WaAKEFIELD.—On the Coleoptera of Canterbury. 299 
numerous. I once procured a single specimen about an inch long, and I 
imagine from the description that it must have been the Cybister hookeri of 
White, the entomologist, who described the species collected by the naturalists 
of the “ Erebus” and “Terror.” This beetle was about equal in size to the 
English Dytiscus, of which there are five species. Two species of Col ymbetes 
are described by White. One of them, C. rufimanus, is very common in 
Christchurch, where it thrives in artesian water. All the Dytiscide are 
voracious creatures, and in Europe they have sometimes been credited with 
doing damage to young fish. That D. marginalis can destroy a fish of 
tolerable size I have myself often proved, though I do not imagine the 
mischief they do in this way to be appreciable. We have, apparently, no 
representative of the huge Hydrous piceus, one of the largest beetles in 
Britain, and about two inches in length. The small family of the Gyrinida, 
or “whirlwhigs,” which may be often seen moving in circles upon the ponds 
and ditches of Europe, seems also to be wanting. Owing to the peculiar 
habits of water-beetles they are but seldom seen, save by the collector, and we 
may therefore expect that our list will be largely increased. 
The division Brachelytra, or the family Staphylinide, comes next in order. 
White describes but three species, and 700 occur in Britain, so it is obvious 
that many remain to be noticed here. These insects, on account of their long 
slender form and short elytra, are seldom supposed to be beetles by the 
uninitiated, though on a close inspection their affinities are obvious. Our 
largest species is Staphylinus oculatus, which, however, is not a quarter the 
size of Ocypus olens, the well known “ devil’s coach-horse ” of England. It is 
abundant under the carcases of sheep and oxen, and though indigenous, it is 
probably one of those insects which have increased since the colonization of 
these islands. Only two other species are described by White, and we may 
safely assume that all the others remaining are small and insignificant. All 
the individuals belénging to this family render themselves useful to man 
by removing putrefying matter and preying upon noxious insects. 
Following Rye’s classification we next arrive at the section Vecrophaga, 
the members of which feed upon dead animal substances, and which comprises 
the burying-beetles of Europe. We need not expect to find many represen- 
tatives of this family here. I only know of one small species belonging to 
Saprinus, a genus which numbers 105 species in Europe. This beetle is abun- 
dant in sheeps’ heads and other carrion. I have not been able to compare it 
with the species of Australia, but, from having found it in the carcases of 
native birds, I think it is most likely indigenous. This species, also, bas pro- 
bably increased largely since the importation of cattle. 
Leaving out several families which I imagine to be totally wanting, we 
come to the Melolonthide, a family too well known to us by the ravages it 
