12 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
roughly punctured; mentum very small, not placed on a 
gular peduncle; maxille exposed; prothorax widely lobed 
in front at the sides, so as to conceal the eyes when the head 
is deflexed, deeply excavated beneath for the reception of the 
beak; cavity closed behind im Thecesternus by a triangular 
plate of the prosternum, but by the front coxe in the other 
genera; coxe small, globose, contiguous; elytra connate, 
widely extended on the flanks, declivous behind, rough; 
lateral groove of inner face narrow and well defined; 
scutellum not visible; humeri in Thecesternus prolonged 
forwards, so as to extend along the sides of the prothorax ; 
dorsal segments membranous, last one large, corneous, 
divided into two in the male; ventral segments unequal; Ist 
and 2nd very large, more closely conuected, suture arcuated ; 
ord and 4th short, sutures deep; 5th as long as the two 
preceding ; lateral extension moderately wide, wider behind; 
pygidium articulating with both 4th and 5th ventrals; legs 
slender; tibiz truncate; spurs small; tarsi 4-jointed, narrow, 
setose beneath. Several species of Thecesternus are found in 
the interior regions of the continent, from Illinois to Utah, 
under dried buffalo excrement, and similar objects. 
Joun L. LEconrE. 
Abundance of Larve near Plymouth in June, 1872. By 
GervasE F. Matuew, Esq.,.R.N., F.LS. 
A FEw days before I left Plymouth, in 1872, I went with 
my friends, Messrs. Bignell, Bishop, Gatcombe, and Jones, 
for a farewell entomological ramble in the woods in the 
neighbourhood of Bickleigh Vale; and, as I have seen no 
account of this day’s expedition in the ‘Entomologist,’ I 
send it to you now, in the hope that it may be interesting to 
some of your readers at this time of the year, when so little 
out-door work is doing. 
The 28th of June, 1872, was a delightful day in every 
respect,—bright, warm, and fresh,—one of those days we so 
often get in Devonshire at that time of the year, when every- 
thing looks joyous, and all living creatures seem to possess 
twice the amount of vitality they usually have. We left 
