ENTOMOLOGICAL RAMBLES IN THE MIDLANDS, 293 
their escape. Under a solitary oak tree are some insects flying in a 
Curious manner ; we catch afew and find them to be the “ Rusty Gun- 
barrel,” <Athous hemorrhoidalis, a beetle of the Skip-jack tribe. The 
“Fox” and the “‘Emperor” moths are dashing about with their usual 
swiftness and irregularity, as if madly and vainly trying to escape from 
demons of the air that confront them at every turn. About those bright 
green patches, indicative of the triumph of the bilberry over its less 
vigorous plant rivals, swarms of green Hair-streak Butterflies, Thecla rubi, 
flash about in the sunshine; and itis amusing to watch their evolutions 
and to note how, in certain lights, they become quite invisible. This 
butterfly is a perfect mimic. With its wings open it resembles the 
darker foliage and the russet soil; with its wings closed it cannot be 
distinguished from the green leaves of the bilberry, upon which it delights 
to settle, and you would certainly pass it by, only that it betrays itself by 
flying up as you approach. But here is work for the digger, to turn over 
these stones strewed about the turf. What numbers of Bradycellus 
cognatus and the pretty little B. similis! Here are also, though less 
commonly, their congeners, B. distinctus, B. verbasci, and B. harpalinus. 
What is this beetle, looking somewhat like a giant Dyschirius 2? It is 
shiny, bronze-black, beautifully rounded in outline, its thorax being 
almost globular, and its abdomen oval, and looks altogether like an insect 
of “high degree.” Its name is Miscodera arctica, and this is a new 
locality for it, the most southern one yet discovered. Another prize. 
This time it is Cymindis vaporariorum, like the preceding a mountain 
species and rather rare, taking its day-rest under a paltry piece of old 
shoe leather! Thus we find another species new to the district, and at 
the same time learn an important lesson in beetle knowledge, viz., that 
under the smallest and most unlikely bit of rubbish may lurk an insect 
prize! ‘It never rains but it pours.” Here is another red-letter 
capture, and a beauty it is too. How it gleams in the sunshine, its 
changeful tints resembling the effects of shot-silk, only that they are 
more gorgeous. What long deep lines mark the base of the thorax, and 
altogether what a lovely outline it bears! It can benothing else but the 
very desirable Pterostichus lepidus. Satisfied of this, we eagerly hunt for 
more, and find them, tco, both males and females, the latter having their 
elytra duller and more softly silky, the thorax showing a brighter coppery 
appearance. 
The generally common species of Pterostichus seem to be entirely 
absent, even the ubiquitous P. cupreus not showing up; but here are a 
pair of P. versicolor, which we of course capture. ‘This insect is regarded 
by some Coleopterists as being a variety only of P. cupreus, but having 
examined a considerable number of specimens in which the diagnostic 
characters appear distinct and constant, I have no doubt about its being 
a good species. The genus Calathus is well represented, the following 
species being found freely :—C. cisteloides, C. flavipes, C. melanocephalus, 
with, its variety, nubigena, and C. piceus. Considerable dexterity is 
required for the capture of these beetles, (especially the shiny and quick 
C. flavipes,) which ‘‘ screw” themselves into the soil before you have time 
to see fairly what they are. 
