COLEOPTERA. 



325 



of Iris foetid issimus. A few specimens were found on the capsules, 

 but the majority and a few pupfe occurred in the seed-capsules. A 

 great number must have already emerged, judging from the holes made 

 by the beetles in the capsules when they come out. Niton is a new 

 record for the insect, Fowler only gives Ventnor and Torbay. I believe 

 Mr. Holland has taken it in Cornwall. I shall be pleased to give it to 

 any coleopterists who may want it, as long as my stock holds out. 

 Next day a flying visit to Blackgang Chine found Bemhidiiun. anr/licanum 

 in fair numbers. — Horace Donisthorpe. October QOth, 1906. 



Henioticus serratus, Gyll., at Newbury. — In my note on captures 

 at Woodhay (not Woodbury, as printed antea, p. 268), I omitted to 

 record a specimen of the rare Henioticus serratus, Gyll. Fowler only 

 records it from Forest Hill, one example ; Northumberland district, 

 very rare ; Scotland, Eannock, very rare. Mr. Kidson Taylor has 

 recently taken it at Llanberis. I have also found two specimens of 

 Hoiiialinm septentrionalis I swept there. — Ibid. 



Distasteful Carabids. — In my paper on " Protective resemblance, 

 mimicry, etc., in the British coleoptera " [Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 

 1901, p. 346) I wrote under Carabus " I have no doubt that they are 

 more or less distasteful as they possess a strong and most unpleasant 

 smell, and have the power to discharge an acrid fluid. I remember 

 picking up a specimen of C. violaceus on the Deal sandhills, which shot 

 this fluid into my eye, causing considerable pain." I took a specimen 

 of C. violaceus in the Isle of Wight last month, and I find this fluid 

 has an odour which is indistinguishable from butyric acid, and probably 

 consists largely of this acid in a free condition. Its chemical nature, 

 however, has not been investigated. The interesting point about this 

 emanation is that while ants give off formic acid (CH2O2), which is 

 the acid of the first (monocarbon) group of the hydrocarbon, butyric 

 acid (C^HgOg) is the acid of the fourth group, and is, therefore, 

 chemically related to the former. C. violaceus gives off a fluid which 

 is distinctly acid, caustic, and which possesses both the rancid and the 

 pungent odour characteristic of butyric acid. — Ibid. 



Epur^ea angustula, Er., and Acrulia inflata, Gyll. — In a 

 recent paper to be published in the Transactions of the Natural History 

 Society of Northumberland, Durham, and Neivcastle-upon-Ty7ie, I was 

 able to prove (conclusively, I think) that both Epuraea angustula and 

 Acrulia inflata were parasitic on species of Trypodendron, and, perhaps, 

 a note on the habits of these two species may be useful. The best 

 way to find these beetles is to examine, in early June, trees or logs 

 attacked by Trypodendron ; the bark should be stripped away, the 

 underside and the surface of the tree laid bare thoroughly examined, 

 and the holes in the bark probed with a grass- stem. Then the 

 burrows in the tree should be watched ; if a Trypodendron comes to 

 the surface (in June, that is) it comes hind part foremost, whereas 

 both the Acrulia and Epuraea come head first, and are, therefore, 

 easily recognisable by their quivering antennae. A sharp and strong 

 knife thrust at an angle into the run cuts off retreat, and renders 

 capture certain. Mr. Willoughby Ellis, however, suggests directing 

 a blast of smoke through the stem of a pipe, into each hole, an 

 excellent plan that, being a non-smoker, never occurred to me. 

 Where possible, the bark should be replaced and examined every few 



