XIX.— Coleoptera from a peat interbedded between two boulder clays at Burnhead near Airdrie

Introduction In 1887, Robert Dunlop described a section in the glacial drift at Burnhead Quarry, two miles east of Airdrie, which included a layer of peat-like material interbedded between two boulder clays. In the lower layers of this bed remains of beetles were plentiful and “two large bags” of the material were taken away and sorted by Bennie. The beetle remains were sent to Canon Fowler for identification and his report listed a head and thorax of Pterostichus near strenuus and elytra of several species of this genus not apparently specifically identifiable. There was also an elytron of Anchomenus, again of indeterminate species. The most abundant species seems to have been Otiorhynchus nodosus of which several heads and thoraxes were found and one complete elytron. Some bright violaceous fragments were considered to belong to an unknown species. A short time ago Dr. W. W. Bishop, of the Hunterian Museum, discovered in the collections there, a small sample of this peaty material, and since insect fragments could be seen on the surface of the specimen, he sent half of it to me for investigation. The other half has been retained by the Museum. The specimen which I investigated consisted of little more than a cubic inch of light brown friable peat composed almost entirely of seeds of Carex and a few moss fragments. The visible beetle remains were first of all removed from the sample and any fragments found together and probably from the same individual were mounted together. The This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract