I have recently (Kenward, 1975) reviewed our knowledge of the past and present ecology and distribution of the blind colidiid beetle Aglenus brunneus (Gyllenhal), a species of considerable interest in studies of archaeological insect assemblages. The origin of A. brunneus as a recent human importation from North America, proposed by Peyerimhoff (1945), was shown to be unlikely in view of its presence in tenth century York. The significance of the beetle as a component of archaeological assemblages and some lessons from it concerning the study of archaeological insects in general were outlined. A considerable amount of new data concerning A. brunneus has since accrued. The insect has now been found in samples covering a wide time span from a variety of sites throughout England and in Eire. At the time the earlier account was written the presence of A. brunneus in Roman Britain could not be reliably established, the only available record (from the Roman sewer at York, Buckland, 1976) being open to doubt in view of the fossils’ association with clearly contaminant insects. I have since found the species in two more Roman deposits from York. The first group of specimens came from late third to fourth century backfill of a timber-lined well, constructed during the late second or early third century, at the Skeldergate site (Bishop, 1977). It is possible that open textured Roman fill was later infiltrated by fine particles, including insect remains. The Aglenus could thus have a post-Roman origin, but on the balance of the available evidence they are probably Roman. The second record of the species from Roman levels in York is based on several individuals from a deposit associated with foundation timbers of a riverside building dated to AD 90-110 at the Coney Street site (Hall & Kenward, 1976). The insects were taken from a thin layer of peaty silt, immensely rich in the remains of several species of grain beetle. This was overlain by a thick clay seal, itself succeeded by several phases of Roman deposits. The authenticity of the specimens is thus beyond dispute and the already highly implausible theory of a Viking introduction from North America, considered in the earlier paper (Kenward, 1975), can be eliminated. The spoiled grain habitat is one from which A. brunneus seems to be best known at the present day and to which recent published records refer (Hinton, 1945; Hunter et al., 1973; Salmond, 1956; Woodroffe, 1967). It is interesting to note that grain beetles [Uryzaephilus surinamensis (L.) and Sitophilus granarius (L.)] also formed a good proportion (26.6%) of the fauna of the sample from the Skeldergate well. Such an