Insects. 1283 



men of PJatyrhinus lativostris, a piece of its hark the size of my hand or rather larger, 

 and after moistening it with water, 1 replaced it, and morning after morning, on lift- 

 ing up the piece of bark I found assembled under it several specimens of that rather 

 rare or at least local beetle, and on one morning I took as many as eleven specimens. 

 This experiment was tried on a row of decaying ash-trees (now cut down) on Redland 

 Green near Bristol. If you think the above worthy a place in ' The Zoologist,' I will 

 thank you to insert it, as it may be useful to collectors. — W. H. L. Walcott ; Clifton, 

 March bth, 1846. 



Note on the variation, both in size and colour, of Insects found on the Coast. — The 

 extraordinary changes which many insects are subject to when occurring near the sea, 

 is a fact worthy of notice, and one which I do not remember to have seen recorded. 

 The strictly maritime species must be left out of the question ; for although many of 

 them are extremely variable both in size and colour, still we have no means of ascer- 

 taining whether that variation is referable to the locality in which they are placed ; for, 

 being never found inland, nobody can have an opportunity of asserting that the same 

 changes would not take place, were they to occur in positions far removed from the in- 

 fluence of the sea. When we find, however, the same insects in profusion both inland 

 and on the coast, and observe also numerous and marked deviations from the typical 

 forms peculiar to the latter situation ; then, a priori, have we strong evidence that the 

 changes in question are the result of local circumstances and not referable to chance. 

 The alteration in size I have almost always observed to be from large to small, and 

 scarcely ever the reverse ; whereas in colour the change takes place very nearly as 

 much from light to dark as it does from dark to light ; nevertheless, the majority of 

 instances I possess come under the latter department. It has been remarked that all 

 the specimens of Cossonus Tardii, which I captured in Devonshire, were much smaller 

 than the original series taken by Mr. Tardy at Powerscourt Waterfall, in the county of 

 Wicklow ; and so decided was the difference, that many of my friends, at first sight, 

 concluded the two to be distinct species. This, however, I consider entirely owing to 

 their locality, for my specimens were found only on the coast, and Mr. Tardy's at a con- 

 siderable distance inland. And, inasmuch as neither of these instances rested on mere 

 individual examples, but on long and conspicuous series, the certainty of the change 

 from large to small was the more apparent. Mr. Holme of Oxford mentions having 

 taken Olisthopus rotundatus in the Scilly Islands, in great profusion, in which none 

 of the specimens exceeded two lines and a half in length. At Whitsand Bay in Corn- 

 wall I have captured Gymnaetron Campanula?, none of which exceeded three quarters 

 of a line, the usual length being from a line to a line and three quarters. Anthono- 

 mus ater, the average length of which is two lines, I have taken a series of in Luudy 

 Island, none of which exceeded one. In the same locality, also the common Nedyus 

 contractus scarcely ever reaches its natural size ; and is moreover, so variable in colour, 

 that I was long before I could persuade myself the species was not distinct. Instead 

 of the blueish-black elytra, which I had always considered invariable, they all possess 

 a yellowish or brassy tinge ; and the legs, instead of being black, are in many instances, 

 entirely of a light yellow, and in all, more or less, inclined to that colour. I have re- 

 ceived from Mr. Hardy of Gateshead, specimens of Haltica rufipes, captured by him 

 on the coast, in which (instead of the thorax being bright-red and the elytra bluish- 

 green) the entire insect is of a uniform brownish-red hue. Of the rare Mantura Chry- 

 santhemi, I have taken beautiful varieties at Mount Edgcumbe and in Lundy Island, 

 many of which inclined to a rich metallic-yellow, instead of brassy-brown of the ordi- 



