84 THE entomologist's record. 



URRENT NOTES. 



The way in which varietal synonymy is accumulating, owing to 

 our German lepidopterists working in ignorance of the literature of 

 their subject, is appalling. Clark, in 1891, described and named [Ent. 

 Rec, i., p. 328, pi. A., fig. 1) the obsolete-banded form of 3/iwa.s tiliac, 

 ab. ohwlt'ta, and gave an excellent figure thereof. In spite of this, 

 Bartel {THe Palacarkt. Gn.^s-Svhwett., ii., p. 149), in 1900, renamed 

 it iin)iiaciilata, and Staudinger, in 1901, rechristened it ejstincta. 

 This latter amazes one, as Staudinger positively quotes Clark's 

 paper in his synonymy of the species. Bartel thinks that " no 

 doubt examples of this aberration are to be found elsewhere, but 

 owing to their rarity they appear not to have been often observed." 

 One cannot help retorting. What is the use of observing them and 

 recording the observations if an author does not trouble about the 

 records? Similarly Clark describes and figures (^oc. <•/?., p. 329, pi. 

 A., fig. 7) an ab. rentripiinrta, which Bartel, in 1900, and Staudinger 

 in 1901, independently redescribe as idmi, utilising wrongly Boisdu- 

 val's name for the dwarf form of this species. Staudinger also calls the 

 ab. hrannca of Bartel, ab. hninncsccns. So much for the named forms 

 of Mimas tiliae ! '. 



In the Societas Ent(iiii(d<yiira, xvi., p. 171, Schult/ has renamed 

 the melanic form of Pharetra (Acmni/rta) nimicis. As Curtis named it 

 saluis some three-quarters of a century ago, and Gregson renamed it 

 nobilis some forty years ago, it had already two names to go on with, 

 and one wonders what it wants with the third, liir/ubris. Staudinger 

 in his Cat., 2nd ed., p. 77, erroneously referred it to inenyatitlndis, but has 

 placed it accurately in the 3rd ed., p. 133. We have already given details 

 of its history and its distribution in Brit. Noctiiae, Sec, vol. i., pp. 

 25-27. We still live in hope that the German collectors will look up 

 the literature of the subject before renaming any more Noctuid (and 

 other) aberrations. 



In an article on the " Forficole raccolte dal Dott. Filippo Silvestri 

 nella Republica Argentina e regione vicine " {Boll. Mas. Torino, no. 

 418, February, 1902), Dr. Alfredo Borelli describes two new species, 

 of which one is quite a curiosity. This is Ani^olabis caeca, Bor., allied 

 to the cosmopolitan A. ainiiilijic.s, Luc, in which, as its name implies, 

 eyes are totally wanting. This is the first instance of entire blindness 

 known among earwigs, and the blindness is so complete that not even 

 rudiments of eyes are to be seen. An adult female and an immature 

 male were discovered under the ground, when the collector was 

 searching for termites. The other novelty is (lonolabis sylvestrii, 

 from Patagonia, which is the sixth known species of this interesting 

 genus. 



If the whole series of W'ytsman's Genera ImectdVHiu be up to the 

 standard of the two fascicules now before us, the work will be one of 

 the most valuable ever ottered to the systematic entomologist. 

 " Hymenoptera, Fam. Eraniidae," by Kieffer, and " Coleoptera, Fam. 

 Gj/rinidae," by Regimbart, are the two parts just published. Both 

 are quarto, excellently printed on good paper, the illustrations equally 

 good with the text. Our leading entomologists would do well to sup- 

 port the work, particulars of the publication of which may be obtained 

 of Mv. P. Wytsman, 108, Boulevard du Nord, Bruxelles. 



