February, 1910.] 25 



A FURTHEE NOTE ON THE GENUS COLON. 

 BY NORMAN H. JOY, M.R.C.S., F.E.S. 



In the Ent. Mo. Mag., vol. xliv, pp. 38, 39, I gave an accoimt of 

 the capture of nineteen specimens of Colon, on Jiine 5th, 1907, liy 

 constantly sweeping for about two hours a ride of long rough grass, 

 about 100 yards in length, at the border of a wood. The species 

 captvired were C. viennense, C. serripes, C. zehei, and C. hrunneuin. 

 The spring and early summer of 1908 were very imfavourable for 

 Colons, and I had few opportunities to hunt this same spot, but I 

 added C. angulare (two specimens) to the list, and also took C. latum 

 within 40 yards of the same place. In 1908 I think I visited the 

 locality on two occasions only, and the Colons taken, besides a few 

 C. hrunneuin, were three or four G. dentipes. As I was not able to 

 wander far from home, nearly all my collecting that year was confined 

 to a small copse quite close by, where I have for several years in 

 succession taken a few specimens of Colon. After a good deal of hard 

 work on several days a fair nimiber of examples were netted, including 

 single specimens of C. angulare and C. denticulatum. I found to my 

 surprise that I took very few specimens in the grassy rides in the 

 wood which seemed most suitable for Colons, but that most of them 

 occurred outside the wood, where it was separated from a sainfoin 

 field by a very narrow strip of long coarse grass. The sainfoin has 

 been cu.ltivated here for about eight years, and is now a good deal 

 choked with grass and weeds. 



I noticed that most of the specimens were captured in a compara- 

 tively small area, so on July 2nd, a fine hot day, I swept most carefully 

 over this area, making only one stroke with the net and then examining 

 it, imtil I had taken a Colon. I stopped at this spot and watched, and 

 very soon saw another settle on a blade of grass and drop. I then 

 knelt on the ground looking towards this spot and the sim and 

 captiired twenty specimens (seven or eight C. serripes, the rest 

 C. hrunnexmi) on the wing in a little over half-an-hour. This was at 

 about 7 p.m. After a little practice I could easily distinguish the 

 Colons from other beetles, as they look conspicuously brown on the 

 wing. As a rule the flight is quite slow and steady, but is at times 

 much more rapid and erratic. I occasionally saw one rise from the 

 ground, but most were taken as they were flying just over the tops of 

 the high grasses, or about to settle in front of me. The area over 

 which all these twenty and the subsequent specimens were taken was 

 only 6 ft. by 4 ft., and was about 8 ft. from the edge of the wood. It 



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