186 [August, 



5. — Ctenopstllus sobeinus, spec. nov. (PI. II, fig. 3). 



Both sexes are distinguished by having only two spine-like bristles on the frons, 

 and three normal bristles between tliem and the antennal groove. There are 

 occasionally three spine-like bristles, but in this case they are very close together. 

 The pronotal comb contains 23 spines. 



The movable process of the clasper of the $ (PL II, fig. 3, F) is much longer 

 and narrower than in spectabilLi a,nd fall ax, and the three long bristles on the same 

 are situated in a different position. Tlie ninth steriiite (ix. st.) bears three long 

 bristles as in spectahilis, but is less curved at the apex. The eighth steriiite (viii. st.) 

 is broader than in spectahilis ; it bears at the apex four long and two short bristles, 

 and at the ventral margin one strong bristle with or without a small one beside it. 



We have one ^ (type) off Microtus arvalis from St. Piiul, Basses 

 Alpes, on October 25th. 1907, two ^ ^ from Etapes, Doubs, France, 

 o& Sorex araneus, on November 10th and 12th, 1897, and one ? off 

 Microtus arvalis, on October 2Stli. 1907, from St. Paul, Basses Alpes, 

 all talieu by Mons. Charles Mottaz. 



Tring Park, Tring, Herts. : 

 Jmie 14<A, 1909. 



A Warning to Bee-keepers. — Tiie Board of Agriculture and Fisheries desire to 

 warn all bee-keepers tliat an outbreak of disease, believed to be identical with the 

 Isle of Wight disease, has occurred in several hives in Buckinghamshire. Tiiis 

 disease, which has destroyed almost all the bees in the Island from which it takes 

 its name, is due to a bacillus closely resembling the bacillus of Plague, and no 

 remedy for it is known. It is of the utmost importance, therefore, that bee-keepers 

 should take every precaution to prevent the disease spreading, and they are strongly 

 advised to keep a careful watch for any signs of its appearance. A full description 

 of the disease was published in the Journal of the Board of Agriculture for 

 February, 1909, and bee-keepers who find symptoms of disease corresponding to 

 the description there given should communicate with the Board of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries, 4, Whitehall Place, London, S.W.— Eds. 



Mimicry of Phytodecta [Qonioctena) variabilis, Oliv.,at Amelie-les-Bains. — In 

 April last (1909), at Amelie-les-Bains, I noticed Coccinella septempunctata com- 

 monly on a species of Cj/tisus, very like the Calycotome spinosa of the Riviera, but 

 of rather smaller and more slender growth. It was not until I began to search these 

 plants for Heterogynis penelln, var. amelim, n. var. (differs from penella by some 

 characters approaching H. canalensis), that I recognised that I was confounding two 

 beetles, and that a majority of the supposed Coccinella were Phytodecta variabilis, $ . 



This remarkable and close resemblance of two very dissimilar species led me 

 to make some observations on them, and I have, since coming home, reviewed these 

 observations by comparison with the elaborate account of P. variabilis given by 

 Bateson, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1895, pp. 850—860. 



