1920.] 279 



Note on Ti/pJiloci/ba douylasi Edw. — The reason wliy the leaves of tlie 

 Beecli {Fuf/us sylvatica) present a distiuctly variegated ajipearance, whicli 

 becomes more noticeable as the season advances, has long been obscure. 

 During the course of an extended trip through the woods in the South-East of 

 England this summer, I noticed the prevalency of the dechlorophyllisation of 

 the leaves when viewed from the upper side. Sometimes as much as 60% of 

 the leaf-surface showed this tendency, suggestive of a mild attack of " silver 

 leaf di.-^ease." " Silver leaf," however, is caused by a fungus {Ster€u?n 2)urpu- 

 reum) and the silvery appearance is produced by air-pockets in the tissue of the 

 leaf, tlius differing markedly from the beech disease where the parenchyma 

 seems to remain intact. I failed entirely to tind any fungus. The attack 

 differs markedly also from the effect produced by the beetle Orchestes fayi. 

 Here the parenchyma is actually eaten and the two surfaces of the leaf left 

 exposed, a brown patch appearing and the leaf ultimately shrivelling. Some 

 other causal agent was evidently at work, and after making some experiments 

 I succeeded in establishing that an insect was at least one of the causes, the 

 insect in question being Typhlocyba douglasi Edw., for the identifi- 

 c.ition of which I am indebted to Mr. F. Laing. The implication of the 

 Typhlocybids with such a tendency is not exactly a new thing, for several 

 species have been proved to be guilt}' in America, and Theobald has shown a 

 similar effect on fruit trees in this country (Journ. Econ. Biol. 1907, p. 15), but 

 so far no one seems to have suggested that the variegation on the Beech is also 

 due to them. Other Typhlocybids causing similar damage to quite an 

 appreciable extent are met with on the Elm and Hornbeam, and to a lesser 

 extent on the Birch, Ash, and Sycamore. — K. W. Bkaid, Botany School, 

 Cambridge : November 10th, 1920. 



Jlenoticus gennanicun Heiti. in London. — Both the beetles and larvae of 

 this species have recently been received for identification at the Natural History 

 Museum. They were found by the sender in some numbers on the surface of 

 jam as soon as the jars were opened, and the beetles have continued to emerge 

 biiice their receipt at the Museum. The jam was the product of a well-known 

 firm of London manufacturers. Henoticiis yennanicus was first introduced as 

 a British species by Mr. Newbery (Ent. Mo. Mag. 1912, p. 286), who expressed 

 the opinion that it would probably be found to be a cork-feeder; a specimen in 

 the collection of British Coleoptera at the Museum was actually captured in 

 the city in 1904 in wine-corks, in company with Omophila v-fiamim, Mycctaea 

 hirta, and Cluthilla picea. Next Mr. Champion drew attention to a record by 

 M. Bedel of its occurrence in Holland in dried apricots (Ent. Mo. Mag. 1913, 

 p. 176). It is uncertain from Mr. Keys's record (antea, p. 258) whether his 

 H. gennanicus found in the roll had developed from the larvae also found there ; 

 the fact that later only a Cryptopliagus * was found suggest.;; that the larvae in 

 the roll were of this species, and the further fact that a small jar of jam was 

 in the same receptacle suggests that the Henoticus larvae may have developed 

 in this. All these records point to H. germanicus being an exotic species 

 occurring only in this country in connection with foodstuffs. Whether it will 

 eventually prove to be a common warehouse pest, as in the case oi Ptinus teciiia, 

 remains to be seen. //. serrutus, on the other hand, is a true native, being 



* C.cellaris Scop.— J. H. K. in litt. 



