94ft [November, 



A FUKTHER NOTE ON THE COLEOPTERA INHABITING 

 MOLES' NESTS. 



BY NORMAN II. JOT, M.R.C.S., F.E.S. 



Since my paper on this subject was issued (Ent. Mo. Mag., 

 vol. xlii, pp. 198-202, 237-243) inuch work has been done both here 

 and abroad, and I think it would be of interest now to collect the 

 published records, at any rate so far as this country is concerned. 

 I am also able to add notes kindly supplied me by several friends, 

 particularly by Messrs. Britten, Donisthorpe, and P. Harwood, and by 

 the late Mr. Chitty. Several papers on the Coleoptera occurring 

 in the nests of mammals and birds have been published on the Conti- 

 nent, the most important of which, by Herr H. Bickhardt, appeared 

 in the "Entomologische Blatter" (3 Jahrg., Nr. 6, 7). He gathers 

 together several short and isolated notes, and enumerates 113 species, 

 as having been taken in nests, but many of these can hardly be 

 regarded as anything more than accidental visitors. I prefer to keep 

 to^my original classification of the mole's-nest beetles, viz. : A, those 

 peculiar to the nests ; B, those commonly found in the nests and 

 breeding there, but which also breed elsewhere ; C, the accidental 

 visitors. 



To the first class five species have been added since my paper was 

 written, viz. : Oxypoda longipes, Muls. ; Quedms longicomis, Kr., Q. 

 nigrocoeruleus, Eey ; Medon castaneus, Gr. ; and Hister marginatus, 

 Er. All these species had been taken in Britain before, but as they 

 were so extremely rare, and have been found so much more commonly 

 and so obviously " at borne " in the moles' nests, there can be no reason- 

 able doubt that this is their natural habitat. These make a total of 

 nine species of beetles specially attached to moles' nests. 



Aleociiara spadicea, Er., has been recorded as abundant in 

 several localities, and it is curious how very rarely it has been found 

 outside the nest. Besides Berkshire, I have records from Oxford 

 {Walker), Coulsdon, Surrey {Bedwell), Guildford aud Woking 

 {Ohampion), St. Margaret's, Herts, and Cobham, Surrey {OJiitty), 

 Oulton Broad {Donisthorpe). 



Oxypoda longipes, Muls. — This species was first taken in con- 

 siderable numbers at Malvern in January, 1907, by Mr. Tomlin. They 

 were in somewhat deep nests made of grass in thick clayey ground. 

 It is apparently very local, as the only other records I have from 

 nests are Oxford {Walker) and Suffolk {Bedwell and Donisthorpe). 

 Besides Dr. Sharp's original record for the insect from Scotland, 



