1938 Insects. 



them. If Cillenum laterale occurred (as it did) by thousands, surely 

 Hesperophilus arenarius existed by tens of thousands ! Towards the 

 evening they were the most abundant, but in such profusion did they 

 inhabit the sand that at all times some at least of them appeared on 

 the alert. It gave me the greatest satisfaction to observe the mixture 

 of Dyschirii and Hesperophili on a scale so gigantic, because it bore 

 the most substantial and incontrovertible evidence to opinions which 

 I had before expressed in the ' Zoologist,' when discussing the habits 

 of the Dyschirii. Nor was Hesperophilus the only companion of 

 that group with Dyschirius, for in the same locality I discovered, 

 though in less profusion, the beautiful and conspicuous Bledius arma- 

 tus. And I may here mention that, in company with thoracicus, I 

 took a single specimen of Dyschirius salinus, a species which was not 

 before recorded as British, though taken sparingly for some years past 

 by Mr. Haliday in the north of Ireland, and common enough, I am 

 told by Dr. Schaum, in salt places throughout Germany and Prussia. 

 But, since time and space fail me, let us leave now for a moment the 

 sandy flats, on which the tide has allowed us so leisurely to roam, 

 and return in haste to the adjoining sand-hills, where we left Omo- 

 phlus Armeriae asleep beneath the stones. 



It is difficult to find language sufficiently strong to express the 

 riches of this entomological " oasis," where, surrounded as if by a 

 "desert" of bleak and shifting pebbles, everything that is rare and 

 interesting seems to be congregated in a living mass. Like other 

 places, it unquestionably is not equally productive at all periods of 

 the year, for it has been whispered to me by a friend of no mean re- 

 putation, that times have been, and experienced by him, when the 

 Chesil Bank was as barren and unprolific as the pebbles which sur- 

 round it. But I am now speaking of the height of the season, which, 

 in sandy districts on the coast, I conceive to be about the latter end 

 of May, — the exact period of the year during which I had the good 

 fortune to be there. I repeat, therefore, that I am only vouching for 

 the proper season, and for my own captures during that particular 

 season. Were I asked to recount what I had met with, I could pro- 

 duce a list long enough to do justice to any locality in the country, 

 and certainly of sufficient extent to weary the readers of the e Zoolo- 

 gist,' as they waded through its dry details. I shall therefore content 

 myself by recording only a very few of the more interesting species 

 which I observed, selecting particularly those which are most charac- 

 teristic of the locality I am describing. Thus, for instance, I will 



