174 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



"Singing" of Syrphus ribesii. In the Ent. Mo. Maf;. for 

 January 191 9 (p. 18) A. E. J. Carter has an interesting note on 

 the "singing" of the fly Syrplms ribesii L. while at rest. Observa- 

 tions were made by Mr Carter in his garden in the late summer 

 of 191 7 and again in 1918. So far as he could ascertain, the 

 "singing" was confined to S. ribesii., since he also paid close 

 attention to other species of the genus, such as S. hiniger Mg., 

 S. balteatus Deg., and S. corollcz Fab. The sound is apparently 

 only produced by the males, and apparently it had no attractive 

 influence on the opposite sex, but in the words of the author 

 "was an expression of the insect's joy in life." The brighter 

 the sun, the more active the insects were, and the more they 

 " sang." 



In the February number of the same journal a further note 

 appears on this subject (p. 33). E. F. Wallis writes to the effect 

 that the wings of these flies are really vibrating rapidly while the 

 singing noise is being produced, but this is only noticeable on very 

 close observation. The effect to the eye is that the wings suddenly 

 appear out of focus when the song is commenced, but immediately 

 upon its cessation the outline of the wings becomes suddenly sharp 

 and distinct. 



Hive Bees. Two papers on Bees have a place in the Scot. 

 Joiirn. Agric. for April, the first by Mr J. Anderson dealing with 

 Beekeeping, and the second by Dr J- Rennie and Miss E. J. 

 Harvey discussing experiments devised in order to discover the 

 range of infectivity of Isle of Wight disease. The results of 

 the experiments suggest " that infection takes place most readily 

 through contact with sick bees, and that this may occur in the early 

 stage of the adult condition, before the bee has commenced to 

 forage." 



"O^ 



On "Filograna," a Common Marine Polvchaet Worm. 

 In discussing the history, distribution, structure, and general 

 import of Filograna, Prof. W. C. M'Intosh gives many Scottish 

 records, and shows to what extraordinary extent variation may 

 occur in even a limited area. On the same site he has found 

 individuals with and without opercular coverings to their tubes, with 

 and without enlarged tips to the branchiae, with and without eyes, 

 with few anterior bristles and hook rows, and with many, and so on. 

 This range of variation leads him to believe that the Filogra?ta 

 individuals spread throughout the whole globe, belong to one species 

 "endowed with a capacity for variation almost unequalled in the 

 animal series" {Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Jan. 1919, p. 125). 



