91 



ieWeiu. 



The Entomologist's Annual, for 1855 ; comprising Notices of the New British 

 Insects detected in 1854. Edited by H. T. Stainton, Esq. London: Van 

 Voorst, 1855. Pp. 112, one coloured plate. Price 2s. 6d. 



Whoever has pursued the study of Entomology for sMy length of time, must 

 have frequently felt the want of some work which should give him an idea of 

 what others were doing in the same interesting pursuit in which he was 

 engaged. This want has been most apparent in the case of those who, living 

 in the country, are, as it were, in a great measure isolated, with respect to 

 other Entomologists. The Entomologist's Annual, as its name implies, pur- 

 poses to supply this deficiency; and its projector, Mr. Stainton, deserves the 

 thanks and encouragement of all Entomologists in the country, for the 

 admirable way in which he has carried out his design. Of the work before 

 us, some sixty pages are occupied by a list, with authorities, localities, &c., of 

 all the Lepidoptera which have been discovered since 1835; those obtained 

 in 1854 being kept separate from the others. This list is the production of 

 Mr. Stainton, and his well-earned reputation as a Lepidopterist is a sufficient 

 pledge for the accuracy and completeness of the list; which comprises 174 

 species, 21 of which were found during the past year; showing that noA'elties 

 insiy still be expected to reward the diligent collector. 



The next fourteen pages are occupied by the new Hymenoptera. This 

 portion of the volume is from the pen of Mr. Frederick Smith, well known, 

 for many years, as one of our first Hymenopterists. From this it appears, 

 that 59 new Bees have been discovered since Kirby's Monograph, in 1802. 

 Several additions are also recorded in other families of the Hymenoptera. 



The next portion of the work is devoted to Coleoptera; and its author, 

 Mr. Janson, commences his list, which embraces 227 species, from the pro- 

 duction of Stephens' Manual of British Beetles, in 1839. 



In order to give our readers some idea of the nature of the work, we 

 extract the following from the notices of new British Lepidoptera taken in 

 1854: 



^^ Uudorea gracilalis. Doubleday, n. sp. — Taken by Mr. Weaver in Scotland; expands 

 9-10 lines ; not very nearly allied to any of our known species : the anterior wings have 

 a peculiarly delicate appearance ; they are very narrow at the base, gradually widening 

 to a little before the apex : the hinder fascia runs obliquely inwards from the costa, as 

 in E. lineola ; before the hinder margin are several black spots, cilia pale fuscous, with 

 paler patches ; the posterior wings are greyish-fuscous, with paler cilia." 



Many of the other new insects are noticed with much more elaborate 

 descriptions, and the plate which accompanies the volume contains well 

 executed and coloured figures of seven of the novelties. We earnestly 



