( Ixxiii ) 



(c) Quedius vexans, Epp., and its larva, from moles' nests in 

 Berkshire ; (d) Eupleetus tomlini, Joy, from a starling's nest 

 at Bradfield, Berkshire ; (e) Corticaria crenicoUis, Mannh. , 

 from under bark at Basildon, Berkshire, and at Epping 

 (Pool) ; (/) Ca/rdiophorus erichsoni, Buyss., taken on Lundy 

 Island by Mr. Tomlin and himself. He also exhibited : — 

 (a) a variety of Lathrobium, elongatiim, L., from South Devon, 

 with entirely black elytra, and which he proposed to call var. 

 nigrum ; (b) a curious dull aberration of Apteropeda globosa, 

 111. ; (c) Heterothops nigra, Kr., taken in moles' nests from 

 various parts of the country ; {d) a species of Gnathoncus 

 differing in certain characters from G. rotundatus, Kugel, and 

 which occurs almost exclusively in birds' nests. With regard 

 to the last two he made the following remarks : — 



^^Heterothops nigra is regarded on the continent as a variety 

 of H. prxvia, Er. ; with which it seems to correspond in 

 structure, but differs from it in colour. However, there is 

 a marked difference in habitat, and therefore habits, of the 

 two forms, ff. preevia is taken in rotting straw, etc., whereas 

 H. nigra is confined to the nests of moles, and a few other 

 mammals. This difference in habits is considered of no im- 

 portance by many collectors, yet surely is it not of as great 

 importance as a difference in punctuation, and has it not as 

 much right to be regarded as a specific character as a difference 

 in structure ? Indeed, there must be a constant minute 

 difference in the structure of the central nervous system. 

 Among the birds there is a beautiful example of two very 

 closely allied species being far more easily differentiated by 

 their habits and life history than by their structure or colour. 

 These are the March Warbler (Acrocephahis palustris) and 

 Reed Warbler (A. streperus), skins of which I exhibit. You 

 will notice that there is only a slight difference in the shade 

 of the colour of the back and breast, and in the colour of the 

 legs, and the wing formulae differ in a small degree. These 

 differences would certainly only be regarded as varietal by 

 most coleopterists, yet the two birds differ markedly in dis- 

 tribution, habits, habitat, eggs, nest and song. I maintain 

 that H. nigra is, as far as possible, a parallel case. I see in 

 Trans. Ent. Soc. 1906, part II, p. liii, that Mr. G. F. Leigh 



