160 THE entomologist's record. 



and said : — " A variable species, nevertheless the four examples before 

 me evidently represent a single species, which is abundantly distinct 

 from all others with which I am acquainted ; it will come next to H. 

 palustrhr Dr. Sharp (" Dytiscidae," p. 813) writes :— " I believe H. 

 tinctus, Clark, is a var. of J{. palnstris, L., but it may possibly be H. 

 inconnitKx, Sharp." In which case Clark's name has seven years priority. 

 Fowler says {Col. Brit. Mc^, vol. i., p. 182) :— " Varieties of H. paltistris 

 occasionally occur in which the testaceous spots are almost, if not 

 quite, obsolete, and the whole insect is of a reddish-fuscous colour. 

 H. tlnctiis, Clark, is to be referred to one of these ; the specimens from 

 which it was described were taken by Turner in the New Forest." 

 There are three specimens in the Power collection, including Clark's 

 type._ I think that this aberration ought to appear in the British 

 list, it is in Crotch's two Catalogues, and in Eye's, but not in any of 

 the others. 



Af/abu.'^ uli;ii}insii!^ ab. ? dispar, Bold.— Fowler {Col. Brit. Isles, 

 vol. i., p. 192), under At/ahiis iilir,inn.vis, says :—" The dull variety of 

 the female appears to be confined to Britain, it is not uncommon at 

 Askham Bog ; " and Dr. Sharp (" Dytiscidae," p. 507) writes :— " The 

 female generally resembles the male in sculpture, but a form occurs 

 rarely (? in Britain only) in which the upper surface in this sex is 

 excessively, densely and finely reticulate, so as to be quite opaque." 

 The form thus mentioned is the ab. ? (lif<par, Bold., described in the 

 Zoolor/ist, app. xxiv., 1849. 



Platamhm maculatits ab. pulchdlus, Heer.— It appears to me from 

 the evidence which I am about to discuss that this aberration is very 

 doubtful, and would be best left out. Aiiahus pulcJwllus, Heer, is 

 recorded in the Fnt. Annual, 1857, p. 69, as having been captured by 

 G. Wailes, near Loch Achray, on the north side of Loch Katrine, in 

 September, 1853. E. Newman records in the Zoologist, 1856, p. 5,008, 

 having received A. pidchellns from Mr. Wailes, and that he thought it 

 was ^. nmciilatus, but that no doubt such good observers as Heer and 

 Wailes were right. He then goes on to say that the elytra are entirely 

 dark and immaculate. This does not agree with Heer's description, 

 as he distinctly states that the elytra are not immaculate. The 

 description Avhich may be found in Fauna Coleojitorum Helvetica, 1841, 

 p. 149, IS as follows: — " Ovatus, subtus ferrugineus, siipra niger, 

 capite pronotique lateribus, elytris margine maculisque pallidis. 

 L. 3^ 1." He goes on to say it is very like A. maculatia^, but smaller in 

 size and a little flatter, elytra with the three striae on disc a little 

 deeper ; moreover, the colour of thorax and elytra differ. Dr. Sharp 

 (" Dytiscidae," p. 549) says of P. macxlatiis that the smallest vars. come 

 from Scotland, being dark and having the stria? on the elytra deeper. 

 There is a specimen in the series of Af/abus maculatiis in the general 

 collection in the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, labelled 

 " pHlchellii.^, Heer, Helvet., Kraatz." • It is no smaller than the others, 

 IS bright and well marked. It is evident that when Dr. Sharp added 

 the ab. pulchellm, Heer, to the 1893 Catalogue he had the small dark 

 form m his mind, which is certainly not the pulchellu!^, Heer. I pro- 

 pose to call it ab. imnaculatus, n. ab. Mr. Champion tells me he has 

 two of this form, one from I'.raemar, taken by himself, and another 

 from Loch Katrine, taken by Mr. Hislopp. 



Hydrobius fuscipes ab. aeneu^^, Solier.— This aberration is another 



