1936 Trisects. 



it runs alongside, and is parallel to, the shore. Its length in all is 

 about ten miles ; but the collecting ground, which is somewhat less 

 than one mile, is not properly a part of the bank itself, but a quantity 

 of sand-hills attached to that point of its course where the back-waters 

 (which fill up the space between it and the actual coast) find their 

 exit, through a narrow mouth, into the open sea. These sand-hills 

 form in fact one side of the mouth of this long and river-like gulph ; 

 and a wooden bridge, over which the high-road from Weymouth to 

 Portland passes, connects them with the opposite land. The geogra- 

 phy will be best understood by referring to a map. On these sand- 

 hills have been captured all the rarities which are recorded as inhabit- 

 ing the " Chesil Bank." Commencing at the mouth of the back-water 

 above described, they run for nearly a mile in the direction of Port- 

 land, alongside and attached to the bank itself. The chief collecting 

 is from beneath the stones, where an immense variety of rare species 

 may be obtained. But I had also excellent sport in examining mi- 

 nutely many of the small plants which grow, interspersed with the 

 coarse grass, amongst the sand, almost each of which seemed to pro- 

 duce something or other peculiar to itself. 



On a dwarf species of Erodium I had here the satisfaction of dis- 

 covering a very beautiful little Curculio, which, through the kindness 

 of my friend Mr. Walton, I have since ascertained to be an entirely 

 new species to the British fauna, — the Phytonomus mixtus of Schon- 

 herr. The mode of procuring them was very fatiguing. Attaching 

 themselves generally to the under-sides of the leaves, directly the 

 plant was moved they fell to the ground, and were buried in the sand 

 below, from whence they could be alone obtained by examining it 

 carefully in very small quantities at a time. I captured in all between 

 thirty and forty specimens, but only on the species of Erodium above 

 referred to. 



More difficult still to descry, from its peculiar habitat and exact re- 

 semblance in colour to the sand, was a very large and beautiful spe- 

 cies of Tychius, which I have not yet been able to determine (but 

 apparently allied to flavicollis), and which I found adhering closely to 

 the lower part of the stems of a small species of grass. So firmly do 

 they cling, that it is not easy to disturb them from their hold ; and 

 when they do fall, which sometimes they may be made to do by 

 brushing the grass suddenly with a stick, it is most difficult to detect 

 them. 



Crawling in the same localities, the minute Micronyx Jungermannii 

 may be sparingly picked up ; and on two occasions I found it by 



