RETROSPECT OF A. COLEOPTERIST FOR 1909. 7 



Two valuable local lists appeared during the year. " A Survey 

 and Record of Woolwich and West Kent," published this year 

 at Woolwich, the outcome of the visit of the South-Eastern Union 

 of Scientitic Societies to Woolwich in 1907, a volume of 526 pages, 

 contains a list of the coleoptera of that district by Mr. West ; he 

 recorded 1350 species, and gave brief notes of the habitat and localities 

 for each species. The second list appeared in the " Guide to thp 

 Natural History of the Isle of Wight," edited by Mr. F. Morey, and 

 published at Newport this year. The list was prepared by Mr. 

 Newbery, but, owing to the fact that that gentleman omitted to con- 

 sult several well-known colcopterists, who have for years collected in 

 the Island, and, further, owing to the fact that for some extraordinary 

 reason, quite inexplicable to most people, Mr. Newbery purposely 

 omitted several interesting and undoubted records, Mr. Donisthorpe 

 was asked to prepare a supplement to Mr. Newbery's list, which con- 

 tained 1309 species. The supplement increased this by 125, and Mr. 

 Donisthorpe has published {Knt. liecoid, xxi., p. 272) an addition to the 

 above two lists, increasing the total to 1516 species. 



It is desirable to mention that the year has seen the beginning of 

 a very ambitious scheme, namely the publication of a " Catalogue of 

 Coleoptera" by Mr. W. Junk, of Berlin, the editing being entrusted to 

 Mr. S. Schenkling ; so far three parts have appeared. 



I conclude my Retrospect with the feeling that the year 1909 will 

 be one upon which we can look back with satisfaction, as one which 

 has seen a distinct advance in oar knowledge of the coleopterous fauna 

 of our native land. 



Depressaria putridella, Schiff.— A species new to Britain 



{wit/t tiiu plates). 

 By ALFRED SICH, F.E.S. 

 (Concluded from. vol. xxi., p. 281). 

 The older British entomologists could only have had the meagre 

 description of the " Vienna catalogue " and Hiibner's figure to work by ; 

 it is, therefore, not at all surprising that they mistook a dark-veined 

 form of Depreaauria yeatiana, Fab., for the genuine />. putridella, 

 Schift". The first author to consider is Haworth. He describes a 

 JJepresaatia pntrida (the brown -veined), and refers to Hiibner's figure 

 of D. putridella {f.ep. Brit., p. 509, part 3, 1811). Haworth never 

 saw the msect alive, and evidentlj^ describes a specimen taken by 

 R. Scales. His description is an excellent one of the dark-veined 

 form of J>. ijeatiana. Indeed, Haworth himself writes, " Ultimae 

 (!/eatsii—i/eafia)ia) simillimje sed suflicienter diftert, venis fuscis." 

 His description of the stigmata runs as follows: "In medio, at costam 

 versus, puncta quatuor, quadratic pusita : horum duo antica minuta, 

 atra ; tertimu triplo iiiajiis, rotundatiiiii, fiisrinn : quartum minutum 

 subocellare, iride nigra, alba pupilbl." This applies exactly to 

 />. i/eatiana, but those words I have written in italics could form no 

 part of a description of the stigmata on the forewings of J>. putridella. 

 Again, of the bindwings, Haworth says, " Posticie albida-, ciliis amplis, 

 stramineis, sericeis." This is accurate as regards />. i/eatiana, but 

 inapplicable to D. putridella, as has been already shown when 

 comparing these two species. 



