INSECTS Not erroneously has Suffolk been termed ' that best of entomological counties,' for I firmly believe that there is not another in Britain, with the possible exception of Surrey, which lacks the sea-coast species, to compare with it in the number and variety of its insect-fauna ; and if its list of at- present discovered kinds is not equal to that of other districts the fact must be attributed to lack of observers rather than to paucity of material. It is not my province to set forth the very varied geological and floral features which go so far to influence its insects' presence, but it is only fit that those localities which may most advantageously be visited by the entomologist and their peculiar treasures should be indicated in order ; and this will explain the constant recurrence in the following account of some dozen of them with, I trust, unnauseating frequency. The visitor leaves the railway at Bentley station, and, after a glance at the crag-pits at Tattingstone and the Brantham Dale on the east, strikes off west and begins his hunt at the Bentley Woods, where for twelve years I collected weekly or oftener, and on my last visit took a new Psocid ! It is a wood locality with oak on the one side, fir on the other, and a marshy meadow between. The Raydon Woods, still keeping westward, are similar though less wild ; and, farther on, Assington Thicks is part of the same ancient forest-track, and its fauna has, perhaps, been less disturbed through the ages. Then comes an unprofitable track through Sudbury and Melford to Haverhill in the south-west corner of the county, which is all heavy land, and with the single exception of Stanstead Wood, of little use to us. Turning north we are soon on the chalky slopes about Newmarket, which should yield many new things, though I have always been disappointed there. Some ten miles to the east is Bury St. Edmunds and Tostock, where Mr. Tuck has found many good things in the broad woods, though it is all heavy land. But straight ahead we come to Tudden- ham and Herringswell, which once formed part of the great fen level, and we still find such inn-signs as ' The Anchor ' there. This is the best marsh- collecting in the county : the Angelica grows 8 ft. high, one falls over tussock-grasses hidden bv herbage, and on the southern side are scattered woods of alder merging into birch, with broad open tracks of wild heather and rabbits' warrens ; while on the north it is bounded by the sluggish and weedy Lark River, on the banks of which, a little farther west, is good collecting at Barton Mills and Mildenhall. The chalk at Worlington is worth a visit from the latter town. Continuing northward we come to the best heath collecting in the county ; between Eriswell and Brandon there is heath, as far as the eye can reach nothing but heath — and rabbits. Maidcross Hill at Lakenheath is worth a visit — it is all sand ; and Palmers' Heath between it and Brandon is also productive. We are now at Brandon, lOI
