1906.] 39 



A few hours' sweeping in September resulted in the abundant capture of a 

 dark form of Lonqitarsus pusillus. This appears to be the Thyamia collaris of 

 Stephens, and is probably synonymous with L. reichei of British Collections. 

 Other more or less common contents of the net worth notice were Micrurula 

 melanocephala, Meligethes luguhris, Phyllotreta consobrlna, Longitarsus pulex, 

 Apion pallipes, A. trifolii, A. apricans, A. atomarium, A. viciniim, A. ononis, and 

 A. waltoni, Ceuthorrhynchidius horridus, Coeliodes cardui, and Rhinoncus hru- 

 cJioides. In a fungus on a tree stump, Qyrophena strictula was abundant, and 

 Haploderus aelatus swarmed in a heap of hedge trimmings. 



From a Coleopterist's point of view, the defect of so well wooded a district is 

 the absence of old and decayed timber of any kind — a fact explained by the con- 

 stant and systematic felling of most of the timber as it reaches a certain size for the 

 chair factories ; the absence of water is of course a feature common to all clialk 

 districts. 



The above samples, however, taken during a few hours, and at by no means the 

 best times in the year, suggest a not uninteresting fauna to the student and fair 

 results to the collector, as the reward of systematic work in this district. — W. E. 

 Sharp, South Norwood : January, 1906. 



Coleoptera from old birds' nests. — I have had exceptional opportunities this 

 autumn for examining old nests in hollow trees, and have found several species of 

 Coleoptera which are generally regarded as very rare in some numbers. The three 

 chief trees I examined were: 1. A very ancient and quite hollow elm, which con- 

 tained an old owl's nest and a great quantity of debris and rotten wood. 2. An 

 ash, which had probably been weakened by a lightning stroke and then attacked 

 and hollowed out by Dorcus paraUelopipedus, L., which was still at work in it. 

 At the bottom of the hollow was a large heap of wood debris, bats' dung, and old 

 straw from a starling's nest. 3. A beech with an old green woodpecker's hole in 

 the trunk, which had been occupied by the usual sequence of lodgers, viz., green 

 woodpeckers, starlings, and bats. At the bottom of the hole there was a small 

 quantity of debris, consisting chiefly. of the remains of insects rejected by the bats, 

 and bats' dung. Four species of Qoleoptern I found in all these trees, viz., Hister 

 metdarius, Hoff., Dendrophilus pundatus, Hbst., and Trox scaber, L., which were 

 common, and Quedius brevicornis, Th., of which I took 16 specimens altogether. 



Coleoptera from the rotten wood and owl's nest in elm ti-ee : — Microglossa 

 gentilis, Mark, (in numbers) ; Quedius ventralis, Ahr. (1) ; Philonthus fuscus, 

 Gr. (1) ; Choleva colonnides, Kr. (30) ; Euplectus pundatus, Muls. ; Qnathoneus 

 nannetensis, Mars. ; Attagenus pellio, L. ; Isclmodes sanguinicollis, Pz. 



Coleoptera from ash tree : — Microglossa pulla, G-yll. ; Quedius microns, Gr. ; 

 Hapala/rxa pygmasa, Pk. ; Clambus pubescens, Redt. ; Neuraphes rubicundus, 

 Schm. (7) ; Eupledus pundatu.s, Muls. ; E, nanus, Reich. ; Ptenidium gressneri, Er. ; 

 Abraeus granulum, Er. ; Cryptophagus bicolor, Stm., and a large number of larvae of 

 what I hope will prove to be Eryx ater, F., as many remains of this beetle were also 

 found. 



Coleoptera from bat's nest in beech: — Microglossa marginalis, Gyll. (1); 

 PMlonthus fuscus, Gr. (3) ; Quedius ventralis, Ahr. ; Ptenidium gressneri, Er. 



