JUNE. 1 69 



obtaining this elegant and local insect is, by 

 shaking loose sods of turf in sandy places. 



Patrobus rufipes. Mr. Stephens must have 

 been mistaken when he asserted this to be a 

 littoral insect. In this part of the kingdom, it 

 occurs on the banks of rivers and ditches, in 

 woods, and even on the summits of the Derby- 

 shire mountains. 



Colymbetes maculatus. This beautiful but 

 variable aquatic beetle, which is so accurately 

 figured by Mr. Samouelle, in p. 3. f. 15, of his 

 " Useful Compendium," has generally been con- 

 sidered a local and even a rare species ; it 

 is, however, abundant in several of the Mid- 

 land counties, in running ditches and small 

 rivulets. 



Lucanus Cervus. The Stag-Beetle may be 

 considered the king of British beetles ; it is 

 extremely abundant in the southern counties, 

 particularly in the vicinity of old oak woods, 

 the decayed stumps of which its larva? inhabit 

 and destroy. I have not heard of its being 

 taken farther north than Worcester. 



Geotrupes stercorarius. Common Dor-Beetle, 

 or Shard-borne Beetle. This well-known in- 

 sect, which has buzzed in the face of every 

 evening rambler, could not escape the notice 

 of so accurate an observer as Shakspeare ; like 

 the bat that " flits by on leathern wing," he 



