XII INSECTS OF THE SEA-SHORE 379 



the patches inhabited by Bledius may be so numerous 

 as to form a nearly continuous Hne miles in length. 

 The Beetle shovels out the sand backwards with 

 its hind legs. When covered by the tide, which 

 is an unusual event, it remains still in its burrow. 

 On warm evenings just after sundown they fly about 

 in great numbers, never rising high, but keeping near 

 the surface of the sand. The same species which 

 haunt the shore occur also in marshy ground in inland 

 places near the sea. Bledius arenarius is about three 

 and a half millimetres long ; its body is narrow and 

 rather cylindrical. 



A Carabid Beetle, Dyschirius, preys upon the larvae 

 and pupae of Bledius. It is a restless creature, con- 

 stantly running in and out of the galleries, and has an 

 insatiable appetite. It is of about the size, or smaller 

 than its victims. Several species, both of Bledius and 

 of Dyschirius, occur on our coasts. A number of 

 other marine Staphylinidae have been described. 

 Micralymma is common on rocky shores, and re- 

 sembles Aepus in its habits. 



A few marine Caddis-worms are known. One is 

 found between tide-marks in Lyttleton Harbour, New 

 Zealand, and forms its sheath of the coralline sea- 

 weeds.i The Rev. A. E. Eaton has found plenty of 

 small Hydroptilidae in salt or brackish streams on 

 the borders of the Sahara. Mr. Swainson has fished 

 up a living Oxyethira from the incoming tide of 

 the Ribble, but it is not yet proved that this Caddis- 

 worm is a true inhabitant of the sea.- Philanisus 



^ Ma.cLa.ch.la.n, /ourn. Litui. Soc, " Zoology," vol. XVI. p. 417 

 (1883). 2 British Naturalist, Dec, 1894. 



