1 8 Irish Insects. 



them as such. It differs from beetles in the larva and pupa 

 resembling the perfect insect, and in the pupa not being quies- 

 cent. The coleoptera, or beetles, are a very numerous order, 

 the British number being between three and four thousand. 

 They vary greatly in size, some of the large tropical beetles 

 being more than four inches in length, while some of our 

 native species are only i-48th of an inch. They are of all 

 colours and all shapes, and they are to be found everywhere 

 and at all times of the year. The last fact is of great advan- 

 tage to the coleopterist, as he can pursue his studies in the 

 winter just as well as in the summer. Our native coleoptera 

 may be classed under four general heads — adepbaga, clav'i- 

 corina, aeteromera, and rhyncophora. In Ireland, as far as 

 our knowledge goes at present, we have a good many of the 

 species belonging to this section which are given in the British 

 list, and he felt sure that further search will bring up the 

 numbers on our list to very near the total. At present there 

 are about 445 species on the list, of which we can claim 

 about 246. 



Probably the most interesting of the land beetles is 

 Pelophila borealis. That beetle, which is of a handsome 

 bronze colour, was first recorded as British by Mr. Halliday from 

 specimens taken on the shore of Lough Neagh by Mr. Robert 

 Templeton. It does not occur in England or in Scotland. He 

 has taken it in great numbers at Lough Neagh, at Lowry's 

 Lough, near Armagh, and at Loughgill. Mr. Kane has taken 

 it in Sligo, and it has been recorded from Killarney. Another 

 beetle of this family to which he would like to draw their at- 

 tention is a very small species called Dychirinos obscurus. 

 Mr. Halliday has recorded that insect as having been taken at 

 Lough Neagh ; but Canon Fowler, in his work on the coleop- 

 tera of the British Islands, remarks— "I can find no trace of 

 an authentic British specimen " — that is to say, that in all the 

 collections he has had access to, he has not found a single speci- 

 men. Now, as the beetle was at Lough Neagh in Mr. Halli- 

 day's time, it is probably there still, so he recommended the 

 matter to the Belfast entomologists. 



