13"-] 135 



The followiut; table iiuiy assist in the separation of our three 

 closely allied species : — 

 i. Hah's on legs long ; rostrmu reaching to intermediate coxae. 



(a) Second joint of antennse with dark ring near the base ; femora with 



long hairs which are not erect. Length, 12-13 mm. ...agilis, Scop. 



(b) Second joint of antennae withoiat dark ring near the base ; femora with 



long erect hairs. Length, 10-11 mm albipes, F. 



ii. Hairs on legs short; rostrum reaching to posterior coxse. Length, 8-10 mm. 



medins, M. and R. 



It should perhaps be added that the right of S. albijpes to a place 

 on our list is based only upon two ancient records, and it seems 

 doubtful whether the insect is really indigenous, as it is a more 

 meridional species than either of the other two. 



56, Cecile Park, 



Crouch End, N. : 



May 8th, 1911. 



BEITISH ORTHOPTERA IN THE DALE COLLECTION. 

 I. — Earwigs, Cockroaches, and Crickets. 



BY W. J. LUCAS, B.A., F.E.S. 



Four drawers are sufficient to contain the Dale Collection of 

 British Ortlioptera, now located in the Hope Department of the Natural 

 History Museum at Oxford. The Collection comprises a fair number of 

 insects, which, though often of much interest historically, are in many 

 cases in very poor condition. They were usually so set as to touch the 

 paper in the drawers, making it difficult to handle them with safety. 

 Prof. E. B. Poulton has lately, however, had them all staged, so that 

 it is now possible to examine them without danger. All the data with 

 the insects are referred to in these notes, even though they may 

 seem to be unimportant. Many of the specimens, unfortunately, are 

 entirely without data, and are therefore of very little value, if any, 

 to students of this important order of insects. When it seemed 

 sufficiently certain that the handwriting of the labels might be assigned 

 to J. C. or C. W. Dale, this has been stated in brackets. 



Earwigs (Forficulodea) . 

 Labidura gigantea. — This earwig now known as L. riparia, is represented 

 by four examples — a <J and a ? (1, 2) unlabelled, a <J (3) from Christcliurch, 

 and a ? , (4) labelled "Ch. Ch., July, 1808 " (J. C. D's writ.). 



