Neath
May 3rd. 1846
Dear Sir
Those in your list which I am in want of are the following1
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 rubripes | ||
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 [on] banks of River Neath | |
✓ | Amara tibialis? | on Crymlin [sic] Burrows2 | |
✓ | 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? | — — | d[itt]o. | |
H. tristis | — | ||
H. palustris. | — | ||
* | Hygrotus pictus | — — | |
" scitulus | — | ||
" inequalis [inaequalis] | — | ||
Haliplus fulvicollis. | |||
✓ | Noterus semipunctatus | ||
Laccobius minutus. | — | ||
* | Necrophorus [Nicrophorus] vespillo | — | in dead crow |
* | N. (1)3 humator. | — | d[itt]o |
[3] | Catops festinans | ||
x | 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 Dilwynii4 [sic] | — | plentiful. |
" fracticornis? | — | ||
✓x (1)5 | 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 few[?]. | |
Alophus 3 guttatus | — | d[itt]o d[itt]o | |
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 h[a]v[e][?] not yet named.
[4] We have one of Mr. Dilwyn’s [Dillwyn's] Catalogues6of 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 on[?] 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 mount[ai]n[s][?] rise about 1000 to 1500 feet but in the upper part of [the] vale to 2000 & at its upper extremity ab[ou]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[ld]. 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
Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP341.341)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
Please cite as “WCP341,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 19 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP341