72 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



these curious beetles has been recently revived by the discovery of S. muralis in 

 some abundance at Oxford. 



Thirty-four species of Coleoptera, including Lesteva luctuosa, Fauv. (new to 

 Britain), are recorded from the Isle of Eigg, by H. St J. K. Donisthorpe, in the 

 Entomologist's Record Tor January (pp. 13-14). 



G. C. Champion, in the Ent. Mo. Mag. (February, p. 44), calls attention to a 

 new species of Omalium described recently by G. Luze under the name of 

 grandiloqua, from Scottish specimens taken by Norman H. Joy. Hitherto this 

 beetle has been known to British Coleopterists as 0. brevicorne, Er. 



Norman H. Joy describes (Ent. Mo. Mag., February, p. 44), a new variety of 

 Bledius arenarius under the name of fergussoni. The specimens were taken by 

 Anderson Fergusson, at Knoweside, Ayrshire. 



Students of our British Wasps will find an interesting account of some 

 observations on Vespa germanica by Marion Black-Hawkins in the Zoologist for 

 December (pp. 457-463). The observations covered the period from 10th July to 

 7th September of the past summer, and many interesting facts relative to the 

 feeding of the larvae by the workers are recorded. 



"Myrmecophilous Notes for 1911" is the title of an interesting paper by 

 H. St J. K. Donisthorpe, which commences in the January number of the 

 Entomologist's Record (pp. 4-10). The author's observations for the past year are 

 summarised, and include numerous Scottish records. Myrmica sulcinodis, M. 

 la?vinodis, M. scabrinodis, M. lobicornis, Leptothorax acervorum, Lasius fiavus, 

 Formica fusca, F. rufa and its varieties alpina and pratensis, F. sanguinea, and 

 F. exsecta are also mentioned in this instalment of the paper as having been taken 

 in Scottish localities, notably Loch Rannoch, Aviemore, Nethy Bridge, and 

 Tobermory. 



The Caddis-Fly Limnophilus subcentralis, Brauer, is recorded by J. J. F. X. 

 King {Ent. Mo. Mag., 1911, p. 46), from Aviemore, Kinardochie Loch, 

 (Perthshire), Loch Awe, and Nethy Bridge. Both sexes were taken in the last- 

 mentioned locality during last August. 



E. W. Sexton (Proc. Zool. Soc, 191 1, pp. 561-594, and pis. xvii.-xix.) gives a 

 full account of the known species of the Amphipod Genus Leptocheirus, with 

 careful descriptions, drawings of details, and full bibliography. Three species 

 are recorded from British waters, of which one, L. pectinalus, is recorded for 

 Shetland. 



Pisidium lilljeborgi, Clessin, is recorded by J. R. le B. Tomlin (Journal of 

 Conchology, January 1 91 2, p. 273) from the Isle of Skye. This record is an 

 addition to the fauna of the island and vice-county. 



In an interesting paper in Trans. Biol. Soc. Liverpool, vol. xxv., 1911, 

 Prof. W. A. Herdman and W. Riddell show that, notwithstanding the proximity 

 of the two areas, there are considerable differences between the floating 

 organisms of the Irish Sea and those of the west coast of Scotland. This is seen 

 especially in the lengthening out of the diatom spring period, which reaches its 

 maximum of fertility in May in the Irish Sea, but continues until July in western 

 Scottish waters. Differences also occur in distribution, for on our west coast the 

 animal plankton differs much from area to area at the same time of year, and yet 

 year after year each locality appears to exhibit at any definite season a constancy 

 in the character of its floating fauna. 



