KETKOSPECT OF A COLEOPTERIST FOR 1905. d 



these specimens were to be referred to an allied species, spinosus, Er. 

 This species belongs to the subgenus Cla^wptilus, it is rare, but is 

 widely distributed. Hadrotoma nigripes, F. — Mr. H. W. Ellis states 

 {Ent. Record, vol. xvii., p. 270) that this insect was taken by the late 

 Mr. Blatch by sweeping and beating near Tewkesbury, but as Mr, 

 Blatch himself made no attempt to introduce this capture into our 

 local list, possibly he considered that the specimen he captured was an 

 introduced one. 



The following new varieties are also introduced definitely into our 

 list : — Nebria gyllenhali, Sch., var. rufescens, Stroem, by Mr. 

 Donisthorpe {Ent. Record, vol. xvii., p. 103) ; it is a red variety, and 

 occurs in the north of England and Scotland ; I have found it on the 

 Cairngorms {Ent. Mo. Mag., vol. xxxv., p. 267). Cryptocephalus 

 pusiLLus, F., var. marshami, Weise, taken by Mr. H. W. Ellis at 

 Knowle {Ent. Record, vol. xvii., p. 270) ; Mycetoporus clavicornis, 

 Sfceph., var. forticornis, Fauvel, also introduced {loc.cit.) by Mr. Ellis; 

 Canon Fowler, in his work {Col. of Great Britain, vol. ii., p. 217), is 

 doubtful about this variety. 



There are thus 17 additions claimed, and 3 varieties, and there are, 

 moreover, several important synonymy changes to which attention 

 has been drawn this year; some of these have already been men- 

 tioned. 



Mr. Champion says {Ent. Mo. Mag., vol. xli., p. 198) that the insects 

 standing under the name oi Anisotoma oblonga, Er., are really A. lucens, 

 Fairm., and that grandis, Eye, is only a form of cinnamomea, Pz., but 

 that as the English forms differ slightly from those on the continent, 

 our insects might be named A. cinnamomea, Pz., var. anglica. Rye. 

 The same gentleman states {Inc. cit., p. 210) that the Elater aethiops, 

 Lac, of our catalogue is really E. nigerrimm, Lac. He also draws 

 attention to the fact {loc. cit., p. 224) that Sahlberg has split Limno- 

 baris t-album, L., into two species, both of which occur generally 

 distributed over Great Britain, the second species being called L. 

 pilistriata, Steph. ; this latter is always larger than t-album, L., and 

 the hairs on the interstitial punctures are longer. Mr. Ellis {Knt. 

 Record, vol. xvii., p. 270) claims that Phloeopora transita, Muls. et Rey, 

 is a genuine species ; Canon Fowler in his work (vol. ii., p. 43) con- 

 siders it to be only a variety of reptans, Gr., and the characters given 

 by Mr. Ellis and M. Fauvel for separating the two insects, certainly 

 seem hardly important enough to justify specific rank. 



Some of the species introduced to our list during the year, as for 

 example, Silvanus mercator, Fauvel, and Phymatodes lividus, Rossi, 

 raise the difiicult question as to whether or not insects such as these, 

 known to be introduced from abroad, and living in this country only 

 under purely artificial conditions, should be given a place in a list of 

 British insects. The view generally held is that when it can be shown 

 that an introduced insect has thoroughly established itself, and can be 

 proved to go on breeding under natural conditions, then it is entitled 

 to a place in our list. Furthermore, it is well known that numbers of 

 insects now in our lists, and which have been there for perhaps over a 

 century, were probably in the first instance introduced by commerce, 

 and thus obtained a footing, therefore why exclude similar cases when 

 they occur at the present day. No doubt these are strong arguments, 

 but I cannot help thinking it would be more scientific to adopt a 



