62 
THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
liappy in exposing the various strata 
seriatim ) producing, inter alias, some fine 
species that we shall look for in vain 
elsewhere. Thus, on the lone clayey 
banks adjoining the chalk, we may find 
the rare Harpalus cupreus , and many 
other CarabidcB ; and when we arrive at 
the sandy headland of Dunnose (a little 
beyond Sbanklin) we have reached the 
spot in which the much-prized Dnjpta 
has been repeatedly taken, as well as in 
the adjoining Luecombe Chine, by Mr. 
Dawson. On the same sunny ledge, 
below the headland, the Stenolophus fia- 
vicollis and exiguus, and Bembidium 
listriatum, have been captured, as also 
the somewhat local little Limnichus seri- 
ceus, and sundry other “ gems.” Pro- 
ceeding onwards to Ventnor the Trechus 
lapidosas and Lymnteum nigropiceum 
may be searched for amongst the wet 
shingle at the back of the beach, and a 
little further to the westward, beyond 
Steep Hill Castle, the Anthicus instabi- 
lis and angus talus may be found adhering 
to the rounded pebbles. Further west- 
ward still, about Niton, the Stenolophus 
Skrimshiranus abounds in damp mossy 
bauks, and on the hills, beyond St. 
Catherine’s, the Cicindela germanica is 
extremely active in the sunshine. On 
the cliffs facing the sea, at Ventnor, the 
beautiful little Thyamis dorsalis may be 
taken abundantly by brushing, and in 
wet places, by the edges of the streams, 
along the whole line of coast, a curiously 
pale variety of the Peryphus saxatilis 
(which occurs, however, in Dorsetshire 
and Devon also) literally teems. But it 
is needless to enumerate further the 
riches of these arm beata, which contain 
novelties to the Londoner at every turn. 
We may, however, state that the gigantic 
Calosoma Sgcophanta has been picked 
up (and somewhat recently) in the south 
of the Isle of Wight; but since that 
superb insect is apparently a mere occa- 
sional visitant to our shores, for it is said 
“to take to the water” admirably, and 
has been observed in statu felici on the 
surface of the very ocean itself (far re- 
moved from land), it can scarcely be re- 
garded as offering any additional in- 
ducement for making a descent upon 
Vectis. 
The sandy district immediately ad- 
joining Hyde, however, is w r ell worthy of 
a passing glance en route to our field of 
action, for at certain times it is alive 
with Coleoptera. The A mar a strenua is 
generally to be taken there during the 
spring, and the marshes outside the 
town, below Sir Richard Simeon’s 
woods, is the locality of the very 
rare (and hitherto unique ?) Baris 
analis. 
Such are a few of the treasures (albeit 
a very few), the acquisition of some of 
which may be anticipated by a visit to 
this glorious isle, and our Coleopterists 
will probably admit that even alone 
many of them are worth going for. The 
misfortune is, that Englishmen arc so 
difficult to stir, that they are apt, as it 
were constitutionally (or by a kind of 
fate), to allow the proper season to pass 
away before they put themselves in 
motion, and so they frequently return 
from the finest collecting-ground, sub 
sole Britannico, impressed with the firm 
conviction that there is nothing to be ob- 
tained there. Poor, stupid, ignorant, 
sluggish, pig-headed, John Bull! As- 
suredly we have not, as yet, fathomed 
the depths of Anglo-Saxon fanaticism, 
for thou believest that beetle-life awaits 
at all times thy coming, and that thou 
mayest observe it with equal success just 
when most convenient to thyself. Go, 
Bull, to the Coleopterists of the Conti- 
nental towns, and see how they devote 
themselves to special districts at special 
seasons, and take a lesson from them. 
Nature is ever ready to befriend us, but 
she will not step out of her way to do so. 
Let us take her, therefore, as she is, and 
be content : Nunguam aliud Natura 
aliud sapientia dicit. 
