18SI8.] ] 7 



S. nigriceps, Kies., as pointed out by Eey {loc. cit., p. 227), differs from 

 the reddish varieties of S. ccesum in having the head less rugose, the 

 elytra shorter, the antennae longer, &c. H. nigriceps is a mountain 

 species, found in the Auvergne, Yosges, Pyrenees, &c., vs^hile H. tricolor 

 is generally distributed in France, as well as in Great Britain. I have 

 had correctly named specimens of S. nigriceps from Cantal, in the 

 Auvergne district, iu my collection for many years, but till M. Fauvel 

 recently called my attention to the matter, I had not compared them 

 with British ones. He has recently published a short note on the 

 same subject (Rev. d'Ent., 1897, p. 230). 



Horsell, Woking : 



November 2,Uh, 1897. 



Srachysomus hirtus, Boh. {Platytarsus setulosus, Boh.), at Chatham. — This 

 little weevil is usually regarded as one of our rarest species, single specimens being 

 found at long intervals, usually in moss, in the South of England ; and hitherto only 

 three examples had been taken by me since 1873, which have been recorded in this 

 Magazine (Ent. Mo. Mag., vol. x, p. 253, and vol. xxvi, p. 11). It is, therefore, with 

 no small pleasure that I record its occurrence, in scanty but satisfactory numbers, at 

 the edge of a coppice about a mile and a half south of Chatham. The first speci- 

 mens were obtained on October 23rd, by casually shaking over paper a small bough 

 of hornbeam with the dried leaves on it lying on the ground ; and in subsequent 

 visits, further examples were taken by examining the dry but not decayed leaves of 

 oak, Spanish chestnut, hornbeam, &c., strewn loosely about and accumulated round 

 the stumps of the underwood. With the exception of three, which were beaten out 

 of a faggot a few yards distant, all were found in a space about ten feet by six, the 

 soil being a light loam overlying the chalk at a very slight depth. It is a very 

 sluggish creature, and is by no means easy to detect among the debris when feigning 

 death, which it does with much persistency. According to M. Bedel (Faune des 

 Coleopt^res du bassin de la Seine, vi, p. 237), Brachysomus hirtus is found " dans les 

 bois, sous les feuilles morts — Hirer, printeraps — Hare — Presque toute I'Europe 

 moyenne." As the beetle is traditionally associated with primroses {cf. Ent. Mo. 

 Mag., vol. vii, p. 37, and vol. ix, p. 159), I am able to state that this plant grows 

 plentifully in the spot where my specimens were taken. — James J. Walkek, 23, 

 Ranelagh Road, Sheerness : Norember 8th, 1897. 



Captvre.i of Coleoplera, See, during the past season in the vicinity of Hastings. 

 — Although I have had less time at collecting than usual, this year has afforded a 

 fair number of species which do not occur here commonly. Taking them in seasonal 

 order, Oyrinus urinator heads the list, taken, as before, round submerged posts in 

 the River Rother in January, in about the same numbers as last year. In April 

 Apion varipes turned up to the number of six among a swarm of A. difforme swept 

 under a hawthorn hedge at Ewhurst. In May Ceuthorrhy nchidius Chevrolati made 



B 



