60 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



as f'oofl for man or animals, it would be highly dangerous to 

 attempt the destruction of the insect plague by the use of 

 any poison. With regard to the specific questions asked by 

 n)y conespondent, whether the mixture of old and new wheat 

 caused an increase of the plague, I may reply that I certainly 

 think not : but this is a subject on which I particularly solicit 

 the opinions of practical agriculturists, and I have now so 

 tuany of these among my readers that we may expect a prompt 

 and reliable reply. The weevil (Calandra granaria) is iden- 

 tical with that previously recorded as infesting barley. — 

 Edward New ma n.] 



Nofe on a Species of Hnmalid(B new' to Britain..' — I have 

 for some time had specimens of an Homalium apparently 

 Hew to Britain, if not to Science, taken in Scotland by Turner; 

 Mr. Janson also had two specimens in his collection, and I 

 believe it is the sp. — .^ No. 14, of Mr. Waterhouse's ' Cata- 

 logue.' There was evidently no Homalium to which it 

 could be referi-ed, and I suspected it might prove to be De- 

 liphrum crenatum, Er., though it appeared to me to have no 

 generic characters in common with D. tectum. Comparison 

 with continental specimens leave no doubt that it is indeed 

 referable to that species. Kraatz begins his description by 

 saying, " Not unlike H. brunneum, but larger," &c. ; and it 

 was to the neighbourhood of that species I had always re- 

 ferred it. It is abundantly distinct from any other indigenous 

 species by its size ("2^ line) and its facies, which is precisely 

 that of H. Horale ; the antennae are however longer, and the 

 elytra punctate-striate ; the abdomen is sparingly, but visibly, 

 punctured. D. arcticum, a more northern species, appears 

 to be much of the same form, but smaller and hardly punc- 

 tate-striate. D. crenatum has not hitherto occurred in 

 Sweden, and it appears to be rare on the Continent. — G. R. 

 Crotch : University Library, Cambridge. 



Four neto British Alticidts. — In the ' Entomologist's 

 Monthly Magazine' for March, Mr. Charles O. Waterhouse 

 describes no less than four new British Alticida3. I. Thya- 

 mis Longitarsus fusculus, of Kutschera, differs from T. brun- 

 neus and T. minusculus in being less convex, and more 

 thickly punctured in the elytra. 2. Thyamis Waterhousei of 

 Kutschera, when couipared with T. Ballota^ and T. Lycopi, 

 is distinguished from the former by its more glossy surl'ace 



