Island Life Part 18

83. *N. HODGKINSONI. Lancashire.

84. *N. WOOLHOPIELLA. Herefordshire.

85. *N. SERELLA. Westmoreland and S. England.

86. *N. AUROMARGINELLA. Dorset (1890).

87. *MICROPTERYX SANGII. (1891).

88. *M. SALOPIELLA.

PTEROPHORINA.

89. AGDISTIS BENNETTI. East coast. I. of Wight (1840). Common on _Statice limonium_.

We have here a list of eighty-nine species, which, according to the best authorities, are, in the present state of our knowledge, peculiar to Britain. It is a curious fact that no less than fifty of these have been described more than twenty-five years; and as during all that time they have not been recognised on the continent, notwithstanding that good coloured figures exist of almost all of them, it seems highly probable that many of them are really confined to our island. At the same time we must not apply this argument too rigidly, for the very day before my visit to Mr. Stainton he had received a letter from Professor Zeller announcing the discovery on the continent of a species of our last family, Pterophorina, which for more than forty years had been considered to be exclusively British. This insect, _Platyptilia similidactyla_ (_Pterophorus isodactylus_, Stainton's _Manual_), had been taken rarely in the extreme north and south of our islands--Teignmouth and Orkney, a fact which seemed somewhat indicative of its being a straggler. Again, seven of the species are unique, that is, have only been captured once; and it may be supposed that, as they are so rare as to have been found only once in England, they may be all {351} equally rare and not yet found on the continent. But this is hardly in accordance with the laws of distribution. Widely scattered species are generally abundant in some localities; while, when a species is on the point of extinction, it must for a time be very rare in the single locality where it last maintains itself. It is then more probable that some of these unique species represent such as are almost extinct, than that they have a wide range and are equally rare everywhere; and the peculiarity of our insular climate, combined with our varied soil and vegetation, offer conditions which may favour the survival of some species with us after they have become extinct on the continent.

Of the sixty-nine species recorded in my first edition fourteen have been since discovered on the continent, while no less than twenty-two species and eleven varieties have been added to the list. As we can hardly suppose continental entomologists to be less thorough collectors than ourselves, it ought to be more and more difficult to find any insects which are unknown on the continent if all ours really exist there; and the fact that the list of apparently peculiar British species is an increasing one renders it probable that many of them are not only apparently but really so. Both general considerations dependent on the known laws of distribution, and the peculiar habits, conspicuous appearance, and restricted range, of many of our species, alike indicate that some considerable proportion of them will remain permanently as peculiar British species.

We will now pa.s.s on to the Coleoptera, or beetles, an order which has been of late years energetically collected and carefully studied by British entomologists.

_List of the Species and Varieties of Beetles which, so far as at present known, are confined to the British Islands. Those added since the first edition are marked with an asterisk._

CARABIDae.

1. *Bembidium saxatile, _var._ VECTENSIS (Fowler). Isle of Wight.

2. DROMIUS VECTENSIS (Rye). Common in the Isle of Wight, also in Kent, and at Weymouth and Seaton. Closely allied to _D. sigma_.

3. Harpalus latus, _var._ METALLESCENS (Rye). Unique, but very marked!

South coast. "Perhaps a sport or a hybrid" (Fowler).

4. ACUPALPUS DERELICTUS (Dawson). Unique! North Kent. Canon Fowler thinks it may be a variety of _A. dorsalis_. {352}

DYTICIDae.

5. *Acilius sulcatus, _var._ SCOTICUS (Curtis). Scotland. A melanic variety.

HELOPHORIDae.

6. OCHTHEBIUS POWERI (Rye). Very marked. S. coast. A few specimens only.

7. *O. aeNEUS (Steph).

BRACHYELYTRA.

8. OCYUSA HIBERNICA (Rye). Ireland, mountain tops, and at Braemar.

9. *OXYPODA TARDA (Sharp).

10. ,, PECt.i.tA (Sharp). Scotland.

11. ,, VERECUNDA (Sharp). Scotland, also London districts.

12. HOMALOTA DIVERSA (Sharp).

13. ,, FULVIPENNIS (Rye).

14. ,, OBLONGIUSCULA (Sharp). Scotland, also England and Ireland.

15. ,, PRINCEPS (Sharp). A coast insect.

16. ,, CURTIPENNIS (Sharp). Scotland and near Birmingham.

17. H. levana, _var._ SETIGERA (Sharp).

18. STENUS OSCILLATOR (Rye). Unique! South coast. May be a hybrid.

19. TROGOPHLaeUS SPINICOLLIS (Rye). Mersey estuary, unique! Most distinguishable, nothing like it in Europe. Perhaps imported from another continent.

20. EUDECTUS WHITEI (Sharp). Scotch hills. A variety of _E. Giraudi_ of Germany (the only European species) _fide_ Kraatz (Sharp).

21. HOMALIUM RUGULIPENNE (Rye). Exceedingly marked form. Northern and western coasts; rare.

22. *MYCETOPORUS MONTICOLA (Fowler). Cheviots and Inverness-shire.

SCYDMaeNIDae.

23. *SCYDMaeNUS POWERI (Fowler) S. England. A recent discovery.

24. *S. PLANIFRONS (Fowler). ,, ,,

PSELAPHIDae.

25. BRYAXIS COTUS (De Sauley). Scotland.

26. BYTHINUS GLABRATUS (Rye). Suss.e.x coast; also Isle of Wight; a few specimens; very distinguishable; myrmecophilous (lives in ants' nests).

TRICHOPTERYGIDae.

27. PTINELLA MARIA (Matthews) Derbyshire.

28. TRICHOPTERYX SARae ( ,, ) Notts.

29. ,, POWERI ( ,, ) Oxon.

30. ,, EDITHIA ( ,, ) Kent.

31. ,, *ANGUSTA ( ,, ) Leicestershire.