THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
47 
by the geological structure of the earth’s 
surface, is beginning to be appre- 
ciated. 
Districts near the sea are now very 
productive ; and those Coleopterists who 
can secure a fortnight’s sojourn in any 
one of these, would do well not to lose 
the opportunity. There are spots on the 
Essex coast, within easy access of Lon- 
don, of which comparatively but little is 
known : the whole line of coast, to the 
north-east of Southend, is nearly a lerra 
incognita, and many of our scarce Cara- 
biclce might probably be taken there at 
the present time. The Harpali, we all 
know, are exceedingly local, occurring 
often in one small portion of an area, 
and leaving the rest of it untouched, and 
there is no telling, therefore, until tried, 
how far the exploration of new localities, 
such as these, might succeed in filling up 
a host of gaps in our cabinets, which 
have been, hitherto, destined to stare us 
in the face so reproachfully. At the 
Chesil Bank, near Weymouth, the H. 
negl.ectus literally teems in May, and yet 
you search in vain for it along the Dor- 
setshire shores generally. In the Isle of 
Portland the H. semiviolaceus is almost 
equally common, but it does not occur 
except on one or two of the slopes. In 
the Isle of Wight, again, the rare H. 
cupreus may be met with on clayey cliffs 
adjoining the chalk ; but unless you 
ramble along the entire coast, so as to 
examine it as a whole, the chances are 
you will come away unblessed with the 
acquisition of H. c. In like manner, at 
Slapston Ley, in South Devon, the H. 
litigiosus is found in company with the 
atlenuatus, whilst at Swansea and Tenby, 
in South Wales, the H. melancholicus (a 
species which makes its appearance also 
at Glengariffe, in the south-west of Ire- 
land) is here and there to be picked 
up. 
Although tolerably well explored 
already, there is, perhaps, no spot which 
would better repay the labours of a Co- 
leopterist, early in the spring and sum- 
mer, than the Chesil Bank: most of the 
species peculiar to saline and maritime 
districts are there. Amongst the former 
may be particularised Aepus Robinii and 
marinus (which occur beneath stones be- 
low high-water mark), Cillenum lalerale, 
Berribidium pallidipenne, and Dyschirius 
salinus and l/ioracicus (all of which 
may be captured running over the sands 
when the tide is out), whilst among the 
latter we may call especial attention to 
the beautiful Omoplilus Armeriie (which 
flies lazily over the flowers in the hot 
sunshine, or buries itself deep in the 
umbels), the Cardiophorus Equiseti 
(which may be found crawling up the 
sand-hills), to the Harpalus vernalis and 
pubescens, the Musoreus Wetterhaiii, and 
the little black Anthicus fenestratus 
(which abounds in grassy places along- 
side the pebble ridge), and to the Phyto- 
nonius mixtus, Ty chins fiavicollis , and 
two species of Micronyx, which harbour 
amongst the refuse and sands around 
the roots of plants. A writer in the 
‘Zoologist’ (p. 1934) has, however, fully 
enumerated the treasures of this “ Co- 
leopterous Oasis,” and we would, there- 
fore, refer those collectors who may be 
inclined to reinvestigate it to the statis- 
tics there enumerated. 
But whatever locality be fixed upon as 
a field of action, for heaven’s sake let it 
be worked thoroughly, and, above all, let 
us know what is found there. By tutoring 
the eye to observe fact (and not the hand, 
merely, to bottle specimens), every 
sojourn of a few weeks in a given spot 
will enable us to accumulate ideas suffi- 
cient to last us for several months of 
after-contemplation. “ By the help of 
truths, already known, more may be dis- 
covered so let us start with this as our 
axiom, and endeavour to turn all our op- 
portunities for acquiring additional 
knowledge to a good account. 
