1907.] 277 



record the capture of Heriades triincorum, Linn., in some numbers in this district. 

 The insect lias always been considered a great rarity in England, and the authentic 

 i-ecords have hitherto been very few, as Mr. Morice has already remarked in Ent. 

 Mo. Mag., vol. xvii, 2nd series, p. 2l4. Our first specimen was a ?, captured on 

 ragwort flowers in my garden by my wife on July 20th, a £ being taken on the 

 same flower on August 3rd. This led to a close inspection of all likely posts and 

 stakes in the neighbouring hedgerows, with the result that on August ith we found 

 a large number circling round an old post (elm wood) after the manner of C flori- 

 somne, Linn. From that date onwards we took several more either on posts or on 

 ragwort flowers, up to September 11th, when some females were seen still working 

 at their burrows. 



With reference to the observation made by M. Ferton in Corsica (see Mr. 

 Morice's note, Ent. Mo. Mag., vol. xvii, 2nd series, p. 214), as to the collecting of 

 resin by H. truncorum, Linn., one of my specimens was taken with a ball or lump 

 of resin adhering to the jaws. It seems probable that the resin may be used in the 

 construction of the cells, but I hope to have an opportunity of further studying 

 this point. I may mention that ragwort is the only flower on which I observed 

 this species. 



As Mr. Morice remarks, it is indeed extraordinary that this bee has been over- 

 looked in this district for so many years. — E. G. B. Nevinson, Morland, Cobham, 

 Surrey : October, 1907. 



" The Insect Hunter's Companion :" by the Rev. Joseph Geeene, M.A 

 Being Instructions for Collecting and Preserving Butterflies, Moths, Beetles, Bees, 

 Flics, &c. Revised and extended by A. B. Farn. Fifth Edition. London : West, 

 Newman and Co. 1907. 



We are glad to see a new and well got-up edition of this unpretentious but 

 eminently useful little book, which has probably been in the hands of every beginner 

 in the study of our British Insects, and is still read with pleasure and interest by 

 many more advanced workers. The editor has, wisely we think, left as far ias possi- 

 ble untouched the information so clearly and pleasantly given by the lamented 

 author ; the well-known chapter on '' pupa-digging " remains as it was first published 

 in the " Zoologist " more than half-a-century ago. A curious slip in the " Chapter 

 on Coleo'ptera" (p. 113) which has persisted throughout all the previous editions, may 

 account for the beetles, pinned through the left elytron, which are occasionally met 

 with in collections. 



BiEMiNGHAM ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY : September 23r(f, 1907. — Mr. G. T. 

 Bethune-Bakee, President, in the Chair. 



Mr. G. H. Kenrick exhibited various Lepidoptera from Wicken Fen collected 

 by himself during a recent brief visit. Amongst others were Erastria argentula, 



