COLEOPTERA IN THE ISLE OF EIGG. 18 



Coleoptera on the Isle of Eigg. 



By H. St. J. K. DONISTHOEPE, F.Z.S., F.E.S. 



The only records of Coleoptera from the Island of Eigg that I am 

 aware of are those contained in a paper on the Aquatic Coleoptera of 

 the North Ebudes by Mr. F. Balfour Browne {Ann. Scot. Xat. Hist., 

 1911, pp. 149-216), and these, of course, only refer to water-beetles. 

 Having spent a day or two on Eigg in September last, I thought it 

 might be useful to publish a list of all the beetles I observed on the 

 island during that time. Mr. Bishop having very kindly asked Mr. 

 Browne and me to go with him in his son-in-law's yacht, " The Iris," 

 to Mull, to look for Di/tiscus lapponicus, we joined the yacht at Oban on 

 September 12th, and sailed for Mull. As we did not find any of the 

 Dt/tiscus on Mull, I decided to go on to Eigg. The weather being too 

 rough for the ladies on board for the yacht to go there, I took the steamer 

 to Eigg on September 15th, and left again on the 19th. 



Eigg is a small Island near Mull in the Inner Hebrides. The 

 landing stage is on the south-east of the island, and a ferry boat for 

 the mails takes passengers to and from the steamer, as there is no 

 harbour. In Laig Bay, on the west of the island, is a farm- 

 house which serves as a hotel, and where one is very comfortable. 

 I landed on the evening of the 15th, and it was quite dark 

 before the trap, which I had wired for, got me to Laig House, 

 the road being very rough and roundabout, and in parts precipitous. 

 On the 16th I set out for the Loch in the N.E. of the Island to hunt for 

 Dytiscus lapponiciift. The beetle occurred in great profusion, and as 

 noticed by Mr. Balfour Browne last year, the females were more numer- 

 ous than the males, 50 $ s to 30 1? s being about the proportion. A 

 certain number of both were immature. I did not notice any larvae. It 

 rained nearly the whole time I was on the Island, and a thick 

 white mist, in which I got lost on the 17th, covered all the high ground, 

 the afternoon of the 16th being the only time when it was clear 

 and fine enough for me to see the other islands round. In fine 

 weather I should say Eigg would well repay the coleopterist. There 

 is a small stretch of sand hills in Laig Bay covered with marram 

 grass, and plenty of herbage and vegetation to sweep, along the 

 borders of the stream that runs down into the bay ; everywhere, 

 however was too thoroughly soaked with water for me to attempt 

 any sweeping or searching at the roots of herbage. There is plenty 

 of moss and sphagnum, bogs and waterfalls, and stones on the 

 higher ground to work. 



The following is a list of all the beetles I captured or observed : — 

 Carabus (/ranulatns, L., in the house ; Carabus catenulatus, Scop., under 

 stones ; Cychrus rostratns, L., under stones ; Nehria (jijllenhali, Sch., under 

 stones; Clivina fossor, 1j., under stones; Pterostichiis vulyaih, L., under 

 stones ; P. wad idHs,F .,nnder stones ; Trechits obtiisiis,'Ei'., under stones ; 

 Hyclroponis nbsciiriis, Stm., in sphagnum pools ; At/abus arcticiis, Pk., 

 in the loch ; A. bipuntidatus, L., in sphagnum pools, etc. ; Dijtisciis 

 lapponicua, Gyll., in the loch, under stones in numbers ; Anacaena 

 globulus, Pk., in the loch ; Cercyon uielanocephalus, L., in sheep dung ; 

 Hnwalota oblonyinscula. Sharp, on the surface of a pool ; H. subaenea, 

 Sharp, in carrion : H. circellaris, Gr., in moss ; H. atrauientaria, 

 Gyll., var. ? in carrion (Dr. Sharp remarks that this may be a new 



