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XXYIIT. 



A LIST OF THE BEETLES OF IRELAND. By REY. W. F. 

 JOHNSON, M.A., F.E.S., and J. N. HALBERT. 



[communicated by de. r. f, schaeff, as a eepoet from the committee 

 appointed by the eoyal leish academy to investigate the floea 

 and fauna of ireland.] 



[Read June 24, 1901.] 



INTRODUCTION. 



No general list of the beetles of Ireland has hitherto been compiled^ 

 owing to lack of materials. The number of workers has always been 

 small, and, as a result, information has accumulated but slowly. It 

 is only within the last few years that it has become possible to produce 

 a list indicating to some extent, at least, the coleopterous fauna of 

 this country. 



The present is, consequently, the first general list of Irish Cole- 

 optera that has been published. It is not as complete as we could wish, 

 but that defect is unavoidable in the present condition of things. It is 

 quite impossible to gain a thorough knowledge of the insect fauna of 

 any district without residing in it, and working it all the year round. 

 There have been no resident workers at coleoptera in either the south 

 or west of Ireland, or, indeed, in the midland districts, so that a large 

 portion of the country is very imperfectly known. Incursions have 

 been made, but there has been no continuous occupation. The present 

 list must, therefore, be regarded as a starting-point for future workers, 

 showing what has been clone, and what remains to be accomplished. 



The pioneer of the study of coleoptera in Ireland was Alex. Hemy 

 Haliday. The first record published by him is dated 1828, and was 

 followed by many interesting notes on Irish beetles. In the year 

 1856 he contributed to "Thompson's Natural History of Ireland," a 

 summary of the number of species representing the different families 

 of Irish coleoptera then known to him, in which he enumerates 929 

 species, but without detail. A manuscript list of beetles of the Belfast 

 district, compiled by him, was published in the Proceedings of the 

 Belfast Naturalists' Field Club in 1885. It is much to be regretted 

 that in this list no authors' names are given, as the omission has made 



R.I.A. PEOC, SEE. HI., VOL. VI. 2 E 



