

COLEOPTERA OF THE GRANGETOWN SLAG=HEAPS. 



GEO. B. WALSH, B.Sc. 

 Middlesbrough. 



On the banks of the Tees, east of Middlesbrougli, there are 

 numerous slag-heaps, covering many acres, and rising, in some 

 cases, fifty or sixty feet or even more above the level of the 

 reclaimed marshland near them. Some of them are very old, 

 and, in course of time, partly owing to the decomposition of the 

 original slag, and partly owing to material brought by the wind, 

 they have become covered with a thin layer of soil upon which 

 an interesting vegetation has sprung up. Under the loose 

 jiieces of slag, at the roots of the plants, and in the thicker 

 tufts of moss which cover the sides, and more especially the 

 base, many beetles are to be found, despite the decidedly un- 

 in\iting appearance of the place. Many of these are doubtless 

 survivals of the beetle fauna which occupied the locality before 

 it was utilised for its present purpose ; these, indeed, are fovmd 

 under almost the original conditions only a mile away. The 

 following is a list of these species which I have taken up to the 

 present on the slag-heaps themselves. 



Nebria hrevicoUis F. (common). 

 Loricera pilicornis F. (occasional). 

 Bradycellus verbasci Duft. ,, 

 Harpalns aeneus F. (common). 

 Pterostichiis madidus F. ,, 

 ,, nigey Schal. ,, 



,, nigrita F. ,, 



Amara apricaria Payk. (occasional). 

 ,, convexiiiscula Marsh. 



(common at times). 

 Calathiis cisteloides Pz. ,, ,, 



,, fiavipes Fonrc. (in abund- 

 ance and decidedly the 

 commonest beetle of 

 the locality). 

 ,, mollis Marsh, (occasional). 

 ,, melanocephaliis L. 



(common). 

 Taphria nivalis Pz. (occasional). 

 Pristonychits terricola Hbst. (one). 



A nchomenus puellus Dj . (occasional ) . 

 Trechus minntus F. (common). 

 Agabus conspersus Marsh, (found 

 under stones near stagnant 

 pools). 

 Tachyporns hypnonim F. (common). 

 Quedius fulginostis Gr. ,, 



,, molochinns Gr. ,, 



Ocypiis fuscatus Gr. (occasional). 

 PhilontiiHs marginatus F. (one). 

 O thins fiilvipennis F. ,, 



Coccinella lo-punctata L. "I 

 ,, ii-pimctata L. \ 



(Both common in the winter, 

 hibernating in the holes in. 

 the slag). 

 Byvrhus pilula L. (common). 



,, fasciatiis F. (occasional). 

 Otiorhynchiis nigifrons Gyll. 



(abundant). 



The most interesting species, however, are two which are 

 usually associated with mountains and high moorlands rather 

 than with the banks of a tidal river. These are Miscoderd 

 arctica Payk. and Pterostichus vitreus Dj. The latter exists in. 

 large numbers and is, next to Calathiis fiavipes Fourc. and 

 Otiorhynchus rugifrons Gyll., the most abundant beetle. I 



1910 Sept. I. 



