3(j [February, 



are grazed by cattle, and, with tbeir boundary hedge-banks, have in all 

 material respects remained absolutely undisturbed for a period of over 

 two centuries. The particular bank about which I am writing is 

 placed in a middle position between the highest and lowest portions 

 of the ground, it extends almost due east and west, has a hedge and 

 slight ditch on its south side, and presents a more or less sloping sur- 

 face to the north, this being the portion from which all the specimens 

 referred to have been taken. The soil to some depth is thickly matted 

 with the roots of various plants, and is covered above with a carpet of 

 moss {Tlypnuin). 



Now, taking all these facts into consideration, we must allow that 

 the conditions are extremely favourable to the production and mainte- 

 nance of an extensive and varied insect fauna. We know from ex- 

 perience gained elsewhere how partial insects are to fens and bogs, 

 and the fact that this laua was once a morass, is evidence, frima facie, 

 that it was originally tenanted by the usual bog species, many of which 

 would doubtless cling to their native habitat long after its boggy 

 nature had been modified, the more so, as the marshy character of the 

 ground was still to some degree maintained, and the usual flora 

 lingered on, although, doubtless, shorn of its pristine variety and 

 luxuriance. Being also, in a small way, the watershed of a district 

 formerly bordered by heaths and commons, there can be no doubt that 

 numerous insects, especially Coleopte7'a, were from time to time brought 

 down from the higher regions to find a permanent home amongst the 

 more natural denizens of the swamp. Having been a " permanent 

 pasture " for so long a period, and producing such a variety of plants, 

 these fields must have proved unusually favourable for the breeding 

 and multiplication of every species which found a lodgment there. 

 Then the fact that cattle have browsed in these meads from time im- 

 memorial is suflicient to account for the incursion and settlement of 

 those grosser species that take to dung, either as a delicacy or as a 

 nidus for their progeny. Another consideration, worth perhaps a 

 passing thought, is that this district formed in the remote past a part 

 of the once dense and extensive Porest of Arden. 



The mossy bank being midway on the slope is just high enough 

 for those insects that love moderately high ground, and just low enough 

 to afford desirable quartei's for those that delight in moisture. 



Up to the present time I have worked the bank in only one way, 

 taking simply those species that reside in the moss, the roots of plants, 

 and in the soil, carefully excluding such as might have been captured 



