320 INSECTA MADERENSIA. 



strictly of an alpine nature : in fact I have never observed it below the elevation 

 of about 3000 feet, whilst it would seem to attain its maximum at a far higher 

 altitude. I have captured it sjwringly in the region of the Eibeu"0 Frio, in ^lay ; 

 and in the utmost profusion, during July, beneath loose bark at the Cruzinhas 

 and Fanal. AMien viewed geographically, it is one of the most interesting of the 

 Coleopterous inhabitants of these islands, as being the exact i*epresentative of the 

 31. Tarda*, Curtis, hitherto peculiar to Ireland and the south-west of England. 

 In their modes of life indeed the two are positively coincident, both being more 

 particidarly attached to evergreen trees, either in mountain or submaritime spots ; 

 whilst in their range of size, colour, and general contour they present so great a 

 similarity inter se, that they might at first sight be almost confounded. So close 

 is this resemblance, that, until I had made an actual comparison, I had imagined 

 them to be but local states of one and the same sjoecies : nevertheless, a careful 

 examination proves them to be uuquestiona1)ly distinct, theu" differences being 

 such as cannot be accounted for by change of latitude, isolation, or any other 

 miion of circumstances to which they may have been, respectively, exposed. The 

 M. Maderensis may be known from the Tardii by its more opake, slightly flatter, 

 and less deeply sculptured sm-face, by the more sinuated basal margins of its pro- 

 thorax and elytra, by the latter being more perceptibly pubescent (with their 

 interstices more evidently punctulated and less rugulose), by its rostrmn being less 

 quadrately expanded in the males, and by the antenuEe of the females being 

 inserted nearer to the eyes than is the case in that insect. 



like its Irish analogue, it is purely noctui'nal, — never wandering by day ; in 

 which respect it somewhat recedes from the 31. Euphorhicv, which I not only 

 detected under the outer coating of the stems of the Euphorbia meUifcra (in the 

 famous plantation of the Eanal), but even, though in much smaller nimibers, on 

 the foliage also, — and which is partially therefore, at any rate, dim-nal. 



* This insect, -nliicli li.as not yet oecivrred in any part of the continent of Europe, was originallv dis- 

 covered in decayed hollies at Powerscourt ^A^aterfall, in the county of Wicklow, by jNIr. Tardy of Dublin. 

 For many years subsequently it appears to have been altogether lost sight of, until detected by myself, 

 in 1S41, at Mount Edgeeumbc iu Dcvoushire,^and along the coast of Cornwall, westwards, as far as 

 Menabilly and Fowey. In the north of Devon I have, likewise, obser\cd it, in the valley of the LjTi, 

 tliough less abundantly than on the shores of the English Channel. Thus, skirting as it were the south- 

 western extremity of our own country, it passes over to Ireland, where it may be said to attain its maxi- 

 mum, — attaching itself to the trees (especially evergi-ecns) in the mountains of Wicklow and Kerry (and 

 probably in other districts equally), nnich to the detriment of tlie ancient timber, in which its ravages 

 (e\idently for ccntui-ies) are but too conspicuous. Judging from the extent of the injury committed, it 

 would seem to have been commoner formerly, and more generally diffused, than now. At Killarney I 

 have been accustomed to mark its devastations for several ye.ars past, and had constantly met with traces 

 of it, under the form of detached el\-tra and broken portions of its body, in tlic oldest trees : but it was 

 not until the siunmer of 1853 that a perfect specimen, captured by a friend in a decayed hoUy at 

 Dinas, came beneath my notice. Being thus warned of more than its past existence, we commenced a 

 carefid research during the following September on Imiisfallen, one of the islands of the Lower Lake, 

 where we found it still ranging in profusion, — and from whence I obtained a fine series of examples, 

 averaging a somewhat larger size than the Devonshu-e and Cornish ones. 



