5786 Insects. 



from the others by a very decided interspace ; the median pair are approximate, and 

 frequently fused together posteriorly: the scutellum is black at the base and ferrugi- 

 nous at the apex : the first dorsal segment of the abdomen is gray, and partially 

 covered by the scutellum ; the second, third and fourth segments are velvety black, 

 each with two very distinct, somewhat arcuated, abbreviated vittse, of a pale luteous 

 hue, the concave margin of each presented towards the lateral margin of the segment; 

 the second segment is broadly, the third and fourth narrowly, margined laterally with 

 testaceous: the legs are black ; the apex of the femora, the base of the tibiae, and a 

 median ring on the tibiae, obscure on the fore and middle pairs, but distinct on the 

 hind pair, testaceous. The length of the body is five-tenths of an inch ; the expanse 

 of the wings eight-tenths. 



Habitat. Banks of the Thames about Greenwich, Isle of Dogs, Woolwich 

 marshes, &c, on the Scirpus maritimus. Profusely abundant throughout the au- 

 tumn. Never taken on the wing. — Edward Newman. 



Stenophilus elegans : a History. — On the 28th of June, a baking hot day, I went 

 on an exploring expedition to Sheerness, and on my way fell in with Dr. Power, and, 

 like verbs substantive, active and passive, we signified that, on this occasion, we would 

 be, do and suffer together. Soon we came to the ditch where, when it was dry, the 

 Rev. Hamlet Clark found Stenolophus elegans, a species that has since remained one 

 of the rarest Geodephaga,— one of the few British species not known on the Conti- 

 nent. Now the ditch was full of water, but at the end was some debris, and under 

 the first piece I moved lay a S. elegans, glittering in the sunshine, but, in an instant, 

 it was into a hole between two fixed stones, and of course I saw it no more. I care- 

 fully examined the rest of the refuse, covering a yard or two of ground, but no other 

 beauty again showed itself; so I gloomily gathered up my sweeping-net, and went on 

 after Power, who was hastening forward, evidently in the potential mood. All the 

 way I turned up stones in vain: everything was burnt out. When I overtook Power 

 he was busy in a swamp full of tall grasses, where the surface of the mud had become 

 dried, and at first no living thing was visible. But I followed his example, brought 

 my eyes down to the ground, picked it over with a knife, and soon was gladdened with 

 the sight of S. elegans. How it ran, or rather glided, in an instant under the loosened 

 bit of dried mud t Then another and another showed themselves for a second, and 

 disappeared. Soon I found the only way to secure them was to clutch with my 

 fingers on the spot where I saw one, and deposit the mud I took up on the white 

 sweeping-net which lay at my side ; over this surface the little fellows could not run 

 quite so nimbly as on their native land. When I had managed to get twenty-one 

 specimens, I thought I had enough, and Power and I beat a retreat, or rather we 

 were beaten by the heat before we beat the retreat. On counting the heads of cap- 

 tives, Power found he had forty-five, at which no one who knows the Doctor will be 

 surprised ; but it is only fair to myself to say that he had half-an-hour's start of me 

 at the work. Former expeditions have usually resulted in a tale of one: to most 

 readers this will be a tale of wonder. — J. W. Douglas; Lea, July 5. — From the 

 ' Intelligencer.' 



Cleunus sulcirostris. — A young entomological acquaintance wrote to me the other 

 day to ask if I could give him a specimen of Cleonus sulcirostris. I was at the time 

 entomologizing at Deal. I had observed an odd specimen or two on some thistles ; 

 so next day I gave a look out after Cleonus. On the ground, at the roots of thistles, 

 I soon found a fine specimen or two. Many of the thistles were quite dead and 



