1870. 59 
Note on some ambiguously British species of Coleoptera.—Motschulsky (Bulletin 
de la Soc. Imp. des Naturalistes de Moscou, 1868, No. 3), in his section of Acra- 
trichis (Trichopteryx) in which the elytra are rather short, but slightly attenuated 
behind, describes two new species, from England only ; one (p. 178), punctatissima, 
very close to grandicollis in form and colour, but shorter, with the posterior angles 
of the thorax less projecting, the antennz rather short, testaceous with brown 
club, the legs testaceous, with the femora darkened, and the punctuation fine and 
close ; the other (p. 179), of the form and colour of fascicularis, Gillm., but a third 
smaller and more convex, very shining, black, with a bronze reflection ; legs testa- 
ceous, antenne blackish, with the base slightly testaceous. 
Mulsant and Rey (Ann. de la Soc. Linn. de Lyon, xvii, p. 383) refer Simplocaria 
metallica, Sturm, to England (possibly on account of the Stephensian picipes, its 
synonym),—a species distinguished by the striz of its elytra being produced almost 
to the apex.—H, C. Rrx, 10, Lower Park Field, Putney, S.W. 
Note on Drilus flavescens, 2? .—It is stated in De Marseul’s “ Nouvelles et faits 
divers,” No. 14, May, 1870, that M. Ad. Bellevoye has ascertained that the female 
of Drilus flavescens is not only found in Helix nemoralis, but also in several other 
species of Helix, amongst them being H. pomatia, hortensis, ericetorum, and candi- 
dula. M. Abeille de Perrin, in the same publication, communicates a hint from 
M. Lespés on the same subject ; from which it appears that a good way to take 
many specimens of  Drilus is to collect in February and March all the snails found 
in gardens, and to make with a penknife an opening at the extremity of the first 
spiral turn of the shell, opposite the mouth: if fragments stuck together in a kind 
of spider’s web be then seen, there is no doubt of the presence of a pupa of 
Drilus § , which will not be long in coming to maturity.— Ip. 
Note on Donacia comari (aquatica, Wat. Cat.).—Dr. Kraatz writes to me that 
he is now persuaded that Donacia comari is a good species; and imagines that | 
Suffrian has confounded little varieties of it with little D. sericea.-—Ip. 
Note on a habit of certain Indian Coleoptera.—The Rev. A. B. Spaight, late 
Missionary to Northern India, has irformed me of a fact frequently observed by 
him at Moultan, and which has, I believe, acquired additional interest from the 
circumstance of its being a disputed point amongst Naturalists. 
It appears that certain large beetles,belonging to the Lucanide and Longicornia 
are said to saw off small branches from trees in order to get at the sap upon which 
they feed. Mr. Spaight (who only began to study the habits of insects after he 
had left England) arrived in India under the impression that the jaws of these 
large beetles (Lucanide ?) were solely intended for burrowing,—indeed, he had been 
told almost as much ; what was his surprise then, upon first meeting with them in 
their native haunts, to see the huge jaws clasping a branch round which at the 
same time the beetle was rapidly whirling, so that in a short time the branch fell 
to the ground completely sawn tirough ; whereupon the insect immediately set to 
work to suck up the sap! 
Being struck with this apparently new fact, Mr. Spaight paid particular 
attention to it, and noticed the same thing over and over again, so that he is quite 
sure about the correctness of his observations.—A. G. Butter, 17, Oxford Road, 
Haling, 11th July, 1870. 
