]_4 ' [January, 



oblongo-guttata, obliterata, mutahilis, and \4i-guttata. In damp places C. {Anisos- 

 ticta) 19-punctata, new to my local list, was quite common, and C. 22-punctata, 

 previously quite a rarity, was found at Elmley, by sweeping, in great profusion. 

 Chilocorus similis, by no means an abundant insect in my experience, was this year 

 quite plentiful, turning up in all sorts of places until quite the end of October. 



Vei-y few other beetles were to be obtained by cliff sweeping, the evenings being 

 as a rule too hot and dry ; but on one occasion Bagous suhcarinatus was quite com- 

 mon, at a distance of fully five miles from the very restricted locality where alone it 

 had previously been found. Bruchus canus is an addition to the Sheppey list, but 

 it occurred only singly. 



Early in August, in a dried-up ditch quite close to Sheerness, on a few water- 

 cress plants swarming with PhcBcion cochlearice and its larva, I found three beautiful 

 specimens of Saprinus virescens, a veritable wolf in sheep's clothing. The close 

 superficial resemblance of the Ulster, in size, colour, and general aspect, to the 

 Chrysomelid, renders the two species by no means easy to separate in the field, or, 

 rather, the ditch ; and in one instance at least the Saprinus was evidently making 

 a meal of the helpless grubs of the Fhcedon. In the same spot I met with Phyto- 

 iius velatus, new to Sheppey ; and a casual specimen of the red-legged var. melano- 

 cornis of Chlcenius nigricornis excited for the moment a wild idea that I had at last 

 got hold of the rare C. SchranJcii. 



In large Boleti growing on elm trees, Soinalium deplanatum occurred in fair 

 numbers in September and October, accompanied by H. concinnum (common), 

 Sapalarcea pygmcBa (rare), Tlndomychus coccineiis, Triphyllus suturalis (abundant), 

 Coninomus nodifer, Tetratoma fungorum, and other fungus feeders ; Cis bidentatus 

 being also very plentiful in these Boleti when hard and dry. Coryphium angusti- 

 colle again turned up, after the lapse of many years, this time in an old apple tree 

 stump, in company with Somalium iopterum. 



At Elmley, five miles from Sheerness, in a fresh-water ditch choked with a 

 luxuriant growth of Sparganium ramosuni, I found Telmatophilus brevicollis quite 

 commonly by sweeping this plant. Curiously enough, this species was apparently 

 restricted to a space not more than five yards in length, while its commoner relative, 

 T. caricis, abounded from one end of the ditch to the other. Here, too, Bagous 

 subcarinatus again occarred, with Hipp odamia 13-punctata (taken by Mr. Champion 

 in September), Poophagus sisymbrii, Apion HooJceri, &c. 



The thorny rest-harrow {Ononis spinosa), at Elmley and elsewhere, produced 

 Apion Bohemani in great profusion in August, with Sitones ononidis, just as rarely. 

 A. limonii, formerly so plentiful in many places round the shore of the island, now 

 seems to be confined to a very limited spot on one of the " saltings " near Queen- 

 borough, having apparently disappeared from nearly all its old localities. 



Turning now to the Chatham district, Cobham Park was, of course, visited at 

 an early date, but this usually productive locality had suffered even more from the 

 prolonged drought than the Isle of Sheppey ; and scarcely a beetle worth bottling 

 resulted from several days' collecting. I found that Platycis (Eros) minutus still 

 lingered in the old ash tree.where it occurred in 1889, as I took half a dozen speci- 

 mens one evening at the end of July ; but its companion in the tree, Abrceus 

 granulum, had evidently quite vanished. Philonthus addendus, Sharp, and Qnath- 



