76 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



[Apbil 



Isle of Wight, and another, found by a friend in Greenwich Park, 1888. 



C. inquisitor, L. — This is undoubtedly a British species. It occurs 

 in Epping Forest, and can sometimes be beaten from Hornbeam. A 

 specimen was brought to the City of London Entomological and 

 Natural History Society during last year by Mr. E. Hanes, which had 

 been taken by him at sugar in the New Forest. The late Mr. T. Eedle 

 used to take it at Loughton, Essex. Some of my series were sent to 

 me by the Rev. A. E. Hodgson in 1882 ; his account of their cap- 

 ture I extract from the Entomologist' 's Monthly Magazine of that date : 

 " Some mention must be made of the extraordinary abundance of 

 " Calosoma inquisitor and Silpha 4-punctata. As an instance, one after- 

 " noon in June, I bottled of the former more than a hundred examples, 

 " and dozens of the latter. The majority of them were either crawling 

 " or motionless on the trunks and branches or running along the 

 " ground, but a fair number were seen flying in the sunshine. These 

 " insects appear to be somewhat local, as they were common only in a 

 " comparatively small area. The check they exercised upon the de- 

 " vastating power of lepidopterous larvae was very palpable. In those 

 " portions of the (Dean) Forest in which the trees were stripped of 

 " foliage, I did not notice a single specimen of the larger beetle." 



Nebria, Latr. — The Greek derivative signifies a hind or fawn ; 

 Lat. nebris, skin of hind. The genus probably received its name on 

 account of the slender legs, or from the colour, as in N. complanata. 

 Four species are comprised in the British list, and but one can be 

 called common, viz. N. brcvicollis; the remainder are local. 



N. complanata, L. — I received a fine series of this grand insect in 

 the autumn of 1889 from my friend Mr. Gillo (Bath), who sent me the 

 following account of its capture : — " I have been to Burnham, on the 

 "look-out for N. complanata — this being the old locality given by 

 " Stephens as Weston-super-Mare. The place where the beetles oc- 

 " cur is about four miles from the latter town. On this occasion I was 

 " working my way along the sands, and had travelled about three 

 " miles from Burnham, when suddenly, a little way off, I observed Mrs. 

 " Gillo, who had accompanied me, very intent on catching something 

 " on the sands. I hastened to the spot, and soon discerned N. com- 

 " planata — the beetle which I had been in search of for years. It ran 

 under an umbrella which was lying there, and I thought surely it 

 " will now be safe until I get out a bottle. But, to my surprise, on lift- 



