7530 Insects. 



undertone at Anchomenus prasinus, which was always running out, giving him false 

 hopes. At length he finds a veritable Drypta. Drawing a long breath he exclaims, 

 this time aloud and jubilant, " Glory, &c. &c. &c. ! I got 'uu ! "—Arthur Adams ; St. 

 Vladimir Bay, Manchuria. 



Notes on two New Brachelytra. — I have taten and determined two Brachelytrous 

 insects which I believe have not yet been recorded as British. 



1. Oligota apicata, Erichs. It belongs lo the ovate section, averages about half 

 a line in length, and is at once distinguished from all its British congeners by the two 

 last joints of the abdomen and the legs being a clear fulvous-yellow, and by the two 

 first joints of the antennae being much longer than the succeeding ones, but the second 

 about the same length as the first. I took eight specimens from the dibris of fern, in 

 an old shed at the Holt Forest in Hampshire, on the 1st of April, 1861. The insect 

 is remarkable for the cool and deliberate way in which it slowly marches over the paper 

 on which the " shakings " are placed. Erichson says he has taken one specimen only. 



2. Bledius crassicoUis, Erichs. It belongs to the section which has thorax and 

 head unarmed, and is the only British species, I believe, which has a smooth space 

 and no furrow along the middle of the thorax, which is also strongly punctured. My 

 specimens have all testaceous-red elytra, with a darkish stain near the scutellum. The 

 elytra are coarsely punctured. The abdomen is black, with testaceous apex. It is a 

 small species, about the size of B. unicornis, larger only than B. arenarius, of those 

 which I possess, averaging If line. I took many specimens from a sandy bank near 

 Walmer, on the 8th of August, 1857, and have given them away as B. crassicoUis, but 

 have never published any account of the insect. I have seen none but my own speci- 

 mens. — John A. Poiver ; 52, Burton Crescent, April 17, 1861. 



Captures of Coleoptera at Sanderstead. — On the 24th of March we spent a most 

 pleasant and profitable day at Sanderstead Downs, near Croydon. Among a whole 

 host of common things we found the following : — Panagaeus quadripustulatus (5), 

 Mycetophorus splendidus (12), M. angularis (1), M. punctatus (2), M. splendens (1), 

 Bolitobius analis (5), Acidota cruentata (1). On the 6th inst. we again took two more 

 P. 4-pustulatus. — A. |- M.Solomon; 16, Graham Villas, Pownall Road, Dakton, 

 April 19, 1861. 



Capture of Meloe cicalricosus. — On the 14th of April I captured twenty fine speci- 

 mens of this insect at Ramsgate. — A. Solomon. 



Plague of Ants in Honduras. — As for the ants, their name is legion. I do not 

 know whether they should be called buccaneers or filibusters, but they appropriate 

 everything they can get at, and locate themselves everywhere. They are wonderfully 

 industrious in carrying out their predatory views, and display a great contrast to the 

 inhabitants of Honduras, who do not know what industry means, and abhor continuous 

 labour. There are two colours of ants, black and red, and a great variety of sizes. 

 Some of the large black ones are half an inch long ; those in the houses are generally 

 of the smaller sizes. Every tree and bush is infested with some kind or other of them. 

 If you shoot a bird and do not speedily pick it up it will be covered with them ; if you 

 lay a bird down for a few minutes, beware how you take it up, for if you do so incau- 

 tiously they will be on your hand in no time, and resent your claiming your own 

 by instant biting. They are most savage little wretches when interfered with or 

 molested. Take care also how you sit down, either in the forest or anywhere 

 out of doors, or you may jump up again quicker than pleases you. The house we 

 occupied at Comayagua was overrun by ants. They were constantly occupied in 



