Insects, 1 1 5 



finest Geodephagous beetles ; whilst whole genera of other less orna- 

 mented kinds swarm there, although rare in other localities. The 

 heated banks of damp moss left by the retreating waters of these pools, 

 glitter with a profusion of bright creatures, whose forms, motions and 

 economy the entomologist will never observe in any other situation. 



Towards June the profusion of Geodephagous Coleoptera declines, 

 and gives place to a no less abundance of other widely different tribes 

 of the same order. The rushes, wate.r-lilies, potamogetons &c. swann 

 with many species of herbivorous genera, such as Donacia, Cyplion, 

 Atopa, Campylus, Crioceris, Haltica, Cassida and others. 



I subjoin the names of some of the insects taken in such situations 

 during the last season, in the neighbourhood of Leicester and Charn- 

 wood Forest. I have affixed an asterisk to those which were of rare 

 occurrence. 



ChlaBnius nigricomis and melanocornis* [Zeigler) : the Chlaenii we 

 used to find submerged in sheets of moss, far in the water ; Agonum 

 marginatum [F.), viduum, moestum, afrum,* consimile,* Simpsoni* 

 {Speitce), gracile, piceum and picipes ; A. marginatum was abundant 

 on the sandy parts of the banks, such being apparently its favourite 

 haunts ; my specimens of A. afrum are beautifully distinct from those 

 of moestum, to which it is so nearly allied : Oodes helopioides : Ble- 

 thisa multipunctata ; this insect was abundant in April, and is more 

 partial to water than any of its congeners, its most usual abode being 

 in the roots and lower part of the stem of the Iris, fairly surrounded 

 by the water, from which, on being disturbed, it scampered off in all 

 directions in flocks of a dozen at a time : Elaphrus uliginosus,* cu- 

 preus and riparius, Curtonotus piceus,-^ Peryphus nitidulus {Marsh), 

 Notaphus undulatus and ustulatus, Leistus rufescens, Atopa cervina, 

 Cyphon testaceus, Heterocerus flexuosus, Parnus impressus {Curtis), 

 Hypolithus riparius, Campylus linearis, Donacia crassipes, on the 

 water-lily in June ; D. cincta on various species of Potaraogeton in 

 August ; D. dentata on Sagittaria sagittifolia in July ; D. Proteus 

 (K'lmze), linearis and simplex, common on rushes ; D. rustica, nigra 

 and Menyanthidis, on Iris Pseudacorus in June ; D. Lemnai, Sagitta- 

 riae and Typhae ; Cassida obsoleta {Dejeati), on wild mint. — Henry 

 Walter Bates : Queen St., Leicester, January 3, 1843. 



Note 071 the occurrence of certain Coleopterous Insects at Launces- 

 ion, Cornwall. I submit to your inspection the following list of the 

 Coleoptera, which, after an accurate observation for the last two or 

 three years, I have found more particularly to inhabit the neighbour- 

 hood of Launceston. As the Natural History of Cornwall has been 



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