196 THE entomologist's record. 



of course get a good number in a week's work, but certainly not more 

 than 25 per cent, of those seen, and I imagine one does not see 

 10 per cent, of the total number of the individuals in the wood. — F. C. 

 WooDFORDE, Market Drayton, Salop. April 25th, 1901. 



(^lURRENT NOTES. 



In the Btdl. Soc. Ent. France, 1901, p. 79, fig. 4, Gadeau de 

 Kerville publishes an article entitled, " L'Accouplement des 

 Lepidopteres," and gives a figure of the pairing of P.^i/ehe atra-', 

 and writes (p. 78) : " Les Psychides ont un mode d'accouplement 

 particulier. La majorite des femelles des especes de cette famille ne 

 sortent pas de leur fourreau pour s'aecoupler. Apres, s'y etre 

 retournees, elles en fendent I'extremite posterieure et presentent a cet 

 orifice le bout de leur abdomen. Le male, en battant des ailes, se pose 

 sur le fourreau et, pour le coit, introduit par I'ouverture son abdomen, 

 jusqu'a la base de ses ailes posterieures." The only raison d'etre of an 

 article on a detail of habit is surely to present accurate views derived 

 from actual observation. Is M. Gadeau de Kerville prepared to assert 

 that any 2 Psychid (1) turns itself round before or after breaking 

 open the extremity of the case and (2) presents the end of its 

 abdomen at this opening "? The pairing of the true Psychids is very 

 well known, and has been more than once accurately described and 

 figured, so that even as a matter of common knowledge it is quite 

 time that erroneous statements should be eliminated from elementary 

 papers, especially when published in the bulletins of learned societies. 



We would call the attention of our readers to the notice, under the 

 head of " Societies," relating to the Sixth Annual Congress of the 

 South Eastern Union of Scientific Societies. For a sum of 2s. 6d. 

 (members) or 3s. Gd. (associates) any lady or gentleman interested in 

 scientific pursuits can spend June 6th, 7th, and 8th with kindred spirits, 

 investigate the charming district of Haslemere and Hindhead, and 

 partake of the hospitality of the scientists and naturalists of the Surrey 

 paradise. We hope to meet many entomologists at the congress this 

 year. With Mr. Merrifield, Vice-President, Messrs. R. Adkin and 

 J. W. Tutt on the Council, and Mr. Oswald Latter reading a paper, 

 entomologists should show up well. Perhaps some who cannot attend 

 on Thursday and Friday can run down on Saturday for the afternoon 

 outing. 



After some little delay Practical Hints fur tlw Field Lcpidnpterist 

 has been published. There are some 1,250 " hints," dealing with all 

 the superfamilies of the lepidoptera found in Great Britain. Only 

 about one-half of them have been previously published in the 

 Ento)n(d()(jist's Record, the others having been written and collected 

 specially for the book. It will no doubt save lepidopterists an 

 enormous amount of time and trouble. 



* One cannot tell from the figure whether the species is Ptilocephala atra, 

 Linn, [—pliimifera, Ochs.), or P. angustella, H.-Sch. ( = atra, Esp.). 



Errata. — We have to apologise for the following careless errors in our last 

 number. Page 151, line 18, for " veritable" read " viable " ; page 167, lines 21-22, 

 for "roots of Lasius nigra" read " nests of Lasius niper" ; page 168, line 13, for 

 " Sanidae " read " lanidae " ; page 168, line .37, for " 1901 " read " 1900." 



