THE YOUNG 



NATURALIST. 



237 



none of very great rarity. I do not consider 

 this a great beetle district. Among the 

 captures I may mention Carabus violaceus, 

 E.aplirus cupreus, Pyrochroa seri'aticornis, 

 llylus ater, Silpha lateralis, 3)C. Geode- 

 phaga were particularly scarce, and I did 

 not get more than half-a-dozen species. 



Of birds the swift was the most common 

 bird near the town, thousands flying and 

 screaming during the day, and building 

 under the tiles or among the thatch of 

 straw covered cottages. The sedge warbler, 

 and I was also told the reed warbler, breeds 

 in some willow beds which border the 

 river. The green woodpecker is common 

 in the forest, frequenting the old hollow 

 trees, and the great and lesser spotted 

 species have also been obtained. The crow 

 is not uncommon in winter, and the rook 

 and jay are plentiful. Mr. Coleman, the 

 local bird-stuffer, had a rook with a few 

 white feathers in it. A peregrine falcon 

 has been killed near the town and is now in 

 the college museum. 



THE "YOUNG NATURALIST 

 ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE 

 OF BRITISH INSECTS. 



COLEOPTERA. Plate 7. 



The plate this month contains represen- 

 tations of II species of another division of 

 Beetles— the LONGICORNS." The species 

 are all sufiSciently distinct to be at once 

 recognisable, but the following remarks may 

 also be of some service to the beginner. 



AcANTHOCiNUS. This genus only con- 

 tains one species, A.cedilis, which is dis- 

 tinguished from all other British species by 

 its colour, and by the extraordinary length 

 of the antennae of the male. The antennae 

 of the female are about half as long. It is 

 found in the pine forests of Scotland, but it 



is rather rare, and it may also occasionally 

 be met with among newly imported timber. 



Saperda. — Three species of this genus 

 are British, and we are able to give 

 figures of them all upon the same 

 plate. The figures show the distinctness 

 of these insects, and they cannot be con- 

 founded with any other Longicorns. None 

 of them are very common, and scalaris is 

 rare. It inhabits the tops of high trees, and 

 is called scalaris either from the fanciful 

 idea that it requires a ladder to capture it, 

 or else from the ladder-like markings upon 

 its back. 



ToxoTUS. — Meridiayiiis is the only species 

 of this genus. It is not rare and may be 

 obtained by sweeping low herbage. 



Strangalia. — Melanura and armata are 

 two of the commonest species of this genus, 

 and may generally be found basking upon 

 the flowers of umbeliferous plants especially 

 Hieracleum sphondyllium. The latter is very 

 variable in the extent of the black markings 

 upon the wing cases, and the sexes of the 

 former may be known by the female being 

 much redder. Five other species are 

 British, which will be figured as soon as 

 opportunity occurs, viz : — aurulenta, quadri- 

 fasciata, attemiata, revestita, and nigra. 



Clytus. — We are also able to give the 

 whole of the three species which compose 

 this genus. None of the species can be 

 said to be common ; A rietis (the wasp 

 beetle) is most frequently met with running 

 upon palings or brick walls in the sunshine. 



Aromia. — The musk-beetle (A. moschata), 

 so called from the peculiar odour which it 

 gives off when alive, is the only species of 

 this genus, and the beginner will need no- 

 thing further than the figure given to distin- 

 guish this grand species from all the other 

 British beetles. It is not uncommon in 

 some localities, but the only one in which 

 we have had the good fortune to take it is 

 at Birkdale, on some palings adjoining the 

 beach near Southport. 



