H. merdarius, this being a single individual found in a fungus trap in 

 Epping Forest, July, 1899, in company with H. succicola. — F. B. Jennings, 152, 

 Silver Street, Upper Edmonton : September 17th, 1902. 



Slenostola ferrea, Schrank, at Barmouth. — Last May I found a single specimen 

 of Stenostola ferrea by beating an elm at Barmouth ; it has not apparently been 

 before recorded from Wales : and at Bettsw-y-coed I captured four specimens of 

 Pachyta cerambyciformis in a marshy wood at the end of June. — J. Kidson 

 Taylor, 2, South Terrace, South Avenue, Buxton : September, 1902. 



Gnorimus nobi/is near London. — In July last, at the beginning of the month, 

 my daughter sent me a specimen of this rare beetle ; she found it walking across 

 her dining room table. She lives at Little Ealing, and there are a good many fruit 

 trees in the garden close to the house. — Arthur Cottam, Eldercroft, Watford : 

 October, 1902. 



Omalium septentrionis, Thorns., in Cumberland. — This rare beetle has occurred 

 this year in south-east Cumberland in considerable numbers, being found in old 

 carrion upon which was a growth of some minute fungus, which appeared to be 

 what the beetle was feeding on. According to Canon Fowler (Brit. Col., vol. ii, p. 



