n the great (fetoig, 



Labidura riparia (Pallas). 



By R B. KEMP-WELCH, Esq. 



PLATE II. FIG. E. 



N recording the capture of this rare insect on the 

 Dorset coast, I fondly hoped that it was the first 

 time of its occurrence in our county ; but have 

 since been informed by an eminent authority 

 that he thinks, although not positive on the 

 subject, that one had previously been taken in 

 the Isle of Portland. My specimen is, at any 

 rate, authentic as a county representative, having been taken 

 on the beach under Branksome Park, some two miles westward from 

 Bournemouth, on the 27th of May, 1886, by Mr. E. Lovett, of 

 Croydon, and by him kindly presented to me. From the paucity 

 of students of Orthoptera, I have experienced considerable difficulty 

 in ascertaining the number of occurrences of this insect in England ; 

 but, as far as at present discoverable, they seem to be very few. 

 The first recorded capture was by the Rev. W. Bingley, in 1 808, of 

 one on the beach " near Christchurch." Mr. C. W. Dale, of 

 Glanville's Wootton, has, I believe, in his possession two 

 specimens taken many years ago on the shore between Bourne- 

 mouth and Christchurch, but the exact date of capture is not 

 known. The late Mr. T. P. Dossetor informed me that, about 



