132 [June, 



year of its first appearance in my garden. By leaving the plants and 

 the soil undisturbed the insects increased in numbers in successive 

 years, so much so that last year I found it advisable to establiali 

 another colony at a distance from the first by planting a second clum 

 and transferring some of the larvae on it. In this I have been quite 

 successful, flies on both clumps emerging this year on the same day, 

 April 26th, about a week in advance of the usual time of their 

 appearance ; the males seemed to emerge a day before the females, 

 and are much more numerous and active. However, even in the 

 brightest sunshine, they never fly to a greater distance than a couple 

 of yards from their food-plant. Pairing commenced the day fol- 

 lowing the first appearance of females. Our ordinary birds, tit-mice, 

 robins, &c., will not touch this saw-fly, either in its larval or perfect 

 condition. 



If any of the workers at British saw-flies should wish to possess 

 specimens, I will supply them with pleasure on receipt of a small box, 

 but I cannot undertake to mount them. Should any one who hai)pens 

 to grow the food-plant wish to establish a colony, I have no doubt 

 that I could spare 40 or 50 larvae in about four weeks' time. 



2, Lichfield Eoad, Kew Gardens : 

 April 2dth, 1897. 



OCCURRENCE OF APTERYOIDA ARACHIDIS, Yersin (FORFT- 

 CULID^), AT QUEENBOROUGH, KENT. 



BY J. J. WALKER, B.N., F.L.S. 



In the " JN'aturalist's Journal" for March, 1897 (British Ortho- 

 ptera, p. 17, t. 1, fig. 8), Mr. Malcolm Burr records the occurrence 

 in Britain of the cosmopolitan earwig, Apteri/gida arachidls, on the 

 strength of five examples taken by me last year in the Queenborough 

 Chemical Works, and deposited in the National Collection. This 

 earwig had for some time been familiar to me in my occasional visits 

 to the works in search of Coleoptera, but, to my shame be it spoken, I 

 had hitherto taken very little notice of it, beyond securing a few 

 specimens for identification, which it has remained for Mr. Burr to 

 effect. On going specially to look for the creature on the 9th inst. I 

 found it quite plentiful, and in all stages of growth. It was most 

 readily obtained by turning over the sacks of " greaves," or the fibrous 

 residuum of meat which had been boiled down for tallow ; and it 

 appeared to have a decided preference for tliose sacks, the contents of 

 which had been still further exhausted of their fatty matter at the 



