[January 



on the opposite coast than on our own— may not our exports equal 

 our imports ? 



As regards the inability of Mr. Tugwell's bred specimens to lay 

 eggs I would ask, firstly, whether in that genus it is usual for unim- 

 pregnated females to lay eggs at all ; and, secondly, whether the fact 

 that most of our bred galii are unnaturally forced, might not explain 

 the circumstance to which he alludes ? 



There was an old theory that should not be lost sight of, in view of 

 the insects' known partiality for sand hills, namely, that owing to their 

 shifting nature the sand hills are frequently disturbed by the storms 

 of winter and the pupae get so far buried that they lie dormant until 

 a new shifting once more brings them within reach of the warmth of 

 the summer's sun. This idea of our ancestors seems at least as likely 

 as Mr. Tugwell's theory, and far more in accord with the grand yet 

 simple laws of nature, than the presentcraze for explaining every thing 

 as the result of a sort of Darwinian developement of a post glacial 

 instinct. 



55, Lincoln's Inn Fields, 

 6th November, 1889. 



GOSSIPING NOTES ON BRITISH COLEOPTERA, 

 By G. A. Lewcock. 



IV.— CICINDELID/E. 



The term Cicindela (the Latin equivalent for Glow-worm)* was 

 originally applied to our present genus Lampyris ; Linnaeus, however, 

 transferred it to the Tiger beetles, probably on account of the flashing 

 appearance of these insects when on the wing. Mr. G. R. Waterhouse 

 and Dr. D. Sharp (Catalogue, 2nd edit.) include five species in the 

 genus, while Canon Fowler enumerates but four. The difference being 

 with regard to Cicindela maritima; the two former authorities ranking 

 it as species, and the latter gentleman treating it as a variety only of 

 C. hybrida. Other remarks relating to this matter will be found 

 further on. 



* The generic derivations have been kindly supplied by Mr. W. E. Sharp of 

 kedsham, Cheshire. 



