1908.] 135 



and sanguinolentus, Pseudopsis sulcata, Eumicrus tarsatus, Onthophilus striatus, 

 Eister neglectus and purpurascens, Cytilus varius, Nitidula rufipes, Uhisophagus 

 perforates, Melanophthalma simUala, Sericosomus brunneus, Eeplaulacus testu- 

 dinar ius, Oxyomus porcatus, Balaainus villosus, Phytobius A-tuberculatus, Xyle- 

 borus dispar (one 9 ), Eylastes ater and opacus, &c. 



Aleoohara maculata, Oxytelus clypeonitens, Ditoma crenata, Litargus bifas- 

 ciatits, and Xyleborus saxeseni were taken on the wing at Horsley on April 30th. 



Cardiophorus asellus was found running on the heath on May 2nd, and Calli- 

 cents rigidicornis was taken at both Guildford and Woking on May 9th. The latter 

 occurred here, as in 1907, in the runs of Formica rufa, with Quedius brevis and 

 Myrmedonia humeralis — Gr. C. Champion, Horsell, Woking : May 9th, 1908. 



Coleoptera in flood-refuse at Oxford.— The unprecedented spring snowstorm of 

 April 26th, and the heavy rain which followed it, caused our two Oxford rivers to 

 rise to an unusual height, and a large extent of the low-lying land adjoining their 

 banks was inundated. As soon as the weather permitted, my nephew, Mr. H. Gr. 

 Champion, proceeded with me to investigate the floating debris brought down by 

 the Cherwell ; at first we fished the stuff out of the water with a net, which also 

 served to secure many of the larger beetles seen coining down with the current. 

 Several interesting species were obtained by this method, but our greatest haul was 

 made in a few bushels of the flood-rubbish intercepted by a little foot-bridge span- 

 ning the Cherwell at Water Eaton. The crown of this bridge, which was only to 

 he reached by wading knee-deep, formed a convenient little dry island for investiga- 

 ting the stuff, the upper surface of which, while still afloat, was during the hot 

 mornings of May 1st and 2nd literally a seething mass of beetles. The majority of 

 these were Pcecilus cupreus and versicolor in endless variety of colour, with P. pici- 

 manus and other common Carabidas almost equally numerous, while the three 

 common species of Agriotes helped to make up the great bulk of the larger forms. 

 Curiously enough, the genus Anchomenus was very poorly represented, and Oodes 

 helopioides, a fairly common riverside species, was not seen by either of us. A rough 

 list of the beetles actually observed in this one deposit amounts to no fewer than 

 340 species, and this omits a good many obscure Staphylinidaz, &c, which cannot be 

 identified off-hand. A decidedly unpleasant feature of this mass of insect life was 

 the abundance of the ant, Myrmica rubra, which was present in thousands, and 

 was to be seen in the act of forming new communities in the drier parts of the 

 rubbish ; these vicious little creatures swarmed all over us, and our wrists and ankles 

 soon bore testimony to the efficiency of their stings. 



Of course the greater number by far of the beetles were of common and widely 

 distributed forms, but among them were several species of decided rarity, and some 

 welcome additions to my local list. No fewer than eleven out of the twelve species 

 of Lathrohium now known to occur in the district were represented, viz., elongatum, 

 boreale,fulvipe)ine, brunnipes, longulum, fovulum,jiliforme, quadrat um, terminatum, 

 multipunctum, and pallidum ; of the last-named rare insect we each obtained a 

 short series. Of other species, taken either on the spot or in " sittings " brought 

 home and examined at leisure, the following maybe mentioned i—Chlaenius nigri- 

 cornis, sparingly, and var. melanocornis, rare ; Harpalus parallelus (or wdiat appears 



