^;;|7 6 5 



HARPALUS CALCEATUS Sturm AT 

 BRIDLINGTON QUAY. 



Rev. W. W. FOWLER, M.A., F.L.S., 



Lincoln ; Secretary to the Entojnological Society of London, and one of the Editors of the 

 Entomologists' Monthly Magazine. 



While collecting at Bridlington Quay, in August 1879, I turned a 

 large Harpalus out of a sandy place on the cliffs, in a place where 

 Nebria livida occurred rather freely. For a long time I had it in my 

 collection as my sole representative of H. tenebrosus, which it much 

 resembles in general appearance. A short while ago I had occasion 

 to work the Harpalus group more particularly, and at once saw that 

 it was a new species. This opinion was endorsed by Dr. Sharp, and 

 Mr. C. O. Waterhouse, on comparing it for me with the European 

 Harpali in the British Museum, found that it was H. calceatus Sturm, 

 a species that has not occurred for fifty years, and that has long been 

 erased from the British lists. 



The capture is very interesting, as the species is recorded by 

 Dawson as British in the Entomologists' Annual for 1857, p. 66, 

 where he says : ' A single female example was captured near Swansea 

 as long ago as 1830, by the Rev. C. Kuper. I am surprised that 

 the species should not be common with us, and that its claim to be 

 recorded should even now rest on a solitary individual. It is plentiful 

 in France, and occasionally enters lighted apartments in the summer 

 evenings ; moreover, it is a large and conspicuous insect, and very 

 unlikely to be overlooked.' 



The following is a description of the insect : — 

 Black, or pitchy black, underside sometimes pitchy brown ; antennae 

 and palpi- clear red; thorax much broader than long, with sides feebly 

 rounded in front, and very slightly contracted, almost straight, towards 

 base ; posterior angles right angles ; the entire base is coarsely and 

 rugosely punctured, and is depressed on each side, but with no 

 evident basal foveae ; elytra rather long, broader in front than base of 

 thorax, with deep impunctate striae ; interstices somewhat convex, the 

 space between the eighth stria and the margin densely and finely 

 punctured, beside the usual marginal row of large pores; metasternum 

 rather strongly punctured ; legs black or pitchy black ; tarsi clear red. 

 Length 11-13 mm. (5J-6J lin.). 



Although I have collected in the locality since, I have never found 

 another specimen. The spot is on the south side of the town, about 

 half a mile or three-quarters of a mile along the shore. Should any 

 collector work the place, there is no reason why he should not find 

 the beetle, and he will be pretty sure to find some insects that are 

 worth having. Nebria livida is sometimes found abundantly by 

 splitting open the clay crevices of the cliffs. A small and curious 



March 1886. • F 



