COLEOPTKRA. 



273 



moerefis, Mecinus ^77/rfl.s^er, Hyjirrn ni<jrirostris var. ononidiK, >V. 

 punctata, Krirhinns acridulns, llkinoncus castor. — W. E. Sharp, 

 Ledsham, Cheshire. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



PsEUDOPONTiA PARADoxA, Felder. — There is little doubt that this 

 curious insect is the surviving representative of one of the ancestral 

 forms of Lepidoptera ; and I do not expect that much fresh light \yill 

 be thrown upon its athnities until the discovery of the larva, which 

 may, perhaps, prove to be as abnormal as the perfect insect. I 

 founded a family I Pst'udopoatiidae ) for it, and discussed it at some 

 length in my Uandbook to the Order Lepidoptrra, iii., pp. 76-81, 

 pi. 79, tig. 8 (LS97). Felder's original generic name (lilobireps) ^yas 

 preoccupied, and he therefore renamed it (itinophlchid, in the I 'elites 

 XoKvelles KHfoinvloijlques for .June 15th, 1870 ; but as Howitson had 

 already called attention, in the issue of the same journal for .June 1st, 

 to the identity of Pseudopontia calabarica, Plotz (1870), with (ilobi- 

 ceps paradoxa, Felder (18G9), the priority of Vsendopontia, Plotz, is 

 thereby established, even if Hewitson was only quoting from an early 

 copy of an unpublished paper, of which, however, there is no evidence. 

 — W. F. KuuiY, F.L.S., F.E.S. Sept. lQ>th, 1898. 



On the kelationship ov Pseudopontia paradoxa. — In Dr. -Jordan's 

 recent excellent paper on " The antennte of butterflies" {Xovitates Zoulo- 

 (jicae. v., pp. 87-1-4 15), an essay that deserves the attention and serious 

 consideration of all lepidopteiists, we note the following points bearing 

 on this subject : (1) '' L'seudopontia parado.ea, considered by Butler and 

 others to be a moth, has certainly Pierid antenme " (p. 876). (2) 

 " The aberrant Pierid, of which the last joints of the antenme are 

 represented by fig. 28, is P. paradoxa ; the antennae of this species 

 have 27 joints only, and there is no indication of the forma- 

 tion of a club ; the joints are basally and apically narrowed ; the 

 grooves are large and very distinct ; at the apical edge of the groove 

 the pair of bristles is visible, which is normal for most PieridiB " (p. 

 882). The in.sect is considered as belonging to the Pierid sub-family 

 I'ierinae, and not to the J>is/norphii/iae, which includes Leucophasia 

 sinapis, and to which, in some respects, the insect bears a superficial 

 resemblance. I may add that Dr. Duller informs me that his present 

 view as to this insect is in accordance with the views of (irote and 

 others, ?•/;:., that the insect is an aberrant Pierid. — I. W. Titt. 



^^ A R I A T I N . 



Further note on TiENiocAJMPA gracilis yak. rufa. — As an 

 addition to my remarks in the Ivnt. llecord, p 220, al)uut the red form 

 ul" 7'. (jracilis, I may add that, since I wrote my exiieriences there 

 meutidued aljout this form of the species, I have again collected tiie 

 larvio of the red form in the New Forest. The great majority of the 

 larviu I found feeding up(Mi bog myrtle, but I also found some upon 

 sallow bushes of two kinds, and ui)on lliipericiim elodvs — the marsh 

 St. John's wort — a very low-growing ])lant, and u])on yellow loosestrife. 

 1 brought home a good many, and sleeved i^ome of them upon sallow, 

 pu which they did well, but the majority I fed upon dock and birch, 



