1S90.] 83 



Cis hilameJIatus breeding in captivity. — "When, in the autumn of 1884, I found 

 this hitherto unrecorded insect in such profusion, I put away in a canvas bag a few- 

 pieces of fungus which were tenanted by it, but not in sufficient numbers to repay 

 the trouble of examination. A few weeks ago, on opening the bag, I found the 

 beetle in multitudes, and the fungus nearly all demolished. For more than five 

 years, therefore, the insect has been increasing and multiplying in confinement, and, 

 to all appearance, it will continue to do so until the last fragment of the fungus has 

 been devoured. — Theodore Wood, Baldock, Herts : February 8th, 1890. 



Harpalus obscuriis, F. {stietus, Steph.). — I toot three specimens of the above 

 (two males and a female) on June 25th, 1889, under a piece of chalk on the " Devil's 

 Dyke," about half-way between the village of Reach and the point where the Dyke 

 is cut by the Cambridge and Mildenhall line, near Swaffham Prior, Cambs. — H. R. 

 Tottenham, St. John's College, Cambridge : Februay-y, 1890. 



[The occurrence of tliis species in its old locality is very interesting. It appears 



to be extremely rare in England ; it is intermediate between M. sabulicola, Panz., 



and the common H. rotundicollis, Fairm. (which is the H. obscurus of Dawson). 



The posterior angles of the thorax are not so marked as in the former of these 



j species, and more marked than in the latter, and it may be further distinguished from 



I both of them by having the apex of the elytra deeply excised and of its usually 



j darker colour ; it is of the same size as H. sabulicola, and Dr. Power once told me 



f that in former years some of his specimens had been distributed as this species. I 



am much indebted to Mr. Tottenham for one of the specimens referred to. — W. W. F.] 



Casual captures of Colenptera. — The following species of Coleoptfra met with by 

 me at various times and places during the summer and autumn of 1889, may be 

 worth noting in this Magazine : — 



At Plymouth, in May : A'epus marinus and Rohinii, both in abundance ; Sipalia 

 testacea, a few specimens, and Pentarthrum Huttoni, abundantly in white poplar (all 

 these I owe to the kindness of Mr. J. H. Keys, who accompanied me to their re- 

 spective head-quarters) ; also, at Whitsand Bay : Harpalus tenchrosus, Hydnobius 

 punctatissimus, Otiorhynchus ambiguus, Mecinus circulatus, and Rlwpalomesites 

 Tarda, the latter in an asli-stump in a hedgerow. 



At Cromer, during the wretched weather of Wliitsuntide : Gnathoncus rolund- 

 atus, several, under tlie remains of a dead fowl, and with them one specimen, 

 possibly referable to Q. punctulutus, Thoms. : Baris ahrotani, not scarce, under Reseda 

 lutea, by the side of a newly made road, and Ceuthorhynchus resedos, in its old 

 locality, very sparingly. 



At Norwich, Silusa ruhiginosa, in a Cossws-infested elm. 



At Ramsey, Essex, Tiresias serra, several in June by beating some very dry dead 

 ivy (this beetle appears to be scarce in the perfect state, though not uncommonly 

 found as a larva) . 



At Sheerness, and in the Isle of Sheppey : Sapriyius virescens, Mycetophagus 4- 

 guttatus, Anisotoma duhia, litura, ovalis, and badia, Xylophilus populneus, and very 

 many other species, by sweeping on the edges of the cliffs and elsewhere ; Ochthe- 

 iius auriculatus, Rey, not rarely in tidal refuse ; ApJiodius consptUus, two specimens 

 found in the town, in November. 



