282 [November, 



appearance of large mnnbers of V. cardui, especiallj- in and about London, at. the 

 end of September. We have not taken much trouble to seek details, but, so far as 

 we can learn, their dispersal seems to have been northern and eastern rather than 

 western. At any rate, wc have ascertained that no unusual quantities were 

 observed at several places on the coast of South l^evon. Many of our readers will 

 remember the extraordinary abundance of the species in " spring and early summer " 

 in the year 1879 {cf. Ent. Mo. Mag., xvi, pp. 49 — 51) ; they will also remember that 

 1879 was a "record" year for wet and absence of sunshine. That 1903 may beat 

 1879 for rainfall is very probable, but in the matter of sunshine it has not been so 

 bad, and we do not think any deductions of scientific value can be drawn from the 

 coincidences ; moreover, the swarms of 1879 wei-e of a diiierent " brood," and 

 probably came from much further south. — Eds. 



Nomada gutlulata, Schk., Psen concolor, Dalb., and other Aculeates from East 

 Kent. — Tliis has been the worst year for Aculeates of the ten years during which I 

 have collected in East Kent. No period has been satisfactory. Still I have one 

 great rarity to record, and several species have turned up not previously noticed by 

 me here. The great rarity is Nomada guttulata, Schk., of which I have taken a 

 single ? and two <J S ', unfortunately, I caught them just before leaving to collect with 

 Mr. Morley at Brandon, and, being unable to identify them at the time, they were 

 put away and recently named for me by Mr. E. Saunders. The ^ is new to Britain. 

 The only previously captured females are, I believe, one in Mr. Saunders' collection 

 without locality, and one taken by Mr. Morley as recorded in Ent. Mo. Mag., 

 xxxiii, p. 280. Another interesting Nomada taken here this year is ferruginata, 

 Kirb. I found the $ on 30th May, the ? on 28th June. Unfortunately, I can 

 throw no light upon the hosts of either of these insects, though I have no doubt 

 that ferruginata occurred with Andrena hnmilis, which I took on May 24th. 

 Against these captures it is worth noting that the autumn Nomadas, solidaginis 

 fucata and jacohacE, so abundant last year, have been entirely absent, and I have 

 no August records of the common Andrena fulvicrus, upon which two of them 

 appear to be inquiline. Whether they are holding over or whether the inclement 

 weather and cold of last year prevented the parent bees from providing for their 

 young, remains to be proved; remembering that N. fucata appeared for the first time 

 last year, and then in some numbers, and that I then found a single female at 

 Kingsdown, where Mr. Sladen had never seen it before, I cannot help thinking 

 that the insect may only emerge at uncertain intervals. Of other bees taken by me 

 for the the first time here, are Andrena Hattorfiana, Fab., of which I saw several 

 specimens at the beginning of August ; so that I hope it may have established 

 itself as Megachile maritima, Kirb., has done since last year. Of Podalirius, Lat. 

 {Anthoj>hora),furcattis, Panz., I have bred two ? ? from a piece of hurdle found in 

 October, 1902; the cf (?> if there were any, escaped, owing to my cage being 

 interfered with. I have also, for the first time here, found Nysson spinosus, Fab., 

 and Pompilus niger,Fah., besides Trypoxylon attenuatum, Urn., horn the Blean Woods. 

 Mr. Saunders has also kindly identified for me a specimen of Psen, taken at 

 Doddington in 1896, as concolor, Dalb. This appears to be the fourth British 

 specimen recorded. — Arthur J. Chittt, Huntingfield, Favershum, Kent : 

 September 30th, 1903. 



