19U.] 263 



recollect which species of Erica it was. In England Britten has met with 

 it in Cumberland, and it occurs in Wales (Holyhead, T. V. Wollaston) . 

 It is said to have been found by Wilkinson at Scarborough on Helian- 

 themum (Rye, Ent. Annual, 1869, p. 55) but I have some doubts as to 

 the correctness of this observation. 



Haltica ytenensis, nom. n. (= oleracea, Brit, coll.) nee L. 

 Few beetles have been more discussed in this country than the 

 species we call oleracea Linn. 



Practically there has been from the beginning no oleracea, Linn. 

 It has always been a " Magazine." Linnaeus' description consists of 

 three words (" saltatoria virescenti-cserulea." ) His types consist, 

 according to Gr. E. Waterhouse, of two specimens representing two 

 species, neither of which is now included in what is called " oleracea L.," 

 and his immediate successors confused under the name various other 

 species of the genus (cf. Rye, Ent. Ann., 1869, p. 55). At present it 

 is doubtful to us here what Continental authors mean by oleracea, but 

 as they certainly do not mean either of the two species represented in 

 the Linnean collections, and as there is no reliable traditional meaning 

 for the name, we really should do better not to respect it. 



I io not know whether we have in England the species called 

 oleracea by Weise, and according to my view it does not matter, for 

 nomenclatorial purposes, whether we have it or not. Allard's " oleracea'''' 

 was probably more than one species, and a specimen from him in 

 Mr. Britten's possession appears to be a species not yet found in 

 England. According to Weise " oleracea " has no synonym available 

 as a name for our species, and I therefore think it will help us if I 

 start a new one. 



H. ytenensis Sharp. Viridi vel cmruleo-metallica, prothorace brevi, parum 

 punctata, elytris anterius sat fortiter punctatis, apicem versus obsolete punctatis. 

 Long. S\ — 4 mm. 



Mas, tarsis anterioribus articulo basali parum clilatato ; sedeago ad apicem 

 fere rotundato, margine medio tantum obsoletissime aiujulato, acuminefcre nullo. 



H. ytenensis is perhaps the most numerous in individuals of all 

 the species of Coleojjtera, found in the New Forest. It inhabits both 

 species of Erica as well as CalPuna vulgaris, and it probably eats other 

 plants. I have in hand some observations on its habits and will do no 

 more at present than mention that it lives in the imago state for a very 

 long time, and is only a few weeks in the larval state, and that there is 

 probably only one generation annually. Early in August I ascertained 

 its presence here on the heaths in enormous numbers, and yesterday 



