Euphorbia-infesting Coleoptera of the Canary Islands. 137 



gine, than the various Laurels ; nevertheless in Madeira, which 

 vi'as originally " laurel-clad," I felt convinced, from the very first 

 day I landed there, that those portions of the island in which the 

 native wood still remained would be essentially the abodes of the 

 most peculiar, or esoteric, insect-forms. And how literally this is 

 the case no one who has laboured practically in the loftier alti- 

 tudes, and the almost inexhaustible " inner mountain mazes" of 

 that wonderful land, will for an instant dispute. Yet the first 

 impression of the northern collector in the laurel-groves of tlie 

 Atlantic is that of the paucity of life; and it is only after he l)as 

 become acquainted with his ground, and the sedentary nature of 

 a large section of its inhabitants, that he can realize the actual 

 number of the living creatures which surround him. In the Ca- 

 narian group the laurel-forests, once so superb, have now nearly 

 disappeared, and along vi^ith them the characteristic fauna which 

 they, directly or indirectly, must have nourished ; yet in the few 

 regions which have escaped the ruthless axe of their improvident 

 occupants, the primeval forms are still dominant, — driven there, 

 as their last resting-places, before their final extinction from off 

 the earth. 



But in the vegetation of the Canarian archipelago there is, apart 

 from the laurels, a great and important feature, which is but 

 slightly indicated at the Madeiras, — namely, the excessive abund- 

 ance of various gigantic Euphorbias. Whole plains and mountain- 

 sides are absolutely clothed with them ; and in some of the less 

 frequented parts of the more remote islands one may often ride 

 for miles through a perfect wilderness of these monstrous plants, — 

 some of the larger of which might be almost compared, in their 

 shape and dimensions, to dwarf, stunted oaks. My first trip to the 

 Canaries was with John Gray, Esq., in his yacht the " Miranda," 

 early in January, 1858; and our impression on viewing this Eu- 

 phorina-teemiug land was, that a rich field, of a very anomalous 

 kind, must of necessity be in store for us. Nevertheless when we 

 began to penetrate into the thickets of these viscous shrubs, the 

 foliage was almost free from life, and there seemed but little hope 

 of success. Feeling convinced, however, that such a remarkable 

 vegetation could not possibly exist without its own special fauna, 

 we persevered in examining it ; and whilst in the north of Lanzarote 

 were fortunate enough to alight on some rotten stems, which had 

 not been gathered for burning, standing erect in the soil. A few 

 minutes at these brought to light what we had long been antici- 

 pating, — namely, a host of minute Coleoplera, evidently peculiar 

 to this " habitat." From that moment we never failed to inspect 



