NOTES ON VARIOUS INSECTS. 377 



April till September, living principally on insects thrown up 

 by the sea. We could not find it in Corfu. It is much 

 more active than C. campesiris, and is extremely difficult to 

 capture. 



8. Brachinus Grcecus is rather rare. It is a fine large 

 species, and is met with under stones at the edges of marshes 

 and moist ground. On the approach of danger it immediately 

 salivates, and a bubble of liquid matter appears at its mouth 

 (as frequently as at the anus) ; but upon contact with the air, 

 it explodes with a considerable report, and the gaseous matter 

 may be seen rising up like smoke. It has a pungent fetid 

 odour, not unlike some of the churchyard beetles. On being 

 immersed in boiling water to kill it, it let off one of its explo- 

 sions, and the water for about an inch around it effervesced 

 much in the same manner as a Seidlitz powder. 



9. Typhosus Iomcas ? a — Smaller than T. vulgaris : thorax 

 with a small curved horn at each side of the apex, and a very 

 slight prominence at its centre : elytra striated. It is extremely 

 common both in Cephalonia and Corfu during winter, spring, 

 and autumn. On first meeting Mr. Kuper, he remarked, that 

 he had also considered it as a distinct species The female sex, 

 like that of T. vulgaris, is unarmed, and in habits resembles 

 the latter. 



10. Ateuchus variolosus flies always in the middle and heat 

 of the day. It walks backwards with its pellets, in which it 

 buries its eggs, and which are generally made of asses' dung. 

 The pellet is about an inch and a half, or two inches in diameter, 

 and in rolling it, they stand almost on their heads, with their 

 backs to it, guiding it with their hind feet, and occasionally 

 mounting to the top, when they find difficulty in urging it on, 

 probably to destroy its equilibrium. Its wedge-shaped and 

 dentated clypeus gives it strong mechanical powers in removing 

 obstacles ; and as I frequently found it buried under stones, in 

 looking for Carabi, we may remark the wisdom of Providence 

 in furnishing it with a lever to raise such heavy weights. 

 Although common near Gibraltar, in Albania, and Cephalonia, 

 we did not find it in Corfu. 



11. A. sacer. — I found two specimens on the sea shore near 

 Lixurie. 



12. Gymnopleurus pillularius has similar habits, and is the 



* Geotrupcs subarmatus ? Dejean, Catalogue, 148. — Ed. 

 NO. IV. VOL. III. 3 C 



