XXII. 
is found commonly in Ireland, but we have no authentic record of its 
capture in any other portion of the British Isles. 5 " 
Our correspondent, Mr. W. E. Sharp of Ledsham, who takes great 
interest in this subject, has kindly written us on this variety as 
follows :—“ Subrotundata seems to me to be a form of specific and not 
only varietal divergence. It differs from the type, and also no less 
from the var. brunnea, in general size, colour, shape, punctation of 
thorax, and sculpture of thorax and elytra; e.g. the convex margins 
of both are much broader. So far 1 can find no authentic instance of 
any capture except in Ireland and the Isle of Man. Canon Fowler 
himself throws doubt on Reitter’s record of Scotland, and I myself 
believe that the various records from Devonshire, South Wales, &c., 
really refer to var. brunnea. This, of course, is only an opinion. What 
we want is further information on the following points :— 
a. Is there any absolute record of 5 . subrotundata from England 
or Scotland ? 
b. Is there any record from any other locality in the palearctic zone ? 
c. If not, what is the nearest exotic form ? 
To these questions I have so far been unable to find satisfactory 
answers. There seems to be an error in distinguishing between this 
var. and the type by the difference in the length of the ribs of the 
elytra, as all vary individually, and both type and so-called variety 
vary about the same.” 
In concluding this paper, we beg to thank Mr. Sharp, with whose 
opinion respecting subrotundata we rather agree ; and also Messrs. 
Chaney, Chitty, Newbery, and other correspondents who have kindly 
assisted us with information as to the occurrence, &c., from their own 
experience, of the species comprised in the Genus Silpha. 
* Fowler states that 5. rotundata has been recorded from Glanvilles Wootton, Devon¬ 
shire, and South Wales. As we do not know on whose authority these records were 
made, we have omitted them, as requiring further confirmation.—G.A.L. and W.F.J. 
