THE BEETLES OF A FOREST-SIDE GARDEN. 207
Fig. 4.—Restoration of Eurypholis boissieri, Pictet, from the Upper
Cretaceous, Hakel, Mt. Lebanon. After Pictet and Humbert.
Fig. 5.—Skull and pectoral arch of Alepidosaurus ferox, Lowe, living:
in the deep sea. After C. Tate Regan in Ann. and Mag.
Nat. Hist., 1911.
Fig. 6.—Restoration of Hoplopteryx lewesiensis, Mantell, from the
Middle Chalk; much reduced.
Fig. 7.—Hoplopteryx affinis, Gunth, living in the deep sea; much
reduced. After C. Tate Regan in Ann. and Mag. Nat..
Hist., 1911.
THE BEETLES OF A FOREST-SIDE GARDEN.
BY WALTER A. WILSON.
[Read 27th March, 1926.]
A YEAR or two ago, with a view to attracting some of the
carrion feeders of the British Coleoptera, I put down
bait in my garden in the shape of dead mice and birds, when
procurable, and also small portions of butchers' "lights," under-
inverted flower pots partially buried in the earth to protect the
savoury morsels from the unwelcome attentions of maraudering
cats and my own dog, while allowing ingress for the insects-
through the small hole in the bottom. The faculty in insects-
corresponding to the sense of smell in the higher orders of life
still remains very much of a mystery to us, although some
interesting experimental work was done with Lepidoptera in this
direction by that eminent savant, Henri Fabre. From time to
time the contents of the pots were examined, and I was agreeably-
surprised at the result. Among my visitors I found Necrophorus
humator, Silpha sinuata, Silpha rugosa, Choleva tristis, Hister
cadaverinus, Omosita colon, Omosita discoidea, Alcochara fuscipes
and several others of the family Staphylinidae. No doubt my
garden, although small and not far from the thickly populated
area of Walthamstow, is in rather a favourable position for such
an experiment, backing as it does on to a large field and allot-
ments and being within a hundred yards of the Walthamstow
portion of Epping Forest. The success I had in this direction
induced me to keep a more intense watch and record of my
beetle visitors in general, and although I am sure the list is by no>
means final the results up to the present may be of interest as
showing the possibilities of even a piece of ground seventy
feet by twenty.