I"i. ENTOMOLOGIST'S A MDCCCLYIII. I c : WITH A COLOURED PI ... = LONDON: >ORST, PATERNOSTE3 iiOW MDCCCLVIII. Half-a-C ' ' ** r V ^i .-• * THE ENTOMOLOGIST'S ANNUAL MDCCCLVIIL Shall we not as well discern the riches of Nature's warehouse as the benefit of her shop V LONDON: JOHN VAN VOORST, PATERNOSTER ROW. MDCCCLVIII. LONDON : PRINTED BY C. ROWORTH AND SONS, • BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. PREFACE. " Why should he catch us? Does he live on moths ? " was the pertinent question of Pronuba to Fimbria's assertion, that trees were sugared for a sinister purpose. We have ourselves more than once been posed by the somewhat similar inquiry, when surrounded by the small fry which prevail in Charlton sand-pit and similar localities, " What do you catch 'em for ? Are they good to eat ? " From which we gather that these inquisitive specimens of the human race and the loquacious Pronuba alike regard eating and drinking, as the "summum bonum;" that there is another kind of pabulum, namely, food for the mind, seems beyond the compass of their ideas. The present volume of the Annual endeavours, like its predecessors, to furnish a varied repast for the Entomolo- gical palate ; hence the papers are purposely constructed of variable scientific intensity, and embrace the four orders, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera and Neu- roptera ; the collectors and students of the last group we fear are not numerous, but we trust to a gradual increase in IV PREFACE. their ranks, as papers like that of Dr. Hagen's ought cer- tainly to tend to such a consummation. The numerous inquiries we receive each season from begin- ners respecting saw-fly larvae, which they mistake for those of Lepidopterous larvae, has led to the paper, by Mr. West- wood, " On the Larvae of the Saw-flies," which will be read with interest by every Lepidopterist, though perhaps he may merely view it as a guide as to " what to avoid." The notice of New Books has purposely been much com- pressed, as almost all the works therein mentioned have been already noticed in the " Intelligencer," and we fancy there are very few readers of the " Annual" who do not take in that weekly publication. Professor Frey's notice of the Tineae of the Higher Alps, though of course more specially interesting to the true Tinea- hunters, will attract attention from the bearing it has on the geographical distribution of species at various altitudes from the earth's surface ; but the opening portion with the account of the ascent to the Alpine hunting-ground will, we believe, be found to the taste of every palate, so that the readers may be tempted to exclaim " It's very kind " Of that great creature to provide us food." On the present occasion, we have reverted to the single briginal Edition. Though a few people had been clamorous PREFACE. V for a Library Edition, we found practically there was no call for it whatever, and the People's Shilling Edition has cer- tainly not been appreciated in the way we had anticipated ; no doubt the vast correspondence which is stimulated amongst Entomologists by the " Intelligencer" runs away with many of the " People's Pennies," and hence a gradual absorption in other Entomological channels of the " People's Shillings." H. T. STAINTON. MOUNTSFIELD, LEWISHAM, S.E., December 12///, 1857. EXPLANATION OF PLATE. Fig. 1. Lcemophlaus Clematidis, see page 73. 2. Laverna Phragmitella, see page 110. 3. Coleoptera chalcogrammella, see page 93. 4. Sciaphila cinctana, see page 88. 5. Stathmopoda ? Guerinii, see page 152. 6. Acentropus niveus, see page 102. 7. Dorcatoma flavicornis, see page 75. 8. Euryusa Kirbyi, see page 64. 9. Rhyncolus truncorum, see page 75. CONTENTS. PAGE Do you study Entomology ? (By the Editor) .. .. 1 Second Supplemental List of British Entomologists. (By the Editor) 7 Neuroptera. By Dr. Hagen. Synopsis of the British Planipennes .. .. .. ..17 Hymenoptera. Notes on Aculeate Hymenoptera. By F. Smith . . . . 34 On the Caterpillars of the Saw-Flies. By J. O. Westwood, F.L.S., &c 122 COLEOPTERA. Notes of British Geodephaga. By J. F. Dawson, LL.B. . . 47 New British Species noticed in 1857. By E. W. Janson, Sec. Ent. Soc. . . . . . . . . . * . . 62 Notes on Ants' Nest Beetles. By E. "W. Janson . . ..78 Lepidoptera. New British Species in 1857 •• (By the Editor) .. 85 Rare British Species captured in 1857 „ .. ..99 Observations on British Tineina . . „ .. .. 104 Answers to Enigmas .. .. .. „ .. ..113 Enigmas still unanswered .. .. „ .. ..114 New Enigmas for Solution .. .. „ .. ..115 Natural History of the Tineina . . .. „ .. ..118 The Tineae of the Higher Alps. By Professor Frey .. 137 Paris viewed Lepidopterologically. (By the Editor) .. 151 New Works on Entomology. (By the Editor) .. .. 154 " If we knew how to use our boys, Martin would have been seized upon and educated as a Natural Philosopher. He had a passion for Birds, Beasts and Insects, and knew more of them and their habits than any one in Rugby; except perhaps the Doctor, who knew everything." Tom Brown's School Days, p. 275. DO YOU STUDY ENTOMOLOGY? (By the Editor.) " What a question !" exclaims some reader. " Dear me, no ! I catch insects, and like the fun of the thing, but I never thought of making it a study." " What a bore !" exclaims another, " to talk of studying Entomology ; why I took it up as a relief from my studies." " Oh !" says a third, " it's all very well for big-wigs to make a study of insects ; it may answer their purposes to do so, but it wo'nt answer mine. At any rate, Entomology is a more intellectual pursuit than partridge shooting, without bothering one to probe into the very arcana of science." " I am very sorry," says a fourth, " but I can't study ; it always gives me a headache. My doctor tells me I mustn't do anything that requires close application." Need we go further to cite the excuses which almost every individual who reads these pages will suggest to himself, in order to show how it is utterly, morally and physically im- possible that he should study Entomology ! Is Entomology worthy of being studied ? Perhaps every reader will be disposed to say, " It is :" though quite ready to give some excellent reason why he should be excused. " What is every body's business is nobody's business ;" hence apparently it is that nobody (or almost nobody) takes to the study of Entomology. 1858 b DO YOU STUDY ENTOMOLOGY .' Some kind friend suggests we are too sweeping in our denunciation of this idle, frivolous and degenerate age. Too sweeping ? It is impossible. We have for some time been occupied in sounding with a plummet the depth of the Entomological minds of the country, and lo, what do we find ! Such an amount of shallowness, laziness and unwillingness to study as is really appalling. Whatever appliances have been brought forth to facilitate the study of Entomology, we continually receive applications, again and again reiterated, to furnish something easier and simpler still. The Entomological digestion can- not dispose of meat ; that we had anticipated, and had ac- cordingly offered it bread and milk, but lo, it clamours for pap ! This is really too bad : we turn a disgusted ear to the whining cry, and take up the pen to rate right soundly this grumbling spirit. Study requires attention, diligence and application. Attention : to concentrate the attention on the subject before us, to keep our thoughts from wandering, and to take in and understand what we are reading, not skimming over the pages, only half taking in the sense of the writer (as you, gentle reader, have just this moment been doing), is impera- tively required of all who wish to study. Diligence: the subject of study must be taken up re- peatedly ; it must not be looked at only once a week, as a sort of penance. " There, now, I have done my lesson, no more till next week," is not the way to profit by our lessons; they must be turned to con amove, and looked on as a " labour of love." Application : when you have been studying for some little time, and find the fresh vigour of the mind has worn off, don't put the book away and think you have done enough ; stick to it a little longer, force the rebellious, lazy intellect to DO YOU STUDY ENTOMOLOGY f 6 do a little more work ; you will find that day by day it will become less rebellious and more obedient to your wishes, and you will reap the benefit of the continued application. To what does all this tend ? Well, we don't want people to leave off asking questions, but we want them to leave off asking stupid questions. Nine-tenths of the inquiries we get are simply questions by lazy people who are too idle to take the trouble to find out the answers for themselves. It is very convenient when you can get another person to think for you ; what a world of trouble it saves ! But a person who is too lazy to find out the answer to some question, which he would probably meet with in some of the Entomological works which he assures us he has on his bookshelf (though, by the way, they might just as well have been left in the bookseller's shop, for the little use he appears to have made of them), is hardly likely to profit by our reply, and, if treated as he deserves, should be told to " read and he will know." Entomologists are . Well, we won't be too severe ; but seriously, is there not something utterly wrong in the amount of apparent votaries of the science and the little pro- gress it makes. It is more than twelve months ago since we inquired, " Who bids for the Bugs ?" Several have compli- mented us on the tone of this inquiry, but no one has bid ! Fancy an auctioneer complimented by his audience on his George Robins' style of oratory, yet who failed to get a single offer ! Surely, he would rather have bids than com- pliments ! When we survey the number of juveniles who will read these pages— and a correspondent has reminded us that " boys are the raw material out of which men are made" — surely, we must needs think that some one will feel his b2 4 DO YOU STUDY ENTOMOLOGY .' spirit stirred within him, and that he will be incited to a more studious Entomological career : perhaps, however, his good resolutions will all have evaporated before the morrow. No doubt it is felt by some as a difficulty that they have no Entomological examinations to undergo : a Westwood and a Newman may keep each other mutually up to the mark, for if either makes a blunder, the other pounces on it and parades it with great glee, as if it were a grand prize, but the mass feel that their blunders are devoid of this intrinsic value, and probably think that if they had a few examinations, a sort of little-go and great-go in Entomology, it would enable them to take more interest in it as a study ; but judging from what one sees at present, it would only be about once in ten years that any one would be found going in for his " great-go," so poor is the crop of first-class Ento- mological students. Another difficulty is that many of our younger readers have no personal acquaintance with older Entomologists ; they are in fact studying " without a master," and that class of studies is very apt soon to degenerate so much as to be no longer worthy of the name of study. It is only a few of peculiarly persevering habits who are likely to examine themselves thoroughly, to see clearly for their own satisfac- tion what they have learned and what they have only skimmed over. " What is to be done ?" some of our readers of course ex- claim, and expect we are going to enter into a full and de- tailed explanation. In this they will be disappointed : we are content with calling attention to the disease, leaving to each person to find out and apply the remedy which in his case will be most beneficial ; if Ave prescribed they would think they had only to try our prescription and to find it didn't answer, and of course the lazy ones would soon find that, and then they would think they need take no further trouble. Some who have been purring very complacently over these pages would perhaps wish us to specify more particu- larly what class of our readers we are attacking ; of course they conceive themselves exempted, and have been pleasantly passing on all our castigations to their neighbours. Now these remarks are intended especially to apply to all those (a pretty numerous class, too) who think they don't need them ; the true worker is always painfully aware of his short-comings, and is always feeling that he neither works long enough, well enough, nor with sufficient vigour and determination. The lazy, on the contrary, are often half appalled at the amount of work they think they have do?ie, so that of course those who need the castigation most will be the readiest to pass it over to their friends. We are perfectly aware that it is far pleasanter to apply a lecture to a neighbour than to ourselves, but then our apply- ing it to our neighbour does him no good, whilst at the same time it fosters our vanity and self-conceit, already inordinate enough, in all conscience ; and the joke of the thing is, that at the very same time our neighbour is applying all the self- same lecture to us. It is astonishing how ready we all are to think other people would be the better for a little good advice ! Our complaint is this, that hardly one collector in a hun- dred thinks of studying Entomology, and not one in ten of those who do makes anything out of his studies. Can this be a satisfactory state of things ? Of course our views of the existing race of Entomologists are founded very much on our own experience. There may DO YOU STUDY ENTOMOLOGY be contemplative, quiet students, who trouble us with no letters, because they solve all their own problems ; and it would be to us a real pleasure to find that half a dozen such good men and true existed, though hitherto unknown to us : true merit is ever modest, and so these Entomological philo- sophers may be shy of obtruding themselves upon us and upon the public. ( 7 ) SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL LIST OF BRITISH ENTOMOLOGISTS. (By the Editor.) Having given, in the Annual of 1856, a List of British Entomologists, and in last year's Annual a Supplemental List, we now give a Second Supplemental List. Many of the names are those of Entomologists who are no incipients, but have been collecting for many years quietly. We have been assured by one Entomologist that he has found the Lists of great service in enabling him to decypher the almost illegible signatures and addresses of his Entomological corre- spondents. We are sorry to hear there is so much bad writing abroad ; more pains ought to be taken to write dis- tinctly. The following alterations have taken place in the Address or Title of the Entomologists enumerated in our previous Lists : — Changes of Address. Braim, John, Dewshury Moor, Den-sbury, Yorkshire. Brockholes, J. F., 16, Cleveland Street, Birkenhead. Chapman, Thos., Bothivell Street, Glasgow. Chappell, J., 17, Franchise Terrace, Pendleton, near Manchester. Clark, Rev. Hamlet, 33a, Red Lion Square, Holborn. Clarke, A. H., 18, Kensington Park Gardens, Not- ting Sill. Colquhoun, Hugh, M. D., 16, Grosvenor Terrace, Glasgow. O SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL LIST Cooke, Nicholas, Spring View, Liscard, Cheshire. Crotch, G. R., Uphill House, Weston-super-Mare. Crotch, W. D., Uphill Mouse, Weston-super-Mare. Crump, T. L., Winchcomb, Gloucestershire. Drane, Robert, 11, Bute Street, Cardiff. Gibbs, H. F., 27, Upper Manor Street, Chelsea. Greene, Rev. Jos., 32, Lower Pembroke Street, Dublin. Hodgkinson, J. B., 30, Fishergate Hill, Preston. Hunter, John, 16, Robert Street, Hampstead Road. Jordan, Dr., Springgrove Terrace, Edgbaston, Bir- mingham. King, George, 158, Higher Union Street, Torquay, Devon. Reading, J. J., 11, Ham Street, Plymouth. Reeve, G. W., Forest House, Woodford Wells, Essex. Scott, John, Southjield Villas, Middlesbro' -on-Tees. Shield, Richard, 8, Alpha Place, Angler s Lane, Kentish Town. Smith, W. H., County Court Office, Nottingham. Tearle, Rev. F., Grammar School, Kettering. Thomas, J. P. jun., 7, Montague Place, Islington. Thompson, W., 4, Dutton's Buildings, Mill Street, Crewe. Tompkins, Henry, 44, Guildford Street, Russell Square. Weir, J. Jenner, 6, Haddo Villas, Blachheath. Chanqes of Title, &c. Beale, Rev. S. C. Tress, Alkham, near Dover. Crozier, Lieut. H. D., Royal Engineers, Brompton Barracks, Chatham. Fuller, Rev. A., Kirk Hallam, Ilkeston, Notts. Erratum in last year's Annual, p. 23 : for Peckover, Algernon, Wisbech ; read Peckover, Alexander, Wisbech. OF BRITISH ENTOMOLOGISTS. Supplemental List of British Entomologists. Allchin, Dr. W. H., 7, Pembridge Villas, Bayswater. British Lepi- doptera. Almond, F., Bedern Bank, Ripon, Yorkshire. British Lepidoptera. Anderson, Robert, St. Martin's Le Grand, Coney Street, York. Bri- tish Lepidoptera. Andrew, C. H., 129, High Street, Cheltenham. Atkins, T. W., High Street, Poole. British Lepidoptera, &c. Backhouse, William, Shotley Bridge, near Gateshead. British Lepi- doptera. Baily, W. A., Cirencester. Baker. J., 25, Trumpington Street, Cambridge. Barton, Lieut. Robert, R. E., Stonehouse, Donnybrook, Ireland. Lepi- doptera. Battersby, H. W., Oakfield, Torquay. British Lepidoptera. Batty, James, 133, South Street, Park, Sheffield. British Lepidoptera. Baylie, W. E., Longfleet, near the Turnpike, Poole, Dorsetshire. Bri- tish Lepidoptera. Bedford, T., Appleby, Westmoreland. British Lepidoptera. Berridge, E. W., Buttermarket, Ipswich. British Lepidoptera and Co- leoptera. Bewley, Rev. F., Ballymoney, Co. Antrim, Ireland. Irish Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. Bishop, H. S., 1, Catherine Street, Plymouth. British Lepidoptera. Blandy, C. J., Mill Lane, Reading. British Lepidoptera. Blandy, J. F., Mill Lane, Reading. British Lepidoptera. Bockett, Rev. B. Bradney, Vicarage, Epsom. British Lepidoptera. Boddy, G., 3, Bridge Road, Hammersmith. British Coleoptera and Lepidoptera. Bonney, E. S., Churchdale House, Rugeley. British Lepidoptera. Bonne y, F., Marlborough College, Wilts. British Lepidoptera. Bonney, Rev. T. G., 3, Great College Street, Westminster. British Le- pidoptera. Bradley, Francis, Thompson's Square, Portobello Street, Sheffield, Secretary to the Sheffield Entomological Society. British Lepi- doptera. 10 SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL LIST Brown, D. E., 11, St. John's Street, Longsight, Manchester. Brown, J., Westgate, Ripon, Yorkshire. British Lepidoptera. Bryant, F. C, Plymouth. British Lepidoptera. Burnand, W. W., High Street, Poole, British Lepidoptera. Burns, Robert, 63, Edmond Street, Birmingham. Cairnes, W., Head of Church Street, Durham. British Lepidoptera. Canham, G. W., 28, Osborne Terrace, Kennington (S.W.). British Lepidoptera. Cash, William, at Mr. Oddy's, Delph Street, Halifax. Challis, Charles Ed., 2, Old Cambridge Terrace, South Lambeth (S.). Lepidoptera. Churchill, J., West Street, Poole, Dorsetshire. British Lepidoptera. Clarke, Mrs. L. L., Woodeaton Rectory, Oxford. British Diptera. Clements, Thomas, 11, Brandon Street, Bermondsey New Road. Cooper, Sidney, Stone Bridge, Tottenham. British Lepidoptera. Cooper, Walter E., 21, Burton Terrace, York. British Lepidoptera. Cranstone, Joseph, 32, Claverton Street, Widcombe, Bath. British Lepidoptera. Crowther, James, Sister Lane, Halifax. Cubitt, Charles, Denbies, Dorking. British Lepidoptera. De la Chaumette, F. T., 9, Gloucester Terrace, West Green Road, Tottenham. Digby, Henry Somerville, Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Coleoptera of whole world. Done, Master John, J. Hickman's, Esq., Brockton, near Worth en, Salop. D'Orville, H., Alphington, near Exeter. British Lepidoptera. Dove, William, 28, Cross Street, Green Street, Bethnal Green. Bri- tish Lepidoptera ; also purchases insects for sale. Drakeford, John, Bromsgrove Street, Birmingham. British Lepi- doptera. Eaton, James, Friar Gate, Derby. Extwistle, Henry, Burnden, Great Lever, Lancashire. British Le- pidoptera. Fawcett, J. K., House of Correction, Kendal. British Lepidoptera. Flatman, James, Little Waltham, Chelmsford. British Lepidoptera. Fry, G. T., 29, York Street, Plymouth. British Lepidoptera. OF BRITISH ENTOMOLOGISTS. 11 Fry, Hubert, 18, Medina Villas, Cliftonville, Brighton. British Lepi- d opt era. Galloway, A., Birr Castle, Parsonstown, King's County, Ireland. British Lepidoptera. Garner, Robert, F. L. S., Stoke-upon-Trent. Gibson, W. G., 75, High Street, Dumfries, N. B. British .Lepidoptera. Gloyne, C, Jun., 5, Terrace, Kensington (W.). Coleoptera. Goldney, George, Slough, Bucks. British Lepidoptera. Gorham, H. S., 10, Alfred Street, Montpelier Square, Brompton. Bri- tish Lepidoptera. Creenfield, J. T., Shirley, Southampton. British Lepidoptera. Grenfell, J. G., Rugby. British Lepidoptera. Griffith, J. R., Brighton College, Brighton. British Lepidoptera. Groggins, James, Port Road, Caldergate, Carlisle. British Lepidoptera. Groom, Charles Ottley, 18, Nova Villas, Cliftonville, Brighton. British Insects, Arachnida and Crustacea. Gwatkin, R. L., The Park, Millbrooke, near Southampton. British Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. Gwynne, H. A., Richmond Villa, St. John's Wood, London. British Lepidoptera. Hall, Thomas, 75, London Wall, City. Hards, H. Robinson, Royal Victoria Mill, Dartford. British Lepidop- tera. Harrison, Thomas, 48, Rochdale Road, Manchester. British Lepi- doptera. Harvey, A. S., 4, Sussex Place, Southampton. British Lepidoptera. Harvey, Robert, 4, Sussex Place, Southampton. British Lepidoptera- Harwood, W. H., St. Peter's Street, Colchester. British Lepidoptera. Hastings, Sidney, Weston Grove, Thames Ditton, Surrey, and 14, Al- bemarle Street, London. British Lepidoptera. Haward, Alfred, Eagle Cottage, Gloucester Road, Croydon Common. British Coleoptera. Hay, Master Alex. John, Uckfield, Sussex. British Lepidoptera. Hayden, Rev. F. W., Skelton Rectory, York. Hellins, Rev. J., St. David's Hill, Exeter. British Lepidoptera. Hertslet, J. G., 19, Grove Place, Brompton. British Lepidoptera. Hicks, W., Cricket Inn, near Sheffield. British Lepidoptera. Hill, Master Matthew, Little Eaton, near Derby. British Lepidoptera. 12 SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL LIST Hind, J. R., 22, Grove Road, St. John's Wood. British Lepidoptera and European Rhopalocera. Hind, Robert, 24, Gillygate, York. British Lepidoptera. Hodgkinson, Thomas, Grey Stone, off London Road, Carlisle. Hudson, George", 27, Stansfield Row, Burley, near Leeds. Hume, W., 20, Victoria Road, Kentish Town. Hunter, Miss, of Thurston, Dunbar, N. B. Ingall, W., 2, Altorf Cottages, Loughborough Road, Brixton. British Insects. Ingle, T. W. B., 4, Commercial Street, Huddersfield. British Lepi- doptera. Isaac, J. C, 10, East Street, Stonehouse. British Lepidoptera. Jazdowski, Bronislas, 120, Crown Street, Aberdeen. British Lepi- doptera. Jenner, Herbert, Jun., The Limes, Carshalton, Surrey. British Le- pidoptera. Jerrard, F., Long Stratton, Norfolk. Johnson, E. R., Woodlands, Sidmouth, Devon. British Lepidoptera. Johnson, F. P., Woodlands, Sidmouth, Devon. British Lepidoptera. Johnson, W., 1, Coronation Square, Gas Street, Great Bolton, Lanca- shire. British Lepidoptera. Jordan, Wm. Jas., Commercial Schools, Ilminster, Somerset. Kelsall, Thos., 21, Franchise Terrace, Pendleton, near Manchester. British Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. Kemp, J. E., 12, Portland Street, Cheltenham. British Lepidoptera. Kent, Henry, 31, Willow Walk, Bermondsey. British Lepidoptera. Kidd, R. C, Edrom House (Ayton), Berwickshire. British Lepidoptera. Killingbeck, James, Wesleyan Schools, Selby. British Lepidoptera. King, Josiah, Lankford Road, Biggleswade. Kirby, Rev. H., Great Waldingfield, Sudbury, Suffolk. British Lepi- doptera and Coleoptera. Knaggs, H. G., 1, Maldon Place, Prince of Wales' Road, Kentish Town. British Lepidoptera. Knapp, W. H., 21, Lampeter Street, Islington. British Coleoptera. Laing, James Arthur, 1, Haddo Villas, Blackheath. British Lepidop- tera. OF BRITISH ENTOMOLOGISTS. 13 Lamb, James, 7, King Street, Perth. British Lepidoptera. Langley, W., B.A., Ganarew, Monmouth (Bishop Cosins' Hall, Durham, during Term time). British Lepidoptera. Latchmore, F., 75, High Street, Strood, Kent. British Lepidoptera. Lattimer, J., Corporation Road, Carlisle. British Lepidoptera. Lawson, Rev. E., Little Barford Rectory, St. Neot's. Lewis, George, 6, Kidbrooke Terrace, Blackheath, S.E. British Coleoptera. Linnell, Thomas, Redstone Wood, near Reigate, Surrey. British Coleoptera and Lepidoptera. Linton, Charles, 5, Europa Place, John's Row, St. Luke's. British Lepidoptera. Liversidge, William, 35, Stansfield Row, Burley, Leeds. Macdonald, S. R., The Villa, Castle Cary, Somersetshire. British Lepidoptera and Neuroptera. M'Lachlan, J., Hethersett, near Wymondham, Norfolk. M'Lachlan, Robert, 1, Park Road Terrace, Forest Hill, S.E. British Lepidoptera. Mailer, Daniel, New Road, Town Head, Auchterarder, Perthshire. Main, James, Port Road, Carlisle. British Lepidoptera. Marston, G., Bedern Bank, Ripon, Yorkshire. British Lepidoptera. Ma son, Anthony, Grange, Ulverston. British Lepidoptera. Meldrum, T., Millgate, Ripon, Yorkshire. British Lepidoptera. Merriman, H. H., 4, Kensington Square, W. Merrin, Jos., 1, Caroline Villas, Falkner Street, Gloucester. British Lepidoptera. Miller, Edw., Jun., Bank, Wellington, Somerset. Moir, David, Hilldowntree, Bauchory Devenick, N.B. British Lepi- doptera. Moon, J. F., Hanover House, Ryde, Isle of Wight. British Lepidoptera. Moore, Benjamin J., Union Terrace, York. Morgan, W., 27, Emma Street, Cambridge Heath, Hackney. British Lepidoptera. Morley, George, 4, Pleasant Row, Wellington Street, Camberwell. British Lepidoptera. Morris, William, Kent Water-works, Deptford. British Lepidoptera. Morton, Edward, Ripon, Yorkshire. Mullins, Master E. Herbert, Corsham, Wilts. British Lepidoptera. 14 SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL LIST Nicholls, H., 12, Rydon Street, New North Road, Islington (N.). British Lepidoptera. Oldham, F. H., Market Place, Mansfield, Notts. Owen, James, Horwich, near Bo] ton-le- Moors, Lancashire. Page, F., Jun., Newmarket, Cambridgeshire. British Lepidoptera. Perkins, C. M., Wootton-under-Edge. British Lepidoptera. Perkins, V. R., 9, Staple Inn, Holborn. British Lepidoptera. Pickering, William, 24, Burnden, near Bolton, Lancashire. British Lepidoptera. Piffard, B., White Swan, Epping. British Lepidoptera. Porter, John, Jun., 8, East Street, Lewes. British Lepidoptera. Potter, John, 37, St. Mary Street, Woolwich. British Lepidoptera. Pratt, John and Henry, 35, Duke Street, Brighton. Pre scott, W., 40, Mount Street, Salford. Prest, William, 7, Castlegate, York. British Lepidoptera. Prime, J., 17, Coronation Street, New Town, Cambridge. Pryer, William, Grafton Villas, Kentish Town (N.W.). Pyle, G., Amesbury, Wilts. British Lepidoptera. Rawlinson, W. G., Taunton, Somersetshire. British Lepidoptera. Reynolds, R. S., Mansfield. British Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. Roberts, L., Rosehill, Bideford, North Devon. British Lepidoptera. Roberts, T. Vaughan, Solicitor, Oswestry. Rogers, B., Marden, near Devizes, Wilts. British Lepidoptera. Rogers, H., Freshwater, Isle of Wight. Collects for sale. B.OTHWELL, Richard, Bullfield, Gas Street, Great Bolton, Lancashire. British Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. Ruffle, G. W. H., 21, Princess Road, Kennington Cross, Lambeth (S.). Russell, A., Ash ford. British Lepidoptera. Rye, E. C, 14, King's Parade, Chelsea (S. W.). Sage, Thomas, 3, West Street, Cambridge Heath, Hackney. British Lepidoptera. Sanders, John, Eastover, Bridgwater. British Lepidoptera. Saunders, Sydney J., 104, London Wall (E.C.). British Coleoptera and Lepidoptera. Sayer, John, 4, Martha Street, Haggerstone. British Lepidoptera. OF BRITISH ENTOMOLOGISTS. 15 Scott, Henry, Eaves Lane, Chorley, Lancashire. Sellwood, Rev. John Binford, Woodhayne, Combe Raleigh, near Honiton, Devon. British Lepidoptera. Sergeant, Lewis, Boston Spa, Tadcaster. British Lepidoptera. Sims, C, 5, Pomeroy Street, New Cross (S.E.). Skeels, S. C, Little Waltham, Chelmsford. British Lepidoptera. Smith, John, 25, Booth Street, Salford. British Lepidoptera. Smith, W. H., County Court Office, Nottingham. British Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. Stan dish, F. O., 2, Alfred Cottages, Warner Road, Camberwell. Stephenson, Henry, 63, Chorley Street, Little Bolton, Lancashire. British Lepidoptera. Stevens, Joseph, Upper Richmond Road, Wandsworth. British Le- pidoptera. Stockdale, Master Ernest, Linwood Rectory, Wragby. British Le- pidoptera. Stokes, James, 1, Thanet Street, Burton Crescent, London. British Coleoptera. Stubbs, H. J., Henley-on-Thames. British Lepidoptera. Sturgess, W., Kettering. British Lepidoptera. Sutcliffe, Joseph, Warley, Halifax. Tales, William, 2, Windsor Street, Putney. British Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. Taverner, Henry Thomas, 7, Savile Row, Mile End Road. Taylor, D. R., 4, Alpha Cottages, New Road, Hammersmith. British Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera. Taylor, E. W., 75, London Wall, City. Taylor, W. H., Tolson Street, Sunny Bank. British Lepidoptera. Tiiomlinson, John, Port Road, Carlisle. Thomson, Master Charles, Frisby, Leicester. British Lepidoptera. Thorburn, William Stewart, Bank House, Troqueer, near Dumfries. British Lepidoptera. Thorne, J., 12, Morpeth Street, Green Street, Bethnal Green. Insect Cabinet Maker, Dealer and Collector of all Orders. Tidy, Lewis, 1G, Crown Gardens, Brighton. British Lepidoptera. Tilly, J. H., 3, Bernard Street, Regent's Park North, London. British Lepidoptera. Trotter, James, 308, High Street, Perth. British Lepidoptera. 16 SECOND LIST OF BRITISH ENTOMOLOGISTS. Trye, R. E., Leckhampton Court, near Cheltenham. British Lepidop- iera. Tudsbury, R., Jun., Edvvinstowe, Ollerton, Notts. British Lepidoptera. Turner, Edwin, Lostock Hall, near Bolton-le-Moors, Lancashire. Turner, W. C, 33, Bermondsey Square, Southwark. British Lepidop- tera. Tutin, J. Hasledine, M.R.C.S., A.K.C., Ripon, Yorkshire. Tyrer, R., Jun., Row Lane, Southport, Lancashire. British Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. Tyssen, Amherst, Manor House, Hackney. British Lepidoptera. Tyssen, Ridley, Manor House, Hackney. British Lepidoptera. Valentine, W. H., Somerton, Somersetshire. British Lepidoptera. Wadham, A., 14, High Street, Barnstaple. British Lepidoptera. Ward, Christopher, Horton Street, Halifax. Watkins, W., Agincourt Square, Monmouth. British Lepidoptera. No longer collects. Wheeler, E., 1, Promenade Place, Cheltenham. British Lepidoptera. Willetts, Henry, 63, Edmond Street, Birmingham. Willis, T. W. B., Wick Episcopi, near Worcester. British Lepidoptera. Winter, William, Ranworth, Blofield, Norfolk. British Insects of all Orders, except Hymenoptera ; also collects for E?itomologists. Wood, C, Dulwich Common. British Lepidoptera. Young, S. W., 12, Portland Street, Cheltenham. British Coleoptera and Lepidoptera. Zachary, Henry, Jun., Cirencester. ( 17 ) NEUROPTERA. Synopsis of the British Planipennes. By Dr. Hagen. The following synoptical attempt contains the whole of the true Neuroptera, excepting the Phryganidce ; consequently all the Neuroptera, with complete metamorphoses. The Phryganidce, being the family in which the separation of the species is most difficult, is held back to allow time for a thorough examination of the types of Mr. Curtis and M. Pictet. I have only introduced in the following synopsis those species of which I have seen in British collections authentic British specimens. The given number of species may be considered as comparatively large, since the published lists for the other countries of Europe give smaller numbers. It is true that the British Fauna has been more thoroughly investigated, and there are but a few countries (Sweden, Austria), or even provinces, for which there exist complete notices on all the Neuropterous families, as those by Wesmael, Schummel, Schneider, Brauer. Nevertheless, it may be an- ticipated with certainty that, by close research, the number of the British Neuroptera may yet be considerably increased. From the peculiar curve of the isothermal lines, as is well known, species which in Provence, and which are unknown in c 18 NEUROPTERA. the interior of France, are again met with in the south west of England and south of Ireland. On the other hand, the north of Scotland produces nearly all the known Scandinavian, and even some of the Arctic species. On looking through the present synopsis, we find no southern species, and yet where Cordulia Curtisii and Agrion tenellum fly their southern consorts must occur. I have called attention to the probable occurrence of Bittacus Italicus in England ; it is so like a Tipula that it has probably always been overlooked on that account, although the presence of four wings easily distinguishes it. That Myrmeleon — and probably more than one species — occurs in England, appears to me very probable, in spite of all assurances to the contrary, and I hope that careful search will be made for these remarkable insects in particular. Indeed, without extravagance, we might go further still. I even expect that one species of Ascalaphus (perhaps A. longicornis) will some day come to light ; I should not be surprised, if the remarkable Mantispa pagana were to be met with in the south west, and I do not consider it be- yond a possibility that Southern Ireland may possess the extra- ordinary Nemoptera Lusitanica. Of the remaining genera, it may be anticipated with certainty that the genera Chry- sopa, JBCemerobius and Raphidia will all have more indi- genous species to be added to them. If it is wished to in- vestigate these genera further, of all methods of capture, the best, according to my experience, is to beat into an umbrella. Most species are nocturnal insects of prey, and, therefore, are not often exposed to view. The best trees to beat are pines and firs, and after them oak. It must be expressly noticed, that the characters given are only applicable to the determi- nation of the British species, and the synonymy given does not aim at completeness. I have throughout selected only SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH PLANIPENNES. 19 those references which were absolutely necessary to elucidate the species. As in the Synopsis (last year) of the British Dragon flies, the characters of several species not yet found in Britain are given, in order to facilitate the naming of new British spe- cies by those who may meet with them. These probable British species have no numeral prefixed to their names, which are printed in Italics, not in Capitals. Planipennes. Mandibles completely developed ; under lip rounded, not cleft ; tarsi five-jointed ; the veins only hairy, the membrane of the wing never. Metamorphosis complete, larvae generally carnivorous. Family I. Hemerobid^. Wings deflexed ; the subcosta parallel to the costa, but never united with it ; labial palpi three-jointed ; anal area wanting. Larva with sucking apparatus, always carnivorous. Pupa reposing in a cocoon till its final transformation. 1. Antennas short, with clubbed tip. Sub-family Myr- MELEONID^. Genus Myrmeleon, Linne. According to Stephens (Illustrations, Mand. vi. p. 98), the ant-lions are wanting in the British Fauna, although Barbut counts 31. formicarius as indigenous. In the collections of British insects I have examined, I have never met with this genus. Nevertheless, we may assume as almost certain that at least two species will be found in Britain, and probably more. The perfect insects being noc- turnal, and bad fliers, are easily overlooked; the larva is always very local, and easily escapes discovery. Fir woods c2 20 NEUROPTERA. on sandy places are their favourite resort. The two following species occur in Belgium and France : — Myrmeleon formicarius, L., Burm. ii. 996, 15. Exp. 26 lin. Brown ; thorax spotted with yellow ; tarsi with pale annulations ; fore wings with a white stigma and black spots ; hind wings with two black spots on the costa. 31 '. formicalynx, Burm. ii. 994, 4. Exp. 26 lin. Brown ; thorax with pale border ; wrings unspotted, with a white stigma. 2. Antennae long, the tip not thickened. Sub-family Hemerobid^:. A. The veins in the marginal area of the fore wings which are nearest to the thorax are straight, and do not ramify. a. Ocelli visible. Genus Osmylus, Latreille. The larva lives partly in water ; cocoon of irregular form, of spun silk. (See Linnaea Entomologica, vii.) 1. Osmylus chrysops, L. ; 0. maculatus, St. ; C. Exp. 19 lin. Brown ; head reddish ; tarsi yellowish ; wings spotted with black ; the fore wings most so on the hinder margin, the hind wings most near the costa. Habitat England, local, in June. This pretty insect appears to prefer stony, rapid streams which are fringed with alders. SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH PLANIPENNES. 21 b. Ocelli wanting, f Antennae filiform. Genus Chrysopa, Leach. Larva aphidivorous ; cocoon of the form of a barrel, of thick spun silk. * Upper lip rounded in front. § The partition vein of the third cubital cell does not reach the adjoining cell. 2. Chrysopa vulgaris, Schn. Mon. 68, 2 ; Walk. ; C. perla, Wesm. ; C. cornea, St. 103, 7 ; C. ; C. alba, St. 104, 9; C. ; C. affirm, St. 104, 11; C. Exp. 12 lin. Sap-green; thorax and abdomen with a yellow line down the middle ; face on each side with three reddish streaks ; wings narrow and pointed ; the veins in the third cubital cell easily distinguishes this species from all others. The specimens which come forth in autumn or winter are more or less reddish. Habitat England, Scotland. Common in June. §§ The partition vein of the third cubital cell reaches to the adjoining cell. H The second joint of the antennas unspotted. 3. C. flava, Scopoli ; C. vittata, Schn. Mon. 65, 1 ; Walk. ; C. subfalcata, St. 105, 13; C. Exp. 16 lin. Sap-green ; thorax and abdomen with a yellow line down the middle ; the first joint of the antennas shorter than the head ; the costa of the wings strongly excised. Habitat London, in June, sparingly. 4. C. vittata, Wesmael ; C. Integra, Hag. ; C. perla, St. 105, 12; C. Exp. 21 lin. 22 NEUROPTERA. Sap-green ; the first joint of the antennae lonijer than the head ; the costa of the wings not excised ; wings broad, some of the basal nervures brownish. Habitat England, Scotland, common. 5. C. alba, L. Schn. Mon. 77, 7. Exp. 14 lin. Pale greenish-white ; head small, unspotted, wings with numerous black, long-haired, transverse veins ; eyes during life dark coppery, not golden. Habitat England. In the collection of the British Museum. 6. C. angustipennis, St. 104, 10 j C. ; C. Heydenii, Schn. ? Exp. 15 lin. Pale-green, unspotted ; wings narrow, long, with some brown transverse veins. Habitat England, in June. I am not clear about this species ; the types of Heydenii seem different, so that this species appears to be wanting with the Continental authors. 7. C. flavifrons, Brauer, Mon. 6, 3. Exp. 16 lin. Pale blue-green ; head unspotted ; antennas as long as the wings; prothorax with two S-shaped red spots', the numerous transverse veins black. Habitat England. In the collection of the British Museum. 8 ? C. tenella, Schn. ; Mon. 94, 19. Exp. 10 lin. Pale green ; face spotted with black at the sides ; SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH PLANIPENNES. 23 wings narrow, pointed, the transverse veins in the marginal area strongly spotted with black. Habitat England. A doubtful specimen in the col- lection of the British Museum. 9. C. 7-punctata, Wesm. ; Schn. Mon. 101, 24. Exp. 18 lin. Sap-green ; face spotted with black at the sides and between the antenna ; prothorax black in front at the sides; wing-veins dark green, a number of the trans- verse veins black ; antennae shorter than the wings. Habitat England. In the collection of the British Museum. 10. C. aspersa, Wesm. ; Schn. Mon. 112, 31 ; C. ventralis, St. (partim). Exp. 16 lin. Pale green; face spotted with black at the sides and between the antennce; palpi black, with pale annu- lations; prothorax with four black spots; trans- verse veins in the marginal area with a black dot at each end. Habitat England. In the collection of the British Museum. 11. C. ventralis, Curtis ; Stephens, 103, 8. Exp. 14 lin. Pale green; face spotted with black at the sides and between the antennae ; palpi blacky with pale annu- lations; antennae with the tip darker; prothorax with four black spots ; abdomen (even during life) beneath black ; transverse veins of the wings mostly with a black dot at each end. Habitat England, June. 24 NRUROPTERA. H1F The second joint of the antennae black. 12. C. abbreviata, Curtis ; St. 103, 6; Schn. Mon. 119, 35 ; C. immaculata, St. 103, 7. Exp. 10 lin. Sap-green; a black spot between the antennce and on their first joint, a black crescent round their base ; face spotted with black at the sides ; wings shorty blunt and rounded, with the veins quite green ; tarsal claws with the base expanded into a sort of tooth. Habitat England, June and July. 13. C. phyllochroma, Wesm.; C. abbreviata, St.(partim). Exp. 12 lin. Sap-green, a black spot between the antennce ; a black crescent round their base ; face spotted with black at the sides ; wings bluntly rounded, longer, some of transverse veins blackish ; base of the tarsal claws not expanded. Habitat England. In the collection of the British* Museum. 14. C. perla, L. ; Schn. Mon. 136, 43 ; C. reticulata, St. 102, 3; C. maculata, St. 102, 4. Exp. 14 lin. Pale blue-green ; a spot before the eyes, a crescent round the base of the antennae, a spot between them, an ocellar spot on the crown, spots on the thorax, ab- domen and all the transverse veins black. Habitat England, common in June. ** Upper lip in front emarginate. 15. C. fulviceps, Steph. 101, 1 ; Schn. Mon. 146, 47. Exp. 20 lin. Reddish ; head orange, abdominal segment in the middle SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH PLANIPENNES. 25 and at the sides yellowish ; first joint of the antennas yellowish ; transverse veins of the wings black, the marginal veins reddish. Habitat England, local and scarce, June. 16. C. capitata, F.; St. 102, 2; Schn. Mon. 144, 46. Exp. 16 lin. Brown ; head, prothorax, and the two first joints of the antennce, orange ; legs reddish, with brown knees. Habitat England ; June, scarce. -ft Antennas moniliform. * Last joint of the maxillary palpi four times as long as the penultimate. Genus Sisyra, Burmeister. Larva lives in water (JBranchio stoma Spongillce, Westw.) ; cocoon ? 17. Sisyra fuscata, F. ; Henier.fuscatus,St. 114, 29; IT. nitidulus, St. 30; H. conjinis, St. 31. Exp. 5| lin. Black; wings shining, brownish, with few transverse veins ; antennce black. Habitat England ; June, not scarce. 18. S. terminalis, Curtis. Exp. 5| lin. Pale brown; crown of the head reddish; wings pale ash-coloured, less shining, with few transverse veins ; legs pale yellow ; antennce dark brown, the tip pale yellow. Habitat England. (Lakes of Killarney, Ireland.) [A. H. H.] 26 NEUROPTERA. * * Last joint of the maxillary palpi little longer than the penultimate. Marginal area narrowed at the base. Genus Micromus, Rambur. 19. Micromus variegatus, F. ; Wesm. Exp. 5 lin. Brown ; antennas and legs pale ; wings white, the fore wings with black spots and transverse veins, the hind wings with three black spots at the apex of the outer margin. Habitat England. In the Stephensian collection there is a specimen amongst H. hirtus (with a special label H. fimbriatus). 20. M. intricatus, Wesm. ; H. angulatus, St. 106, 2. Exp. 7 lin. Ochre-coloured; thorax and abdomen spotted with brown ; fore wings hairy, pale ash-coloured, sprinkled with brown. Habitat England, Scotland, scarce. 21. M. paganus, Vill. ; H. nemoralis, St. 110, 15. Exp. 7 lin. Rust-coloured; antennas yellowish; wings broader, ochre-coloured, with two brown fascice parallel to the outer margin, the outer one intersected by tkree shorter fascice. Habitat England, not scarce. B. The vein nearest to the thorax in the marginal area of the fore wings recurrent and branched, a. Outer margin of the wings rounded. Genus Hemerobius, L. Larva aphidivorous, clothing itself with the empty skins of its prey ; cocoon oval, of a gauzy silken texture. * Two sectors. SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH PLANIPENNES. 27 22. Hemerobius pygm^eus, Rambur; H. elegans, St. 113, 27; H. Marshami, St. 114, 28. Exp. 4j lin. Small, rusty-brown; head black; legs pale; wings grey, at the hinder margin with faint brown spots. Habitat England in June, not common. * * Three sectors. 23. H. Humuli, L. Wesm. ; H. nebulosus, St. 107, 5 H. Humuli, St. 108, 7 ; H. obscurus, St. 108, 8 H. lutescens, St. 109, 13 ; H. affinis, St. 109, 14 H. paganus, St. 110, 16; H. apicalis, St. 110, 17 H. sub-fasciatus, St. Ill, 19; H. irroratus, St. Ill, 20 ; H. marginatus, St. 109, 12. Exp. 6—8 lin. Yellow; thorax and abdomen above on each side spotted with brown. Wings yellowish-white, fore wings sparingly spotted with brownish-grey, more so towards the hind margin; the veins dotted with brown ; near the base of the fore wings a distinct black dot. Habitat England, common in June. This species varies much in the colour of the fore wings ; sometimes the spots unite to form fasciae, as in H. margina- tus, St. It may always be easily recognized by the black dot near the base of the wings. 24. H. micans, Wesm. ; H. punctatus, St. Ill, 18 ; H. pah lidus, St. 112, 24. Exp. 6g lin. Yellow; prothorax with a rust-red stripe at the side; wings yellowish, the veins spotted with brown. Habitat England, June, July. 28 NEUROPTERA. 25. H. nervosus, F. ; Wesm. ; H. fuscus, St. 107, 4; H. stibfiebulosus, St. 107, 6; H. nervosus, St. 108, 10. Exp. 7 lin. Brown ; a broad yellow stripe goes over the head and thorax ; abdominal segments paler at the base ; legs pale, anterior tibiae with two brown spots; wings whitish, fore wings at the margin and on the veins alternately spotted with brown and white, the mem- brane shaded with ashy-grey. Habitat England, not scarce. 26. H. phaleratus, Hoffmansegg ; Schn. ; H. fasciatus, St. 108, 9; H. perelegans, St. 109, 10; H. Pini, St. Ill, 21 ; H. stigma, St. 112, 22 ; H. crispus, St. 112, 23. Exp. 6 lin. Brownish ; fore wings pale brown-yellow, with brown spots on the costa, only the sectors and the third marginal vein dotted with brown; brown fasciae on the disc. Habitat England, Scotland ; June. * * * Four sectors. 27. H. concinnus, Steph. 106, 3; H. cylindripes, Wesm. Exp. 9—11 lin. Ochreous; the veins of the fore wings dotted with black, the intermediate spaces with many ashy-grey clouds ; tibiae cylindrical. Habitat England, Scotland ; July. * * * * Seven sectors. 28. H. hirtus, L. ; Wesm. ; St. 106, 1 ; H. jimbriatus, Curt. Exp. 8 lin. Brown ; very hairy; crown of the head piceous ; legs yel- SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH PLANIPENNES. 29 lowisli ; fore wings ashy-grey, the veins dotted with brown, the intermediate spaces with brown clouds ; hind wings with faint brown fascia and the tip edged with brown. Habitat England, June. b. Outer margin of the wings scolloped. Genus Drepanopteryx, Leach. 29. D. PHAL2EN0IDES, L. ; St. 100, 1. Exp. 15 lin. Clay-coloured ; back brownish ; about 12 sectors ; fore wings with two brown fasciae traversed by a third ; a white streah at the anal angle. Habitat Scotland, local 5 England. Genus Coniopteryx, Curtis ; Coniortesy Westwood. Small ; the entire creature, wings and all, with a white mealy covering. Antennas moniliform; last joint of the labial palpi very long ; neuration very simple ; 2 sectors. Larva aphidivorous, on fir trees ; cocoon oval, of close- spun silk. 30. Coniopteryx tineiformis, Curt. ; Steph. 116, 1. Exp. 3 lin. Whitish-grey; antennae shorter than the body; abdomen ochreous; hind wings hardly smaller than the fore wings. Habitat England, common in June. 31. C. aleyrodiformis, Steph. 116, 2. Exp. 4 lin. Snow-white ; antennae evidently longer than the body, brownish ; abdomen piceous ; hind wings rather smaller than the fore wings. Habitat England, in June. 30 NEUROPTERA. 32. C. psociformis, Curt. ; Steph. 117, 3. Exp. 4 lin. Snow-white ; antennae twice as long as the body, ochreous; hind wings hardly half the size of the fore wings. Habitat England, Scotland. Family II. Sialid.se. Wings deflexed; subcosta unites with the costa before the apex of the wing; labial palpi 3-jointed; anal area present (in Raphidia very small). Larva with the mouth formed for biting, always carni- vorous. A. Ocelli wanting. Genus Sialis, Latreille. 33. Sialis lutarius, L. ; Steph. 133, 1. Exp. 19 lin. Black ; the brownish wings with a multiplicity of veins ; marginal vein brownish ; fore-wings yellowish at the base. Habitat England, Scotland; very common. B. Ocelli present. Genus Raphidia, L. (A species which does not occur in England, R. crassi- cornis (Inocellia, Schn.), has no ocelli.) * Stigma with only one transverse vein ; below it four rows of cells. 34. Raphidia ophiopsis, L. ; R. affinis, St. 131, 4 ; R. maculkollis, St. 131, 5. Exp. 8 lin. Black-brown ; head conical, convex, a red spot above SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH PLANIPENNES. 31 and at the sides ; stigma short, brown, extending far beyond the cell beneath it, both internally and exter- nally. Habitat England, in June. 35. R. xanthostigma, Schummel ; R. conjinis, St. 131, 6. Exp. 8 lin. Black-brown; head triangular, smooth; stigma long, yellow, extending beyond the cell beneath it, ex- ternally only. Habitat England, June. 36. R. Londixensis, Steph. 130, 3; R. Schneiderii, Ratze- burg. Exp. 10 lin. Black-brown ; head conical, convex, coarsely punctured beneath; stigma long, narrow, yellow, of equal length with the cell beneath it. Habitat England. * * Stigma with two transverse veins ; beneath it five rows of cells. 37. R. meoacephala, Steph. 130, 2; R. ophiopsis, Steph. 131, 1 ; R. media, Burm. Exp. 15 lin. Black-brown; head quadrangular, convex ; stigma long, brown, projecting inwardly far beyond the cells be- neath it. Habitat England, common. Family III. Panorpid^e. Wings horizontal, narrow ; subcosta unites with the costa before the apex of the wings ; mouth prolonged like a beak labial palpi two-jointed; anal area wanting. 32 NEUROPTERA. Larva with the mouth formed for biting, phytophagous, living underground. Pupa quiescent, without a proper cocoon. A. Wings wanting. Genus Boreus, Lalreille. 38. Boreus hyemalis, L. ; Steph. 51, 1. Length 3 lin. Small brown, with a metallic gloss; beak, legs and ovipositor }^ellowish. Habitat England, local. B. Wings present. * Tarsi with two claws. Genus Panorpa, L. 39. Panorpa communis, L. ; Steph. 52, 1. Exp. 16 lin. Black ; wings with two transverse fascice, and two spots on the costa, and the apex black : in the $ the two penultimate joints of the forceps of equal length, conical. Habitat England, very common. 40. P. Germanica, L. ; Rbr. ; P. affinis, Steph. 52, 2. Exp. 14 lin. Brown ; wings with detached scattered brown spots, one at the internal angle of the yellow stigma larger, the apex brown ; in the $ the two penultimate joints of the forceps of equal length, conical. Habitat England, very common. 41. P. alpina, Rambur; P. Germanica, Steph. 53, 5; P. borealis, Steph. 53, 4. Exp. 14 lin. Brown ; wings with one transverse fascia, and the apex SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH PLANIPENNES. 33 grey-brown ; in the $ the penultimate joint of the forceps shorter, cylindrical, with turned wp edges. Habitat England. 42. P. apicalis, Steph. 52, 3. Exp. 10 lin. Black; the wings only spotted with black at the tip; in the male the penultimate joint of the forceps shorter, conical. Habitat England, June. * * Tarsi with one claw. Genus Bittacus, Latreille. Bittacus Italicus, Miiller; Tipularius, F. Exp. 24 lin. Clay-coloured; wings yellowish ; tibiae with brown tip. Habitat. Not yet found in England ; collected in Bel- gium by Wesmael, and very probably indigenous in the south-west of England. 1858 ( 34 ) HYMENOPTERA. Notes on Aculeate Hymenoptera, with some Ob- servations on their Economy. By Frederick Smith. " Come with me And I will show thee where the wild bee haunts, And which the flower each toilsome wanderer loves." Of all the insect tribe, there is none whose appearance in abundance, or their scarcity, is more dependant on sunny- days than the aculeate Hymenoptera; many indeed, of the fossorial division, are never seen excepting; on the hot days of July and August. It will therefore be premised, that the record which it is now our task to draw up will enumerate the appearance of all, or most of the rarities of the Aculeatce. The oldest living Entomologist will, we presume, look back vainly — in vain will he try to recall to memory a season surpassing that of 1857 ; from the earliest days of spring to the final close of autumn, a succession of glorious entomological days succeeded each other. We be- lieve it will be acknowledged by every one, when he has scanned the pages of this Annual, that such a record of appearances of rarities in unusual abundance, in all orders of insects, was never before compiled. We have, however, only to treat upon one order of the insect world, and here we meet our difficulty, that is to say, which species has not appeared in abundance. The earliest bee, which harbingers X0TES ON ACULEATE HYMENOPTERA. 35 the coming throng (Andrena Clarl-ella), appeared in pro- fusion in the spring ; and during the month of September, so fine and spring-like were the days, that some bees, ap- parently deceived by it, came forth before their winter's sleep ; of these we observed Andrena Grcynana and Afze- liella, both sexes of the latter ; we also met with M electa punctata, Anthophora acervorum and Nomada succincta and Mar&liamella. Such appearances are seldom observed, but we have elsewhere recorded one or two similar occur- rences. The success of the insect-hunter, like that of the hunter after larger game, will of course be greatly enhanced by ex- perience; thus he who has made himself acquainted with the "private lives" of his favourites, and the whereabouts they dwell, will start with immense advantages over the young and inexperienced. We have explored many localities, and have from time to time directed others to such spots as we have found prolific ; it has been our lot, during two seasons previous, to explore the sand-hills near Deal, and some other spots alonsj; the line of coast to Dover. During the latter part of July and the beginning of August last we made some further explorations, some at different points and at right angles with the coast line, penetrating short distances inland. It was on one of these inland excursions that we discovered — " A populous solitude of Bees — And fairy- formed and many-coloured things." And to this we shall specially direct attention. In no one spot have we ever found such an assemblage of rarities, including one or two we had not seen alive before. Our attention has during the past season been particularly attracted to the habits of the leaf-cutting bees ; the circum- stance which, in the first instance, directed our attention to d2 36 HYMENQPTERA. the subject, was so fraught with disappointment, was so calculated to raise in our minds certain misgivings of a lons;- cherished belief, that we even now recall the circumstance to mind with a sort of melancholy unwillingness. Sitting one day, looking out of the open window of our parlour, which overlooked the Channel at Deal, we were suddenly aroused from our afternoon's rest, by observing a little bee alight on the flower of a scarlet Geranium which adorned the window- sill; with the well-known adroitness of a leaf-cutter bee it quickly disengaged a circular piece from one of the scarlet petals. Antliocopa papaveris ! we exclaimed, and were outside in front of the window in a moment, net in hand ; in a few minutes a bee again alighted on the Geranium, it was captured — Antliocopa ! — no — Megachile argentata. Now we have no wish, in fact we cannot — will not — give up our firm conviction and belief, — that there once existed a veritable Ali Baba, — that Jack ascended the bean-stalk,— or that Robinson Crusoe lived in his desolate island and could not make a wheelbarrow ; neither can we allow the circum- stance above recorded, to shake our belief in there being a species of leaf-cutter bee, which always lines its subterranean chambers with the petals of the scarlet poppy. We have hitherto regarded the little creature as a sort of regal up- holsterer, who prepared gorgeous dwellings for its young- brood ; this belief was instilled into our minds on reading Hennie's chapter on the Upholsterer-Bee; and now, after the lapse of years, the little bee cutting the scarlet geranium, wTe reluctantly confess it, somewhat shakes our belief in what we fear may possibly prove to be an entomological romance. The observations recorded below have, we must admit, created a suspicion in our minds that Anthocopa selects the poppy, when the poppy chances to grow nearer to her NOTES ON ACULEATE HYMEXOPTERA. 37 dwelling than any other suitable leaf or flower ; but we will now proceed to detail our observations. Megachile maritima frequently selects the leaves of a species of Salix for the outer-covering of her cells, but the inner lining is a much more flexible and delicate leaf, such as the laburnum ; at another time we have found her cells composed of rose leaves for the outer coatings, but within lined with the soft leaves of the Trefoil ; usually, the divisions between the cells are formed of several circular pieces of leaf Dlaced close together, but we have seen the sagacious crea- ture cutting the thick leaves of the laurel, one circular piece serving in the place of half a dozen cut from thinner and more flexible leaves. On the sandhills at Deal, where, during July and the beginning of August, Megachile argen- tata is to be found burrowing in almost every mound, we have had innumerable opportunities of examining its bur- rows; we have usually found the cells composed outwardly of the leaves of the Trefoil, but within, almost invariably, of the yellow petals of Lotus corniculatus. We, however, found the same species of bee burrowing in an enclosed piece of ground, within two or three hundred yards of the sandhills, lining her cells with the petals of the scarlet Gera- nium, some plants of which grow along one side of the en- closure, which is laid out as a flower-garden. MegacMIe centuncularis is perhaps the most widely dis- tributed species of the genus, it is found in all J3arts of Europe ; we have seen it burrowing in sandbanks and also in decaying trees, posts and rails ; this species cuts the leaves of the rose, the willow, the lilac, and of several other trees and shrubs ; and, like the other species, selects softer leaves for the inner lining of the cells. At Deal we observed several individuals which had formed their burrows in an old brick wall, we watched them in their flight to and from a 38 HYMENOPTERA. rose tree, which grew a few yards from their burrows ; and these bees also, I was delighted to observe, like the M. ar- gentata, resorted to the scarlet Geraniums for the inner lining of their cells. These observations, and others made on pre- vious occasions, are convincing proofs to us, that the leaf- cutting bees resort to those plants which they find nearest to their burrows, when suited to their purposes ; at any rate, such plants which they first discover ; at one time lining their cells with, the sober-coloured green leaves of the laburnum, and at another selecting the petals of the gorgeous scarlet Geranium. The observations made induce us to think it quite pos- sible that the poppy-bee only occasionally appears in that character, and that at another time she may be the Gera- nium, the Lotus or the Laburnum-bee ; it may prove that this species is really an inhabitant of Great Britain, but has been overlooked, from the fact of its not having been detected cutting the leaves of the poppy. Should the latter prove to be the case, the above observations on leaf-cutting bees will have attained their object, and the writer will be par- doned having thus much trespassed on the patience of his readers. Captures of Formicid;e. Three years ago we described all the known British species of the genera Formica and Myrmica, amounting at that time to twenty-ei°;ht, to these five have since been added; and there can be little doubt of the number of species being greatly increased when Scotland and its ad- jacent islands are carefully searched. We would particularly direct the attention of the Coleopterist to these insects when searching in the nests of the wood- ant and also of the other species of Formica ; there are two or three species of Myr- mica, well known on the Continent, which appear always to NOTES ON ACULEATE IIYMEN0PTERA. 39 inhabit the nest of the wood-ant, never constructing a nest of their own ; one of these, Myrmica lucidula, has during the past season been discovered by Mr. Waterhouse; this very distinct and beautiful species is a fine addition to our Fauna, it was found at Wey bridge, Surrey. Formica congerens. Only males of this species have been obtained ; they were found amongst a few Hymenop- tera taken in Scotland by Mr. Foxcroft in 1846; this is the species in the nests of which Tinea ochraceella was discovered by Nylander in Finland. Formica brunnea. This species has long been included in the British list of Mr. J. F. Stephens, but in his cabinet it was represented by the female of F. umbrata of Nylander; amongst a number of ants collected at Deal we have dis- covered a single female of this species. Ponera contractu. This rare insect we TieYer had the good fortune to capture; Dr. Power, whose eye a novelty cannot escape, took a couple of workers at Brighton. Myrmica unifasciata. A colony of this scarce species was discovered by Mr. Baly ; it consisted of not less than 150 individuals; its formicarium was constructed in a decaying post, at Lower Shorne, near Gravesend. Myrmica lippula. A single specimen was taken by Mr. Beading, in July, near Plymouth, under a stone, amongst a colony of F.fusca. The Myrmica graminicola of Smith's Essay, is synony- mous with M. lippula. We have obtained a large number of the Myrmica acervorum, and, after a careful examination, wre agree with Nylander in considering F. gr a mini cola a variety of that species ; M. lippula is readily distinguished from the other minute species of the genus by its small eyes, and the long petiole of its abdomen ; we have taken the female as late as November, on the wing, in the London 40 HYMENOPTERA. district ; the late Mr. W. Wing captured it on the ninth of December. Myr.rn.ica nitidula, Nylander. This species was added to the British List by Mr. G. R. Waterhouse, who found it in the nests of Formica rufa ; it is readily distinguished by being entirely smooth, shining, and destitute of pube- scence. Nylander finds it in the nest of F. rufa and F. congerens; it is singular that this species, and also Myr- mica muscorum, an insect not yet found in this country, appear always to establish their colonies in- the nests of species of Formica ; we have little doubt, if our Cole- opterists look carefully for minute ants when searching in the nests of the wood ant, they will find the Myrmica muscorum ; it is distinguished from M. nitidula by being very pubescent. Fossores. Pompilus pectinipes. This species is not rare at Deal ; we captured both sexes on the west side of the sand-hills, opposite the first battery. Ammopkila lutaria. This species we took at the same time and place as the former insect. Miscophus spurius ? Dahlb. Having discovered this species last season to be an inhabitant of Great Britain, we were anxious to obtain more specimens, in this we were not disappointed ; both sexes occurred on the west side of the sand-hills, about half-way between Sandown Castle and the battery. Trypoxylon attenuatum. This species has been cap- tured by Mr. Parfitt in Devon, and by myself at Reigate Common. Astata hoops. This species was captured in June on Reigate Common, a new locality for this very local insect. Crabro Lindenius, C. capitosus and C. hyalinus. Mr. NOTES ON ACULEATE HYMENOPTERA. 41 Parfitt informs me that he has captured specimens of each of these very local and rare species. Crabro melanarius. Mr. Bold captured this species, new to the British Fauna, in July, 1856, near Lannercost, Cumberland ; it is described by Dahlbom in the first volume of his Hymenop. Europ. page 339. Cerceris lalriata. This very local species was captured in the beginning of August at Kingsdown, by my son Edward Smith. Phylanthus triangulum. This very local insect is still plentiful in Sandown Bay, where Mr. Un win found it last July. Family Apid.e. Captures of Andrenice. Colletis marginata. This rare species was again taken at the latter part of July along the south-west side of the sand-hills near Deal ; the specimens were old and worn ; the end of June is probably the best time to cap- ture it. Sphecodes rufescens. A very remarkable specimen has been captured by Mr. C. F. Allen, in which the anterior wince has the second submarGfinal cell obsolete ; such oc- currences are of extreme rarity amongst the bees, although frequent in some groups of fossorial insects. Halictus maculatus. Mr. Parfitt has captured the male of this species, near Exeter ; the female was taken by Mr. Unwin in July, in Sandown Bay, Isle of Wight. We are now about to direct the steps of the Hymenopterist to one of the richest localities, which during upwards of twenty years we have had the good fortune to discover ; here appeared to be the metropolis of all those autumnal species of extreme rarity, which belong to the genus Andrena, and its close ally Cilissa. We have always had a belief that the spring species of Andrena were extremely numerous in individuals, 42 HYMENOPTERA. and pretty generally distributed over the country, whilst the summer and autumnal ones were extremely local and few in numbers; the first position certainly appears to be correct, the latter is dissipated by our experience of the past season. Andrena Uattorfiana, A. Rosce, A. Cetii and A. pilipes are certainly four of the finest species of the genus, the first being; the largest and handsomest found in this country ; not only these, but others of great rarity, are to be found at the locality above alluded to. Walking from Deal along the coast to Dover, the Entomologist will pass Walmer Castle ; on arriving at this memorable fortification, he will of necessity cast a passing thought on the great " Captain of a hundred fights," who once dwelt there in quiet, when his campaigns were over. The insect hunter has his own more peaceful campaign before him— and at Walmer Castle it begins. At this point, or at a short distance beyond, the land begins to rise to the right of the road, and continues to do so until it ascends to the point of the high cliff, at a mile's distance, at Kingsdown; the gradual rise of the fields is, at certain distances, broken by short and much more sudden slopes, which divide the fields and run at right angles with the road up into the country, to different distances. These sudden slopes are uncultivated. The slope on the right hand of the road, before reaching Kingsdown, is also a glorious locality for Hymenoptera ; the following species of Andrena were all taken on that slope. Andrena Hattorfiana. The fine red variety and also the black, in about equal numbers ; in all, thirty fine spe- cimens of the female, the male we were too late for — all were taken on the flowers of Scabiosa arvensis. Andrena Cetii. This pretty little species was plentiful on the Scabious ; we found every variety, including the " affinis" of Kirby; the male varieties include the A. frontalis of Smith. NOTES ON ACULEATE HYMEXOPTERA. 43 Andrena Ronce. This species was scarce, it frequents the flowers of the blackberry. Andrena pil/pes. Not so abundant as we have found it in other localities in Kent ; it frequents the blackberry and the Mallow. Andrena thoracica. Not uncommon on thistle heads. Andrena bicolor. Very plentiful on the flowers of the common mallow ; the male proves to be, as we conjectured, the Melitta pilosula of Kirby. Andrena nigric&ps. Two specimens were taken in com- pany with A. simiUima. A. simiUima. Extremely abundant on the flowers of the blackberry ; this species was taken at the foot of the cliffs, half a mile beyond Kingsdown. Although the two pre- ceding species closely resemble each other, and were taken in company, still, to a practised eye, their specific differences are obvious; A. nigric&ps is a larger insect, covered with black pubescence on the face, cheeks and clypeus ; the floccus on the posterior femora is sooty-black. Andrena Coitana. Very plentiful, frequenting the flowers of the IS [allow ; we were too late for the males. Cilissa hcemorrhoidalis. This very local bee we took on the slope which runs up into the fields at the foot of the first cliff beyond Kingsdown; it frequents the Harebell; we never saw it on any other flower. Cilism leporina. The male of this species we have fre- quently met with, the female always being rare ; except on one occasion, we never met with more than single specimens ; on the slope at Kingsdown it abounded ; unfortunately we were too late to get fine examples, but their numbers were astonishing ; it frequented a species of Vetch, but we have taken it on the white Dutch clover. 44 HYMENOPTERA. Nomada Jacobcece. This local species we found in some numbers on the slopes at Kingsdown on the Ragwort. Nomada atrata. This species we took in the same situa- tion as the former; it is by far the most important capture we have made this season ; the only examples which were known previously were taken in Sussex by my friend Mr. Samuel Stevens, both were males. Of three taken at Kingsdown two are females ; this sex scarcely differs from the male, it is black, with the extreme base of the flagellum beneath, and the mandibles, ferruginous ; the anterior and intermediate tarsi, the posterior tibiae at their base outside, the tubercles, tegulae and two ovate spots on the scutellum, ferruginous; the tibias with a black stain outside; wings with their apical margins very dark fuscous ; abdomen with the apical margin of the basal segment, and the basal margin of the second, ferruginous ; the sides of the metathorax, and some spots on the sides of the abdomen, with silvery white pubescence. The male is rather brighter than those captured in Sussex ; taken on Reseda lutea. JEpeolus variegatus. Taken plentifully at Deal on the sand-hills. Stelis aterrima. Taken in company with the preceding species ; this insect we have always found on the flowers of the Mallow; it is probably parasitic on Osmia fulviventris, as that bee is extremely abundant in the same situation, the eand-hills, Deal. Osmia parietina. This very local species was taken at Loch Rannoch, by Charles Turner, the collector. Osmia xanthomelana. This rare, or very local, species was captured near Exeter by Mr. Parfitt. Osmia spintdosa. This little bee may be found on nearly every thistle-head at the foot of the cliffs beyond Kingsdown during July and August. NOTES ON ACULEATE HYMENOPTERA. 45 Megachile versicolor. This very rare species was cap- tared near Exeter by Mr. Parfitt ; only two or three speci- mens are at present, I believe, in collections, the male has not been taken. Apathus rupestris. In the Monograph on the Bees of Great Britain, we quoted, with a doubt, the Bremus po~ morum of Panzer as one of the varieties of the male ; all- doubt is now removed, as we captured three fine fresh speci- mens of this highly coloured variety at Kingsdown. Variety Po morum. Black ; the pubescence on the head black ; the clypeus nearly naked, very smooth and shining. Thorax clothed above with white pubescence, with a band of black between the wrings ; the tarsi beneath, and the posterior tibia? within, with short fulvous pubescence; the wings hyaline, faintly clouded at their apex. Abdomen r the first segment with white pubescence, on the second it is pale fulvous, on the third and following segments it is rich rufo-fulvous. The capture of this very beautiful variety is a great ac- quisition ; we have only seen a single example before, we think in the collection of Mr. Curtis, who has collected a £Ood deal at Dover ; probably it was taken there, ours being found at Kingsdown ; the variety may be peculiar to the south-east coast. Several instances of the capture of Bombi (in coitu) have- been recorded ; indeed, we ourselves have met with two-thirds of the species under such circumstances, but until August last we never met with any species of Apathus; but at Kingsdown we took A. rupestris (in coitu); we also took three pairs of B. lapidarius, and the male of lapidarius con- nected with B. terrestris; this is the first instance, which we have observed, of the sexes of different species of Bombi copulating. 46 HYMENOPTERA. Another phase in the economy of these bees is worthy of notice ; for two or three days we noticed a number of males of B. Latreillellus buzzing and flying about the entrance to a nest, occasionally alighting and entering, then issuing out and buzzing in a most excited manner ; now and then a worker returned home laden with spoil. Although we sat quite close to the hole into which they entered, they took no heed of us, never attempting to fly at or sting us ; in fact, so harmless they appeared, that we picked up several in our fingers as they issued forth ; the males, it is true, kept up a continual buzzing about our heads, and we occasionally captured a fine highly coloured specimen ; at last we ob- served the cause of this assemblage of males ; a fine fresh example of the female at last showed herself at the entrance to the nest, this was a signal for a more furious buzzing than before ; numbers alighted within a few inches of the female, and a fierce combat ensued ; about ten or twelve of these males clung together and rolled over and over, struggling in close combat ; the female, who had retreated into the burrow, again appeared, and this time took flight ; in a moment every male was gone, the whole host, not less than twenty or more, flew off in chase of the female, — we saw them no more. We noticed another day an assemblage of males as before, but we saw no second female take flight. ( 47 ) COLEOPTERA. Notes on British Geodephaga, with Description- of One New Species (Supplementary to the Geo- dephaga Britannica). By J. F. Dawson, LL.B. Vicindela hybrida and maritima. Some surprise lias been expressed that I should persist in maintaining these insects as distinct species, contrary to an increasing opinion that they are only varieties of the same. I have never found reason to question the fact of their being distinct. They present structural differences, which, though slight, are well defined; besides the invariably dissimilar form of the central band. Take, for instance, the claw,— in that we have a structural character, which may be patent to any one who will examine it. With the aid of a damp camel-hair pencil moisten and expand the unguiculi of each, so as to examine them fairly, and it will be found that the claw in hybrida is invariably larger and stonier than in maritima. The authors of the Faune Francaiae refer to maritima as an accidental variety. Surely such cannot be the case. If they are varieties at all, they must be permanent local varieties. Near Burnham Market, and on the north coast of Devonshire, for instance, maritima is found in immense profusion, and in not one example will the form of the central band be found to approximate to that of hybrida ; whilst on the Lancashire coast every specimen of hybrida presents the 48 COLEOPTERA. same uniform characters, without a single instance of ap- proximation to maritima ; the central band in some is slightly more bent than in others, but that is all ; there are no inter- mediate gradations. The question has again been revived — to which of these species ought the C. hyhrida of Linnasus to be referred- It will be remembered that Stephens (following the arrange- ment previously adopted in Sowerby's British Miscellany, 1806) assigned it, in his Illustration* , to maritima ; and gave the name apriea to the C. hybrida of authors. In the Manual, however, he adopted the generally recognized no- menclature. The opinion of our early English writers on the subject was no doubt based upon the authority of the Linnsean types of hybrida, which will, I believe, be found to belong to maritima ; and if these are to be accepted as- conclusive, the original arrangement of our English authors would prove to have been correct. Dromius agilis, Fab. Mant. i. 204 (Carabus); Dawson, Geod. Brit. p. 8. Carabus fenestrates, Fab., is, we are assured by Dr. Schaum, entirely distinct from the variety fenestrates, Steph., and has not been.captured in England. It will be necessary, therefore, to make the following correc- tions in the Geodephaga Britannica. At page 8, erase " Fab. S. El. i. 209 ; Sturm, D. F. vii. 168 ; " and at page 9, line 24, &c, erase the sentences beginning "Dr. Schaum considers," and ending with " D. agilis." Dromius glabratus, Dufts., Faun. ii. 248 (Lebia) ; Daw- son, Geod. Brit., p. 13. Mr. Wollaston has called our attention to an apparent oversight with reference to this species. He is of opinion that Lebia glabrata, Dufts., and Dromius maurus, Sturm, are in reality two distinct species, though they have hitherto been considered mere varieties of the same insect by previous writers on the subject. Compare NOTES ONr BRITISH GEODEPHAGA. 49 Mr. Wollaston's paper in the Zoologist (p. 5637) with Dr. Schaum's copious remarks at pp. 275—6 of the enlarged edition of Erickson's Insecten Deutschlands, now in course of publication. Errata omitted to be noticed. Geod. Brit. p. 14. For D. foveolus read D. foveola, both here and wherever the species is mentioned ; but the synonym must stand as it is. Page 21, lines 17, 18, for Vigors read Sowerby. [Zuphium olens, Fabr. A specimen of this insect has been captured near Forest Hill. The locality is somewhat suspicious, and one cannot help associating the insect with the idea of the roots of the palm trees and of other exotic plants which have been brought to the people's palace.] Dyschirii. — With reference to D. inermis, Curtis ; nitidus, Dejean, and impunctipennis, Dawson, remark as follows :— In arranging the species of this genus, I was led into the error of taking it for granted, that D. inermis of Curtis and of Stephens were identical. I observe also, that in the re-issue of Erichson's "Insecten Deutschlands," now in course of pub- lication, Dr. Schaum assigns impunctipennis as a synonym to inermiSj Curtis, on the authority of a typical example of the former insect, which was communicated to him by Mr. Wollaston. I am informed, however, by Mr. Curtis, that Dr. Schaum never saw his type at all, and the conclusion at which he (Dr. Schaum) arrived was the result of the same erroneous supposition (entertained in common with myself), that D. inermis of the Stephensian cabinet was identical with it. I have recently had an opportunity of examining Mr. Curtis's typical specimen, and, after the most careful investigation and comparison of these several species, have elicited the following results : 1st. That D. inermis, Curtis, is neither more nor less than a large dark-coloured example 1858 e COLEOPTERA. of nifidus, Dejean, with the external denticulations on the anterior tibiae perhaps slightly less developed than in ordinary specimens ; 2ndly, that D. inermis of Stephens's Cabinet must be referred to impunctipennis, as Dr. Schaum has cor- rectly determined. It presents, indeed, some slight variations- from it, but to these I am not disposed to attach any import- ance. The following alterations must consequently be made at pages 26 and 29 of Geodephaga Britannica, Erase the species D. inermis entirely, together with its synonyms and descriptions, and let the synonymy of D> nitidus stand thus. D. nitidus, Dej. Spec. i. 421 (Clivina) ; Steph. Mand. i. 40, &c. D. inermis, Curtis, Ent. pi. 354. And that of impunctipennis as follows : — D. impunctipennis, Dawson, Geod. Brit. p. 29.* D. inermis (nee Curtis), Steph. Mand. v. 369, et Manual,. P. ii. D. digitatus (nee Dejean), Steph. Mand. i. 42, et Manual, p. 12. IX. fulvipes (nee Dejean), Steph. Mand. v. 370, et Manual, p. 12. D. arenosus (nee Stephens), Putz, Mon. 48. D. Icevistriatus, Fairmaire, Faun. Franc, p. 47. [The two latter synonyms are given on the authority of Dr. Schaum ; and D. fulvipes, Steph., has no representative bearing that name now in the Stephensian Collection ; the label is removed, though possibly the insect may still be there.] Dyschirius nitidus, Dej. Spec. i. 421 (Clivina); Dawsonr * It may perhaps be objected that the name arenosus justly claims the priority; but if the rule be made absolute (and it appears to be accepted as one of the primary laws of nomenclature), that a name pre- viously employed to represent a different species in the same genus shall not he revived, impunctipennis must stand. NOTES ON BRITISH GEODEPHAGA. 51 Geod. Brit. p. 26. Taken plentifully in Preston Marsh, and at Lytham, by Messrs. Graham and Constantine, to both of whom I am indebted for some interesting varieties. Dyschirius obscurus, Gyll. Ins. Suec. iv. 456 (Clivina); Dawson, Goed. Brit. p. "297. This species was introduced by me at the last moment before going to press, and I had no opportunity of describing it from actual types ; this defi- ciency I am now able to supply from specimens before me ; therefore erase the paragraph beginning " This species," and substitute the following description. Head small, flat, dull black ; antennas black, with the base pitchy red. Thorax dull metallic black, sides globose and rounded, being widest just behind the middle, dorsal line deep and entire. Elytra brassy or bronzed, humeral angles a little distinct, sides moderately rounded ; deeply striated, the strice entirely impunctate, finest near the extremity ; underside black; legs pitchy; anterior tibiae armed externally with two distinct teeth, the one at the extremity largest. Length 1| lines. It resembles thoracicus in form, but differs in several im- portant respects, more especially in the deeply impressed and entirely impunctate strice of the elytra, and the form of the dentations of the epistoma. Chlcenius Schrankii, Dufts., Faun. ii. 131 (Carahus). Head shining green, glabrous, the hinder part sometimes coppery ;' mandibles pitchy red; palpi and three joints at the base of the antennae testaceous red, the upper joints fuscous. Thorax green-coppery, subquadrate, the sides rounded and widest in front below the angles, thence ob- liquely narrowed to the base ; posterior angles nearly right angles, the surface coarsely punctulated, the punctulation in some places confluent, the base with two foveas. Elytra green, clothed with a rich shining rusty pile, striated, the e2 52 COLEOPTERA. striae distinctly and all the interstices very coarsely punctured ; underside greenish-black ; legs testaceous red or ferruginous, according to its different degrees of maturity. Length 5 lines. Besides the general habit of this species, which sufficiently distinguishes it from nigricornis (var. melanocornis), it differs in the following important respects : — the mouth (often en- tirely), palpi, and three joints at the base of the antennae, are red. The form of the thorax is especially dissimilar, being distinctly widest and more rounded in front below the angles, and more obliquely narrowed behind, with the lateral margins near the base not reflexed, the posterior angles also being more rectangular ; the punctulation also of the thorax and of the elytra is coarser, and the legs are always testaceous or red. It is stated by the authors of the Faune Francaise that the most reliable characters are to be found in the absence of any coppery appearance on the head, and in the acute hinder angles of the thorax ; but in the several European examples which I have examined, I have observed a coppery tinge at the back of the head in some of them, and cannot call the posterior angles of the thorax, in any instance that has come under my notice, acute. After all, the different form of the thorax, and the general habit of the insect, offer the most re- liable points of distinction. Two examples have been captured in England ; one by Dr. Power, under the cliff, beyond Kemp Town ; and a second by Mr. F. Bates, at Luccombe, in the Isle of Wight. Additional localities for the following species. Nehria livida. Crevices in the cliffs at Cromer. Calathus nubigena. Taken on the Pentland Hills, N. B. : being the first time of its occurrence in Scotland. NOTES ON BRITISH GEODEPHAGA. 53 Calathus micropterus. Same locality. Anchomenus atratus. Plentiful at Hammersmith marshes, and at Clonmore, near Waterford. Anchomenus gracilis. Near Hythe, Kent; and in a swampy spot near Lewisham. Amara curta. Not uncommon on the coast at South Wick and Shoreham. I Amara strenua. Isle of Sheppey, being the second locality recorded for this species, hitherto found only in the Isle of Wight. Amara ingenua. Taken rather plentifully by Mr. H. Adams, near Swansea. Only one example of this species had previously been taken in this country. Amara oricalcica. Bridlington and South Repps, Nor- folk. Amara rufocincta. Crwmlyn Burrows, near Swansea. Harpalus melancholicus. Near Tenby ; Conway ; and at Glengarriffe in Ireland, in August and September. Harpalus litigiosus, Dej. Spec. iv. 361 ; H. Wollastoni, Dawson, Geod. Brit. p. 144. A single example has been found by Mr. Adams, near Purfleet; others have been taken by Dr. Power and myself below the cliffs, at Kemp Town and at South Wick, near Brighton ; and on looking over Mr. Curtis's Collection recently, I detected therein three examples, which, for almost twenty years, had remained un- identified, having, however, a label attached to each, in- dicating their respective places and dates of capture. One was taken at Wrentham, Suffolk, in April, 1838 ; another at Slaughter, Glocestershire, in June, and the third in the Isle of Wight, in September. To Mr. Curtis, therefore, the credit is due of having first captured it in England. Trechus longicomis, Sturm. D. F. vi. 83, pi. 151 -> Daw- son, Geod. Brit. p. 167. A single example was captured by 54 COLEOPTERA. Mr. Pinder last August, at Sawley, Lancashire. This is the second instance only of the occurrence of this rare species in England. Bemhidium bistriatum. In profusion at the beginning of October at Holme Bush, near Hurst, Sussex. Bemhidium Sto7noides. Under rejectamenta on the banks of the river Ribble, near Preston, Lancashire. Bembidia.—In the supplementary notes on the Euro- pean Bembidia by M. Jacquelin-Duval, which were read before the Entomological Society of France on the 25th of July, 1855, and subsequently published in the third volume of the " Annales'1 of that society, the author takes exception to the nomenclature which I have employed for certain species, inasmuch as it differs from that which, after mature deliberation, he himself had adopted in his mo- nograph on this group of insects. These critical remarks seem to call for some notice on my part, and will hardly be considered out of place in a paper which is avowedly accepted as supplementary to the " Geodephaga Britan- nica." 1. Our author observes, that, in four instances, I have declined to connect a (supposed) variety with an alleged type, namely, B. testaceum with tricolor; tibiale with fasciolatum ; Stomoides with rujipes, and affine with nitidulum; partly on the ground, that the alleged types of the three former have never been found in England, and partly for the (to myself at least) very essential reason, that I have not been able to connect them. At the same time, our author adds, that I express no doubt as to the value of his conclusions, and that the mere absence of the type does not authorize the substitution of a name used for a variety in lieu of that of the type itself. The truth em- bodied in the last observation, I readily admit ; but it might NOTES ON BRITISH GEODEPHAGA. 55 have been inferred, that I did question the statement of any one of these insects being no more than a variety. I give M. Jacquelin-Duval full credit for believing that he has found the necessary links to connect the species respectively with their alleged types, but my object has been to weigh the probabilities till I had arrived at a conclusion satisfactory to my own mind, and I could not, after an examination of the supposed types and varieties, feel that I had arrived at a result in accordance with the opinion of our ains-taking author. In the two instances first cited the authors of the Faune Francaise, and Dr. Schaum, in his critical remarks on M. Jacquelin- Duval's monograph, coincide with me in treating them as distinct species. I must also note that with respect to Stomoides, our author doubts the fact of its reputed type being found in England, because Dr. Schaum, in his notes on the Stephensian Collection, refers P. decorus, and albipes, of that Collection, to the aforesaid type ; but P. albipes of Stephens's Cabinet is, unquestionably, an immature example of B. decorum, and P. decorus is made up of several species, which I shall refer to presently. It must, therefore, be accepted as a fact, that up to this time, the alleged types of these three species have not been found in England, and this, though of itself perhaps insufficient to prove them distinct, at any rate tends to that conclusion.* It is fair to add, that the authors of the Faune Fran- caise adopt M. Jacquelin-Duval's opinion that Stomoides is only a variety of rufipes, but not so the Stettin Ca- talogue. I have recently had also an opportunity of ex- amining and comparing a series of examples, and can find * In one respect our author has clearly misunderstood my meaning. I could hardly be supposed to express a doubt as to whether rufipes, 111., were distinct from rufipes, Gyll., when having declared that the former is not found in England, I unite the latter as a synonym to B. nitiduhun. 56 COLEOPTERA. no reason to alter my formerly-expressed opinion. With respect to B. nitidulum and affine, I must also say the same, and though in this I differ from those Entomologists who in the above instances have agreed with me, I must confess, that, after examining and comparing an infinite number of examples of each species, I have never found the slightest difficulty in separating them. The different form of the head, less prominent eyes, and the protracted joints of the antennas, and other variations of structure which I mentioned, together with the general habit of ajfine, appear to me too remarkable to admit of its union witk nitidulum. M. Jacquelin-Duval next objects to the employment of the name Cicindela rupestris, Linn., for B. fumigation, Dej., on the ground of the anomaly which I referred to (Geod. Brit. p. 197) in respect to the colour of the legs ; and he considers my citation of Paykull as unfortunate, because that author probably alluded to B. obliquum. Now this matter simply resolves itself into the question as to the amount of value we are disposed to attach to the Linnsean types. Ad- mitting even the certainty that Paykull refers to a different species, yet the main fact remains unaffected. There in the Linnasan Collection stands an example (mutilated indeed) of B. fumigatum, labelled Cicindela rupestris, Linn. We may assume that it has stood there as a type from a period antecedent to the date at which the collection was brought to England ; because although we can easily imagine that specimens (particularly if unlabelled) may have been mis- placed through the carelessness of parties examining them (as for instance the two examples of B. littorale referred to by M. Jacquelin-Duval), yet this specimen could scarcely have been introduced at a more recent period, because it is so extremely rai e in England that I know of but four British NOTES ON BRITISH GEODEPHAGA. 57 examples — those contained in the Stephensian Collection- But it will be said, it does not agree with the Linnsean description, which states that the legs are black, and the description must be correct ; I am not so sure of that. That descriptions can and do err may be shown from a case in point : M. Jacquelin-Duval argues that Dr. Schaum, as well as myself, must be in error in assigning B. pusittum as the type of Lopha pulicaria of the Stephensian Cabinet, because Stephens expressly states that the latter has oblique frontal foveas ; yet it is a matter that admits of not the slightest question that the type is B. pusillum, and has parallel frontal foveas, though the Stephensian description says that they are oblique. Suppose Stephens's Collection, instead of coming to us direct from the hands of its compiler and owner, three years ago, had become antiquated like the Linnsean ; or, suppose the question of the types to be dis- cussed some sixty or seventy years hence, with no more definite knowledge on the subject to assist the inquirer than the Stephensian types and the Stephensian descriptions would supply, might it not be argued with equal show of reason, that the types in the present instance must be ignored, as they never could have been intended to represent the true Lopha pulicaria , Steph., because they are antagonistic to the descriptions ? With all their acknowledged authenticity,. M. Jacquelin Duval discredits the fact. In the Stettin Catalogue for 1852 Dr. Schaum adopted the name rupestre, but our author remarks that he has since abandoned it. M. Jacquelin-Duval affirms that B. punctatulum, Drap. (Tachypus striatus, Steph.), cannot be the Carabus velox, Linn., of the Fauna Suecica, because that species is not found at all in Sweden, but is confined exclusively to Central and Southern Europe. It is to be presumed that our author is intimately acquainted with every square inch of collecting 58 COLEOPTERA. ground in Sweden, or he would scarcely have hazarded so broad and sweeping an assertion that a species which has actually been taken within the same parallel of latitude, does absolutely not exist in any part of that extensive country ; indeed the Orkney Isles, where the species is found in plenty, is in the same parallel of latitude with Stockholm, and can hardly be considered (according to the rules of geography) as part of Central Europe. M. Jacquelin-Duval's remaining observations have re- ference to an alleged discrepancy between Dr. Schaum and myself as to the identity of some of the Stephensian types; which our author presumes to be all in favour of the correct- ness of his own opinion respecting them. I think, however, we shall find upon examination that in several of the in- stances adduced, this alleged discrepancy exists more in appearance than in actuality. Dr. Schaum invariably refers to the Stephensian types ; my references are frequently given to Stephens's Works, irrespective of the types. Now we are wrell aware that these do not always correspond, but that, on the contrary, a considerable difference is often found to exist between them ; it became absolutely necessary that my re- ferences should be determined by some fixed rule, in order to avoid endless repetition and confusion. The rule which I adopted is stated in the " Preliminary Observations" to the " Geodephaga Britannica," p. vii, and is briefly this : — With respect to those species of Continental authors, which are erroneously reputed to be British, the references apply to the Stephensian representatives only (except where it is otherwise stated) ; whilst with respect to the veritable species of authors, which are correctly designated by Stephens as British, the references are applicable to Stephens's Works. luet us apply this rule. The first instance quoted by M. Jac- quelin-Duval is B. guttula ; and here the latter portion of NOTES ON BRITISH GEODEPHAGA. 59 the rule applies. It is B. guttula, Fab., which Stephens describes, and my reference is given to his Works, though the supposed types in his cabinet for the most part equal biguttatum. Again P, maritimus is Rudd's species, and described by Stephens as such, and I refer it to B. femo- ratum, because (as I stated) I had seen Rudd's type, and found that it belonged to that species. But M. Jacquelin Duval assigns it to B. concinnum, after the types collect- ively (and quotes Dr. Schaum's authority, who, however, speaks of but one specimen as concinnum). For the sake of consistency, our author ought likewise (with me) to have referred it as a synonym to B.femoratum — as a synonym to B. littorale, according to the types, because the Stephensian representatives comprise these species also. Again, I refer P. decorus, Steph. Mand., to B. decorum, on the same principle ; it is correctly recorded by Stephens as British, though the representatives in his cabinet consist of several species besides. Our author, on the contrary, re- el's P. decorus to B. rvjipes, Dufts., always after these delusive types collectively. But to be consistent again, he ought likewise to have referred it as a synonym, in part to B. nitidulum — to B. affine (species or variety) — to B. Sto- moides (species or variety), and (with me) to B. decorum; because the supposed types in the Stephensian cabinet do in fact — 1 decorum (the first in the row, and therefore pro- bably the true type), 1 Stomoides, 1 affine, and 3 nitidu- lum ! ! ! Into what a jolly mess of confusion and repetition would a synonymy founded consistently upon the types in- volve us. Again, our author objects, that I refer P. agilis to B. mon- ticulum, and, herein, that I am again in opposition to Dr. Schaum, who refers it to decorum. I reply, that I so as- signed it for the reason stated at the time — because P. agilis, 60 COLEOPTERA. Spence, which Stephens recorded under that name, does really appertain to B. monticulum, as proved by the ori- ginal types in the museum of the Entomological Society. But I aho remarked (at p. 188 of my Work), that " it is represented in the Stephensian Cabinet by specimens of de- corum ;" a statement in perfect accordance with that of Dr. Schaum, and not antagonistic, as our author would lead us to suppose. In the four remaining instances quoted by our author, Div Schaum and I do really differ respecting the Stephensian types. Dr. Schaum makes P. albipes = brunnipes, Dej.,, whilst I identify it with decorum, as an immature example i Dr. Schaum makes Lophia assimilis = B. doris — I assign it to normannum, because it has parallel frontal foveas, though Stephens describes these as oblique : the same difference ex- ists respecting licemorrhoidalis ; and, fourthly, we differ in> our estimate as to which variety of lampros the suppo- sititious Stephensian species belong. As I considered it far more probable that so experienced an Entomologist and accurate observer as Dr. Schaum should be correct than myself, I have lately re-examined those Stephensian types,, but I find no reason to alter my former opinion respecting them in any essential particular.* M. Jacquelin-Duval adheres to his opinion, that P. ele- gartSy Steph., must be assigned to saxatile ; if his opinion were correct, the specimen would be a monstrosity ; being equal in length to any B. littorale, of which, in fact, it is only an eccentric variety. Our author still affirms that X. pulicaria, Steph., belongs to B. tenellum (which has not hitherto been found in England), though Dr. Schaum as * I think Dr. Schaum is correct in referring one supposed example of P. monticulus in Stephens's Cabinet to concinnum, but three out of the four individuals are immature. NOTES ON BRITISH GEODEPHAGA. 61 "well as myself pronounced it, without the shadow of a doubt, to be pusillum ; and though Dr. Schaum and myself at any rate agree, that L. assimilis and hamorrhoidalis, Steph., are one species, and certainly not JB. assimile, our author de- termines that they are two different species, and that hcemorr- hoidalis shall be assimile, and the other doris : and, lastly, our author " persists" in assigning P. viridiameus, Steph., to JB. tibiale, though I confidently affirmed that it is a veritable decorum. ; and such it as certainly is, as that JB. impressum, Steph., is not the Fabrician species of that name, but, as Dr. Schaum correctly stated, " an ill preserved specimen of B. flavipes. The persistency with which our author adheres to his preconceived opinions respecting these Stephensian types would be beyond all praise, if those opinions were equally correct ; but as the matter stands, I may perhaps be per- mitted to express my surprise that, since Dr. Schaum and -I differ, in some few instances, as to the identity of the said types, after a careful examination and consideration of them. -—that (I say) the possibility— just the mere possibility — did not suggest itself to our author, that he himself might be in .error, when, for the second time, he pronounced so decided an opinion (antagonistic to one or both of us) as to what they are — without ever having seen them at all. J. F. Dawson. The Woodlands, Oct. Slst, 1S57. ( 62 ) COLEOPTERA. New British Species noticed in 1857. By E. W. Janson, Sec. Ent. Soc. 1. Bolitochara lucida, Grav., Eric, Kraatz ; Water- house, Zool. 5633 (1857). Placed to represent lunulata in the Stephensian cabinet, but does not answer to his description, which is probably copied from some continental work, and refers to the true Bol. lunulata, Payk., a species I believe not hitherto ascer- tained to be indigenous. Appears to be a scarce insect ; my specimens I found in boleti, near Reigate, Surrey, in July. 2. Bolitochara bella, Maerkel, Kraatz , Waterhouse^ Zool. 5633 1857). Also a scarce species: I have taken it near Reigate, in company with the preceding, and likewise near Croydon in the autumn. 3. Phytosus nigriventris, Chevrolat; Bold, Zool. 5448 (1857); Wollaston, Cat. Col. Ins. Mad. 169, 482 (1857) ; P. spinifer $ , Curtis. " Taken beneath Algae, on the Durham and Northumbrian coasts" $ , ? . 4. Silusa rubiginosa, Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5633 (1857). NEW BRITISH SPECIES NOTICED IN 1857. 63 Whence Stephens's description, Man. Brit. Col. 372, 2929, is taken, I know not ; it appears, however, to be translated from Erichson's diagnosis, with certain additions : there is no specimen thus designated in his cabinet, although the ab- sence of the asterisk before the specific title in the Manual indicates that he possessed an insect to which he considered his description applied. An individual which I sent to Dr. Kraatz in the autumn of 1854 was returned ticketed " Silusa trinotata, mihi." This insect occurs, but very sparingly, beneath the bark of dead trees, and at the fermenting sap oozing from the wounds of living trees, especially elms ; oc- casionally also among the decomposing frass in the galleries of the larvae of the Goat-moth (Cossus liyniperda). 5. Ocalea rivularis, Miller, Kraatz ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5633 (1857). My specimens of this and of the greater number of the Aleocharidce enumerated in Mr. Waterhouse's List, being still in that gentleman's hands, I am unable to furnish any information respecting them, my memoranda being available only by the numbers and tickets attached to the insects. 6. Ocalea badia, Eric, Kraatz ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5633 (1857). 7. Leptusa fumida, Eric, Kraatz ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5633 (1857); Oxypoda jumida, Eric Beneath bark, Colney Hatch, October ; rare. 8. Leptusa ruficollis, Eric, Kraatz ; Waterhouse, ZooL 5633 (1857). Oxypoda ruficollis, Eric Taken very sparingly by myself, within the London district, in moss on the trunks of trees, and beneath the bark, in winter and early spring. 9. Thiasophila inquilina, Maerkel ; Kraatz, Naturgesch. d. Insect. Deutschl. ii. 71, 2 (1856). 64 COLEOPTERA. Aleochara inquilina, Maerkel in Germar, Zeitschr. f. d. Entom. v. 69 (1844). Two examples were exhibited at a recent meeting of the Entomological Society by Mr. Waterhouse in behalf of their captor, Dr. Power, who obtained them during the current year, one from a nest, of Formica fuliginosa, the other from a nest of Formica rufa ; a circumstance totally at variance with the observations of our continental brethren, who accord this species to F. fuliginosa exclusively, its near ally, Thias. angulata, to F. rufa, and which renders it desirable that a very careful examination should be bestowed upon these specimens. 10. Euryusa Kirbyi, n. sp. Fig. 8. E. nigro-picea, sub-opaca, crebre sat fortiter oblique punctata, palpis, antennarum basi et apice, ano, pc- dibus abdominisque basi rufo-testaceis ; thorace cole- opteris latiore, basi profunda bi-sinuato, angiitis posticis obtusis; ehjtris thoracis haud brevioribus, castanets; abdomine nitido, apicem versus sensim angustato, supra crebre punctato. J£as. Abdominis segmentis dorsalibus duobus apicalibus (6to. et ~mo.) subtiliter carinatis, ultimo (7 mo.) mar- gine apicali acute serrato. Long. 1\ lin. JE. pitchy-black, sub-opaque, obliquely thickly and rather deeply and coarsely punctate, palpi, base and apex of antennce, legs, base and apex of abdomen rufo-testaceous ; thorax wider than the elytra, its base deeply bi-sinuate, j)oste)-ior a?igles obtuse; elytra scarcely shorter than the thorax, castaneous ; ab- domen shining, narrowed towards the apex, thickly punctate above. Jlale with the two terminal abdominal segments {Qth NEW BRITISH SPECIES NOTICED IN 1857. 65 and 7 th) with a somewhat obscure ridge, the posterior margin of the apical (1th) segment acutely serrate. Length \\ lines. Antennae half as long again as the head, robust and com- pact, gradually incrassate towards the apex, joints 5 to 10 fully twice as broad as long, the apical joint as long as the two preceding united, acuminate, pitchy black, the two basal (1st and 2nd) and the apical (11th) articulations and the palpi rufo-testaceous. Head thickly and finely punctate, opaque, pitchy- black. Thorax nearly twice as broad as long, wider than the elytra, narrowed in front, rounded at the sides, the posterior margin lobed in the middle, deeply notched towards the angles, which, although prominent, are obtuse, sub-opaque, very thickly and rather deeply and coarsely punctate, the punctures oblique and confluent, thus giving to the sculpture a peculiar undulated appearance, with a short scattered golden pubescence, pitchy-black, the margins obscurely rufous. Elytra barely as long as the thorax, simi- larly but not quite so strongly punctured, the outer posterior angles with a deep notch, sparingly clothed with a short golden depressed pile, sub-opaque, of a bright chestnut hue, the region of the scutellum and the lateral margins faintly pitchy. Abdomen shining, gradually narrowed towards the apex, thickly minutely punctate, the punctures sparser on the terminal segments, clothed, especially at the sides, with a longish somewhat depressed golden pubescence, rufo-tes- taceous, the fifth entirely and the base of the sixth segments pitchy-black. Legs of a clear testaceous red. N.B. The above description was drawn up soon after the specimens were captured ; the rufo-testaceous colour of the abdomen has since deepened into brown, the apical half of the penultimate (6th) and the entire terminal segment alone now retaining that hue. F 66 COLEOPTERA. Apparently nearly allied to Euryvsa castanoptera, Kraatz, which I know by description only, and from which it differs in having the thorax wider than the elytra, the peculiar sculpture of those parts, and the serrated posterior margin of the seventh abdominal segment of the male. I have not dissected the mouth. A pair only of this interesting creature have hitherto come under my notice ; they were taken within the London district, during the past summer, by Mr. H. Squire, in a nest of For- mica fuliginosa . 11. Aleochara mycetophaga, Kraatz ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5633 (1857). 12. Dinarda dentata, Grav. ; Kraatz, Naturgesch. d. Ins. Deutschl. ii. 111,2(1856). Lomechusa dentata, Grav. Mon. Col. Micr. 181, 4 (1806), but not of Curtis, Brit. Ent. ix. Fab. and Fo. 410 (1832), cited by Dr. Kraatz, which, having carefully examined the specimen in the national collection, figured by Mr. Curtis, I have already, Proc. Ent. Soc. 1st Sept. 1856, Zool. 5305 (1856), shown must be referred to the nearly allied species D. Maerkelii, Kiesenw., Kraatz. The present insect may be distinguished from D. Maerkelii by its uniformly smaller size, its deeply longitudinally furrowed head, slenderer antennas, more accute posterior angles of its thorax, brighter hue, and by its more thickly punctate thorax, elytra and abdomen. This beautiful and interesting addition to our list of indi- genous Coleoptera was discovered by Mr. J. J. Reading, in the spring of the present year, in company with Formica fusca, in the vicinity of Plymouth, and to that gentleman's liberality I am indebted for the species. In Germany, it is said to be found with Formica rufa, but Dr. Kraatz distinctly states that it occurs with a species NEW BRITISH SPECIES NOTICED IN 1857. 67 of ant allied to F. rufa; MM. Fairmaire and Laboulbene inform us, that in France it generally inhabits the small nests of yellow ants under stones, " se trouve generalement dans les petits nids de Fourmis jaunes, sous les pierres" 13. Ilyobates propinqua, Aube, Fairm. et Laboulb. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5634(1857). Calodera propinqua, Aube, Ann. d. 1. Soc. Ent. de France, Ser. 2, viif. 302, 3 (1850;. Ilyobates ruf us, Kraatz, Naturgesch. d. Insect. Deutschl. ii. 135, 2 (1856), is possibly, as indicated by its author, not specifically distinct. 14. Ilyobates forticornis, Boisd. et Lacord. ; Water- house, Zool. 5634 (1857). Bolitochara forticornis, Boisd. et Lacord. Faun. Ent. des Env. d. Paris, 543, 4 (1835). 15. Callicerus rigidicornis, Eric, Kraatz; Water- house, Zool. 5634(1857). Homalota rigidicornis, Eric, Gen. et Spec. Staph. 82, 3 (1839). Semirisfusca, Heer, Faun. Col. Helv. 343, 1 (1839). 16. Calodera nigrita, Mannhm., Kraatz, Naturgesch. d. Insect. Deutschl. ii. 141, 1 (1856). Calodera, nov. sp.?" Waterhouse, Zool. 3634(1857) ? I have not seen Mr. Waterhouse's insect, but have never- the less good reason for believing that it will prove to be the C. nigrita of the authors above cited, and identical with the specimens thus denominated in my collection, and which I owe to the kindness of Mr. Edwin Shepherd, by whom this apparently rare species has been taken within the London district in the early spring and late in the autumn. Stephens's description, Man. Brit. Col. 354, 2753 (1839), probably copied from Count Mannerheim, applies very well, as far as it goes, to the insect before me ; indeed, the size f2 68 COLEOPTERA. given, 2J lines, will not accord with any other black Calo- dera known to me ; Spry's figure, however, Brit. Col. Del. Tab. 24, f. 5 (1840), can, I think, scarcely be intended to represent it. 17. Calodera jethiops, Grav., Eric; Waterhouse, Zool. 5634(1857). 18. Calodera umbrosa, Eric, Kraatz; Waterhonse, Zool. 5634 (1857). 19. Tachyusa scitula, Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5634 (1857). 20. Tachyusa sulcata, Kiesenw. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5634 (1857). 21. Oxypoda exigua, Eric ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5634 (1857). 22. Oxypoda exoleta, Eric ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5760 (1857). Oxypoda prcecox, Waterhouse, Zool. 5634 (1857). 23. Homalota currax, Kraatz ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5634 (1857). 24. Homalota debilicornis, Eric; Waterhouse, Zool. 5634 (1857). Mr. Waterhouse subsequently (Zool. 5760) expresses a doubt whether the insect he has thus designated is the species so called by Erichson. 25. Homalota fragilicornis, Kraatz ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5634 (1857). 26. Homalota pagana, Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). 27. Homalota nitidula, Maerkel; Kraatz; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). 28. Homalota languida, Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). 29. Homalota hygrotopora, Kraatz; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). NEW BRITISH SPECIES NOTICED IN 1857. 69 30. Homalota luridipennis, Mannerh., Kraatz ; Water- house, Zool. 5635 (1857). Frequents the muddy margins of streams. I have met with it at Colney Hatch ; specimens sent by me to Dr. Kraatz have been identified by him. 31. Homalota fragilis, Kraatz ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). 32. Homalota labilis, Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). Taken by Mr. H. Squire in the London District. 33. Homalota fallax, Kraatz ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). 34. Homalota monticola, Thomsson, Kraatz ; Water- house, Zool. 5635 (1857). 35. Homalota excel lens, Kraatz ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). 36. Homalota nigella, Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). Hammersmith Marshes ; amongst reeds in the early spring. 37. Homalota jsquata, Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). Beneath bark of dead trees, London district, in the early spring. 38. Homalota pilosa, Kraatz; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). 39. Homalota debilis, Kraatz; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). 40. Homalota deform is, Kraatz ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). 41. Homalota exilis, Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). 70 COLEOPTERA. 42. Homalota inconspicua, Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). 43. Homalota hepatica, Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). 44. Homalota Triangulum, Kraatz ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). 45. Homalota sublinearis, Kraatz ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). 46. Homalota nigritula, Grav., Kraatz ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). 47. Homalota soda lis, Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5635 (1857). 48. Homalota divisa ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5760 (1857). H. divisa, Maerkel; Germar, Zeitschr. f. d. Entom. v. 213, 37 (1844) ? Homalota nigricornis, Waterhouse, Zool. 5636 (1857). 49. Homalota coriaria, Miller, Kraatz ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5636 (1857). 50. Homalota nigra, Kraatz; Waterhouse, Zool. 5636 (1857). 51. Homalota hospita, Maerkel, Kraatz ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5636 (1857). An attendant on the larva of the goat-moth ( Cossus ligni- perda), luxuriating in the fermenting frass and oozing sap, and probably subsisting on Dipterous and other larvae usually abounding in such situations. 52. Homalota scapularis, Sahib., Kraatz ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5636 (1857). 53. Homalota oblita, Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5636 (1857). 54. Homalota sordidula, Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5636 (1857). NEW BRITISH SPECIES NOTICED IN 1857. 71 55. Homalota inquinula, Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5636 (1857). 56. Homalota subrugosa ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5760 (1857). If. subrugosa, Kiesenweter, Ent. Zeit. Stett. 318 (1848) ? Homalota putrida, Waterhouse, Zool. 5636 (1857). 57. Homalota villosula, Kraatz ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5636 (1857). 58. Homalota melanaria, Mannerh., Kraatz; Water- house, Zool. 5636 (1857). 59. Homalota clientula, Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5636 (1857). 60. Homalota c^esula, Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5636 (1857). 61. Placusa infima, Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5Q26 (1857). 62. Phlceopora corticalis, Grav., Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5636(1857). 63. Schistoglossa viduata, Eric, Kraatz; Waterhouse, Zool. 5636 (1857). Homalota viduata, Eric. Kaf. d. Mark. Brand, i. 330, 26 (1837) ; Gen. et Spec. Staph. Ill, 61 (1839). 64. Gyroph^ena lucidula, Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5636(1857;. 65. Gyroph^ena minima, Eric. ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5636 (1857). 66. Myll^ena infuscata, Kraatz ; Waterhouse, Zool. 5637 (1857). 67. Philonthus corvinus, Eric. ; W. C. Unwin, Zool. 5410 (1857). " From moss near Newhaven." 72 COLEOPTERA. 68. Sunius filiformis, Latr., Eric. ; Dr. J. A. Power, Proc. Ent. Soc. 4 May, 1857, Zool. 5762 (1857). Pcederus jiliformisj Latr., Gen. Crust, et Ins. i. 293, 4 (1806). Taken by Dr. Power near Brighton, who kindly presented me with a specimen. I subsequently secured a solitary indi- vidual beneath rejectamenta at Southend, Essex, on the 28th of May, 1856, and I have before me two remarkably fine examples, captured by M. J. J. Reading near Plymouth in company with Myrmica ccespitum. 69. Bledius unicornis, Germar, Eric. Gen.et Spec. Staph. 764, 7 (1840) ; E. W. Janson, Proc. Ent. Soc, 2 Feb. 1857, Zool. 5523 (1857). Oxytelus unicornis, Germar, Faun. Ins. Europ. xii. f. 3(1828). Bledius kispidus, Parfitt, Zool. 5409 (1857). Captured by Mr. Parfitt at Exmouth, but found some years previously by Mr. Wollaston in the same locality, and also in the Isle of Portland. 70. Epurea neglecta, Heer, Eric, in Germar, Zeitschr. f. d. Ent. iv. 269, 11 (1843); Naturgesch. d. Ins. Deutsehl. iii. 147, 9 (1845) ; Sturm, Deutschl. Faun. Ins. xv. 63, 8, Tab. 295, f. B. (1844). Nit'alula neglecta, Heer, Faun. Col. Helv. i. 396, 8 (1841). Taken near Acrington, Lincolnshire, by Mr. Constantine, and, on two occasions, by Dr. Power in Hampshire, to whose consideration I am indebted for a comely specimen. 71. Anommatus duodecim-striatus, Miil.; T.J. Bold, Zool. 5448(1857). On a decaying plant of the cultivated pansy, in a garden at Morpeth, Northumberland." An individual of this species is extant in the Stephensian NEW BRITISH SPECIES NOTICED IN 1857. 73 cabinet, mixed up with Aglenus brunneus (Anommatus ob- soletus, Steph.), and I have heard it stated that Mr. Parfitt has recently captured it near Exeter, but under what circum- stances I know not. First described by P. W. J. Miiller in Germar's Mag. der Entom. iv. 190, 5 (1821), under the name of Lyctus 12-striatiis. The genus Anommatus was proposed by Wes- mael, in the Bullet, de l'Acad. de Bruxelles, ii. 339, Tab. iv. (1836), who, supposing' that the insect which served him as type was new to science, bestowed upon it the specific appel- lation of terricola. 72. LiEMOPHL^us Clematidis, Eric. ; Naturgesch. d. Ins. Deutschl. iii. 326, 11 (1846); Sturm. Deutschl. Fauna, Ins. xxi. 61, 11, Tab. 384, fig. c C (1851); E. W. Janson, Proc. Ent. Soc, 6 July, 1857. In the dead stems of the Travellers' Joy {Clematis vitalba), near Gravesend, Kent, in July last. Fig. 1. 73. Silvanus similis, Eric; A. Adams and Dr. W. B. Baikie, Zool. 5554 (1857). " In sugar. Introduced." S. similis is found, according to Erichson, beneath bark. 74. Atomaria fimetarii, Hbst., Eric. ; T. V. Wollaston, Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. N. S. iv. 67, 2 (1857). Taken by Mr. Wollaston near Flamborough, Yorkshire. 75. Atomaria peltata, Kraatz ; T. V. Wollaston, Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. N. S. iv. 70, 7 (1857). " Spridlington and South Ferriby, Lincolnshire; Shenton, Leicesterhire ; Hitcham, Suffolk; Paisley; and near Lon- don." 76. Atomaria atra, Hbst., Eric, {nee Steph.); T. V. Wol- laston, Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. N. S. iv. 74, 14 (1857). Kateretes ater, Herbst. Natursyst. Kafer, v. 15, Tab. 41, fig. 5 (1793). 74 COLEOPTERA. " Withington, Gloucestershire ; Slapton Ley, Devon ; Ireland." 77. Atomaria basalis, Eric.; T. V. Wollaston, Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. N.S. iv. 76, 16 (1857). " South of England and near Edinburgh." 78. Atomaria munda, Eric. ; T. V. Wollaston, Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. N. S. iv. 76, 17 (1857). Cellars near London, Mr. H. Squire. 79. Atomaria Hislopi, T. V. Wollaston, Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. N. S. iv. 77, 19 (1857). Taken beneath dung of grouse, in Perthshire, by Mr. Robert Hislop, to whose kindness I owe the specimen de- scribed by Mr. Wollaston. 80. Latridius filiformis, Gyll. Ins. Suec. iv. 143, 23 1827; Parfitt, Zool. 5544 (1857). This is the Latridius angustatus of the Stephensian cabinet and of his " Systematic Catalogue," a name subse- quently sunk by its author in his Illustrations, Mand. iii. 115, 11 (August, 1830), as synonymous with L. elongatus, Curtis, Brit. Ent. vii. Tab. and Fo. 311 (June, 1830), whose description he copies nearly word for word. In the second edition of tke " Nomenclature of British Insects" (1853), Mr. Stephens again brings forward angustatus as a species, and cites as synonymous therewith elongatus , Curtis, and Jiliformis, Gyll., appending to each a mark of doubt ; finally, in his Manual Brit. Col. 129, 1046 (1839), he re-adops elongatus, Curtis, and transcribes the description of the Illustrations, with some slight abridgment. The present species may be at once distinguished from L. elongatus, Curtis, by its small flat eyes, more parallel form, transverse thorax, sub-trigonal head, the finer and more closely set punctures of the striae on the elytra, &c. kc. A Canadian species found in some numbers in a living NEW BRITISH SPECIES NOTICED IN 1857. 75 state in cases of insects imported from that country in January last, although greatly resembling the insect now under consideration in size and colour, presents upon a careful examination so many important differences, that I am at a loss to comprehend how any one possessed of only ordinary Entomological acumen, having the two species before him, could even for a brief period assert their specific identity : the sub-quadrate head, slender antennae, large prominent eyes and comparatively narrow thorax of the Anglo-American insect, not only indicate its specific distinctness from L.fdi- formis, but involve its location in another section of the genus. 81. Dorcatoma flavicornis, Fab. ; Sturm, Deutchsl. Fauna, Ins. xii. 103, Tab. 245, fig. a A (1837). Bruchus flavicornis, Fab. Ent. Syst. I. ii. 374, 24 (1792); Syst. El. ii. 401, 38 (1801). Found by myself in a decaying oak, within the metro- politan district, in July last. Fig. 7. 82. Rhyncolus truncorum, Germar, {nee Steph.); E. W. Janson, Proc. Ent. Soc, 1 June, 1857, Zool. 5768 (1857). Cossonus truncorum, Germar, Col. Spec. Nov. 308, 446 (1824). Taken by myself in May last, within the London district. Fig. 9. 83. Bostrichus bispinus, Ratzeb. ; T. J. Bold, Zool. 5411 (1857) [Tomicus]; E. Newman, Zool. 5631 (1857) [erroneously bispinosus] ; E. W. Janson, Proc. Ent. Soc. Tjune, 1857, Zool. 5768(1857); but not of Guyon, Zool. 4815 (1855), cited by me, Ent. Ann. 86, 26 (1856), whose description probably refers to B. bidens. This species will probably be found wherever the Travellers' Joy {Clematis vitalba), in the stems of which it feeds, occurs. 76 COLEOPTERA. I have met. with it at Darenth, Croydon, Gravesend, Chat- ham, Reigate and Dorking. 84. Scolytus rugulosus, Ratzeb. ; E. W. Janson, Proc. Ent. Soc. 6 July, 1857. Eccoptogaster rugulosus (Koch), Ratzeb. Forst. Ins. i. 187, Tab. x.f. 10(1837). Found by Mr. Groves, in the dead branches of a pear- tree, in his garden at Lewisham, who kindly gave me several of the infested twigs, from which I reared a beautiful and variable series. This species may be at once distinguished from its near ally, S. intricatus, Ratzeb., by its smaller size, deeper, coarser and rugulose sculpture, and by the punctures on the interstices of the elytra, arranged in regular rows, being of equal depth and size with those of the true or normal striae, and by the apex of the elytra being usually more or less broadly red. I may remark, that there is in Mr. Wollaston's collection, an individual of this species, having the red blotch invading nearly two-thirds of the elytra, and which I had not pre- viously been able satisfactorily to determine, taken by that gentleman several years back at St. Neots. Ratzeburg appears first to have described this insect under the name which I have adopted, and which had been pre- viously applied to it by Koch, in his collection and in litteris. Ratzeburg gives as synonyms S. punctatusj 3Ius. Berol., and S. hcemorrhous, Ulrich. In Vincent Kollar's " Treatise on Insects injurious to Gar- deners, Foresters and Farmers," of which an English trans- lation was published in 1840, by the Misses Loudon, with notes by Mr. Westwood, will be found some interesting ob- servations by Canon Schmidberger on the natural history of the present species, specimens of which, he informs us, had NEW BRITISH SPECIES NOTICED IN 1857. 77 been named for liirn by Mr. Ulrich, " Scolt/tus hcBinorrhous, Meg. ;" the vague description, however, there given can scarcely be admitted as a scientific diagnosis, and is more- over, as far as I can ascertain, posterior to Ratzeburg's ac- curate description and beautiful figure : both works were published in 1837. Ratzeburg's introduction is dated April, 1837, — Kollar's, May, 1837. I give the preference, there- fore, in accordance with the course generally adopted on the Continent, even by Kollar's fellow citizen Redtenbacher, to the trivial name of rugulosus, Ratzeb. 2, Alma Road, Upper Holloway, 14/ft November, 1857. ( 78 ) COLEOPTERA. Notes on Ants' Nest Beetles. By Edward W. Janson. In resuming this interesting topic, my object is, briefly, to record the observations communicated to me by several Entomologists, who have taken up with enthusiasm the exa- mination of Ants' nests, and to whose industry it will have been already remarked, in the List of New Species, we are indebted for the discovery, during the year now well nigh run out, of three additional Myrmecophilous Culeoptera, one of them apparently new to science. On my own score I have little to relate. The half-promised essay on the laws affecting landlord ants and tenant beetles must now be de- ferred sine die,— the rush made by certain metropolitan collectors to the only localities accessible to me, and where, by scrupulously abstaining from injuring either the ants or their domicils, I had for three consecutive years tranquilly carried on my investigations, — the diligence with which they "ransacked every nook and corner/' and the ruth- lessness with which they grubbed up and utterly destroyed every nest, having brought my favourite pursuit to a sudden, and, I must admit, somewhat unlooked for, termination. In publishing my Ants' Nest paper in last year's Annual, I was actuated by the desire of sharing with others the NOTES ON ANTS' NEST BEETLES. 79 pleasure and profit which I had culled in a path previously untrodden in this country, little expecting that sordid amor habendi, which rampant and strong as I well know it to be in the majority of collectors, would have led them to exclude me henceforth from all participation in the dainty dish which I had set before them. And what has science gained at the hands of these unprincipled waste-laying free- booters ? Have they contributed one solitary fact to our store, thrown one dim ray of light on the mysterious relationship between the ant and its beetle guest ? Science to these men is a mere outward garb, a sort of west-end paletot, which imparts an air of respectability to the wearers, and to their sordid selfish acts the semblance of scientific research. But, granting in full to these buccaneers the validity of the plea, that they, albeit unconsciously, further science, — since when " they to sorrow come," or he who waits for no man clutches them in his iron grasp, their ill-gotten gain passes into other, mayhap better, hands, — I will stoop to their grovelling understandings, and view the matter in a business light. What then have they gained commensurate with the dire destruction they committed, and the imminent risk they in- curred of an apprenticeship to the art of oakum-picking ? Not one species have they added to the List, or, I trow, the sycophant the captain of the gang, the ant's nest ravager par excellence, would long since have announced his fig with smiles benign, and the pseudo-suavity and affected modesty common to his class, yet in degree pe- culiarly his own, and which have won for him both tuft and place. " nimium ne credere colori." — Virg. Eccl. ii. 27. 80 COLEOPTERA. Not a single rarity beyond their own wants. The syco- phant's booty has not yet yielded even an ill-set broken speci- men in excess of six comely individuals, styled a duplicate ; nor has Hetcerius been proffered to wealthy provincial clients, notwithstanding that the mercenary and his myrmi- don both toiled whole summer days at the destruction of the " light loamy bank with aspect to the west," once a world of life, but now a wilderness. " , quserenda pecunia primum est; Virtus post nummos." — Hor. Epist. I. i. 52. get insects, insects still, And then let virtue follow, if she will." — Pope {adapted). Claviger testaceus, Preyssler, has been captured, in the spring, on the Kentish Downs, by Mr. Wollaston ; in Ire- land, in the autumn, by Dr. Power, and in the neighbour- hood of Plymouth by Mr. J. J. Reading ; specimens from the latter localities are before me. When shall I have the pleasure of recording, or of seeing recorded, C. longicornis as a British-born subject ? Myrmedonia limbata, Paykull, of which I have oc- sionally met with a solitary individual in the purlieus of the nests of Formica Jlava, has been found by my colleague, Mr. Edwin Shepherd, in comparative plenty, associated with Formica fusca j in Kent in July, by whom a single specimen was likewise taken in a nest of Formica fuliyinosa, near Croydon in the spring. Myrmedonia humeralis, Grav. Sparingly with Formica rvfa in the spring, near Plymouth, by Mr. J. J. Reading, and, in company with Formica fuliginosa, in Kent, by Dv. Power. NOTES ON ANTS' NEST BEETLES. 81 Myrmedonia cognata, Maerkel. Three specimens were taken by Mr. Edwin Shepherd, early in the spring, in a nest of Formica fuliginosa y near Croydon, Surrey. Myrmedonia hi gens, Grav. A single example of this apparently rare species was captured early in the spring, by Mr. Edwin Shepherd, in a nest of For mica fuliginosa, near Croydon. Myrmedonia laticollis, Maerkel. Has been taken with Formica fuliginosa near Plymouth, in the spring, by Mr. J. J. Reading. Homalota fiaripes, Grav. In nests of Formica rufa, in the spring, near Plymouth, by Mr. J. J. Reading. Homalota confusa, Maerkel. Three specimens of this searce species were taken by Mr. Edwin Shepherd at the end of last May, in the London district, in a nest of Formica fuliginosa, see Proc. Ent. Soc, 1 June, 1857, Zool. 5768 (1857), who with his wonted kindness presented me with a specimen. Homalota anceps, Eric. Sparingly, in the spring, in nests of Formica rufa, near Plymouth, by Mr. J. J. Reading. Oxypoda formiceticola, Maerkel. In the spring, near Plymouth, in nests of Formica rufa, by Mr. J. J. Reading. Aleochara ruficornis, Grav. Dr. Power found, this spring, an individual of this scarce species, beneath dead leaves, in the vicinity of a nest of Formica rufa, a few yards distant from the spot in which I captured the specimen men- tioned in last year's Annual. Thiasophila angulata, Eric. In the spring and autumn, In nests of Formica rufa, near Plymouth, by Mr. J. J. Reading. Thiasophila inquilina, Maerkel, Kraatz. Found by Dr. Power in Kent with Formica Juliginosa, and in Bucking- hamshire with F. rufa, and respecting which I beg to refer 1858 G 82 COLEOPTERA. the reader to the remarks under this species in the foregoing List, No. 9. Homoeusa acuminata, Maerkel, Kraatz, hitherto unique, has again been found by Mr. Wollaston in the locality, and under the circumstances mentioned in last year's Annual, viz. on the chalky downs, near Bromley, Kent, in nests of Formica fusca, beneath flints ; and to that gentleman's kindness, for a long and arduous search had yielded him but a slender store, I am indebted for a comely pair of this elegant little species. On the 16th of May last, I found a specimen, within the London district, running at the base of a fence, where Formica flava and Myrmica rubra abounded, Proc. Ent. Soc. 1 June, 1857, Zool. 5768 (1857). Dinardi Maerkelii, Kiesenw. Two specimens of this curious insect were secured last autumn, by Mr. H. Adams, near Swansea, in a nest of Formica rvfa, thus again con- firming the accuracy and trustworthiness of the late Dr. Leach, who, Mr. Dillwyn informs us, " Materials for a Fauna and Flora of Swansea and its Neighbourhood," 20 (1848), took it on the sand-hills near that town in the summer of 1809. Dr. Leach deposited this specimen in the national collection, when it remained unique as a British representative for nearly half a century, that is to say, until 1856, in the summer of which year I succeeded in re- discovering it [Proc. Ent. Soc. 1 Sept. 1856, Zool. 5305 (1856)] — the spell was broken— and the day is probably not far distant, when every collection in the land will, in this insect, vindicate the truthfulness of one of the most comprehensive and vigorous minds that have ever been turned to the study of natural history. Dinar da dentata, Grav. Discovered in the spring of the present year, near Plymouth, in nests of Formica fusca, by Mr. J. J. Reading, whose Entomological enthusiasm and NOTES ON ANTS NEST BEETLES. 83 extraordinary success are equalled only by his manly straightforwardness, and the disinterestedness and liberality with which he dispenses the numerous rarities which reward his exertions. Atemeles paradoxus, Grav., has been taken in the spring, in the vicinity of Plymouth, by Mr. J. J. Reading ; the spe- cimens occurred in nests of Formica fusca. Atemeles emarginatus, Grav. Mr. J. J. Reading has captured this species near Plymouth, in the spring, in nests of Myrmica rubra. Euryusa Kirbyi, mihi— described in the list of new species and figured on the Plate, Fig. 8. This interesting and novel addition to our list, we owe to the industry of Mr. H. Squire, who, as already stated, cap- tured a pair in the immediate vicinity of the metropolis, in a nest of Formica full ginosa. I have dedicated this species to the late Rev. William Kirby, M. A., F. R. S., F. L. S., Honorary President of the Ento- mological Society of London, etc. etc., as a slight token of respect to the memory of the illustrious Entomologist, whose labours on the tribe to which it pertains, had they been given to the world at the epoch the}- were accomplished, would have held honourable place beside their coeval, the " Mono- graphia Apum Angliae." Alas ! that those admirable de- scriptions should, thirty years subsequently, have been pub- lished secondhand, clipped, misapplied and buried in a mass of rubbish ! Lept acinus formicetorum, Maerkel. Mr. J. J. Reading has taken this species near Plymouth, in the spring and autumn, in nests of Formica rufa. Hetaerius sesquicornis, Preyssler. Mr. S. Stevens has recorded the capture of one, and Dr. Power of three, spe- cimens of this curious insect, Proc. Ent. Soc. 4 May (1857), g2 84 COLEOPTERA. Zool. 5762 (1857). Dr. Power again met with it late in September ; hence it would appear to pass the winter in the imago state. Monotoma conicicollis, Aube ; has been taken in the early spring, in nests of Formica rufa, near Plymouth, by Mr. J. J. Reading. Ants' nests have now contributed, within two years, upwards of twenty species of Coleoptera previously unknown as inhabitants of Britain, and have, moreover, yielded in com- parative plenty no trifling number, which were previously unique, or of the greatest rarity, in collections. I may in- stance, Dinarda Maerkelii, Kiesenw. (dentata, Curtis, nee Grav.), Dendrophilus pygmceus, L. nee Steph. (Z>. Shep- pardi, Steph., Curt.), Myrmedonia funesta, Grav., and humeralisj Grav., Atemeles emarginatus, Grav. (paradoxus, Steph., nee Grav.), and Amphotis (Nitiduld) marginata, F. Several unrecorded species, which I have not yet satis- factorily identified with descriptions, or whose synonymy I have not yet been able to disentangle, still await, in my boxes, their definitive appellations. But there remains ample scope for successful exertion, — a great deal to be done ; Lomechasa strumosa, F., is almost unique, Myrmedonia Haworthi, Steph., hath but three masters, and Claviger longicornis, Miiller, Myrmedonia plicata, Eric, similis, Maerkel, and fulgida, Grav., exist, as British, in anticipation only — bright fleecy clouds in the boundless heavens of the imagination. And now, kind reader, commending the Ant to your sym- pathy, assuring you not only for her sake but for yours' and the science you serve, that humanity is the best policy, and tendering you my best aid in case of need, au revoir. 2, Alma Road , Upper Holloway, 16th November, 1857. ( 85 ) LEPIDOPTERA. New British Species in 1857, (By the Editor.) In spite of a summer, which, for brilliant weather and heat, the Registrar General reports to have been quite unpre- cedented, our c^op of novelties is unusually poor. Insects have generally been abundant, many rare species in tolerable numbers, but of novelties we have hardly any amongst the 31acro-Lepidoptera. Probably, if half the energy which has been expended in the pursuit of Phlogophora Empyrea (a novelty two years ago, and figured in the Annual of 1856), had been ex- pended in the search for fresh novelties, we might have had a better list to produce to our readers. No doubt much of the increase of Entomological zeal which at present exists in the country is expended on the Rhopalo- cera, but we presume, when these incipients have obtained all the British butterflies (and we believe few collections are so poor as not to contain reputed British specimens of Lathonia and other rarities), they will turn their attention to the Bom- byces and Xoctuce, and when the " sugaring" force of the country is annually recruited by 200 pairs of hands, results of some sort must follow ; either the Noctuce will share in the extinction which now seems likely soon to overtake the British butterflies, or local and hitherto undetected species will reward the diligence of the midnight prowler. The extinction of the butterflies is by no means so im- 86 LEPIDOPTERA. probable a contingency as some might be disposed to imagine ; Chrysoplianus Dispar appears actually to have ceased to inhabit these islands ; Polyommatus Acis, if not altogether extinct, seems very nearly so ; the extinction of Polyommatus Avion and Pamphila Actceon is one of those facts, which we may safely prophesy as certain to come to pass at no very distant day. It must be borne in mind, that now-a-days species, which are at all rare or local, are systematically caught and pinned with an unrelenting ardour, such as our butterflies of yore never experienced. The captures of the Purple Emperor this year must pretty nearly have doubled the number of cabinet specimens in the country : insects, it is true, are prolific, but systematic pursuit in all the stages of their existence must eventually thin their numbers ; we hope the rising generation will remember this, and not rashly hasten forward the day of " the last British butterfly." Our list of novelties includes only two of the Macro- Lepidoptera, belonging to the Geometrina (and one of these, it is true, may be only an accidental visitor, and as much an indigenous British animal as the tiger which lately peram- bulated Ratcliffe Highway), and thirteen Micro-Lepidopr era; one of which is a Tortrix, and a startling addition of our Fauna, eleven are Tineina, and one is a Pterophorus. The following is the list of them : — Geometrina. Coleophora ibipennella. Aspilates Sacraria. » apicella. Eupithecia Helveticaria. . „ . chalcogrammella. m Tischeria angusticollella. . Tortricina. Nepticula Myrtillella. Sciaphila cinctana. Poterii. m ,, Glutinosae. Tineixa. •" „ arcuata. Depressana bipunctosa. Gelechia albipalpella. Pterophorina. „ arundinetella. Pterophorus Loewii. NEW BRITISH SPECIES IN 1857. 87 Aspilates Sacraria, Linnaeus. This conspicuous insect with the anterior wings of a sulphur yellow, with an oblique purple streak from the apex to the middle of the inner margin, and with the posterior wings quite white, has been recorded (see Intelligencer, vol. 3, No. 57, p. 36) as occurring at Plymouth. Future investi- gation must show whether this has been an accidental impor- tation, or whether the- species has any claims to be considered truly British. Mr. Wollaston remarks, * that all the species common to Madeira and the British islands are found in the south western extremity of our country and of Ireland ;" the occur- rence of a Mediterranean species would therefore be more probable in that portion of Great Britain than elsewhere. The occurrence of the insect in Sweden was recorded by Thunberg, in 1784. It will be remarked further on, that one of the Plumes first taken at Rhodes, and subsequently in Italy, but not known as occurring in Central or Northern Europe, has been this season met with on the Lancashire coast. As the capture of Mr. Rogers' specimen in September has been considered very extraordinary, it is interesting to know that Mr. Wollaston took this insect in Madeira at the end of September. Eupithecia Helveticaria, Boisduval. This is not very closely allied to any other species. Her- rich-Schaffer places it next to Satyrata, and Boisduval puts it in the immediate vicinity of that species ; it has, however, the wavy lines more distinct, and the black spot is as distinct as in Absinthiata, only placed more obliquely. The anterior wings are rather broad. I am strongly disposed to think that Freyer's Arceuthata 88 LEPIDOPTERA. is the same species, though Herrich-SchafFer gives it as dis- tinct. The larva of Arceuthata is bright green; it feeds on the juniper, and the perfect insect appears in March and April ; which is precisely the history of Helveticaria. This species is recorded as an addition to our Fauna by Mr. Doubleday in the " Zoologist" for February last, Mr. Logan having bred the insect from larvae found on juniper the previous autumn on the Pentlands. In confinement, this species makes its appearance in the breeding-cage in January or February. , SCIAPHILA CINCTANA, W. V. (Fig. 4.) Alls anticis albis, basif fascia obliqua media, maculaque costali ante apicem brunneis. Exp. al. 7—8 lin. Head and thorax rusty-brown. Palpi and antennae grey. Abdomen grey. Anterior wings white, with the base, an oblique fascia from the middle of the costa to near the anal angle, and a costal spot before the apex, rusty brown ; the ground colour is faintly spotted with leaden-grey, especially towards the hind margin. Posterior wings white, faintly spotted with pale lead colour. Those who are appalled at the idea of a new Sciaphila, as involving some species very difficult to determine, will be much relieved to find what a very conspicuous and distinct insect this is. Hiibner figures it, No. 132, under the name of Albidana. Duponchel, vol. ix., pi. 238, fig. 8, figures it as Tortrix cinctana. Several specimens of this novelty were taken by the Rev. S. C. Tress Beale, " on the sloping bank of a field at Alk- ham, near Dover, July 9th ; it flits over the tops of grass when disturbed, but soon settles again j whilst flying it ap- pears conspicuously white." NEW BRITISH SPECIES IN 1857. 89 Depressaria bipunctosa, Curtis. Alis anticis dilutissime ochreis, punctis duobus disci nigris, puncto nigricante dorsi basim versus, venis posticis fusco-irroratis, margineque postico nigricante-punctato. Exp. al. 9—10 lin. Head and face whitish-ochreous. Palpi pale ochreous ; second joint beneath fuscous. Antennae dark fuscous. An- terior wings very pale ochreous, with a blackish spot on the inner margin, near the base ; and two black spots on the disc, one before, the other beyond, the middle; a faint fuscous blotch lies between the fold and the inner margin, and pos- teriorly the surface of the wing is dusted with fuscous scales, sometimes placed principally on the veins ; a row of blackish spots is on the hind margin ; cilia pale ochreous. Posterior wings whitish, with the veins faintly tinged with fuscous towards the apex, and some fuscescent spots along the apical portion of the hind margin; cilia v hitish. This species is very closely allied to Liturella, Pallorella and Umbellana. From Liturella it may be distinguished by the paler ground colour, the distinctness of the spots along the hind margin, and the dorsal spot near the base. From Pallorella it is distinguished by the absence of the conspicuous fuscous streak, and by the wings being shorter and broader. From Umbellana it may be known by the absence of the longitudinal streaks ; and though in some specimens of Umbellana these seem almost represented in the scattered dark scales, the conspicuousness of the black spot on the disc beyond the middle is far greater than we find it in Umbellana. I believe this insect, several specimens of which were taken by Mr. Bond at Freshwater in the Isle of Wight, at the end of last July, to be identical with the D. bipunctosa described 90 LEPIDOPTERA. by Curtis in the "Annals of Natural History," 1850, p. 116, from a specimen taken in the New Forest by Sir C. Lyell. Gelechia albipalpella, Herrich-SchafFer. Alis anticis nigris, maculis duabus oppositw albidis pone medium. Exp. al. 5 lin. Head and face grey. Palpi greyish-white, externally with a dark grey line. Antennae blackish, annulated with whitish. Anterior wings black, rather glossy, with two small whitish opposite spots beyond the middle, which seem to have a tendency to form a straight interrupted fascia ; the tip of the wing is a little irrorated with pale grey scales ; cilia dark grey, intersected by a blackish hinder marginal line. Pos- terior wings fuscous, with pale fuscous cilia. This insect may be readily distinguished from Anthyllidella and Atrella by the position and colour of the spots. In Coro- nillella the position of the spots is the same, but in that species they are dull yellowish, instead of conspicuously whitish ; besides that, in Coronillella, both the anterior and the pos- terior wings are much broader than in Albipalpella. I bred three specimens of this from larvae I found near Horsell, June 20th, on Genista anglica ; the larva drew several leaves together round the stem, and then ate them half through, thus discolouring them and forming conspicuous clusters of yellowish white leaves. The larva had consider- able resemblance to that of G. tceniolella, and I was uncertain whether it would not produce that species. Mr. Scott has this autumn collected the same larva near York. NEW BRITISH SPECIES IN 1857. 91 Gelechia arundinetella, Zeller. Alls anticis angustis dilute griseo-brunneis, maculis oppositis pone medium obsoletis dilutioribus, jmncto inter) ecto nigro, ipunctuloque costali nigricante. Exp. al. 4^—5 lin. Head greyish-brown ; face paler. Palpi whitish above, externally and the tip black. Antennae fuscous. Anterior wings dull greyish-brown, with two very indistinct obliquely placed pale opposite spots beyond the middle, that on the costa rather posterior; between these is a minute blackish spot on the disc, and beyond the costal spot is a small blackish spot on the costa ; the apical portion of the wing is very pointed, and is spotted all round the margins pale and dark brown ; cilia pale greyish. Posterior wings pale grey, with pale greyish ochreous cilia. This inconspicuous species was bred by Mr. Boyd, who thus notices the habit of the larva (Int. ii. p. 139) -.—"The larva, when young, feeds like an Elachista, mining up and down the leaves of one of the large Carices (riparia ?), which grows on our river banks ; as it grows older it quits the first leaf and enters another, and sometimes a third, but spends the greater part of its life in the last one, of which it eats a large portion, and in which it spins its cocoon and changes to a pupa. It is difficult to collect, for by the time it is full-fed the leaf is generally withered, and the cocoon is scarcely discernible. The plant generally grows in the water, and the cocoon is an inch or so above the water mark. The perfect insect seems shy, and I have only succeeded in taking one; my first appeared on the 22nd of June." Professor Zeller, who sent me the species in 1850, says, — "found last year amongst Arnndo Phragmites and Scirpus lacustris, not scarce at the end of July, but mostly wasted 92 LEPIDOPTERA. and difficult to catch." Those who are acquainted with the appearance of a bred specimen of this species must be puzzled to conceive what a wasted specimen can be like ! Coleophora ibipennella, Heyden. Alls anticis albis, vents obsolete lutescenti-suffusis, apice fu- scescenti-squamato ; ciliis fuscescentibus ; antennis albis fuscescenti-annulatis, penicillo breviusculo albido. Exp. al. 6-7 lin. Head, face and palpi white. Antennas white, annulated with pale or dark fuscous, the basal joint with a rather short whitish tuft. Anterior wings white, slightly irrorated with fuscous towards the apex, and sometimes with some faint yellowish veins ; costal cilia tinged with grey, sometimes very decidedly dark fuscous, the remaining cilia generally rather paler. Posterior wings dark grey (darker than in Anati- pennella}, wTith dark grey cilia. This species is closely ailed to Anatipennella and Palli- atella, but is distinguished by its smaller size ; the anterior wings are less irrorated with fjuscous than in Anatipennella , and the yellow veining, of which faint traces may almost always be seen along the subcostal nervure, will separate it readily from both species. A most important character is furnished by the position of the case of the larva ; the form of the case is very similar to that of Anatipennella, but it is not so well developed behind, but the mouth of the case is cut off so obliquely that the case does not stand up perpendicularly to the surface to which it is attached, as in Anatipennella, but it lies almost prostrate, the belly of the case resting on the leaf on which the cater- pilU r is feeding. I have a specimen taken some years ago at Lewisham, and which I had overlooked as Anatipennella; this year Mr. NEW BRITISH SPECIES IN 1857. 93 Bond sent me some of the larvae, calling my attention to their peculiarities ; and subsequently I found them feeding on birch at Wickham. The larva feeds in May, and the perfect insect appears at the end of June. COLEOPHORA APICELLA, n. sp. Alis anticis albis, venis costam versus pone medium indis- tinctis saturatioribus, apice acuminato fusco. Exp. al. 5J — 6 lin. Head grey. Palpi whitish. Antennas white, annulated with dark fuscous. Anterior wings white, with a faint indication of some darker veins, especially towards the costa beyond the middle, a fuscous streak running more distinctly to the extreme apex, which is rather prolonged ; costal cilia whitish ; cilia of the hind margin pale grey. Posterior wings grey, with paler cilia. By the peculiarly sharp apex of the anterior wings, and by the pale colour of the wings and dark apex, it may be distinguished from all the other species. I have had for some years a worn specimen taken by Mr. Saunders at Hastings, which I had placed doubtingly amongst Argen- tula ; the sight of several specimens taken by Mr. Bond in the Fens of Cambridgeshire in July has satisfied me that it is really a good species. COLEOPHORA CHALCOGRAMMELLA, Zeller. (Fig. 3). Alis anticis jlavis, lineis duabus ex basi ad marginem jjos- ticum orichalceis ; antennis nigris, apice albo. Exp. al. 4—5 lin. Head and face bronzy. Palpi pale grey, tip of ea^h joint black. Antennae black, the tip white, sometimes with an ad- ditional white ring near the tip. Anterior wings deep yellow, 94 LEPIDOPTERA. with two conspicuous longitudinal bronzy streaks (more or less edged with black scales), one on the fold and one between the costa and the fold ; on the inner margin are a few scales of the same colour ; apex of the wing dark fuscous ; cilia of the apex dark fuscous, otherwise pale grey. Posterior wings dark grey, with paler cilia. This conspicuous insect, so totally different from every other species of Coleophora, was discovered in the larva state by Mr. T. Wilkinson near Scarborough, feeding on the leaves of Cerastium arvense, in May; and the following month the perfect insect appeared. The species had occurred in several parts of the Continent, at Glogau, Jena, Frankfort-on-the-Main, Vienna, in Bohe- mia and Steyerrnark ; but always sparingly, and a series of the insect had probably never been seen till Mr. T. Wilkin- -son had them on his setting-board. This autumn (Novem- ber) the young larva has been found near Scarborough by Messrs. Allis, Scott and Wilkinson. TlSCHERIA ANGUSTICOLLELLA, Heyden. Alls anticis fusco-purpurascentibus, macula orichalcea costali ad basim ; palpis lutein, antennis nigris, apice albo. Exp. al. 4 — 4J lin. Head and face dark violet. Palpi yellow. Antennas black, the apical third white. Anterior wings dark purplish brown, with a narrow bronzy patch along the costa at the base ; cilia grey. Posterior wings pale grey, with pale grey cilia. Very different from the other British species of the genus ; the sloe-feeding Gaunacella, it is true, has some resemblance to Angustkollella, but in Gaunacella the anterior wings are NEW BRITISH SPECIES IN 1857. 95 less purple, and have not the bronzy patch at the base of the costa. Mr. Edleston has four specimens of this species ; two of which he took amongst rose bushes, and two he bred in a jar, which was only supposed to contain Nepticula Ano- malella; the larva makes slightly puckered blotches on the upperside of rose leaves, very similar to those made by the larvae of Tischeria Margined in bramble leaves. Nepticula Myrtillella, Edleston. AUs anticis saturate fuscis, fascia obliqiia, tenui albicla pone medium ; capillis ferrughieis. Exp. al. 2J ]in. Head ferruginous. Antennae dark fuscous. Abdomen and legs grey. Anterior wings dark fuscous, with an oblique, rather slender whitish fascia beyond the middle; cilia whitish. Posterior wings pale grey, with pale grey cilia. ' This species comes nearest to Salicis, but the fascia is more slender and brighter ; its edges more sharply defined. I stated in the " Intelligencer," vol. ii. p. 44, that it was placed nearer the apex than in Salicis, but on an examina- tion of more specimens I feel doubtful in this respect. The larva was first sent to me by Herr Anton Schmid, who found it near Frankfort on the Maine ; a few days afterwards I received some from Mr. Edleston, who had collected them near Manchester. This insect is the solution of enigma No. 25. (See Ent. Annual, 1857, p. 133.) 96 LEPIDOPTERA. Nepticula Poterii, n. sp. Alls anticis fusco-aureis, fascia latiuscula recta dilute aurea apicem purpureum versus ; capillis ferrugineis. Exp. al. 2 lin. Head ferruginous. Antennae dark fuscous. Abdomen and legs grey. Anterior wings pale golden brown, with a rather broad straight pale golden fascia beyond the middle; apical portion of the wing violet, with violet grey cilia. Posterior wings pale grey, with pale grey cilia. This species seems intermediate between Micr other iella and Plagicolella ; it is about the form and size of Micro- titer iella, thus smaller and with narrower wings than Plagi- colella, but the fascia is broader and more shining than in Micr other iella, though less brilliant than in Plagicollela. The fascia in Poterii is almost further from the base on the costa than on the inner margin ; in the other two species the fascia has a tendency in the other direction. I discovered this larva at Mickleham, early in June, mining in the leaves of Poterium sanguisorba, which grows so abundantly on the chalk there ; the mine is rather pe- culiar ; at first slender and nearly filled up with dark grey excrement— going round the edges of the leaf, ultimately the larva eats out the central portion of the leaf, and the mine then appears almost a blotch. Nepticula Glutinos^:, n. sp. Alis anticis purpureo-fuscis, fascia subobliqua albida pone medium, apice violaceo ; capillis ferrugineis. Exp. al. 21 lin. Head ferruginous. Antennas dark fuscous. Abdomen and legs grey. Anterior wings purple brown, with a yellowish-white, rather oblique, fascia beyond the , middle NEW BRITISH SPECIES IN 1857. apical portion violet ; cilia grey. Posterior wings pale grey, with pale grey cilia. Distinguished at a glance from the smaller Alnetella, by the purple brown, not golden brown, basal portion of the anterior wings, and by the fascia hardly shining at all, a great contrast from the extreme brilliancy of the fascia in Alnetella. In Glutinosce, the fascia is nearly as as in Micr other iella. Mr. Wilkinson of Scarborough has bred this species from alder leaves, collected there last autumn ; the mine and the larva have not yet been distinguished from those of Nepticula Alnetella. Nepticula arcuata, Frey. Alia anticis atris, fascia arcuata argentea in medio; capillis ferriigineis. Exp. al. 2.J lin. Head ferruginous. Antennae fuscous. Abdomen and legs grey. Anterior wings black, with a rather slender, central, silvery-white fascia, which on the fold is curved a little inwards ; the fascia is antenuated in the middle ; cilia whitish. Posterior wings pale grey, with pale grey cilia. Closely allied to Angulifasciella and Atricollis; the former is however a larger, blacker insect, with a more brilliant fascia ; Atricollis is the same size as Arcuata, but is blacker, and the fascia is broader and more brilliant. Mr. Boyd has succeeded in breeding this insect, from the larvae in the leaves of Potentilla fragariastrum. Pterophorus Loewii, Zeller. Exp. 9 lin. Nearly allied to Bipunctidactylus and Plagiodactylus, but recognized at a glance by the costal cilia from the middle 1858 h 98 LEPIDOPTERA. of the wing to the apex being white. The ground colour ot the anterior wings is more of a slaty-grey than in Bipuncti- dactylus, only the inner margin having a brownish tinge. For this interesting addition to our Plumes, we are indebted to Mr. C. S. Gregson, who met with it at Southport, last August; specimens have also been taken there by Mr. Davis. Its locality so far north is rather singular, as the species had previously been confined to the Mediterranean, where it occurs at Rhodes and in Italy. LEPIDOPTERA. Rare British Species captured in 1857. Many of the more important of these were announced imme- diately in the columns of the Entomologist's Weekly Intel- ligencer ; we refer accordingly to the volume and page where those captures are mentioned. Colias Edusa ; has been repeatedly taken in the south west corner of Scotland (Int. ii. 180, 188, 203 ; iii. 5), an unusually northern locality. The species had been captured in Scot- land, in 1848 and 1852. Colias Hyale ; has been unusually plentiful on the coasts of Sussex and Kent, and has even occurred near London (Int. ii. 164, 171, 172, 173, 179, 180, 190). Pieris Daplidice; a specimen is recorded as having been taken near Colchester (Int. ii. 182). Apatura Iris ; has been taken more freely than for many years, Mr. Sturgess having remarked that dead stoats, weasels, &c. were great delicacies to the imperial haustellum systematically baited for the insect : in a wood it was known to frequent, the capture of seventeen specimens, on the 14th of July, and twenty on the following day, proves clearly the use of artifice in obtaining the splendid Iris (Int. ii. 130, 139, 147, 148, and 155). Vanessa Antiopa ; the captures of five specimens have been recorded, and another was seen ; the captures were two h2 100 LEPIDOPTERA. in Essex, one in Norfolk, one in Lancashire, and one in Northumberland (Int. ii. 181, 182, 190; iii. 12, 13). Argynnis Lathonia; has been captured at Margate, Chatham and Colchester (Int. ii. 182, 188). Steropes Paniscus; has occurred in two quite new localities, Netley Abbey, near Southampton, and Charlbury, in Oxfordshire; and also at Kettering, in Northamptonshire. Smerinthus ocellatus and Populi; hybrids of these two species have been bred by Mr. Hague (Int. ii. 188) ; they all made their appearance in the perfect state, nine weeks after the exclusion of the larva from the egg;. Sphinx Convolvuli ; has occurred in several localities, most of the specimens were taken between the 25th of Sep- tember and 5th of October. In 1846, the bulk of the cap- tures were made in the first fortnight of September. Deilephila Galii; has been again met with, both in the perfect state, and also as larvae (Int. ii. 182, 187, 188). Deilephila Euphorbia ; has been industriously sought on Braunton Burrows, by Messrs. M. A. and G. F. Mathews, who examined acre after acre of the food plant, but without success. The capture of a specimen of the perfect insect at Taunton has been recorded (Int. iii. 29). Ch^erocampa Nerii ; Brighton has again produced this conspicuous insect (Int. ii. 172). Trochilium chrysidiforme ; has again been taken near Folkestone. Cerura bicuspis; this insect appears to be gradually turning up in many parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire ; the empty cocoons are hardly now considered as rarities. Lophopteryx Carmelita ; was taken rather freely last spring, at West Wickham Wood, and the consequent rarity of the insect has been much impaired. Petasia nubeculosa; continues to be taken in some RARE BRITISH SPECIES CAPTURED IN 1857. 101 numbers in the North of Perthshire ; the little-bird system of capture begins to be rather doubted (Int. ii. 20, 60). Heterogenea Asellus ; two specimens have been taken in Epping Forest (Int. ii. 123). Mr. Doubleday had never met with this species there. Cymatophora fluctuosa; this continues to occur in the neighbourhood of Sheffield. Acronycta Alni ; has appeared, as usual, in several breeding -cages, and has also been taken at sugar (Int. ii. 100, 101, 197.) Xylophasia scolopacina ; a new locality for this insect is Barnstaple, where two were taken by Mr. G. F. Mathews, flying over bramble-blossom, at the end of July. Mr. Mathews saw several others, but mistook them for A. gemina. Heliophobus hispida; upwards of a hundred specimens were captured in September, near Plymouth. Luperixa Dumerilii; Mr. Bond met with a queer Noctua at Deal, which is perhaps referable to this species. Miana Expolita ; this was taken in Ireland, at the end of June, by Mr. N. Cooke and Mr. Burchell, in Galway. TvENiocampa leucographa ; has occurred at Barn- staple, North Devon, and near Ticehurst, in Sussex. Cerastis erythrocephala; one was taken at suo-ar, November 5th, 1856, in a wood near Plymouth ; a cap- ture near Weston-super-Mare has also been recorded (Int. hi. 53). Dasycampa rubiginea; has occurred at Newnham in Gloucester (Int. ii. 5; iii. 61); also at Exeter (Int. iii. 62) and Barnstaple (Int. iii. 70). Hoporinia Croceago ; one was taken as far west as Barnstaple, by Mr. G. F. Matthews, who found it on ivy. 102 LEPIDOPTERA. Phlogophora Empyrea ; has been taken in some numbers between Lewes and Brighton. Cucullia Gnaphalii ; Mr. Bond has been fortunate in breeding three specimens from the larvae he obtained last autumn. Phorodesma smaragdaria ; has been taken at Deal by Mr. Bouchard. Ennomos fuscantaria ; has been bred from' the egg by Mr. Bolt of Bristol ; from the larva by the Rev. H. Harper Crewe, at Stowmarket ; has been taken at light at Plymouth, at Newnham and at Kensington (Int. hi. 44), and has been kicked off an ash tree at Barnstaple. Aleucis pictaria ; the capture of ten specimens at Dartford Heath is recorded (Int. ii. 36). Prodelia literalis; the capture of a specimen at Newnham has been recorded (Int. hi. 44). Pionea stramentalis j has been met with plentifully in some of the fern districts. Pionea margaritalis ; the larva and perfect insect have been taken rather freely round Cambridge. Spilodes palealis; several specimens have occurred at Folkestone, and it has also been taken at Sidmouth (Int. ii. 117). Botys lancealis ; fourteen specimens were taken by Mr. G. F. Mathews in different wToods in the neighbour- hood of Barnstaple. Chilo obtusellus; several specimens have been taken in the Norfolk fens (Int. ii. 156). Acentropus niveus ; this insect having been finally handed over by the Neuropterists to the Lepidopterists, we have figured it on our Plate this year (fig. 6). In the summer of 1856, Mr. E. Brown met with this insect on the RAKE BRITISH SPECIES CAPTURED IN 1857. 103 Trent, amongst Potamogeton, and, following up his ob- servations, he has this year met with the pupa and bred it ; "I have bred a male specimen from a chrysalis con- tained in a cocoon attached, beneath the surface of the water, to Potamogeton pectinatus. The cocoon was composed of short pieces -of the leaves of the Potamogeton woven into a light silken fabric. The pupa was of the undoubted Lepi- dopterous type." E. Brown in litt. Grapholita Penkleriana ; this is the solution of Enigma No. 7, Mr. T. Wilkinson having bred the insect (the Ancht/lopera subuncana of Stephens) from the " vaulted chamber" maker of the oak (Int. ii. 75). Phoxopteryx Upupana; has again been taken at West Wickham Wood (Int. ii. 100). Stigmonota puncticostana ; has been taken at Black Park by Mr. Tompkins (Int. ii. 116). Chrosis Audouinana ; has also been taken by Mr. Tompkins in the same locality (Int. ii. 117). ( 104 ) OBSERVATIONS ON BRITISH TINEINA. (Supplementary to the Insecta Britannica — Lepidop- tera, Tineina ; and the Entomologist's Companion, 2nd Edition.) Chimabacche Phryganella, I. B., p. 15. Of this I received a number of adult larvae from Professor Zeller, all of which appeared to possess the club-shaped third pair of feet. From these I have bred both sexes of the perfect insect. Madame Lienig had stated that it was only the young larvae of the males which had these club-shaped feet. Tinea picaretta, I. B., p. 28. A remarkably small specimen of this pretty species was taken by Mr. Wailes in July, on the stem of a birch tree. The larva will probably be found in fungi on birches. Lamprosetia Verhuellella, I. B., p. 39. The larva is very plentiful on some walls at Bideford and Barnstaple. Mr. Braim met with the larvae near Whitby last Decem- ber, mining the leaves of Scolopendrium vulgar e (Hart's Tongue). Incurvarm pecti?iea, I. B., p. 40. The young mining larvae of this insect have been noticed at Scarborough by Mr. R. Cook ; and from him and from Mr. Weaver, I have received some half-grown larvae feeding on green birch leaves. Nemophora SwammerdavimeUaj I. B., p. 47. This is the solution of Enigma No. 30, the insect having been bred OBSERVATIONS ON BRITISH TINEINA. 105 this spring by Hen* Schmid, from the larva? collected in March, 1856, thus implying that the insect takes two years to complete its transformations. Adda viridella, I. B., p. 50. I have this year observed the females apparently in the act of depositing their eggs on the midrib of oak leaves. I could not, however, meet with the eggs. Nemotois Scabiosellus, I. B., p. 52. The females of this species have again been detected ovipositing in the flowers of Scabiosa arvensis, and the eggs have been found by Mr. Bond. Nemotois fa sci ell us , I. B., p. 52. Mr. Douglas met with two specimens at Darenth, July 14th, on the flowers of a dwarf umbelliferous plant (Int. ii. 132). Swammerdamia apicella, I. B., p. 55. Mr. Law has bred this from a larva found in August on plum (Int. ii. 77). Swammerdamia griseocapitdla, I. B., p. 56. Mr. Par- fitt has bred something very like this from a larva on plum, very different to that of the birch-feeding gri&eocapitella. Hyponomeuta vigintipunctatus, I. B., p. 59. This has been bred in some plenty by the Rev. P. H. Newnham, from the larvae he collected last autumn and this summer. Anesychia funerella, I. B., p. 63. I have received the larvae of this species from Mr. T. Brown, who found them near Cambridge feeding on Comfrey at the beginning of August. Plutella Dalella, I. B., p. 69. Dr. Staudinger found the larva in Iceland on Arabis petr&a at the end of June. The cocoon is of open net work, similar to that of P.porrec- tella. P. Annidatella, I. B., p. 68. I have received from Mr. 106 LEPIDOPTERA. M ailes an open net-work cocoon, which he reputes to belong to this species. Depressaria Angelicella, I. B., p. 91. Dr. Colquhoun has collected the larva of this species very freely at Dunoon and Ardrossan, most of the plants there of Angelica sylves- tris being attacked by the larva? ; Dr. Colquhoun has twice reared this insect from larvae on Heraeleum Sphondylium. Depressaria albipunctella, I. B., p. 95. I received the latter from Herr Mohlig, of Frankfort ; it differs from ap- plana by the paler subdorsal lines, the less conspicuous spots, and the second segment is spotted with black. Depressaria pulcherrimellat I. B., p. 96. Dr. Colquhoun has again bred this species from a larva feeding on the flowers of Bnnium fexuosum. Depressaria nervosa, I. B., p. 98. Dr. Colquhoun has called my attention to an error in the Annual of 1856, where, at page 51, I have stated, that "when the larvae cease feed- ing they bore into the stem, and then weave a transverse piece of web above and below them ;" there is only a single n-eb arosss the stem, which is placed below the larva and immediately above the opening. Geleehia euneatella, I. B., p. 110. Several specimens were taken by the Rev. J. D. J. Preston on the trunk of a willow tree near York. Geleehia terrella, I. B., p. 112. Whilst searching for beetles amongst moss last March, Mr. Douglas found se- veral specimens of a brown larva, with paler dorsal line, which, from its activity and peculiar motion of the head, seemed likely to be a Geleehia. Can this be the long sought larva of G. terrella ? Unfortunately none of the specimens were reared. Geleehia viscariella (Ent. Annual, 1855, p. 43; 2nd edit. OBSERVATIONS ON BRITISH TINEINA. 107 p. 65 ; 1st Annual Supp. to I. B., p. 2). I have bred se- veral specimens of this insect from larvae feeding on Lychnis diuica, sent me by Mr. T. Wilkinson. Gelechia Coronillella, I. B., p. 133. I have bred this from larvae sent me by Professor Zeller, feeding between united leaves of Coronilla varia ; the larva has some resem- blance to that of G. tceniolella, but is fatter and greener. Cleodora StriateUa (Ent. Annnal, 1856, p. 36 ; 2nd An- nual Sup. to I. B., p. 4). Several specimens of this insect have been taken by the fen collectors. Anarsia Spartiella, I. B., p. 144. I collected the larva and pupa of this insect freely on Wimbledon Common in June, in the terminal shoots of furze, which they turn brown ; the pupa is generally to be found in the shoots. Nothris Verbascella, I. B., p. 148. This insect is still to be obtained near Norwich, whence I had a young larva sent me to name this summer. Sophronia humerella, I. B., p. 150. This larva feeds also in the terminal shoots of Artemisia campestris. Hypercallia Christiernana, I. B., p. 153. Having re- ceived some larvae of this species from Professor Frey, I offered them Polygala vulgaris, which they ate readily (Int. ii. ^>b). Butalis yrandipennis, I. B., p. 165. I observed the larva of this insect in the greatest profusion on the furze bushes on the steep hill side between Torrington and the river. The webs were in February quite a feature in the landscape. Butalis senescens, I. B., p. 166. I have bred this from larvae found on Box Hill in May, making little web-galleries amongst moss at the root of Thyme. Acrolepia Betuletella, I. B., p. 172. A specimen was taken by Mr. Sang in Castle Eden, Dene, August 6 ; from which I have made the following description : — Alts aiiticis 108 LEPIDOPTERA. brunneis, saturating marmoratis, maculis duabus costa?, una ante, altera po?ie medium saturate brunneis, maculis duabus trigonalibus dorsi niveis, altera majore ante, altera ninore pone medium; plaga pallida ciliorum nulla. Exp. al. 5 lin. Head and palpi greyish-brown. Antennae rather dark brown. Anterior wings brown, mottled indistinctly with dark brown ; on the costa are two dark brown spots, one before and the other beyond the middle ; beyond the latter, on the costa, are three smaller brown spots, each edged pos- teriorly with a whitish streak ; on the inner margin, before the middle, is a conspicuous white triangle, enclosing a few black scales, and towards the anal angle is a smaller white spot ; midway between this and the apex of the wing is a black streak, preceded by a few white scales ; cilia reddish- brown, without the pale blotch in the middle so conspicuous in Pyrjmceana. Posterior wings pale grey, with pale grey cilia. Thorax reddish-brown ; abdomen grey. Legs reddish- brown ; tarsi spotted with whitish. Underside of anterior wings dark grey, with faint indica- tion of the dorsal pale spots and costal dark spots ; tips of the cilia conspicuously reddish. Differs from Pygmceana by the anterior wings being narrower; the first costal spot is placed before the middle, and the dorsal spots are whiter, and there is no blotch in the cilia ; it differs totally from the continental Assectella, by the different ground colour and form of the wings, and different markings. The agreement with Curtis's figure is not entire, but at present we know not to what extent the species may vary. Tinagma resplendellm?i} I. B., p. 179. I bred a specimen OBSERVATIONS ON BRITISH TINEINA. 109 of this from the blotch miner of the alder leaves (Enigma, No. 2*2), of which I detailed the habit last year in the Annual of 1857, p. 132. Mr. R. Cook and Mr. T. Wil- kinson have collected the larvae freely near Scarborough, at the end of July ; 1 was unsuccessful in my attempts to meet with it near Beckenham this season. Argyresthia glaucinella, I. B., p. 185. I have received the larva from Mr. Edleston, who finds them in April, feeding solitarily in the sound bark of oak and horse-chestnut trees, revealing their retreats by protruding a little reddish Jrass from the hole. Argyresthia aurulentella, I. B., p. 189. The larva mines the leaves of the juniper at the end of April; it enters from the upper surface and eats out the apical portion of the parenchyma, it then leaves its excrement in the mined leaf, and proceeds to repeat the process in another leaf; it never enters the stem. Gracilaria Ononidis, I. B., p. 201. When at Zurich I met with the larva of this species making flat dipterous- looking blotches in the leaves of clover. Coriscium Brongniardellum, I. B., p. 202. The larva of this species is excessively abundant on the oaks between Woking and Guildford. Coleophora Vibicella, I. B., p. 213. The larva has again been met with in Trench Wood, its old locality, by Mr. Crump. Coleophora currucipennella, I. B., p. 215. I met with a single larva of this species on a sallow leaf in Burnt Ash Lane, June 24th. Coleophora therinella, I. B., p. 217. A thistle-feeding larva, found this autumn by Mr. Gorham and Mr. Aris, in a long case, somewhat allied to that of C. Troglodytella, will perhaps produce this insect. 110 LEPIDOrTERA. Coleophora murinipennella , I. B., p. 218. The larvae on the seeds of the wood rush were collected freely by Mr. Wil- kinson last June. Coleophora juncicolella, I. B., p. 220. The larvae were collected in abundance last spring at West Wickhara Wood ; also at Scarborough and near Manchester. Coleophora fuscedinella, I. B., p. 221. I have actually bred this species from larvae found feeding on mallow, by the side of an elm hedge. Is the larva which feeds on the Ribes sanguineum the same species? Laverna Phragmitella, I. B., p. 238. The capture of this insect by dozens in the fens this summer is one of the most startling events of the year— as the specimens from which my previous description was made were in a very poor condition, I subjoin an improved description, and a figure of it is given on the Plate (Fig. 2). Alts anticis dilute ochreis, costa pone medium dilutiore, punctis duobus disci saturiore fuscis, albo-cinctis, in stria fusca po&itis, puncto minore plicae, ft/sco. Exp. al. 7 — 10 lin. Head and face pale greyish-ochreous. Palpi pale greyish- ochreous, dark fuscous externally. Antennae pale greyish- ochreous, spotted with dark fuscous, with a dark fuscous line along the elongate basal joint. Anterior wings pale ochreous. Tiie costa beyond the middle almost whitish, a fuscous streak on the disc from the middle to the apex of the wing, in which are two darker fuscous spots, surrounded with white scales, one in the middle of the wing, the other midway between it and the apex of the wing ; beneath the first one, on the fold, is a smaller fuscous spot ; hind margin and apex of the costa spotted with fuscous ; cilia ochreous. Posterior wings pale grey, with greyish ochreous cilia. The larva will probably be found to feed in the stem of some plant ; much in the style of Laverna ochraceella. OBSERVATIONS ON BRITISH TINEINA. Ill Chrysoclista Schrankella, I. B., p. 242. A notice of the capture of (Ecophora Woodiella was sent for publication in the " Intelligencer/' with no locality given ; on applying for the locality, it was declined ; the specimens were C. Schrank- ella! ! Asychna fuscociliella, I. B., p. 246. This has been bred by Herr Hofmann ; it is a true Coleophora, and the C. fuscocuprella of Herrich-Schaffer ; in habit it appears nearly allied to C. paripennella. The larva feeds in autumn on hazel, winters full fed, and eats nothing further in spring. The cases are very different to those of Paripennella, and are much larger behind, more after the style of the cases of C. anatipennella. Elachista trapeziella, I. B., p. 254. This has been bred by Professor Frey from larvas mining the leaves of Lunula pilosa, in the middle of June (Int. ii. 126). Elachista triseriatetta, I. B., p. 261. This has been taken in North Wales, in July. Elachista pollinariella, I. B., p. 261. The larva feeds, according to Professor Frey, " in Brachypodium sylva- ticum, making a large Lithocolletiform mine" (Int. iii. 24.) Lithocolletis quinqueguttella, I. B., p. 268. I have myself bred this from leaves of Salix jusca, sent me by Mr. T. Wilkinson. Lithocolletis irradiella, I. B., p. 269. This species has again been bred by Mr. T. Wilkinson. Lithocolletis Caledoniella, I. B., p. 275. This has been bred by Mr. T. Wilkinson from larvte mining the upper side of hawthorn leaves, the mines of which were not distinguishable from those of L. Corylifoliella. Lithocolletis tristrigella, I. B., p. 281. I have bred this froni elm leaves collected near Exeter by Mr. Parfitt ; the cocoon is pale brown, not blueish-green as in Schreberella. 112 LEPIDOPTERA. Lyonetia Clerckella, I. B., p. 284. This appears quite polyphagous. Mr. Scott has bred it from birch (Int. ii. 202) and mountain-ash, and its mines have been noticed in quince leaves by Mr. Scott and by myself. Mr. Gorham has found the mines of it in laurel leaves ! Mr. Curtis recorded its occurrence in elm leaves, and I have understood that, at Paris, the larvae are abundant in autumn, descending from the elms. Lyonetia Padifoliella, I. B., p. 284. This has been bred from birch by Professor Frey (Int. ii. p. 189). Bucculatrix cristatella, I. B., p. 295. Mr. T. Wilkin- son discovered the larva of this species in May, mining the leaves of the yarrow (Achillea millefolium), and then eating the leaves half-through from the outside. Nepticula Headleyella, I. B., p. 300. I worked very hard for this species when at Mickleham the beginning of June, but only obtained a single specimen worth pinning. Nepticula Cryptella (Ent. Annual, 1856, p. 41 ; 2nd Annual Supplement to I. B., p. 9). The larva is very abundant in Headley Lane, but the insect seems difficult to rear. I bred a single specimen in May from the larvae collected the previous July. ( 113 ) ANSWERS TO ENIGMAS. Answers to Enigmas in the Entomologist's Annual, 1855, 1st Edition, p. 63 ; 2nd Edition, p. So. 7. Grapholita Penkleriana (Anchylopera subuncana, Stephens) ; see ante, p. 103. 11. Not yet solved. Answers to Enigmas in the Entomologist's Annual, 1856, p. 63. 18. Not vet solved. 20. Not yet solved. 22. Tinagma resplendellum ; see ante, p. 108. Answers to Enigmas in the Entomologist's Annual, 1857, p. 133. 25. Nepticula Myrtillella ; see ante, p. 95. 26. Not yet solved. 27. Not yet solved. 28. Not yet solved. 29. Not yet solved. 30. Nemophora Smammerdammella ; see ante, p. 104. 31. Not yet completely solved. 32. Not yet completely solved. 1858 ( 114 ) ENIGMAS STILL UNANSWERED. 11. "An Elachista larva, found by Mr. Scott at the end of April, mining in leaves of Scirjius lacustris." No one appears to have again found this. 18. " A Lithocolletis larva, mining the upper side of birch leaves." Professor Zeller is confident this ought to produce L. Betulce. 20. " A Depressaria larva, found by Mr. Boyd, May 2nd, 1855 (it was then young), feeding on a leaf of parsnip (Pas- tinaca sativa), under a turned-down corner ; this was expected to be Depressaria Don glabella.'' This has not again been met with. 26. " A Nepticula larva, mining the leaves of birch ; the mine has some resemblance to that of Nep. luteella, but the central track of excrement is broader, not so mathematically linear." I have again met with this larva, but have not suc- ceeded in breeding any. 27. " A Gelechia ? larva, feeding in the heads of yarrow (Achillea millefolium)." 1 am not aware that this has been collected this autumn. 28. " A Coleophora larva, with a case similar to that of limosipennella, feeding on birch." None were reared ; this autumn the larvae were collected freely by Mr. Shield at Highgate, and by myself at Abbey Wood. 29. " A Coleophora larva, with a case similar to that of C. siccifolia, feeding on birch." This has not been reared, but the larva has been collected near Frankfort-on-the-Main ENIGMAS STILL UNANSWERED. 115 by Herr Schmid, who proposes the name C. betulifolia should the species prove distinct. 31. "A Coleopho?'a larva, feeding on Vaccinium Myr- tillus in a longish slender case, somewhat like that of Vimi- netella" I have bred something from these apparently so like Viminetella that I cannot distinguish it : moreover, we know that that species feeds on Myrica gale, so that pos- sibly it may also feed on the bilbery ; the point wants fur- ther investigation. 32. " A Coleophora larva, feeding on the seeds of Arte- misia vulgaris at the end of September; the case shaped like a withered flower." I have bred two of these, and they appear identical with specimens taken in the perfect state, amongst Artemisia vulgaris, between Bexley and Dartford Heath some years ago. The species, however, if distinct, is so closely allied to Argentula and Virgaureee, that, before coming to a definite conclusion on the subject, I should like to see a longer series than I at present possess. NEW ENIGMAS FOR SOLUTION. 33. A brown Gelechia-like larva, found amongst moss by Mr. Douglas last March. This may be G. terrella, for whose apprehension a reward of ,£5 was unsuccessfully offered two years ago. 34. A Cemiostoma larva was found in August by Mr. Wailes, mining in the leaves of Genista tinctoria ; from its habit this cannot be C. Spartifoliella9 and the mine is so i2 116 NEW ENIGMAS FOR SOLUTION. totally different from that of C. Laburnella, that it is cannot be that species ; should the insect prove distinct the name of C. Wailesella has been suggested for it. Mr. Weir bred a Cemiostoma some years ago from the Genista tinctoria; but inexperienced as we then were with regard to the habits of the larva, and there being no apparent difference in the perfect insect from Spartifoliella, the subject dropped and had got lost sight of. 35. A Coleophora larva, feeding on the leaves of thistle, has been collected in September by Mr. Gorham and Mr. Aris. The case is long and whitish. Can this be C. therinella ? 36. A Tischeria larva which makes a brownish blotch with distinct concentric rings, on oak leaves, very different from the uniform white blotches of T. complanella ; these were very abundant at Abbey Wood and at West Wickham Wood in September ; indeed they seem nearly as plentiful, though not so conspicuous, as those of T. complanella. 37. A Coleophora larva, found on birch in a case which, though somewhat resembling the case of C. viminetella, is more globose and has more the appearance of a birch-bud ; the blotch it makes in the leaf is of a peculiar brown, like the blotches of C. limosipennella. I found one of these at West Wickham, October 31st. 38. A Lithocolletis, mining the upperside of beech-leaves : of this mine I found two examples on one leaf at Alton Towers, at the end of July. Professor Frey met with this two years ago, and this autumn has obtained ten specimens of the larva. new enigmas for solution. 117 The following have not yet been found in this Country, but are still Unsolved Problems in Natural Science. 39. A Coleophora larva on Potentilla cinerea, collected at Mombaeherhaide by Senator von Heyden, Herr Schmid and myself; none were reared. 40. A Coleophora larva on a species of clover, feeding on the upper side of the leaves and making conspicuous white blotches ; the case is smooth, slightly curved, darkest at the tip, where it is brown ; at the mouth part it is dull-ochreous. I found one at Mombaeherhaide, but did not rear it. 41. A Gelechial larva, long and thin, of a pale dull-yel- lowish ; feeding on thyme, eating the leaves half through from the underside, and concealing itself in tubes of sand, spun together with silk : of this I received several from Pro- fessor Zeller, who found them near Glogau in May ; none were reared. 42. A Gelerhia ? larva of dark-red colour, marbled with whitish, making lage flat blotches in birch-leaves, and form- ing inside the mines a circular cocoon. The mine and co- coon very similar to those made b}^ some Coleopterous larvae ; these I received from Herr Miihlig, who found them near Frankfort-on-the-Main, at the end of September. 43. A Coleophora on birch, found at the same time, with a case curved and flounced, putting one rather in mind of the cases of C. serenella. 44. A Nepticula larva, found near Ratisbon by Herr Hofmann in October, in the leaves of Ayrimonia Eupatoria, forming its cocoon inside the mine. 45. A Nepticula larva, mining the leaves of Convolvulus Sepium and C. arvensis at the end of September. ( 118 ) NATURAL HISTORY OF THE TINEINA. Those who are contributing; to the progress of this work are naturally anxious to know to what extent their help becomes serviceable, and with the view of notifying to my coadjutors and others the amount of assistance I have received in the past twelve months, the following Table has been prepared. I had made known some time since, that assistance in the discovery and forwarding to me of new larvae would be recompensed in a peculiar manner, namely, by presenting a copy of the entire series of the Natural History of the Tineina to any one who should first discover and commu- nicate to me the transformations of twenty species with which I was previously unacquainted. Now, in finding new larvae, there are three distinct steps the discoverer has to make : — The first, and most important, is the discovery of the larva. The second is the sending such larva to me, in order that it may be duly figured and described. The third is the rearing of such larva through its trans- formations, so as to ascertain the perfect insect produced from it. It will frequently happen that, whilst one person will first discover a new larva, some other Entomologist will be the first to send it to me, and a third will perhaps be the suc- cessful breeder. Hence the reward offered for the discovery and first communication of the transformations of a new species may have to be divided into three shares. Accord- NATURAL HISTORY OF THE TINEINA. 119 ingly in the annexed table I have apportioned the reward into three parts : — A half, or -50, to the discoverer of the larva ; a quarter, or -25, to the party first sending it to me ; and a quarter, or "2o, to the party who first rears the perfect insect. And, as was the case last year, a quarter prize, or *25, is here awarded to each person sending me some larva that I wanted, even though its history had already been published. CD