I903- Pack-BkrESFORD. — Notes on Wasps. ff 



greatly exceed all the other species put together in that part 

 of England where his specimens were collected, and I was able 

 to supply him with a further observation of my own ; for in 

 Northamptonshire, where I was paying a visit this spring, out 

 of 56 queen wasps caught, 44 were germajiz'ca. 



It seems to me not unlikely, that as germanica is distinctly 

 a larger and a stronger wasp than viilgai'is, where the two 

 species come in contact, the former may tend to oust the 

 latter. Messrs. Barrington and Moffat's statistics, as well as 

 my own, seem to show a tendency to an increase in germanica, 

 and it would be interesting to watch for further indications 

 in this direction. 



There are so many people of my acquaintance who kill queen 

 wasps in the spring with a view to diminishing the attacks on 

 their gardens, that I should like to make an appeal to all who 

 do so to preserve those slaughtered, for identification. They 

 could very easily be perserved by putting the carcases into a 

 bottle of spirits of wine, and I should be very grateful for 

 any consignment that might be sent me. 



Feuagh House, Bagenalstown. 



NEWS GLEANINGS. 



A Marine Laboratory for Belfast. 



The recent suggestion made to the Belfast Natural History and 

 , Philosophical Society by Prof Symington, as to the desirability of estab- 

 lishing a small marine laboratory in the^ North, will, we trust, be followed 

 up. We are glad to notice that the needs of such an institution have been 

 urged by Sir R. LI- Patterson and others in the Belfast press. Fifty 

 years ago Belfast was the centre of an enthusiastic group of marine 

 zoologists; Thompson, Dickie, Hyndman, Waller, Patterson, and others 

 made the North-east of Ireland famous by their work. But this 

 interest all diopped away, till of recent years Joseph Wright has been 

 the only Northern naturalist working at any marine group. We have 

 reason to hope that the advent of Prof Gregg Wilson will prove the 

 dawn of better days, and that the North will reassert its old title to be 

 looked on as a home of marine zoological research. 



