Mr. J. Hardy on the Frugivorous Habits of some Geodephaga. 123 



On the Frugivorous Habits of some Geodephaga. 

 By Mr. James Hardy. 



It is now I believe agreed on all hands, that Zabrus gibbus occa- 

 sionally feeds upon grain; and some of the larvae of Amarce. have 

 been ascertained to be vegetable feeders. This, however, is the 

 amount of information that we possess on the subject; all the 

 other beetles of this division have been ranked as carnivorous, 

 an inference drawn principally from the structure of their mouths 

 and stomach. Notwithstanding this, however, it appears that 

 several of those so-called carnivora mix with their stronger meals 

 a certain proportion of vegetable diet. Of the Amarce I have 

 observed two feeding on plants : 1st, Amara plebeia, which often 

 mounts Poa annua to eat the pollen; and A. familiaris, which 

 tears the capsule of the mouse-ear chickweed [Cerastium viscosum) 

 and devours the half-ripened seeds. Omaseus melanarius, a well- 

 known destroyer of earth-worms, I have detected eating the 

 nearly ripe seeds of the hemp-nettle (Galeopsis tetrahit). Cur- 

 tonotus piceus is well known to occur frequently upon the knap- 

 weed, and to thrust its head down amongst the seeds, with, it 

 was supposed, the intention of obtaining the dipterous maggots 

 that feed upon the seeds of the plant. I have now little doubt 

 that its object is the seeds alone, as only yesterday I found one 

 employed in a similar manner upon the bog- thistle, after it had 

 devoured the skin of one of its seeds, the interior having been 

 eaten before my arrival. I afterwards saw another pull up a seed 

 from the head of an autumnal dandelion (Apargia autumnalis) 

 and then proceed to make a meal of it. Calathus cisteloides will 

 probably be found to have similar habits. One evening I found 

 four individuals near the summits of the rag- wort; but they 

 observed my approach, and either hid themselves amongst the 

 foliage, or dropped to the ground. 



Since these notes were put together, I have met with another 

 instance of a Geodephagous vegetable-feeder in Pcecilus cupreus. 

 At the meeting of the Entomological Society of London, May 6, 

 1844, Mr. Ingpen exhibited a specimen of this beetle which was 

 taken in the act of devouring a common pea. 



Notice of two ancient Tombs or Graves discovered and opened in 

 Spring 1851, upon Adder stone Low Mill Farm, in the Parish 

 of Bamburgh. By P. J. Selby, Esq. 



These graves were found when draining the field, about 3 feet 

 from the surface ; they were situated upon the crown of a rise 

 or hillock, the highest part of the field, and pointed due north 

 and south. The larger one formed of smooth-faced stones, each 



