190 [July. 



Coleoptera at Ludloiv and Bewdley Forest. — During last month I devoted about 

 eight days to entomologising in the neiglibourhood of Ludlow. I found the scenery 

 charming, and the conditions all round very favourable for ray pursuit ; there was 

 also the advantage of working on virgin soil, the entomologists of Ludlow being all 

 in futuro. The Whitcliffe Woods, Bringwood Chase, Downton Castle Grounds, 

 Clee Hills, Corve Dale, the valleys of the Teme and Onny, afford most delightful 

 and productive hunting grounds, and the most energetic devotee to entomology 

 would find plenty to occupy him here for months together. My time being limited, 

 I could only look longingly on most of these enticing spots, and resolutely set myself 

 to work in one of them, in the hope of being able to explore the others on some 

 future occasion. 



After carefully prospecting the country (on my tricycle), I chose the river Onny 

 as the scene of my operations. This river is short and rapid, and along its course 

 are banks of shingle which appear to have been thrown up during floods, and which 

 at the ordinary levels of the water are more or less exposed. By careful working at 

 a single one of these shingle-beds I found a large number of beetles, including about 

 fourteen species not previously recorded from the Midlands. 



The following are amongst the more interesting of my captures : — Trechus 

 longicornis (2), Perileptus areolatus (abundant), Hydroporus septentrionalis (plenty), 

 Trichonyx MarJcelii (1), Homalota currax (scarce), H. insecta, H. pavens, H. cam- 

 brica (extremely abundant), H. eximia (in plenty), H.fragilis (a few), H. longula 

 (plentiful), H. delicatula (a few), H. subtilissima (abundant), H. luteipes (scarce), 

 H. londinensis (common), M. hygrotopora (common), H. ohlongiuscula (scarce), H. 

 silvicola (1), H. debilis (3), H.fallaciosa (3), H. exilis, S. pallens, H. sodalis, H. 

 cadaverina (1), Myllcena elongata (abundant), Pliilonihus fulvipes (18), Actobius 

 signaticornis (1), A. prolixus (vei-y common), Latlirobium angusticolle (1), Medon 

 brunneus (2), M. ripicola (2), Scopceus ? sp. (this fine Scopaus, I. 3j — 4 mm., with 

 antennse as long as head and thorax, seems to be allied to S. JErichsoni and S. Icevi- 

 gatus, but the male characters are so difi'erent, as to make it impossible to identify it 

 with either of these ; it may prove to be new to our lists, but up to the present I 

 have been unable to determine it ; I found more than a dozen specimens), Ancyro- 

 phorus omalinus (scarce), Thinobius linearis (a few), T. longipennis (abundant). It 

 was a great pleasure to me to find the two last named species, having never previously 

 captured a Thinobius. Apropos of this I had an amusing experience. On reaching 

 home I at once set about a microscopical examination of my specimens, and began 

 by comparing my T. linearis with the only type of that species in my collection 

 (presented to me as such by one of our leading collectors, and put in its place 

 without question), when I discovered that this " type " was really referable to 

 Homalota subtilissima ! How easy it is to fall into error. 



Under loose bark on an elm log in a wet place near Ludlow I found four speci- 

 mens of the very rai'e Acrulia injlala. 



Since returning from Ludlow I spent a few hours in Bewdley Forest, working a 

 tributary of the Severn, characterized by shingly banks similar to those of the Onny, 

 in the hope of finding at least some of the same species as in the latter locality. 

 Nor was I disappointed, the curious thing being that in my numerous visits to 

 Bewdley I never found them before. By carefully manipulating the shingle I secured 

 the following amongst other species, several of which are new to that locality : — 



