1 2 [January, 



Description of Figures. 

 1. — Female insects on branch, natural size. 

 2.— Adult female, viewed from behind, x 7. 

 3. — Antenna of adult female, x 450. 

 4. — Ventral compouud spinnerets, x 450. 



Bearstead, Kent : 



December, 1908. 



A protest against the varying methods of abbreviation of authors' names used 

 in entomological loorks. — li seems to me that it is time some Entomologist protested 

 against certain forms of abbreviation of authors' names that appear to be gradually 

 coming into use. One of the commonest methods adopted is that of dropping out 

 the vowels. This offers no difBoulty, perhaps, in the case of well-known names, 

 but wlien the name is not a lainiiiar one, then all the five vowels have to be tried in 

 succession, often ft)r the second letter in the name, before even a cine can be obtained ! 

 This has been my experience, more than once, and much time lost. The plan 

 mainly followed in the Catalogues of Coleoptera of Gremminger and von Harold, and 

 of Reitter, that of abbreviating the name before the second orthird vowel, according 

 to the distinctive requirement of the case, seems to me to be much the best course 

 to follow, e.g., " Westw." for Westwood, " Sehonh." for .Schonherr, " Walerh." for 

 Waterhouse, " Keitt." for Reitter, &c. Again, if the name is shortened too much, 

 how are we to know '' Wied " from " Wieilemann," " Waltl " from " Walton," 

 " Stevens " from " Stevenson," " Sharp " from " Sharpe," " Ritter " from " Reitter," 

 and so on ? In the " Entomological News " for 1907, p. 385, I notice '' Cwfd." used. 

 Who is to know that this is intended for Crawford ? — Gr. C. Champion, Horsell, 

 Woking : December 5fh, 19ij8. 



Further note on the Scottish examples of Notiophilus strigifrons, Baudi ? — 

 Since the publication of my note on the mountain form of N. aquaticus, L., var. 

 «^;%«/'/-o».v, Baudi ? (Ent. Mo. Mag., xliv, p 271), Captain Deville has been kind 

 enough to send me a specimen of what he supposes to be Baudi's species, taken 

 near the snow, on the Alpes-Maritimes, at St. Etienne de Tinee. This is like the 

 Scottish insect, except that it has the striae of the elytra more distinct posteriorly, 

 much as in the more elongate N. pusHlu.'s, Waterh. {bigeminus, Thoms), all of 

 them having two pores near the tip, a character I omitted to mention in connection 

 with the Scottish specimens. If N. pusitlus, therefore, is retained as distinct 

 N. strigifrons will have to be treated as a form of it, and not of N. aquaticus.— 

 Id. : December 10th, 1908. 



Notiophilus pusillus, Waterh. : a correction. — On a further examination 

 of the specimens which I liad supposed to be, and recorded as, Notiophilus 

 pusillus, Waterh. (Ent. Mo. Mag. Ser. 2, Vol. xix, p. 103), I find that they are 

 nothing more than N. palustris with very dark legs. This mistake should certainly 

 not have been made, as N. pusillus differs structurally from N. aquaticus. The 

 latter has the head (including the eyes) distinctly narrower in proportion to the 

 elytra, and the elytra themselves are much less contracted behind. I have now 



