270 THE entomologist's record. 



flavipalUata were the most conspicuous and attractive, twelve specimens 

 of the latter costing their purchasers £13 2s. and nineteen of the 

 former £27. 



The ab. flanpalliata is a beautiful thing, with broad yellow mantle 

 traversing the forewings, of which the outer-marginal portion is much 

 darkened. The two best specimens of this were females, and, 

 possessing in addition strongly fasciated hindwings, they realised £3, 

 and £2 15s. respectively. The lutea were indeed a wondrous group, 

 ranging through almost every possible shade of yellow. The one to attract 

 most attention was Lot 173, " an extraordinary iridescent female," 

 £3 5s., and "a bright orange female" (Lot 165), £2 los., although 

 perhaps two others which fetched £1 17s. 6d. a piece, were equally 

 good, viz., "a dark yellow female with fa«ciated hindwings" (Lot 164), 

 and "a male with old-gold forewings, and violaceous hindwings " 

 (Lot 168). 



In contrast Avith these fairly high sums of money were the prices 

 given for abs. haztieiffhends and niijroHparRata, which perhaps may be 

 accounted for by the fact that they occur more commonly in the North 

 than southern collectors are aware of ; but even so, 6s. seems very 

 little for Lot 110, " a superb female, with no white whatever in dark 

 median area," from Huddersfield. A fine "sooty female nnjrosparsata" 

 from Hazeleigh fetched but £1, and the two nvrrocaerulea, with distinct 

 bluish lustre, probably a very rare form, were appraised at £1 15s. and 

 £2 respectively. 



Of the 202 lots included in this sale 30 were printed in italics, and, 

 as we believe the catalogue was compiled by the vendor himself, it may 

 be taken for granted that these were the best forms reared by him, 

 and such as he himself deemed to be most unusual and therefore of 

 the greatest value. Yet among them all, were no representatives of 

 such forms as welanozona, subrinlacea, seuiiviolacca, chalcobares, albo- 

 viarf/inata, and others which appeared in the 1907 sale, thus proving that 

 really extreme aberrations only turn up every now and then, so that 

 if the prices they produce seem unduly high, they are not really so, for 

 in every department of art and science, specimens of which there is no 

 regular visible supply are only too eagerly snapped up by wealthy 

 connoisseurs. 



Coleoptera in the Isle of Wight. 



By J. TAYLOR. 



Owing to the bad weather, and still more to the fact that no good 

 coleopterist spent more than a few days in the Island last summer, 

 there are very few interesting captures to record. Sweeping in 

 particular was most unproductive, as perhaps was only to be expected. 

 During the fine weather of September and early October things were 

 much better, and beetles were fairly abundant. 



The following species with asterisk are additions to the Isle of 

 Wight list: — ■•'Oxypoda luiibrata, Gyll.- — -Whitefield Woods (Donis- 

 thorpe). *'Ischnor/lossa prolLva, Gr. — Whitefield Woods (Donisthorpe). 

 '^Bolitobius lunidatus, L. — Whitefield Woods and Parkhurst Forest 

 (Donisthorpe). '''Philonthus qiiisqniliarius, Gyll., var. dimidiatus, Er. 

 — On wet mud in a ditch, Sandown (Taylor). ■'•Stilicus orbiculatus, 

 Pk. — In flood refuse, Burnt House, near Sandown, January 7th 

 (Taylor). * Chilocorus siiniUs, Ross. — Swept in Whitefield Woods, pupae 



