1891.] 307 



These were taken in September; Canon Fowler, in his " Britisli Coleoptera," gives 

 May and June as the months of appearance. There must, I think, be a second 

 brood ; certainly one of my specimens was quite soft, and seemed to have but just 

 left the pupa. 



Adimonia caprea was very common about the second week in September ; A. 

 suturalis often does duty for this species in collections. The two species are very 

 similar in appearance, but, beyond the structural differences, A. caprem seems 

 always to have two indistinct pale lines running from base almost to apex of each 

 elytron. This character is not noticed in the descriptions which I have seen, but, 

 as far as my own experience goes, is constant. The habitat of the two species, of 

 course, is perfectly distinct. 



Sweeping Lathyrus pratensis produced a few specimens of Bnichun loti, and a 

 curioush' coloured example of B. riijlmanuf. Otiorrhyuchus raucus I met walking 

 along the high road, and Diphi/llus lunatun had chosen to end its days in my water 

 but. Bolitochara lucida was fairly common in toadstools in June. Among the 

 ILydradephaga my only capture worthy of note was KaUphis cinereux, which I 

 found in some numbers in the more stagnant parts of a slowly-running stream. 



Three specimens ( ? ) of 3Ietoecus paradoxus have just reached me from a 

 correspondent at Bury St. Edmunds, who took them from a wasp's nest in the 

 neighbourhood of that town. With them were an example of Myrmedonia limhata, 

 which I always thought was exclusively attached to ants, and a number of Crypto- 

 phagi, which await identification. — Theodore Wood, Baldock, Herts : Oct. 2iid, 1891. 



Pulvinaria oxyacaiithcB, Linn. — In May, 1881, on a hawthorn bush in Beaufort 

 Gardens, Lewisham, I found a mature scale of Pulvinaria oxyacanthcB (Ent. Mo. 

 Mag., xxii, p. 158), but neither then nor in subsequent years could I get another, 

 which was curious, considering that all the species of the genus are of gregarious 

 habits. But this year, on June 5th, when casually looking among the trees in Lee's 

 sandpit adjacent, I saw a dozen of the ? scales of this species, conspicuous by the 

 white ovisac, on twigs, of last year's growth, of a hawthorn of small size, " cabined, 

 cribbed, confined " under the close shade of a beech tree, so that it could not grow 

 larger; and this situation seemed to suit the Pulvinaria exactly. There was no 

 trace of a male scale ; it was doubtless too late. 



On June 12th I received from Mr. P. B. Mason, Burton-on-Trciit, several ? 

 scales of a Pulvinaria from Cratce/ju.s' pyracanflia, growing on the side of a house; 

 these had every resemblance to P. oxyacanthce, and a microscopical examination of 

 the antennse and legs (kindly made by Mr. E. Newstead) proved that they were 

 really that species. This is interesting, for hitherto the species has been observed 

 only on hawthorn, which, however, is of the same genus. — J. W. Douglas, 153, 

 Lewisham Road, S.E. : Octolier 6th, 1891. 



Lecanium olem, Bernh. — On August 27th last Dr. J). Sharp, Cambridge, sent 

 on a leaf of JS'erhtm oleander some scales of L. olece in all stages of growth. This 

 is the first time, to my knowledge, that this species has been found in England, 

 though it is common on various plants in the south of Europe, and occurs in the 

 United States of America, especially in Florida and California, where it is known as 

 the " Black Scale," and causes great damage to the plants it inhabits, amongst which 

 oleander ii mentioned (<_/'. Comstock's " lleport " for 1850, p. 336). The male is 



