252 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



167. Abundance of certain Coleoptera in Switzerland.— 

 From a letter received this week, from my valued friend and 

 correspondent, Mr. H, Knecht, of Basle, Switzerland (who 

 has been exploring, for several years back, the insect-fauna 

 of his district, with great zeal and much success], I gather 

 the following facts, which I think likely to interest English 

 Coleopterologists to a certain extent, as some of the species 

 of beetles mentioned hereafter occur also in this country. 

 My fiiend writes to me that within the last four weeks be has 

 taken over 150 specimens of Copris lunaris, L., male and 

 female, and over 50 Sisyphus Schafferi, /.., male and female, 

 besides a large number of examples of allied genera, as 

 Onthophagus, Oniticellus and Aphodius, as well as about a 

 dozen of Geotrtipes Typhoens, L., both sexes. These nu- 

 merous captures would irajjly nothing more than that this 

 group must be abundantly represented in the neighbourhood 

 of the said town, were it not for the circumstance that for 

 thirty years back there exists no published record of the 

 occurrence of Copris lunaris, Sisyphus Schafferi, or Geo- 

 trupes Typhoens, not even solitary specimens ; whilst the 

 nearest spot to Basle where Copris lunaris, for instance, has 

 now been taken in abundance, has alv\ ays been a favourite 

 locality for Coleoptera, and receives therefore frequent visits 

 from collectors. The last reliable record of the occurrence 

 of Copris lunaris near the above-mentioned town dates from 

 the year 1811, when this species was tolerably common; 

 whilst in 1809 and 1810 it was very scarce (Merian, in ' Heer, 

 Kaefer der Schweiz,' 1841, PI. p. 53). With regard to Geo- 

 trupes TyphoBus and Sisyphus Schafferi, Dr. Imhoflf and 

 other observers tell us, in the same publication [loc. cit. p. 

 52 and 54), that they were then (1841) scarce, since which 

 year we were obliged to consider them as an occurrence of 

 the past, as nobody took them in their old haunts, till the 

 present spring produced them in such startling numbers. 

 Copris lunaris and Geotrupes Typhosus are two well-known 

 indigenous species of this country ; and if by chance they 

 or others of the dung-frequenting Scarabaeidaj have been 

 noticed in unusual numbers this season, I shall feel obliged 

 to any one contributing a few lines on the subject to the 

 ' Entomologist.' — Albert Midler ; 2, Camden Villas, Jasmine 

 Grove, Penge, S.E., May 27, 1865. 



