5928 



Insects. 



as a means of defence against mightier animals ; it is a fine adaptation, and one of 

 the wonders of animal chemistry: this fluid is ejected from the anus. I have paid 

 the penalty upon three occasions by having the acid thrown into my eyes, which for a 

 long time were very painful. I will venture to say that no animal which preys upon 

 this insect could maintain its hold should the discharge take place in either its mouth 

 or eyes. I have, just by way of experiment, taken a male intricatus between my fin- 

 gers and squeezed it slightly : it instantly discharged enough to make a patch upon 

 my hand the size of a sixpence; a portion of this I placed in contact with my tongue; 

 the effect was that of a strong acid, and the pain of course great : my tongue now pre- 

 sents a white patch, and I believe the skin is destroyed. I have taken two specimens 

 of this beetle with a large puncture through the elytra, as though caused by the beak 

 of a bird; I think it just possible that a bird and intricatus had exchanged shots. 

 Of Panagaeus quadripustulatus I captured eight specimens, on the coast, in April and 

 May of the present year. Stenolophus elegans : Dr. Power, with his usual kindness, 

 took me to the habitat of this hitherto rare species. My baggings were in a great mi- 

 nority compared with the Doctor's ; still I captured a good set. Aepys marinus and 

 A. Robinii are both in plenty upon the sea-shore about Plymouth, the latter species 

 in greater abundance than the former. Of the very distinct species, Hydroporus mar- 

 ginatus, Diifts., I captured six specimens in the spring of the present year. Meloe 

 brevicollis, another of the late Dr. Leach's Devonshire insects, has turned up ; last sea- 

 son I took several, and this year I have captured seventeen more: it is a very distinct 

 species; there is a good figure of it in the old Linnean Society's 'Transactions.' — 

 J. J. Reading ; Plymouth, November 21, 1857. 



Capture of a Stenus ne\v to the British Fauna. — Whilst on a visit to North Wales 

 at the beginning of October, I had the good fortune to capture five specimens of a 

 very singular Stenus, new to our British list. The species, which was identified by 

 Mr. Janson (and no doubt correctly) with the S. rugosus of Kiesenvetter, is remark- 

 able, inter alia, for the excessive roughness of its sculpture, a peculiarity which im- 

 parts to its surface a very uneven, and indeed most anomalous, appearance. It is a 

 mountain insect, likewise, on the Continent; and I could only detect it, at Caernarvon, 

 amongst wet earth and shingle at the edges of a small trickling stream which finds its 

 way into the river which flows down from the Snowdon range through the Llanberis 

 Pass. I may add that it was in company with the elegant Dianous caerulescens, and 

 evidently extremely rare. — T. Vernon Wollaston ; 10, Hereford Street, Park Lane, 



Description and capture of Platystethus Capito in Scotland. — During a recent visit 

 to Eoss-shire T picked up a Platystethus which is new to me, and also, I think, an 

 addition to the British Fauna. Its more prominent characters are as follows: — 

 Platystethus Capito, Chevrier ; Heer, Faun. Helv. i. 208 ; Ferm. et LahouL Faun, 

 Franc, i. 608. Black, shining. Antennas black, nearly as long as the head and tho- 

 rax, gradually thickening towards the apex ; third joint rather shorter than the 

 second; terminal joint large, oval. Mouth rufescent. Head as wide as the thorax 

 in the male, a little narrower in the female ; rather thickly covered with large punc- 

 tures, those behind the eyes often confluent ; labrum and front of the head very 

 smooth and glossy ; above the base of the antennae, on each side, a distinct glossy 

 callus ; a nearly obsolete channel on the head behind. Thorax as wide as the elytra, 

 much rounded on the sides, and considerably narrowed behind ; dorsal channel dis- 

 tinct ; the punctures large and distant, with the interstices smooth and shining. 

 Scutellum generally with two large punctures. Elytra quadrate,^punctured in the 



