392 , THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST 



be forthcoming. So little is known of the insects of Alberta that 

 Mr. Whitehouse's work makes a valuable addition to our knowl- 

 edge of the fauna of this Province. 



The author has aimed to make the paper useful to the be- 

 ginner and he has, therefore, avoided all but the most necessary 

 technical terms, and has made the descriptive notes as brief and 

 simple as possible. They are not intended to enable the student 

 to determine all his captures with certainty, but with the help 

 of the figures, which in most cases illustrate the male appendages, 

 (these being usually among the most useful characters), the identi- 

 fication of the males, at least, of most of the species, should not 

 be a difficult matter, especially as the Alberta fauna is not a very 

 large one. There are 43 species actually recorded from the Pro- 

 vince and 12 others are included as probably occurring there. 



The omission of exact localities and dates of capture, though 

 regrettable from the specialist's standpoint, is, no doubt, due to 

 the author's object of merely providing a simple guide for the use 

 of the beginner, this information having been already published 

 for most of the species in Mr. Whitehouse's papers on the Odonata 

 of the Red Deer  District (Can. Ent., XLIX, pp. 96-103; L, pp. 

 95-100). As a substitute, a key is given to the seasonal distribu- 

 tion, with remarks on the range within the Province and the 

 relative frequency of occurrence of each species. The data for 

 the seasonal distribution is, however, in most cases insufficient 

 and must vary considerably according to altitude and other 

 factors. It is, in some cases, based on a single record, which has 

 no value for such a purpose, and in other cases the records are 

 from localities outside of Alberta, which are equally valueless. 

 To this extent, therefore, the key is misleading. 



Unfortunately, through no fault of the author, the numbering 

 of the pages has been omitted. 



We hope that this useful little guide will stimulate others to 

 take up the study of dragonflies in this interesting region where 

 mountain and prairie faunas meet. 



(To be continued.) 



Mailed November 13, 1918. 



