WCP341

[1]

Neath May 3rd. 1846

Dear Sir¹

Those in your list which I am in want of are the following²

Calathus piceus.	—
Agonum piceum	—	The Agonums puzzle me much & I shall be glad of any specimens you have to compare with mine —
Peryphus cnemerythrus
Apion virens
A. humile
Colymbetes sturmii
Cryptophagus ulicis.
Aphodius sphacelatus	—	I think I have this, but am not sure of the species —
Onthophagus ovatus
O. coenobita	—	I am not sure of this species
Harpalus rupbripes
Silpha laevigata

————————————

————————————

I find while I have so many of the larger species to take I cannot pay the necessary attention to the more difficult smaller ones such as the minute Brachyelytra & Necrophaga — The following are what [2] I have taken from my last list up to the present time —

x	Leistus spinibarbis		rather plentiful in woods
	L. fulvibarbis!		2 with d[itt]o
	L. rufescens	—	1 under stone
	Chlaenius vestitus	—	2 banks of River Neath
✓	Amara tibialis?		on Crymlin [sic] Burrows3
✓	A. erythropa?	—	d[itt]o —
✓	Trechus fulvus.
✓	T. suturalis.
	Tachypus properans.
	T. celer
	Tachys binotatus	—	in grass.
	Ocys melanocephalus?	}	on bark of fallen tree
	or tempestivus. !!	}
	Hydroporus 12 pustulatus.		Neath Canal.
	H. pygmaeus?	— —	do. [Neath Canal]
	H. tristis	—
	H. palustris.	—
*	Hygrotus pictus	— —
	[Hygrotus] scitulus	—
	[Hygrotus] inequalis [inaequalis]	—
	Haliplus fulvicollis.
✓	Noterus semipunctatus
	Laccobius minutus.	—
*	Necrophorus [Nicrophorus] vespillo	—	in dead crow
*	N. (1)4 humator.	—	do [in dead crow]
[3]
x	Catops festinans Trichoderma pubescens.		abundant.
	Trichoderma nebulosum.		2 in carcases [sic].
x	Staphylinus erythropterus	—	not uncommon.
	Hister cadaverinus.	—	with d[itt]o
x	Creophilus maxillosus	—	plentiful i[n] dead horse.
	Meligethes caeruleus	—	flowers.
✓x	Onthophagus Dilwynii5 [sic]	—	plentiful.
	[Onthophagus] fracticornis?	—
✓x (1)6	Typhoeus vulgaris.	—	under cow dung in dry thickets — in holes not near so deep as Geotrupes stercorarius.
	Agrypnus murinus.
x	Hypolithus riparius	—	not uncommon
x✓	Apion frumentarium.
	A. violaceum
	A. apricans
	Leiophleus nubilus	—	on nettles fine.
	Alophus 3 guttatus	—	do do [on nettles fine]
	Hypera nigrirostre[?] [nigrirostris]
✓	Otiorynchus [Otiorhynchus] scabrosus?
	Polydrusus [Phyllobius?] calcaratus.
	Phyllobius argentatus.
✓x	Hydronomus alismatis	—	on aquatic plants.
	Haltica brassicae.
✓x	H. pseudacori.		on Iris pseudacorus abundant.

with many small specim[ens] I hv not yet named.

[4] We have one of Mr. Dilwyn’s [Dillwyn's] Catalogues⁷of the Swansea Coleoptera at our library here — There are a great many nice species in it — And I have no doubt I shall get several of them this summer. Cicindela maritima & Nebria complanata I dare say I shall get in June. I have sent you a tracing of a map to shew you the situation of the Crymlin Burrows &c. The Burrows is merely a tract of nearly level sandy ground generally covered with short grass & such plants as "erodium cicutarium" "Erophila vulgaris" "arenarias"¹¹ &c. &c. The low parts subject to inundation from the sea are covered with the great sea rush "juncus maritimus" — [5] the "Salix argentea" & gorse and in the heaps of sand blown up immediately adjacent to the beach Elymus arenaria [arenarius], and Euphorbia paralias and other sea shore plants — The End next Swansea is most flat that next Neath River is broken by several pieces of rock rising perhaps 200 feet partly covered with woods & the sand heaped about them forms a little range of hills — I think I have forgot in my list Aegialia globosa which is very abundant attempting to crawl up the bare hills of blown sand most perseveringly — Crymlin bog produces many rare bog plants & marsh insects but from the quantity of water it is [6] very difficult to get into it. The Neath & Swansea valleys are formed by Rocky mountains mostly covered with oak woods on their sides and poor mountain farms on their summits & upper slopes — The Rock is the Sandstone of the coal formation — Along the sides of the River Neath for about 3 miles up from its mouth are flat marshy lands overflowed at spring tides — In the lower part of the valley is a deposit of ^dialluvial gravel on each side forming some good undulating land — The section of this part would be thus [a sketch of the terrain appears here] [7] High up the valley the ^dialluvial gravel is wanting — On the sketch the dark colour shews the woods and plantations. The mountains rise about 1000 to 1500 feet but in the upper part of vale to 2000 & at its upper extremity ab^t. 15 miles from Neath to upwards of 2500 feet. The upper part is crossed by the mountain limestone, and a district 4 or 5 miles wide separating the coal basin from the O. [Old] Red Sandstone is highly Romantic & beautiful — The mountain limestone also appears to the W. of Swansea as I have shewn by cross lines — which district I intend if possible taking a few days tour through & expect to get some novel species.

[8] I got some Ent. Pins some time since & use them for all of my coleoptera except the very large ones & the small or tender ones.

I have an eye glass with 3 lenses which I use either singly or combined but in the latter state it wants distinctness & light — How should a ¼ inch lens be mounted? as a common eye glass or as an Entomological microscope? —

I have seen some mounted at the top of a little glass cylinder which you put down over the object & then adjust with a screw — Just before receiving your last I had discovered what I thought was a cassida to be Thymalus limbatus[.] It is rather rare here.

I must now remain | Your sincerely | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

Mr H. Bates