1873.] 24'3 



Dr. Power, ■who took tliem during the past year) new to our list, and which I refer 

 to B. breris, Schon. and Thomson. Superficially somewhat resembhng B. frit, 

 wlileh it rather exceeds in size, this insect is readily distinguishable by its thorax 

 being very strongly constricted before the apex, and having a dorsal channel ending 

 in the middle one of three fovesG, situated in the anterior constriction. The inter- 

 stices of its elytra are slightly elevated, the 5th exhibiting the usual callus ; and the 

 tibiffi are stout, much cui-ved inwardly, and thickened above the middle. — Id. 



I^ote on 2J0ssihJe effects of isolation. — Among some beetles sent to me for names 

 by Mr. J. ChappeU, are a few from the Isle of Man, of which the following exhibit 

 some peculiarity. 



Notiophilus palustris, two examples ; one much narrower and with the punc- 

 tuation much coarser than iisual, the interstices being elevated, and the whole insect 

 symmetrically abnormal ; the other of the usual facies, but with two large well-marked 

 and evenly-balanced punctures on the front of the disc of the thorax, — a chai-acter 

 which a,t aU events deserves record, as (upon the elytra) materially assisting to 

 establish specific rank for N. As-punctatus. 



Amara trivialis ; smaller and darker than usual, of entirely dull surface. 



Harpalus eeneus ; also n:iuch smaller, and with the emargination at the apex of 

 the elytra' (an unstable character) less deep than usual ; the male exceedingly bright 

 green, with coppery suture to the elytra and dark legs, and the female very dark and 

 dull, with subdued green silky reflections ; in both, the thorax is more than usually 

 contracted behind, with the basal fovese very distinctly marked : and this is particularly 

 conspicuous in the female, in which the usual irregular basal punctiu-es are entirely 

 wanting. I can almost exactly match this female with an example from the 

 Shetland Isles. 



Aleochara ctiniculoruni ; wanting the usual red spots on the elytra. 



Kemembering the eccentricities of Manx Meloe proscarabceus recorded in this 

 Magazine, I cannot but think that the occurrence in one small box of tliese diver- 

 gencies from the normal condition is not merely accidental. Mr. ChappeU tells me, 

 also, that Cori/mbites qitercils abounds on rocks in the Isle of Man ; and, as it appears 

 to find a footing in such a very unlikely place, I can only suppose that it is affected 

 by the motto ( " Quocunque jeceris adsto " ) of the Island. — Id. 



Note on the Cossomis linearis of British collections. — Being occupied just now 

 on a revision of the genera of the Cossonidce, I have had occasion to compare a few 

 ordinary specific forms, and it has greatly surprised me to find that English examples 

 which I had been accustomed to regard as the Cossonus linearis, do not, in reality, 

 pertain to that species at all, but to the ferrugineus, Clairv. The particular indivi- 

 duals now before me were taken several years ago by Mr. E. W. Janson, in an old 

 willow-tree close to Kentish Town ; but I believe them to be conspecific with what I 

 used formerly to obtain near Cambridge, and elsewliere, and I should be thankful, 

 therefore, if Colcoptcrists would look to their examples of so-called " C. linearis," in 

 order to ascertain whether they are correctly identified, and do not belong rather (as 

 I suspect) to the C. ferrugineus. There is not the slightest difficulty in distinguishing 

 the two species, — the true C. linearis (which may, perhaps, prove, after all, not to be 

 British) being very much flatter, and more deeply and coarsely sculptured, with its 



