118 iMay, 



The only otlier species worLli mentioning included Ni/s.son spinosun, Andrena 

 fucata, A. angustior, A.dorsata,^nd. Nomada flavoguitala from Woodliay. Epeolus 

 ritjtpe a and Nt/ston diniidiatus from Brimptoii. A. very fine Andrena fulva, $, was 

 picked up in the road near Welford Park on May Isb. 



I am very niucii indebted to the Rev. F. D. Morice for his kindness in naming 

 many of my captures. — P. H. Haewood, 2, Dorchester Villas, Grloucester Road, 

 Newbury : March tWi, 1905. 



Larvse of the Stratiomyiidce : an appeal. — I shall be very much obliged to 

 any one who will during the coming season supply me with larvse of the Slratio- 

 myiidse. I especially want the aquatic forms, particularly 5. ohameBleon which was 

 studied by Swammerdamm so many years ago. My daughter and I have been 

 interested in the larvse of this family of flies during the last twelve months, and 

 have already a considerable series of drawings of the larvse and their anatomy. In 

 order to make the points that are emerging clear, it is desirable to have a con- 

 siderable variety of forms for comparison, as we find that a good deal of what has 

 been written and published on the subject is not so exact as it should be. I shall 

 also be glad of any terrestrial forms of these larvse, especially of those that live in 

 wood and dung ; and shall be very glad if any one who may send me these larvae 

 will give me any hints as to their names. This is at present a point very difficult 

 to ascertain, as will be readily believed by those who have taken up the study of 

 Dipterous lai-vse. All the larvse we have yet had to do with of this family live a 

 very long time, some we think for years, so that it is not very easy to get their 

 names by rearing the flies. — D. Sharp, University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge : 

 April 12th, 1905. 



JIoiv insects fade. — In the winter of 1894-5 I put aside some insects in a glass 

 case for the purpose of proving for myself the extent to which the action of light 

 in an ordinary town sitting-room would affect their pigments. The case has hung 

 in the same position for ten years, at right angles to the white-curtained window, on 

 a level with, and about ten feet away from it. Last autumn, upon examining the 

 subjects, I was surprised to note how small a percentage of them had in the least 

 degree faded ; in the Coleoptera, whose colours are to a large extent " structural," 

 and not " pigmental," this was to be expected, but many of the Lepidoptera, some 

 even of the Rhopalocera, were still quite normal in coloration, whereas the Diptera 

 and Neuroptera were in each case much affected. The following is a full list of the 

 insects treated : — 



Lbpidopteka. — Unaffected : A. adippe, C. vaccinii, S.hyperanthus, N. xantho- 

 grapha, A. rujina, X. ferruginea, A. pistacina, V. io, C. edusa, S. tithonus, II. 

 lineola, L. alexis, S. semele, A. betularia, A. incanaria, C. pusaria, H. elutata, B. 

 hirtaria, U. sambucaria, F. piniaria, J ; V. polychloros, hardly in the least faded ; 

 T. pronuba, hind-wings much faded ; 0. caja, very faded throughout ; S. megxra 

 SMdi M. per sicarix, &\ig\it\y ; V. maculata, somewhat ; A. liiteata, one side, which 

 was more exposed, much more faded than the other ; F. meticulosa, hardly faded ; 

 N. c-nigrum, distinctly ; H. pirotea, green quite gone ; A. aprilina, green still dis- 

 tinct though very pale ; A. euphrosyne, only some of the specimens were slightly 

 faded. 



