AN ENTOMOLOGICAL HOLIDAY IN S. FRANCE. 151 



most are still (April 2nd) alive though very sluggish. Mr. 

 Main had taken the flies in the Ste Baurne neighbourhood 

 in the previous July, but a long search on the few bare 

 sandy patches at that spot failed to produce any more larva. 



Sialid-e;. 



Sialis fuliginosa (S.B.). A single specimen. 



Chrysopidje. 



Chrysopa vulgaris (S.B.) 

 C. prasina (H. and S.B.). 



Of Coleoptera about 300 species were taken — a list far too 

 long to be inserted here. Of these over 180 were taken at 

 Hyeres, while only 38 were found common to both places — figures 

 which indicate the strong Mediterranean element in the coastal 

 fauna. Of this total 104 species find a place on the British 

 list. 



Particularly interesting were the sea-shore species, the giant 

 Scarites, Pimelia bipunctata, Tentyria mucronata, Formicomus 

 pedestris, etc. The flowers of Cistus on the hillsides were very 

 prolific, Bruchidae being represented by 13 species, Oedemera by 

 7, Mycterus curculionoides, various Dasytids, Cetoniids, etc., 

 while the flowering oaks and pines were sometimes swarming 

 with Omophlus ; At Ste Baume on the other hand the dis- 

 tinctive feature compared with Hyeres was given by those groups 

 with wood-boring larvae, e. g. Longicorns with 11 species as 

 against 7 at Hyeres, Buprestidae with 6 species against 2 at 

 Hyeres, Scolytidse with 5 species to none at Hyeres, and so forth. 



For the Hymenoptera, to which so much attention was 

 devoted by Fabre, we were too early, though about fifty species 

 were captured, including the fine Xylocopa violacea and X. 

 cyanescens, while Chalicodoma muraria was nidifying in plenty on 

 the walls. 



Enough has perhaps been said to give an idea of the possi- 

 bilities of the district to those of us in search of pastures new. 

 The attractions of collecting on the Continent have long been 

 realised by our lepidopterists (I should perhaps say our rhopa- 

 locerists !), but as regards other orders, except for a very limited 

 number of coleopterists, the Continent is indeed to British 

 entomologists a terra Incognita. Signs, however, are not wanting 

 that interest in the 'Continental fauna is now waking, thanks 

 chiefly to the English translations, of Fabre's accounts of his 

 beloved insects. 



tyfJON! 



