1802.] 213 



t 



parasitic insect belonging to the Order Coleoptera. I am pleased to 

 see that the first part of the prophecy has proved correct: Dr. 

 Aurivilliiis having announced its parasitic habits in the part recently- 

 published of the Entomologisk Tidskrift (xii, p. 174). As regards 

 the second point, I may say that though I have had no opportunity of 

 studying the insect thoroughly, yet I can see nothing in it foreign to 

 the Order Coleoptera, except the existence of elongate anal styles. It 

 would, however, be impossible to exclude it from the Coleoptera for 

 that reason, and I shall not be, as I have said, at all surprised if the 

 systematic position of the insect be ultimately decided to be in the 

 Coleoptera, as a separate family to be placed near Plafypsyllus. This 

 remark is founded on the supposition that when the structure of the 

 mouth is fully understood, it will be found that the supposed outer 

 labium is the mentum which has overgrown the true labium, so that 

 the latter appears to be transferred to the interior of the mouth. 

 The modification of the mentum for covering the parts of the mouth 

 in the Coleoptera are numerous, so that one in which it should quite 

 overlap the labium is by no means incredible. Of course this sup- 

 position will be proved to be erroneous, if it should be found to be 

 really the case that this outer lip is palp-bearing, as well as the inner 

 one. The parasitic habits will render the life-history difiicult to work 

 out completely, but there should be little difficulty in discovering the 

 larva ; if this should prove to be of the type of active Coleopterous 

 larvae, this would go far to settling the position of the insect. 



Cambridge : July Uh, 1892. 



NOTES ON COLEOPTERA IN THE NORTH OF IRELAND. 

 BY EEV. W. F. JOHNSON, M.A., T.E.S. 



Among some Coleoptera sent to me for determination by Mr. "W. 

 D. Donnan, of Holywood, Co. Down, I found a curious Philonthus 

 which I referred to Canon Fowler, and subsequently to Dr. Sharp, 

 who pronounced it to be an abnormal form of Ph. succicola. It has 

 four punctures on one side of the thorax and three on the other on 

 the dorsal series, and has besides the whole thorax finel}" and densely 

 punctured. It was taken by Mr. Donnan on Holywood Hill. 



The correspondence about this beetle reminded me that I had a 

 curious specimen of Ph. varians which I took at Bundoran in 1890. 

 I accordingly forwarded this to Dr. ISharp, and he informs me that it 

 is a most remarkable specimen, as it has a puncture short in the 

 dorsal series on both sides of the thorax, a cojidition which Dr. Sharp 



