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recorded from Britain, both by Mr. Burr, one of our 

 members. The first he took himself in the Warren, at 

 Folkestone, while the other was captured at Wallingford, in 

 Berks. There is a third example, whose capture has not 

 been recorded, in the Hope Collection at Oxford, and Mr. 

 West's specimen makes the fourth. 



" The Folkestone specimen was first recorded as F. pubes- 

 cens, but M. de Bormans, after carefully examining a figure 

 of it, thought it should rather be referred to F. lesnei. On 

 comparing it with the description and figures of Finot, who 

 stood godfather to lesnei, Mr. Burr felt convinced that it was 

 truly that insect. It has been found in September amongst 

 grass and rough herbage, in several places in the north and 

 west of France, but F. pubescens is a South European insect. 

 Consequently we should expect to find F. lesnei rather than 

 F. pubescens in this country, and it is probable that the 

 specimens of the latter taken by Messrs. J. C. and C. W. 

 Dale at Charmouth, Bonchurch, Scilly, Glanvilles Wootton, 

 &c, and by Curtis at Salisbury, will turn out to be lesnei 

 also, though, of course, both species may be with us. But 

 whether one or two species, these earwigs are evidently 

 natives, and probably, since localities are so widely scattered, 

 they only want searching for to turn up much more com- 

 monly. 



"With regard to identification, the absence of wings should 

 first be noticed. But four other earwigs destitute of these 

 useful appendages have also been taken in England. None 

 of them, however, are native. Moreover two of them, 

 Anisolabis uiaritima and A. annulipes, have not even wing- 

 cases, while in shape the forceps (especially of the male) are 

 entirely different from those of a Forficula; besides, A. 

 annulipes usually has ringed legs. The other two apterous ear- 

 wigs, Apterygida albipcnnis and A. arachidis, have wing-cases 

 and no wings, like lesnei, but they are much smaller insects ; 

 and, again, the forceps (widely distant at base in the male) 

 are very different in shape from those of a Forficula (and 

 also of an Anisolabis). In fact, F. lesnei is sufficiently like 

 the common earwig, F. auricularia, to shew that it belongs 

 to the same genus, but sufficiently distinct to make it at 

 once clear that it belongs to a different species, and 1 

 hope that our Coleopterous friends and others who use a 

 sweeping net will be on the alert for the species during 

 the coming season. I might add that Mr. West's specimen 

 was taken in a spot where rest-harrow {Ononis) was growing 

 freely." 



