930 ENTOMOLOGICAL RAMBLES IN THE MIDLANDS. 
On the large flowers of the ‘‘ Moon-daisy” we find Strangalia melanura 
and Grammoptera tabacicolor—two desirable Longhorns ; and on the milk- 
weed, (spurge,) especially by the brook-side, Strangalia nigra. Some 
species of Donacia are sunning themselves on the flags and Potamogetons, 
but we content ourselves with securing D. bidens and D. typhe ; the latter 
bears a purplish-coppery streak on each elytron, and is rather scarce in 
our parts. Amongst the stones by the brook swarms of Bembidia disport 
themselves, and examples of the following species are captured :— 
B. obtuswm, eneum, Mannerheimi, decorum, monticola, brunnipes, tibiale, 
atroceruleum, bruxellense, flammulatum, varium, punctulatum, &c., and in 
company with them a beetle new to us: it is red and black, runs with its 
tail curled over its back, and looks vastly like a Myrmedonia. To catchit 
and put it in a small glass tube is a momentary operation ; the pocket-lens 
is then brought to bear on it, and we discover that our new friend is 
Deleaster dichrous, another name to be recorded in red ink. A bit further 
up the brook, on a spot from which every breath of wind is excluded by 
the encompassing woods, and where the sun’s rays seem to actually 
broil us, are more good things, calling for the further use of “ink of 
sanguine hue!” What have we found now? Why, that graceful, girl- 
like beetle, with the slender waist, Tachyusa constricta, which we haye 
not seen since taking it by the Mole at Leatherhead, and in company 
with it is the most curious and droll of all small beetles. Stoop down 
and look atit. You cannot see it? Lie down on the sandy bank of the 
stream and look closely. Do you now see a number of small grains of 
mud moving slowly about as if endowed with life? See, they march to 
and fro, hither and thither, evidently controlled by some hidden intelli- 
gence, and mark how certain of them seem to possess a powerful 
attraction for each other. As long as you lie quiet and look on, their 
activity appears rather to increase, but put forth your hand and touch 
the ground on which they move, and instantly all is stili. Take one up 
as soon as it begins again to stir, and examine it: you will find upon 
rubbing it gently between your fingers, and thus removing the mud-case 
enclosing it, a small, roundish, rather long-legged, coarsely-punctured, 
black beetle, about three-quarters of a line in length, the Georyssus 
pygmeus of naturalists. It always covers itself with a coating of mud 
in this droll way—no doubt finding some advantage in it—not improbably 
protection from its active little neighbour Tachyusa constricta, and the 
hosts of Lycose and other spiders that watch and hunt for prey in the 
damp places in which it loves todwell. This amusing though diminutive 
beetle is the only representative of its family and genus in this country, 
and is generally considered to be a coast insect; besides on this spot, I 
have taken it only at Luccomb Chine, in the Isle of Wight. 
Having bottled as many constricta and pygmaeus as required, and the 
stooping posture having made our heads and backs ache, let us for a few 
minutes assume the recumbent attitude on yonder heather-clad and 
shady slope, previous to breaking fresh ground. What is the matter? 
Ants? ‘Yes; and how they bite!” But never mind; even ants have 
their entomological uses. Where’s their nest? Under this stone, 
perhaps; so over it goes! And what do we see? Not only ants, but 
