200 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD. 



stock, while the black ones are exotics impoi'ted from oar Indian 

 comrades. 



As my battalion forms a part of one of the Indian Divisions and we 

 are continually using billets last occupied by some of our dusky friends, 

 and as moreover the latter, v^^hen searching their persons and clothing 

 for the "wee beasties," do not kill them by squeezing them between 

 the thumbnails in our accepted fashion, but merely throw them down 

 in the straw, there would seem to be some foundation for the belief, 

 but it appears to be another of those pretty little theories quite unsup- 

 ported by facts. The black ones, so far as my observations go, are the 

 males and the white the females, the latter sex predominating. 



In our western theatre of war they do not seem to play any part in 

 the spread of disease, but where typhus is prevalent its transference 

 has been traced, at any rate in part, to lice. The infection is trans- 

 mitted not directly by the bite, but indirectly by the expressed contents 

 of the alimentary canal coming in contact with an abraded skin sur- 

 face ; hence the importance of refraining from scratching the body 

 when the irritation from the bites is experienced. 



Flies of many species also contribute a considerable menace to the 

 health of the troops. They are certainly much too numerous for com- 

 fort, particularly swarming around any carrion or refuse left exposed, 

 but they may be combatted by proper attention to sanitation and by 

 keeping all food carefully covered up. Nevertheless it is undoubtedly 

 to the general inoculation against typhoid undergone by the troops, 

 that the almost complete immunity from the ravages of this disease is 

 to be attributed. In spite of a certain amount of hostility to the 

 practice among the troops, a more ample justification of compulsory 

 inoculation could scarcely be demanded. 



Apart from those insects of economic importance to the health and 

 well-being of the troops, there is a good deal of collecting to be done 

 in odd moments, even in the trenches themselves. Many minute 

 species of beetles are to be found crawling over the sandbags, the most 

 noteworthy perhaps being Anthricns sp. ?, which occurs in hundreds, 

 and numerous small StaphyUnidae ; the little earwig, For/icnla 

 lesnei (?), is also fairly common. 



The facilities for actual collecting are not very great, and for lack 

 of accommodation the larger specimens have to be noted only. Of the 

 butterflies I'arorye luenaera is probably the commonest species, and a 

 single specimen of Culias hi/ale is the most out of the ordinary that I 

 have seen. The country hereabouts does not seem to offer very great 

 possibilities, though if one could linger in likely spots instead of 

 merely picking up what chance throws in one's way during halts, it 

 would be interesting to compare the fauna of this London clay area 

 with the fauna of a similar area in Middlesex or Sussex. 



A note on Scolitantides orion, Parnassius apollo, Lycasna euphemus, 



L. areas, Polyommatus amandus, and Coenonympha tiphon. 



Their gradual spread in the Rhone Valley. 



By LILIAN M. FISON. 

 On page 16 of this volume I stated that I had discovered Scolitantules 

 orion at Charpigny on June 2nd, 1914. I also found Paniastsiiis apollo 



* I am indebted to the Rev. G. Wheeler, and to Mr. R. Temperley, for much 

 of the information recorded below. — L.M.F. 



