1918.] 



209 



Elater sanr/uinolentus, var. paleatus Candhze,—^. little additional infor- 

 mation as to this beetle, recorded by Mr. Cedric W. Cameron in the August 

 number of this Magazine, p. 183, may be acceptable. In a spot at Brocken- 

 hurst, where E. snnguinolentus abounds, the pale form paleatus occurs annually, 

 as a rarity, forming perhaps 1 or 2 per cent, of the sanyuiyiohnUis population. 

 The species is well known to be variable in colour, the black pigmentation of 

 the elytra being occasionally quite wanting, and in a similar manner the red 

 pigmentation is variable, indeed the straw-colour o( jyaleatns is probably merely 

 a deficiency of red pigment, just as the var. immaculatus is a deficiency of the 

 black pigment. T have also seen a specimen found many years ago by Mr. C. 

 J. C. Pool, but I do not know where. Here at Brockeuhurst the black marking 

 of the elytra is usually extensive, and when this is the case the deficiency of 

 red pigment, when it occurs in such an individual, is but little conspicuous, but 

 if I recollect right Commander Walker found here an example in which both 

 black and red pigments are deficient, forming a very remarkable variation. 

 There are but few references to this insect in entomological literature. It is ' 

 entered in the 1906 European catalogue as ^^ palleatus" and with a wrong 

 reference. The correct one can be found by means of the "Zoological 

 Record " : it is — Candeze, Ann. Soc. ent. Belgique, xxxvii, 1893, p. 286. — 

 D. Sharp, Brockeuhurst : August 6th, 1918. 



Otiorrhynchus porcatus Herbst at Oxford. — A specimen of an Otior- 

 rhynchus unknown to me was found by Mr. H. B. Gray in his garden at 

 Oakthorpe Road, Summertown, Oxford, among lettuce, on June 28th, 1918. 

 He gave the insect to Mr. Hamm, who passed it on to me. Mr. Champion 

 has identified* the species as O. porcatus Herbst, and states that it is recorded 

 from Ireland by Dr. Nicholson in Ent. Mo. Mag, 1916, pp. 202, 203.— 

 J. Collins, 74 Islip Rd., Sunnymead, Oxford : August 16^A, 1918. 



CeuthoiThynchus rapae Gyll. at Oxford. — While beating ivy at Godstow, 

 near Oxford, on August 14th, 1918, 1 captured a specimen of C. rapae Gyll. 

 Subsequently, by diligently sweeping amongst its food-plant, Sisymbrium offici- 

 nale, I obtained two more examples, as well as nine of the common Ceuthor- 

 rhynehus assimilis Pk., which it very much resembles. — J. Collins : August IQth 

 1918. 



Coleoptera of the Downs and country round Brighton. — The neighbourhood 

 of Brighton includes three distinct types of country : — (1) The Downs proper, 

 with rounded, turf-clad hills and here and there some patches of furze or 

 bramble. In some of the more sheltered valleys {e.g. those near Ditchling 

 Beacon) heather and bracken grow luxuriantly. (2) The beech woods on the 

 Downs which usually have no undergrowth at all but a thick layer of dead 

 leaves ; Mercurialis perennis., however, is often present. (3) The Lowlands, 

 including the valleys of the Ouse and Adur, and the thickly wooded Weald, 

 The ditches near LeNves and Shoreham would probably yield many aquatic 

 and semi-aquatic species, but so far I have worked them very little. 



(1) The Downs proper. 



Cicindela campestris, the only species found near here, is locally abundant, 

 but does not turn up every year. Zabrus gibbus, occasionally common near 

 cornfields, Ovingdean. Calathus melanocephalus, quite common. Brachinus 



