156 The /y/.srr/.s of Cambridgeshire 



S. Hanson in 1S27, and was taken by Charles l)ar\\in near 

 Cambridge; later Dr Power took it in Burwell Fen, but it 

 has not been taken recently. Oodcs //fA;/>/VWrs, another fen 

 species, is not uncommon at times on tin- edges of turf- 

 pits, etc. />Vr^///rr///v.s- />/<}<///* is to be found under cut 

 sedge at Wicken Fen, and is also recorded from Whittlesea 

 Mere. The very local Harpalus itlwttmx appears to be almost 

 confined to Cambridgeshire, occurring in its old locality at the 

 foot of the Devil's Dyke, near Swaffham, though the writer 

 once took two specimens at Abbotsbury in Dorsetshire. The 

 two large species of Amara, A. sjtf-itfjH'x and A. convexiuscula,) 

 may be swept in Wicken and Burwell Fens. The large 

 Sphodrus leucophthalmus, which is generally taken in cellars, 

 is recorded by the Rev. L. Jenyns as once having been taken 

 at Bottisham Lode; it is also found in cellars in Cambridge. 

 The two beautiful species of Pterostichus, P. Ic^'nlii* and 

 P. dimidiatus, have both been taken at Gamlingay. Ptcro- 

 stichus aterrimus is a species which seems to have quite 

 disappeared before drainage, though it used to be abundant 

 at Whittlesea Mere, Bottisham and other fens, basking in 

 the sun on the soft mud at the edges of turf- pits. Trcclni* 

 rubens was formerly common at Whittlesea Mere, and T. d'/xcux 

 is recorded from Cambridgeshire. The very rare Tree/tun 

 rwularis was recorded by Dawson from Whittlesea Mere in 

 1847: Mr A. J. Chitty, however, took two specimens under 

 cut sedge at Wicken Fen in 1900, which proves that it is not 

 extinct as was supposed. The graceful Odacantha melanura 

 occurs not uncommonly among reeds in the fens. The two 

 rare fen species, Aetophorus imperialis and Dromhi* l<>n<jJ<-<'i>s, 

 are found in marshy places ; the latter and the little I) rum hi* 

 sigma were formerly common in the sedge boats on the Cain. 



Coming to the Water-beetles we find them, as might be 

 expected, very well represented; space, however, will only 

 permit us to deal with a few of the more prominent species. 

 The rare Haiiplus mwr<>n<ifit* is recorded from Cambridge, 

 Wicken, and Soham. Agabtis abbreviatus was formerly abun- 

 dant in the Fens; Itliantus exuletus is not uncommon at 



