Addvress to the Lincolnshive Naturalists’ Union. 939 
In the study of our Coleopteva we shall find that a knowledge 
of our county’s flora is of almost equal importance to that of its 
geology and geographical position; so many of the species are 
plant-feeders and in not a few cases they are the active agents 
in securing the fertilization of plants. 
Thus it follows, in making our records, that we must try to 
work intelligently and thoughtfully, noting, at least mentally, 
what we consider important points of environment, etc., besides 
the locality and date. A simple register of species as to whether 
present or absent is of course fundamental, but the other 
circumstances added may enable a life-history to be made— 
a point of great value in the case of those species which are of 
importance in connexion with economic agriculture. 
You may ask, where have our Coleopteva come from ? 
It is agreed that the insect fauna of the British Isles is not 
autochthonous, it is simply an extension of the Palearctic 
faunistic area of North Western Europe, an extension which 
occurred after the last glacial epoch, and while these islands 
were yet continuous with the continental area. There are but 
few instances of forms found in Britain and not occurring on 
the continent, as though the isolation of our land and the 
changed conditions had not been prolonged enough yet to allow 
of the development of more than those initial stages of differ- 
entiation which we call “ varietal.” 
As before mentioned, our County was stocked with its 
Coleopteva after the last glacial epoch, probably any earlier fauna 
having been destroyed by the prolonged cold. Our geologists 
have told us of the great changes our County has undergone 
since then. Following upon this comes the agency of man; the 
moorlands are laid down as pastures or covered with houses, 
forests are cut down, the ancient mosses and fens are drained, and 
many of our Coleoptera which cannot accommodate themselves to 
altered environment pass away to return no more, or are rendered 
very local. 
Again, other species do not appear to be so wrapt up in 
their surroundings ; they are at home under most diverse con- 
ditions, and form what we term our ‘common species.’ 
