Page:VCH Kent 1.djvu/174

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A HISTORY OF KENT Ischtmies sangumicoUis, Athoiis rhombeiis and Agriotes sordidus must not be forgotten, and Melanoius puncto-Uneatus is one of the prizes of the Deal sandhills, and has also been taken at Pegwell Bay and at Dover. The very rare Prionocyphon serriconiis has occurred in decaying logs in Darenth and Birch Woods and in Cobham Park, and one pair of Silis^ rujicollis has been found at Snodland by Com. "Walker. This species is mostly confined to the fenny districts of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. Mr. Lewis captured one specimen of Dliioderus substriatus in Darenth Wood. We have already alluded to the capture of Cis bilamellatm. This insect was found in numbers by the Rev. T. Wood in West Wickham Wood, and has not occurred elsewhere. Several good species of Longicornia are found in the county, the best being perhaps Hylotntpes baju/us, Molorchus iwibellatariim and Strangalia scutellata. The latter species, which is not uncommon at times in the New Forest, has been found very rarely in Cobham Park by Com. Walker. Mr. S. Stevens many years ago recorded the capture of the very rare S. revesiita on flowers in Darenth Wood. The Phytophaga are very well represented. No less than thirteen species of Cryptocephalus occur. The very rare Agelastica alni has recently been taken at Deal by Mr. Jennings and Mr. Bedwell. Nearly thirty species of Longitarsus are found in the county, including L. agilis, L. distinguendus and other good insects, and Mr. Hall has taken the very rare Crepidodera nitidula near Dover. Eleven species of Cassida have been recorded, including C. mun-cea, C. fastuosa^ C. sanguinolenta, C. riobilis and C. hemisphcerica. Among the Heteromera the most notable species are perhaps the following : T'etratoma desmaresti and T". ancora, Anisoxya fusciila, Osphya bipunctata, Oncomera femorata (this strange insect is nocturnal in its habits and is found on ivy and sallows and also comes to ' sugar '), Mordellistena abdom'malis, Anaspis melanostoma, several very rare species of Meloe and Situris muralis. Judging from the varied flora of Kent, we should naturally expect the Rhynchophora to be well represented, and such is certainly the case. Many very good bark and decayed wood species also occur, such as Macrocephalus albinus and Tropideres niveirostris. More than seventy species of Apion are found, two of them being peculiar to the county, and most of the other genera occur in much the same proportion. It is hard to particularize, but the following species are worthy of especial notice : Ccenopsis Jissirostris (Chislehurst and Plumstead), Brachysomus hirtus (Cobham Park and Tonbridge), Hypera tigrina (Folkestone), Procas armillatus (Darland Hill), Ceuthorrhynchus syrites (Birch Wood and Erith), C. suturelha (Hythe, etc.), and C. pilosellus (Deal, etc.), Phytobius quadri- nodosus (hte), Baris scolopacea (Sheerness), and Cryphalus fagi (Westerham and Tonbridge).

  • In the recently published List of the Beetles of Ireland, by the Rev. W. F. Johnson and Mr. J.

L. Halbert, this species is recorded as having been taken abundantly on the south bank of the Slaney estuary near Killurin, Wexford, by sweeping herbage close to high water mark. — W. W. F. 124