RETROSPECT OF A COLEOPTERIST FOR I'JOl. 9 



curcnlionides, L., rolls the young leaves of the hornbeam and sweet- 

 chestnut as well as those of oaks. Attention should also be drawn to 

 a note by Mr. Morley {Ent. Mo. Ma;/., p. 64) on Harpalun frolichii, 

 Sturm, though I am afraid he has built up a very interesting theory 

 of the complete disappearance of this insect from Britain on entirely 

 insufficient grounds. In the Eat. Uecord several valuable articles have 

 appeared, notably a most thoughtful and painstaking one by Mr. W. 

 E. Sharp (pp. 147 et $€([.) on " The Distribution of the British Cole- 

 optera." This paper is too lengthy to attempt to summarise in this 

 brief retrospect of the year's work, I can only strongly commend it to 

 the attention of all those interested in the problem of the present 

 distribution of our fauna. The author has certainly adduced strong 

 evidence in favour of the hypotheses he puts forward, to account for 

 the many apparent anomalies which meet us on every side, when we 

 attempt to unravel the mysteries of this question. Mr. Tutt, in 

 continuation of previous notes, has gathered together from all sources 

 a mass of information on the " Migration of Coleoptera[" (pp. 281 ctseij.). 

 The author has shown again his extraordinary powers of assimilating 

 and presenting in an attractive form, details which in other hands 

 might often prove overwhelming to the student. 



In the same journal Mr. Donisthorpe has given, on p. 849, the first 

 instalment of the work he has now been engaged on for many months, 

 in a paper entitled " Some Experiments with Mi/niircnjihildii^ Cideoptcra 

 and an observation nest of Eoniiica nifa.'" These experiments are 

 most instructive and are certain to prove most unportant in laying the 

 foundation for an exact knoAvledge of the relationship which exists 

 between hosts and guests in the nests of ants. Having had the pleasure 

 of several times seeing this observation nest, and of Avatching the 

 observations going on, I can personally testify to the extreme accuracy 

 of the records, and to the great amount of time and labour Mr. 

 Donisthorpe is giving to this work, which he has so specially made 

 his OAvn. 



The Trcuifsactions of t/te EntoinohKjical Societi/ of J^(nul<ni for the 

 past year also bear testimony to this new line of activity. Mr. 

 Donisthorpe's paper on "Mimicry, protective resemblance, etc., in 

 British Coleoptera," read at a meeting of the Society on June 5th, 

 gave rise to an animated discussion, and brings together into a 

 convenient form for reference a large amount of information on this 

 point, much of it quite neAV and original, the result of the author's care- 

 ful notes based on his field work during many years. Another valuable 

 paper is one by Mr. Champion on " Sexual Dimorphism in Biijin'stis 

 mnijurnea, Fabr.," illustrated on p. 884 of the Tramactiom by a 

 beautiful plate. Interesting observations were made by the author 

 and Dr. Chapman on the habits of this species during a visit to Spain 

 last sunnner, and the paper is another warning of the extreme danger 

 of making colour an important specific character when dealing with 

 coleoptera. 



The activity of our workers has not however been confined to the coleop- 

 tera of Great Britain, as we have had papers during the year on " The 

 Coleoptera of the Faroe Islands," by Dr. Renter {Ent. Mo. Mai/., -p. 8), 

 on "A Spanish Hciiibuliiiin," by Dr. Sharp {Ent. Mo. Ma;/., p. 87), in 

 which an account is given of the species of this genus, which live 

 habitually on the verge of melting snow-fields, and therefore always 



