Jauuary, 1887. ] 169 



AEPOPHILUS BONNAIREI, SiaNORET. 

 BT E. D. MAKQUAKD. 



It may be remembered that the first British specimens of this 

 curious sub-marine Hemipteron were taken by the late Mr. Frederick 

 Smith, some years ago, at Polperro, in East Cornwall, and their discovery 

 was announced by Mr. C. O. Waterhouse in the Ent. Mo. Mag., vol. 

 xviii, p. 145. Since that time the insect has not, so far as I am aware, 

 been recorded from any other station, although, from a paper published 

 in " Science Gossip," in March, 188G, it would seem to occur not un- 

 commonly on the coast of Jersey. I have now the gratification pf 

 adding another locality, also on the Cornish coast, but some fifty milea 

 to the westward of Polperro, viz., the rocks at Mousehole, near 

 Penzance. The original specimens discovered at the He de Ee, in the 

 Bay of Biscay, as well as those from Jersey, are said to have occurred 

 under stones deeply embedded in mud or loose gravel ; but my ex- 

 perience shows that these insects are not restricted to such habitats, 

 but may be found on rocky shores as well, though always at the 

 extreme verge of low water mark. 



On November 12th last, I was searching for Polyzoa, during the 

 low spring-tide, at Mousehole, about two miles from Penzance, when, 

 at the very edge of the lamiuarian zone, I saw a remarkably fine speci- 

 men of the large star-fish, Uraster glacialis. I pulled it out of the 

 cranny where it lay high and dry, and turned it over, and then saw, 

 running swiftly over the slimy cream-white under-side of the star-fish, 

 a minute object, which I took for an Acarus, and " bottled." A 

 moment's glance with the lens, however, showed me it was a bug of 

 some sort, and a careful examination of the Uraster furnished three 

 mature examples, which I secui'ed. Immediately on my return home, 

 I forwarded one of the large specimens alive to Mr. Edward Saunders 

 who kindly replied at once, confirming my suspicion that it was 

 Aepophilus Bonnairei. 



Why a small colony of these Ilemiptera should have selected this 

 particular star-fish to locate themselves upon, I cannot conjecture, 

 because I have examined scores of the same species at various seasons 

 of the year on the same rocks and never saw an insect upon any. 

 The coast just here is entirely rocky, so that A. Bonnairei is by no 

 means confined to muddy or sandy shores, and this may serve as a 

 hint to those who are on the look out for the insect. 



I ought to mention that this is not the first time I have met with 

 it. About two years ago, also at Mousehole, I captured two specimens 



