XXXVI INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 





instance, arc the common European Conosoma pubescens, found both 

 in the Madeiras and Canaries, and the Catops pinicola (taken by 

 the Messrs. Crotch in the latter Group) ; and such, likewise, arc the 

 three Ptinellas namely the P. Proteus in Madeira, and the angus- 

 tula and aptera in Palma and Hierro. 



Species of the " Retamas" Cisti, Semperviva, and Tamarisk. In 

 addition to the Euphorbian and pine-infesting Coleoptera, there are 

 certain others which attach themselves to the various kinds of vege- 

 tation which characterize particular districts and altitudes ; but in 

 no instance have I detected a sufficient number of them to be worthy 

 of more than a passing notice. Yet it is probable that the different 

 species of " Retama " (or Broom) which attain their maximum on 

 the upland slopes of Teneriffe and Grand Canary, as well as the 

 shrubby Cisti which cover considerable tracts of country (usually at 

 a great height, and often bordering upon the Finals), especially in 

 those two islands and Palma, would amply repay an investigation, and 

 would supply us (in each case) with a small fauna of their own. 



The Ret&msi-districts indeed I have always found to be eminently 

 productive, and to harbour a large assortment of the most striking 

 of the Atlantic forms ; but in most instances the latter do not seem 

 to be actually dependent on the Cytisi, Spartia-, and Genista, and 

 therefore could not be cited as in any way connected directly with 

 those plants, their presence among them being mainly due, as I 

 imagine, to the loftiness of the several regions, and not to any posi- 

 tive connexion (on their part) with the flora. The common Genista 

 scoparia, however, in Madeira, does decidedly support the beautiful 

 little Coccinella genistce, as well as the European Phloeophthorus rTio- 

 dodactylus and the Sitona latipennis (which is attached to the same 

 plant in Teueriffe, and which is said to occur likewise in Portugal) ; 

 while the more indigenous Iletamas of the Canarian archipelago fre- 

 quently abound with the inconstant Coccinella miranda and the 

 Acmceodera cisti the second of which, according to the Messrs. 

 Crotch, undergoes its transformations within the stems of the yellow 

 " Codeso." Whether any of the numerous species which (like the 

 Melyrosoma Idrtum and the Attains cenescens) haunt the blossoms of 

 the Spartia and Cytisi, are positively dependent on the latter, I have 

 no evidence to enable me to decide. 



The great prevalence of the Cistus monspeliensis and vayans in the 

 more or less elevated districts of the central and western parts of the 

 Canarian Group, especially in Grand Canary and Palma, would lead 



