Insects. 4769 



Notes on certain British Hydrocaniharidce. 

 By the Rev. Hamlet Clark, M.A. 



" Things hoped for" is a subject which deserved, and has already 

 received, your attention. There are many things among Coleoptera 

 for which we have been "hoping" for the last twenty years : with 

 your kind assistance as editor our wants perhaps may be supplied, 

 and at length we may hope to find. 



My object in writing to you is to point out some of the enigmas 

 which exist among British Hydrocantharidae, and also to ask for the 

 good aid of your readers, in endeavouring to obtaiu solutions. 



Haliplus fluviatilis. Schaum (Zool. 1889) detects two British spe- 

 cimens in Mr. Wollaston's cabinet, the locality of which is unrecorded. 

 It appears to be a river species, having been taken freely in the 

 Seine by M. Aube, and by M. Chevrier among Conferva? in the 

 Rhone : the species has probably been overlooked as a variety of H. 

 impressus, which it closely resembles. 



H. Sanmarkii. I have little doubt that this will prove a variety of 

 that most inconstant of Hydropori, rivalis : I notice it, however, as 

 the question may readily be set at rest by any one w T ho is in the habit 

 of taking this latter species. I have never seen a specimen which 

 exactly corresponds with Aube's description of Sanmarkii, though 

 several examples in my cabinet of rivalis approximate to it. 



Hydroporus opatrinus. The sole authority for this as a British 

 species appears to be " Netley, Salop," taken by the Rev. Mr. Hope. 

 Steph. Man. ii. 193, Appendix. Has it ever been taken in this or 

 any other locality since 1829, the date of that capture ? 



H. ferrugineus. Stephens (Man. ii. 193) gives near Collingbourne 

 wood once in 1828, and several in a stream at Kimpton, during the 

 spring of 1829. This insect is allied to Memnonius, and appears to 

 be generally distributed, occuring also in the lake Constance. 



H. Scalesianus. A pair were taken by the late R. Scales, Esq., in 

 Norfolk, previous to 1828; one specimen of these is in Stephens' 

 cabinet : the species has not since occurred. It has been taken in 

 great abundance by M. Erichson, at Berlin, and according to Schaum 

 (Zool. 1893) is very local. Mr. Scales resided at Beechamwell, near 

 SwafFham, Norfolk, and his home collecting-ground was a high chalk 

 district : although I have visited that country during three summers 

 in search of this insect, my then ignorance of these facts is quite 

 sufficient to account for my entire failure. 



