14U [Jnne, 



As for tlie distriLution of tlie liouse-cvicliot in the regions south- 

 wards of the Palaearctic deserts, I have ah-eady mentioned its occurrence 

 in tlie Kiliniandjaro region in the open country ; but nothing was known 

 about its co-hal)itation with man till quite recently, when the Imperial 

 Bureau of Entomology received several examples of a small species of 

 Gri/lhis, taken in a house in Khartoum. These proved to be identical 

 in all tlieir cliaracters with specimens of G. domesficiis L. from Europe 

 and from the deserts of Asia, but strikingly different in thvAV dimensions. 

 The shape of the head in the Khartoum insect is also sliglitly diffei-ent 

 fixuu that of the typical foi-m, the lower part of the front being more 

 prominent forwards ; but this character is to be seen in some " wild " 

 specimens from the deserts. More material is wanted for a definite con- 

 clusion as to the taxonouiic value of this form, whicli might be a 

 southern race of the house-cricket, and I propose to call it in the mean- 

 time by the vague term of a variety — Gri/llus domesticiis L., var. 

 vicritlionalis, var. n. Its dimensions are as follows : — 



6 Uypel 9. 



Lonjfth of lindy lo'-") mm. IS-o nnu. 



,, ,, jironotiuii :?■") 3 



„ „ elytra 8'5 9-5 



„ ,, wings 17 19 



,, „ hind femora 7"o 8 



,, „ ovipositor — 10 



The series consisted of 4 c? c? and 5 $ $ ; all were taken in 

 Khartoum, 17.iii.li)20, by Mr. li. Cottam. The type is preserved in 

 the Uritish Museum. 



Other records of the house-cricket from countries south of the Desert 

 region should be interesting, especiallj^ those from India. llecords and 

 spt'cimens, particularly from houses, might be sent to the author 

 (Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, S.W. 7). 



Jiond'iii. 



May \Wi, 1921. 



OXYGERA TENUICORNIS OE EUPARTPHUS TENUICORNIS? 

 BY O. A. JOHANjS'SEN. 



In the "Natural History Review" for 1857, vol. iv, p. 193, 

 Mr. Haliday published a description, with figures, of the larva of a 

 Stratiomyid, which, although not reared, he thought might belong to the 

 species Oxycera morrisii. In most particulars the larva, as figured and 



