1920.1 15 



A few interesting species have, however, put in an appearance, of wliich I may 

 note the following : Pterostichus lepidus and Amara patricia, not uncommon in 

 and about the sand-pit at Tubuey early in August, where also I was fortunate 

 in finding Ocyptis cyaiieus singly on three or four occasions, but it appeared to 

 be out for a very short time. Homalota spleiidens (two on Shotover Hill, 

 May 14th), Enplectus abeillei (2), Smicrus flicornis (1), Saprimis virescens. 

 occasionally (once found in company with Gasfroidea viriduln on the Cherwell 

 bank), Chorayus sheppardi and Ceuthorrhynchidius mixtus were among the 

 better species obtained by sweeping. One specimen of the latter rare weevil 

 Avas taken on May 18th in a weedy lane quite close to my house ; and on the 

 22nd another was swept from nettles, etc., at Ileadington Wick, Oxon, but it 

 took to wing just as I had identified it in the net. On October 21st, the last 

 day in the year on which conditions were suitable for sweeping, Oaypoda 

 spectnhilis (1), Qiiedius puncticoUis (2), and Salpingus viutilatus (1), were taken 

 at Wytham Park, Berks. 



On May 30th I foimd Grammoptera amdis'm numbers in the woods beyond 

 Forest Hill, Oxon, on the flowers of Pyrus torminalis as well as on those of 

 hawthorn. Prionus coriarius ^ was taken on July 21st on a dead birch 

 at Tubuey, on which tree it had occurred before, and a fine female Criocephalus 

 feius was picked up in the University Museum on August 19th. Single speci- 

 mens of Cryptophagns fumatns and Ptinus se.rpunctafus were found in July in 

 the debris of a nest of Lasiiis fuliyittosus near Cothill, Berks. Ceidhoifhynchus 

 rapae again occurred in the spot where Mr. J. Collins first fovmd it iu 1918, 

 but its food-plant having been mown down just as the beetle was appearing, 

 only a very few specimens were secured. A nice series of C. viduatus was 

 taken in September on a few plants of Stnchys palusfris growing beside the 

 canal near Yarnton. Trachys puvula and Apion Jilirostre were more than 

 usually plentiful at ^^^ytham Park in August and September, the former on 

 Nepeta ylechnt)ia as before, the latter on a sparing growth of Lotus corniculatu» 

 among long grass. 



On September 2nd I found a new station for Psylliodes lideola and Apion 

 annulwes at Caversfield, near Bicester, Oxon, but both these rare species 

 occurred in very scanty numbers. — James J. Walkkh, Aorangi, Lonsdale 

 Road, Summertown, Oxford; December 15th, 1919. 



Notes on the habits of Ammophila hirstda Scop. — The writings of J. H. 

 Fabre, the Peckhams, and otners, on the hahits of the caterpillar-paralyzing 

 sand-wasps, make the doings of these insects appear so extremely fascinating 

 that I should imagine most new students of Aculeates will try to make oppor- 

 tunities for watching the Avimophilae at work. Possibly these opportunities 

 may occur frequently enough to those who happen to live in localities where 

 the insects are common; but my various excursions during the last year or two 

 to the haunts of A. sabulosa, A. canipestris, and A. hivsiita have, until this year, 

 resulted in little better than the acquisition of a series of specimens. Certainly, 

 on one or two occasions, 1 have seen the female hirsutu digging, and have been 

 astonished at the extraordinary sand-sprays which she is able to eject back- 

 wards at intervals like water from a miniature hose. (In the early stages of 

 the excavation, one sees the insect herself shoot backwards an inch or more, as 

 though released from a spring, clearing away quantities of sand by her action.) 



