4 THE entomologist's record. 



different method of dealing with these insects. Surely no naturalist 

 in compiling a list of Australian mammals would dream of including 

 the rabbit in that list, or the English fox, or the English hare, yet in 

 that continent these three animals breed under natural conditions far 

 more freely than they do in their original home ; yet in compiling a 

 list of Australian mammals, which would give a true idea of existing 

 conditions, there would certainly have to be a list of introduced 

 mammals, as an addenda to the list of genuine native animals. The 

 same argument applies to the scores of European plants which have 

 been introduced by the white man into Australia, and have thoroughly 

 established themselves. Fortunately, in the case of Australia, the 

 difficulty is more apparent than real, as all these non-indigenous 

 animals and plants have been introduced within a comparatively 

 limited period of time, and the history of the introduction of all of 

 them is well known. In Great Britain we cannot, as a rule, speak 

 with any certainty in the case of insects supposed to be in the strict 

 sense non-indigenous, when the introduction has not been a matter of 

 recent date, but that is surely no reason why we should go on per- 

 petuating this confusion ; we can make a beginning and separate from 

 the general list those insects of the introduction of which we have 

 indisputable evidence, and date such a separate list from some definite 

 year, say 1900. Every insect known to have been introduced into 

 this country since 1900 would then always appear in a list supple- 

 mentary to the general catalogue, such supplementary list being 

 entitled "Beetles introduced by commerce, etc., since 1900, and since 

 breeding in this country." A chance capture, at say a seaport, of 

 some foreign insect, without any evidence of its breeding, should not 

 be recorded in any catalogue. Another advantage of keeping such a 

 supplementary list would be that these introduced beetles would be 

 kept in a separate drawer in a well arranged cabinet, and would thus 

 be much more useful for purposes of study connected with insect 

 distribution. 



The past year has been singularly fruitful in the capture in numbers 

 of beetles usually considered to be very rare, but I have space to refer 

 to onlv a few of the records. A<iathidiam hadium, Er., introduced to our 

 list only last year, has been taken in some numbers by Mr. Donisthorpe 

 and Mr. Bagnall in Northumberland. Dibolia cynoglossi , Koch, has 

 again been taken at Pevensey, this time freely, by Mr. Donisthorpe. 

 Lo7ir/itarsus curt us, x\ll., another of last year's additions, has been detected 

 amongst beetles captured in two or three localities in Kent and Surrey, 

 by Mr. Chitty and Mr. Champion. Lymexylon navale, L., has been 

 taken during the summer by several collectors in the New Forest. 

 Apion hrannipes, Boh., was found by Mr. Bedwell in some numbers 

 near Lowestoft, in August; Apion astragali, Pk., and A. sanf/idneum, 

 De G., in numbers near Oxford by Mr. W. Holland, in September. 

 Tropideres sepicola, F., has been recorded both from near Colchester^ 

 and from the New Forest. Mr. Holland also records the capture in 

 numbers of the brilliant green form of Harpalus ignavus, Duft., known 

 as H. honestm, Duft. Qiiedius nigrocoernleus, Muls. et Key, has been 

 captured by Mr. Dollman at Ditchling, and Mr. Bedwell records quite 

 a little haul of this species near Lowestoft, while lastly Pterostichus 

 parumpunctatus, Gr., has been found freely at Gibside, on the Derwent> 

 by Mr. Bagnall, Mr. Donisthorpe, and the writer. 



