Notes and papers relating to Dublin University Zoological Association

Notes and papers relating to Dublin University Zoological Association

Letter to E. P. Wright mentioning Rev. Aiken Irvine

Sertularia Marguretta. Howth. A. H. H.; Theuaria articulata. Howth, A. H. H.;Plumaria Catharina [Ag. Cath.]. Howth and Lambay. A. H. H. Laomedea geniculata. Very common. Killiney. A. H. H.; L. gelatinosa. Blackrock. A. H. H.; Campanularia volubilis [Capsularia volubilis]. Not common. A. H. H. Actinia Manthus. Howth and Lambay. A. H. H. I. TUBILIPORINA. Tubilipora lobulata [Obelia lobulata]. A. H. H.;Crisia aculeata. Kingstown Harbour, East Pier, A. H. H.
 * ANTHOZOA HYDROIDA.
 * FAMILY—SERTULARIDAE
 * FAMILY—CAMPANULARIADAE.
 * FAMILY—ACTINIADAE.
 * POLYZOA INFUNDIBULATA.
 * FAMILY—TUBILIPORIDAE

"In concluding the catalogue [A. R. Hogan. 1855. Catalogue of the Irish Microlepidoptera. Natural History Review 2: 109-115 ] ,I have with pleasure to acknowledge that all the records hitherto made by collectors of former days, have been rendered available to me through the kindness of Mr. Haliday; and that, for information on the food of the larvae, &c., as well as notes of additional species, I am indebted to Mr. R. Shield, whose untiring industry promises to do much for the advancement of this department of science; also to Rev. J. Greene, J. Grainger, and E. P. Wright, Esqrs. My especial thanks are due to H. T. Stainton, Esq., for his assistance in disentangling the synonymic names of species. My own contributions have been but few, the only one of any importance being Elachista triseriatella, of which a figure, drawn by Mr. Haliday (see plate iv., fig. 1), accompanies this paper, it not having been before figured in any scientific work. It has been my endeavour, as far as possible, to give names of localities rather than of captors, as being more interesting to the public; of some of the less recently recorded species, however, I have been unable to obtain any other information than the ipse dixit of the captor. At the same time, I can assure any English reader into whose hands this may fall,that nothing is recorded, without an appended query, which I have the least reason to doubt".

Mr. Haliday showed several Hemipterous insects, with parasites attached, of a compressed spheroidal or somewhat reniform figure, embossed with bands of zig-zag sculpture, and affixed by one of the lobes of the sinus, which he had observed to terminate in connivent valves, somewhat like the operculum of a Bulanus. These bodies are usually attached to the under side, between the head and prothorax of the insect, if of moderate size, as the species of Evacanthus, one of which, the craticula of Curtis, common among rushes, is particularly infested by them. To smaller insects, as Typhlocyba, Delphax, &c., they are commonly affixed between the segments of the abdomen, under the elytra and wings in winged individuals. They appear to grow in size, and the larger ones have been observed to split open along the convex face, disclosing a naked apod grub, with horny head, furnished with jaws and jointed appendages. He had not succeeded in tracing their further development; but some observations made on their structure, led him to conjecture that they might be larvae of Diptera, especially the circumstance that the four malpighian vessels were united, two and two, into a pair of common ducts before the insertion. Bohemann, however, who had observed these parasites on Typhlocyba, and found that the grub enclosed itself in a cocoon, is of opinion that they are the larvae of some of the Chalcidae or Proctotrupidae.* The matter was now brought before the Association, in the hope, that some of the members might be more successful in determining the question by direct observation.

He showed also some Coleoptera and Diptera taken in Ireland. Two of these, Heterothops dissimilis and Agathidium marginatum, had been found before in other parts of the country, but were additions to the Coleopterous fauna of the Dublin district, lately taken at Portmarnock. Also Pelina aenescens, new to the British Fauna, taken at Lough Bray on the 14th of the last month, when a number of the members of the Association visited the spot for the sake of collecting. This fly, belonging to the group Ephydrini of the family Muscidae, was first observed in Lapland, but has since been found in other parts of Sweden. Of this group, 65 British species were enumerated in a brief sketch inserted in the "Annals of Natural History" in 1839. An excellent Monograph of the Swedish species has been given by Stenhammar in the volume of the " Transactions of the Royal Swedish Academy," published in 1844; and by the help of this and of Zetterstedt's "Diptera Scandinavise" some British species had been since discriminated, and the number increased by six; but of these only two were new discoveries the fly in question and another which was also before the meeting, Discomyza cimiciformis.-f At a former meeting of the Association Dr. Kinahan had recorded an interesting observation as to the economy of Discomyza incurva, the only species of the genus hitherto characterized. Themsecond species is not, however, a new discovery, as Mr. Haliday had received, in 1847, specimens, named as above, from Mr. Curtis, who first found it in June, 1842, near Quar Abbey (Isle of Wight) and in a marsh at Hyde. Last September it was met with, not very scarce, on the banks of the creek of Owenbeg river, Cork Harbour, chiefly on Seta maritima. Like the other species, it takes long skips, probably with the help of the wings, but does not use them for a sustained flight. On the shore of the same creek, within a space of a few yards square, the following maritime Coleoptera occurred, besides others of less note: Bradycellus pubescens, Pogonus chalceus, Bembidium laterale, Aepys robinii, Micralymma marinum (Stroem), Heterocerus marshami. It was remarkable that of this list only the first was known to Mr. Clear as a native of the County Cork. Mr. Haliday had never before found all of them associated. The Aepys, which occurred also near Passage, appears to be confined to those parts of the coast, below high-water mark, where clay comes to the surface. Specimens from Scotland of Aepys robinii, the gift of Mr. Javet, were shown, also Aepys marinus from Strangford. Mr. Haliday was disposed to doubt the importance of the distinctions assigned to the two alleged species. The difference in the armour of the feet led him to suspect that a sexualdistinction may have been treated as specific. He quoted the remarks under Ptilium pallidum in the Faune Francaise of Fairmaire and Laboulbene "Les angles posterieurs du corselet varient un peu, et il est facile, avec de la bonne volonte, de trouver des angles tres obtus et des angles presque droits; mais, selon nous, ces deux termes sont fort exageres." He had found at Blarney Lake, last summer, some specimens of Phytobius velatus (shown), of which he possessed before but one taken at Holywood (Down). These were partly taken out of the water, partly swept off the stems of Equisetum, when the sun was shining strong.Beck, the first discoverer of this species, has remarked that it swims fast and dives. The peculiar structure of the legs was shown, "natatorial," as Scbonherr calls them, being thinly furnished with long hairs, the tarsi without the broad felt-like sole usual in this family, and with scarcely any enlargement or notch of the penultimate joint, but with long claws like those of Elmis, &c., by which it clings to the submerged plants (Myriophyllum, Zannichellia, &c.) among which it haunts. A second species, Ph. leucogaster, of which also specimens were shown, taken at Holywood, has the like structure in some degree, and the two have been separated from Phytobius by Redtenbacher as the genus Litodactylus, but as Suffrian has pointed out, in the Stettin Entomological Journal, there are considerable differences between them, and Ph. velatus has the aquatic character much more decided. This species has been already given as Irish by Mr. Wollaston (" Zoologist," 1847, p. 1573); but it would appear from the " Entomologists' Annual," p. 105, that Ph. velaris was the insect intended, which belongs to another section of the genus, having the ordinary structure of tarsi, felted beneath, and with bilobed penultimate joint. Three other Irish species were shown, canaliculatus (taken at Blarney), quadrituberculatus, and comari (both at Holywood). The larvte of two of this section have been described viz., of P. notula by Ferris in the " Memoirs of the Academy of Lyons," and of P. velaris by Dufour in the " Annals of the French Entom. Society but that of Litodactylus is as yet unknown. Another insect of the same family not found by Mr. Clear, Gymnetron beccabungae, was taken (a single specimen) in the glen of the Shournagh river. This and the neighbouring streams which swell the current of the Lea, afforded Orectochilus villosus more abundantly than it had been found elsewhere. But, in consequence of its nocturnal habits, it is only to be procured by day under stones, or by fishing along the shaded edges of the stream.At Blarney Lake Gyrinus celox (Schicedte) occurred very sparingly. It is to be observed that this is reduced by Schaum (Catal. Hydradephaga Brit. Museum) to a synonym of G. bicolor, which last has been found by Mr. Furlong in Kerry. Of the genus Cassida the Irish list is very scanty, especially as regards the Dublin district, within which only C. rubiginosa is vouched for. The European list in the Stettin Catalogue amounts to 31, increased to 40 in Gaubil's, of which, however, two are properly Algirian, and two Caucasian. Even the British list in Curtis's Guide amounts to 18. Besides the species named, C. equestris is not uncommon in other parts, chiefly on Menthoe in watery places. C. nobilis has occurred on Cochlearia by the shore of Strangford Lough. Mr. Clear, by letter, had supplied the names of two more, obsoleta and hemisphaerica, the correctness of which has been ascertained by a late reference to the relics of his collection; and of the former, Mr. Haliday procured two specimens in the neighbourhood of Cork. The genus Colon numbers five species in Ireland, none of which have been observed in the Dublin district, though C. brunneus, which has occurred in Cork, Galway, and Wicklow, as well as in the North of Ireland, may be looked for here also. The other species recorded are serripes, appendiculatus, calcaratus, and dentipes (Sahlberg). This last had been given as a new species (C. spinipes) by Mr. Haliday in the Entomologist but Kraatz has since shown that the insect there described is the true dentipes of Sahlberg, and that Erichson has a different species under that name. It is not yet determined which of these two is the dentipes of Murray's Catalogue of Scotch Coleoptera. The enumeration of new species in the Entomologists' Annual suggests some notes on species alreadyrecorded as Irish. Gymnusa brevicollis, given as such by Mr. Haliday in the Entomologist" (1841), should be G. variegata, Kiesenwetter, as Dr. Schaum subsequently showed him. Boreaphilus brevicollis, described in the same place, judging from the figure given by Spry, is probably identical with Coryphium angusticolle, Stephens; but the characters were entirely misapprehended by him, and Sahlberg's older generic name cannot justly be made to yield. The genus is now rich in synonyms, Heer having more lately characterized it as Chevrieria, and last of all the name Macropalpus has been given it in the Annals of the French Entom. Society. Stephens's trivial name is unfortunately chosen; the thorax in this species being much broader in proportion than in the type B. henningianus* also shown. The only English specimen of the former is believed to be that in Mr. Kirby's collection. Three have been found at Holywood. One was taken on a rotten stump, the others off grass in sweeping. Arpedium brachypterum was first recorded as British in 1851 (Hardy and Bold's Catalogue of Coleoptera, &c.);but Irish specimens, with name and locality (Sliebh Donard), have been in the British Museum collection since 1847. These appear to agree very well with the form described by Kiesenwetter as A. troglodytes. It has not yet been found on any of the other mountains of Ireland. The other native species of the genus,A. myops, Hal., "Entomologist" (1841), has been definitely pronounced by Kraatz to be identical (as there queried) with A. humile, Erichson. The habitat given by him, Ural Mountains, and his having overlooked a character so singular in this tribe, as the want of ocelli, forbade its positive identification, before, with a species so common in this island. However, an inspection of Stephens's collection has shown it to be identical also with his Omalium subpubescens, which is the oldest name of the three. Specimens were shown of a Lesteva with wings scarcely extending to the end of the abdomen, and with elytra apparently shorter than in L. bicolor* These were taken on the top of Lugnaquilla and Brandon. L. bicolor,as commonly found in the low grounds, has ample wings; but the two agree so nearly in most other respects that this was proposed only as a variety collina.Corticaria cylindrical, Mnhm, (?) reported at a previous meeting (Nat. Hist. Rev.,vol. ii., proc. 53), having been sent to Mr. Curtis, he has pronounced it a species unknown to him. But in the "Zoologist" for May last, Mr. Wollaston has described as new (C. borealis} an insect apparently closely allied to this, and likewise found on the sea-coast. Saprinus dimidiatus (Nat. Hist. Kev., vol. i., p. 89) is, as Mr. Jansen has suggested (Ent. Annual, 1855, p. 94), intended for the species so named by Illiger and Payhull. It is doubtful, however, whether it should have a place in the Annual, as it was supposed, with us here, to be identical with Hister maritimus, Stephens. It is to be observed, however, that Fairmaire and Laboulbene make the latter a probable synonym of a different species, S. sabulosus, Fne. Fr. 280, 24. The Heterocerus, given as femoralis in the list of Dublin Coleoptera (Nat. Hist. Rev., vol. i., p. 34), was shown. Kiesenwetter has described it as a new species, H. arenosus; but with doubt expressed, having only two specimens before him. Aphodius lapponum, first recorded as British in 1847, by Mr. Hardy, as A. subalpinus, had been long before known to us, by its proper name, as a native of Ireland, which occurred on the hills both of Antrim and Wicklow. Cercyon depression, lately characterized as a new species, C. dorsostriatum, by Thomson in the Transactions of the Swedish Academy, 1854, occurs on most of our sea-coasts along with C. littorale, but more sparingly, under sea-weed drying on the sands. It was but lately that Mr. Haliday had observed its more peculiar habitat to be on open shingly shores, where it might be found abundantly on the Laminariae, cast up by the sea, weltering in the briny moisture, unmixed with C. littorale. In conclusion, some species of the family Trichopterygidce were shown, with Sturm's plates illustrative of Gillmeister's Monograph. Some of the Irish species appeared to be undescribed, and none of the recorded British species were wanting here, except Ptenidium levigatum, found by the Rev. W. Little in Dumfriesshire, Ptilium excavatum, in Mr. Stephens's collection, and Trichopteryx pumila, if this species lurks under the pusilla of Stephens, which the posture of the specimens in his collection makes it difficult to determine.Mr. Haliday remarked that Mr. Wollaston, in his accurate and " splendid volume, Insecta Maderensia," a copy of which the Association possesses through the liberality of the author, had substituted for Trichopteryx the name Acrotrichis proposed by Motschoulsky, on the ground that the former had been employed by Hubner ten years before Kirby applied it to this group of Coleoptera. With great deference for Mr. Wollaston's judgment on such a question, he would venture to put in a plea for the name imposed by the venerated Kirby, and embalmed in a work so well known and prized at home and abroad as the "Introduction to Entomology." The application of it in Lepidoptera was long since abandoned, and not the least likely to be revived. Indeed many of HUbner's "-genera" had little more scientific value than the " Darts" and "Waves" and " Carpets" of English Aurelians. If the names proposed by such multiplying genus-makers as Hubner and Desvoidy, though rejected, were to be considered as prohibited for other uses, he feared that the mass of verbal materials thus used up would be found a heavy loss. Some of the misuse which Agassiz had apprehended and warned against, has already arisen out of his invaluable " Nomenclator," and some besides which he had probably thought it unnecessary to denounce. But if the principle on which Trichopteryx was set aside were admitted, all that would be needful, for an author fond of seeing mihis in print, would be to examine the bis lecta names marked in the index of the "Nomenclator," and rename all which bore later dates (dates not always accurate), without examination as to the application or permanent acceptance of the earlier one. - Unfortunately Agassiz had lent the sanction of his name also to a sort of hypercritical purism liable to be abused. No doubt it was desirable that writers, who composed or adapted generic names from the Greek,should have a knowledge of the letters of the Greek alphabet, beyond their similarity in shape to the Roman letters of the printer. It must be conceded that, forinstance, Spavius, as the representative of [Greek characters}, was open to criticism. Indeed a considerably greater degree of etymological attainments than this inferred might be expended on the construction of generic names, without inconvenience; but,perhaps, stiffness and monotony would be the chief result from an unbending application of the rules devised by grammarians, but from which the Greek as a living language admitted so many variations. Dr. Leach of whom Kirby has said, Nihil non tetigit, et omnia qua tetigit ornavit had been a considerable maker of genera and generic names, which had found general acceptance. His ear had led him to introduce various compounds in which the more ordinary short a, for the close of the precedent member (a noun) in composition, was replaced by long e. These Agassiz has remodelled, for Limnebius, Lirnnephilus, &c., substituting Lintnobius, Limnophitus, and the like. Yet Elaphebolus, Stephanephorus, Zoephorus,Poephagus, Moeregenes, and more of this class stand unchallenged in the Lexicon. EvenPhysapus(Physapi, Physapoda), sanctioned by the names of Degeer, Linnasus,Illiger, Latreille, &c., might be vindicated against Burmeister's newer candidate, Physopoda, while Tola and Tana imprinted the characteristic a on so many compounds.But Burmeister, in his critical sagacity (nasi emunctioris), has not withheld his castigating hands, in yet other instances, from the style of Linnaeus, whose Myrmeleon has expanded, under the ferule, into Myrmecoleon, MIHI. Erichson upon this has remarked, that if the lengthened form be more accordant with the canons of grammarians, that chasen by Linnaeus savours more of the idiom of the Greek. That he might not appear before this court as a merely gratuitous advocate,Mr. Haliday would instance a compound of his own fabrication, Melanthrips, which under Burmeister's reforming hands had shot up into the tetrasyllable dignity of Melanothrips, MIHI. Then the critic would strip the spear of its garniture melandeton; the river must roll no more melandines in song; while in compensation Melancholia should hold no more sad victims in horrid chains! But to take defence on the very lowest grounds, there was an old legal maxim not inapplicable to any debatable cases "Fieri non oportebat, facta valent." To go a step beyond generic names; Jussieu's plan of an uniform termination, as distinctive of the natural families, had been applied to the animal kingdom by Leach, deriving the family names from the typical genus, in the form of the patronymic in idae. The modern families are in great part equivalent to the genera of Linnaeus, or of Fabricius, in entomology, and thus may rank among the most marked groups in the systematic scale. Hence there was an obvious advantage in discriminating them by some such device; and the method of Leach had been very generally adopted in England, as well as in France of late, and in Germany by Germar and probably by others. Burmeister has objected to this plan, that idae can properly be appended to Greek roots alone, and that if a few examples can be produced of Latin names so modified (e.gr., Romulidae of the Satirist,Scipiadae of Lucilius) they are only from the poets, while the language of zoology is simple prose. There is some reason in this; but we may add, that the vocabulary of the classics is necessarily insufficient for the extended wants of technical language, and that a form which, in virtue of these instances, is at least not foreign to the genius of the language, nor more obnoxious to criticism than other classes of modern derivatives and compounds, introduced of necessity, may claim some favour, as meeting an acknowledged want. The only other uniform, termination which has been proposed instead, not liable to yet stronger exceptions, is ina; but this is also in use for subordinate divisions of the families, and for the higher group the substantive has some obvious advantages over the adjective form. Having ascended from the genera so far, a few remarks may be allowed upon the names of orders. Linnaeus in the compounds ofptera found denominations for them,uniform and euphonious, while expressive of the characters to which he gave most weight in their discrimination. Fabricius, founding his system primarily on another set of organs, substituted names comparatively dissonant, uncouth, and etymologically corrupted. Even the signal benefits which he had conferred on science, by generic characters established on a surer base, as well as by a long series of added genera and species, could not perpetuate names encumbered with such disadvantages; and if at the present day an able Danish entomologist has adopted them, reformed in orthography, we may be disposed to respect Schioedte's patriotic predilections more than to commend his aesthetic judgment.The Linnean orders, and their names, with some necessary modification in the number and limits, seem destined to hold their place, as far as we can foresee from our present position. The very names of the orders seemed to presage a step, since accomplished, in the dissolution of the order Aptera, which rested on the want of the organs designated as the primary character in the arrangement of the class. Accordingly, all the Polypods, with Cancer, have been long severed as the class Crustacea, and the Octopods as Arachnida. Of the hexapod genera remaining, Termes found its place among the winged orders, even according to the judgment of the most obsequious followers of the Linnean method, as soon as the history of the race was known. Only Pulex and Pediculus, Lepisma and Podura, then were left; and these also have been since assigned respectively to their places (not yet undisputed) among the winged orders, which now embrace the whole class of insects under six great sections, with at most some small groups, whose position is intermediate,or yet undetermined, as some consider. These are, according to the nomenclature most generally received, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera,Neuroptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera. For the fourth of these, as enlarged much beyond the Linnean sense, Burmeister has framed a new name, Gymnognatha.But this change seems needless, while it infringes on the consistent harmony of the whole. The order comprises the whole of the Linnean Neuroptera, increased onlyby some apterous forms, and by a group whose affinity Linneus himself confessed doubtful, by implication, when he referred them first to one and then to another order. On these grounds we retain the names Coleoptera, Trichopterygidas} Trichopteryx,in our enumeration of the Irish species of the family.
 * Proceedings of Swedish Academy for 1850, p. 213.t See the description of both these species at the end of this paper.

The species marked with an asterisk before the number have been found in Britain, but not yet observed in Ireland. Gen. 1. PTENIDIUM, Erichson; Redtenbacher; Wollaston; Faune Francaise; p., Motschoulsky Trichopteryx p., Kirby; Heer; Gillmeister; Mannerheim; Mots.; Alibert. Anisarthria p., Stephens. 1. punctatum, Gyllenhall; Woll.; Fn.Fr. alutaceum, Gilm. littorale, Mots. Common about dunghills; also on fuci and zosterae drying on the shore, the larva occurring with the perfect insect. 2. apicale, Sturm.; Er.; Gilm.; Redt.; Fn.Fr.; Woll. perpusillum, melas, Marsham; Steph. nitidum, Steph. evanescens, Heer; Mots. punctatum, elongatulum, myrmecophilum, Mots. Var. fuscicorne, Er. obscuricorne, Mots. Common about dunghills, and among fallen leaves, &c. 4. pusillum, Gyll.; Er.; Gilm.; Redt.; Fn.Fr. minutissimum, Steph. nitidum, Heer. -foveolatum, Alib. Not rare, with the second.
 * 3. laevigatum, Er. punctula, Steph. (?)

Gen. 2. NOSSIDIUM, Er.; Fn.Fr. Anisarthria, Mots.; p., Steph. Ptilium p., Redt. 1. pilosellum, Marsh.; Steph.; Er.; Fn.Fr. nitidulum, brunneum, Marsh.; Steph.;-ferrarii, Redt. Very rare, on rotten stumps.

Gen. 3. PTILIUM, Er.; Redt.; Fn.Fr. p. Heer; Comolli. Trichopteryx p., Steph.; Mots.; Alib.; Gilm.; Mann. Ptinella, Micrus, Ptenidium p., Mots.

yallicuin. limbatum, Mots. 2. angustatum, Er.; Fn.Fr. oblongum, Gilm.; Redt. rugulosum, Alib. Rare. 3. coarctatum, n. sp. Lineare, subdepresaum, capite thoraceque nigris scabriculis, elytris fuscis, antennis pedibusque flavis, prothorace transverso postice attenuate intra basim transversim obsolete impresso. Long. 1/4 lin. Elongate linear, rather depressed. Head and thorax black, pubescent, the hairs seeming to spring from distinct granular dots. Head triangular with small eyes, as broad as the prothorax; mouth prominent; palpi and antennae light yellow, the last joint of these globose-ovate, the first two joints ferruginous. Prothorax broader than long; truncated in front, the sides rounded, strongly attenuated behind, with the basal angles rounded off, faintly impressed within the hind margin. Elytra nearly linear, covering the abdomen, obtusely rounded in common at the tip; scarcely broader than the greatest breadth of prothorax, and singly more than three times so long as broad; intricately stippled and pubescent (as well as the scutellum), and hence rather opaque; blackish- brown, with the tip paler. Legs ferruginous, femora rather darker. Narrower and not longer than Trich. curta. The very brief character given of Tr. pulchella, Alibert, contains nothing to distinguish it from our insect, but its size is considerably greater; and the pulchellum of Gillmeister and Faune Fran- caise is described as having two separate impressions at the base of prothorax, not observable in ours. Whether it be apterous, as stated of Alibert's insect, is uncertain. Rare; in a farm -yard at Holywood. 4. clandestinum, n. sp. Sublineare depressum subtiliter pubescensfusco-testaceum, antennis pedibusque pallide flavis, prolhorace obcordato basi media foveolato. Long, 1/5 lin. Probably the smallest known Coleopterous insect, being smaller, but especially narrower, than Pt. excavatum. Nearly linear, depressed, finely pubescent, dusky testaceous. Head triangular, as broad as prothorax. Eyes black, coarsely granulated. Antennae pale yellow, stout, the intermediate joints paler; those immediately preceding the club oblate; the 2nd, 9th, and 10th globose, the 10th twice as large as 9th; the llth ovate, rather acute. Prothorax with the sides somewhat rounded before the middle, narrowed behind, with the basal angles a little obtuse, an oblong impression, or abbreviated channel, in the middle of the base. Elytra two and ahalf times as long as prothorax, one-third broader than the base of it, and nearly of uniform breadth for two-thirds of their length, thenceforth rounded-attenuate, covering the abdomen. Wings perfect, fringed with blackish hairs. Legs pale yellow. Taken at Holywood. Also in England, J. Curtis. Seems to be very rare, but from its extreme minuteness and pale colour may easily escape observation. Compare the description of Ptilium vittatum, Mots., found in ants' nests at Charkow.
 * 1. excavatum, Er.; Gilm.; Redt. trisulcatum, Steph. foveolatum, Alib.

5. kunzei, Heer; Er.; Gilm.; Redt.; Fn.Fr.; Mots. longicorne, Waltl. spinipenne, Comolli. titan, Newman (?) Not rare about farm-yards.

Gen. 4. TRICHOPTERYX, Er.; Redt; Fn.Fr. p., Kirby; Heer; Gilm.; Alib. Ptilium, Mots. p., Waltl.Acrotrichis, Mots.; Woll.

1. curta, Alib.; Gilm. abbreviatella, (Heer?); Er.; Fn.Fr. nana, Steph. minuta p., Steph. Not rare about farm- yards.

2. sericans, Heer; Er.; Fn.Fr.; Mots. depressa, Gilm.; Redt volans, bovina, brevis, Mots. Not rare, with the last.

3. *pumila, Er.; Fn.Fr.; sericans, Gilm.; Redt pusilla, Steph. (?)

4. pyymaa, Er.; Fn.Fr. paralleloyramma, Gilm. : Redt. chevrolatii, Alib. minuta p., Steph. Rare.

5. suffocata, n. sp. Oblonga subdepressa nigra subtiliter pubescens, antennarum basi pedibusque rufescentibus, prothorace coleopterorum latitudine angulis posticis aeutiusculis, abdominis segmentis tribus retectis. Long. 2/3 lin. Much narrower than Tr. fascicularis, but as long; more than half the abdomen, or three segments, being uncovered by the elytra; the last segment large, nearly semicircular, with three points. Antennae blackish, the first two joints piceous. Legs and coxae obscure reddish. Elytra blackish to the end. Found in October, the larva and perfect insect together, under damp fallen leaves on stones, in the bed of a dried-up brook (Glen-na-Chatta) of the Shournagh river (Cork). When alive, the elongated form, somewhat like a Hypocyptus, was very striking. Obs. Tr. abdominalis, Fn.Fr. 333, 8, seems to differ from this species by the more produced angles of the base of prothorax, the lighter colour, and rather inferior size. The habitat also is different viz., in the nests of Formica rufa.

6. fascicularis, (Herbst.); Heer; Er.; Fn.Fr.; Woll. minutissima, Marsh. atomaria, Steph. grandicollis, Mann. intermedia, Gilm.; Redt. lata p., Mots. Very abundant about dunghills and in pastures.

7. atomaria, (Degeer^); Gyll.; Heer; Er.; Gilm.; Redt.; Fn.Fr.; Mots. minima, Marsh.; Steph. -Jlavicornis, Waltl. marina, Mots. Hare, among lichens, Wicklow, Cork, &c. 8. grandicollis, Er.; Fn.Fr.;fascicularis, Gilm.; Kedt. lata p., Mots. Still rarer than the preceding, Wicklow.

9. Trichopteryx (?) mollis, n. sp. Oblongo-ovata depressa nigra cano-sericea, antennis tibiis tarsisque ferrugineis, prothorace amplissimo angulis posticis productis acutis testaceis, elytris truncatis apice testaceo-limbatis. Long 1/3 lin. In outline not unlike Tr. atomaria, but much depressed, and thickly clothed with a fine silky whitish pubescence, without distinct punctures. Prothorax still wider than in that species, the sides much rounded, widest behind the middle, the base deeply sinuate-emarginate; the hinder angles being much produced back and pointed, coloured testaceous to a pretty large extent. Elytra at the base narrower than prothorax, and tapering a little to the tip, where they are abruptly truncated, with the inner angle sloped away, so that their joint extremity is a little notched at the suture; the narrow hind edge pale testaceous. Abdomen with three dorsal segments uncovered and deflected, edged with pale pubescence; seven ventral segments, the 1st large, the following four very short, the 7th triangular (sometimes ending in three points a sexual distinction?). Mouth very prominent, the bilobed ligula and the mala exserted. Palpi pale. Antennae dusky testaceous, long and slender, with the club indeterminate; the first two joints darker; the third scarcely shorter than the fourth. Eyes pubescent. Mesosternum, shorter than usual in Trichopteryx, with a short channeled keel, applied to the prosternum. Hind legs very remote, more so than in Ptenidium even. Hind coxae large triangular, but not transversely dilated, covering only the base of the thigh with the trochanter. Legs testaceous, hind coxae blackish, femora blackish-brown, except the tips of the anterior pairs. Differs both from Trichopteryx and Ptilium, in having one ventral segment more (in this agreeing with Ptenidium), and is intermediate between them as to the size of the hind coxae Inhabits sandy sea-coasts, rather rare. Note. Trichopteryx fucicola, Alibert, seems to agree with this in the form of the prothorax, in pubescence and colour (though according to the authors of the Faune Francaise the legs are entirely testaceous); but in the comparison made between it and Tr. intermedia, the depressed form, the figure of the antennae and the coxae, of our insect, could scarcely have passed unnoticed by their accurate and practised eyes. Alibert describes impressions of the prothorax, which may be inconstant, as they do not mention such. Tr. umbricola, Woll., seems also to differ from ours, and to come nearer to the species, described in Faune Fran- 9aise; but is superior in. size to either, and the locality in which it occurred is different.