CURRENT NOTES. 139 



head, more often in damp places near the shore, nsiially seen sunning 

 itself, its wings stretched fully out on the bracken. 



16. — The larva of lAta sitafdcUa burrows among the fleshy leaves 

 of the Suaeda, which are something like thick, short pine-needles, 

 spinning them down to the stalk in May. At the end of May it leaves 

 its burrow to spin up in the sand or wood under the plant on which 

 it has fed. 



17. — The larva of Lita }ilanta<jinella feeds on J'lantago rornopits in 

 May ; it may be found burrowing in the root to the depth of nearly 

 half an inch, feeding on the substance of the root, spinning together 

 the central leaves of the plant to conceal itself from view, and changing 

 to a pupa in its burrow. 



18. — A(jdixtis hennettii larvfe are noted by Richardson as being 

 common on Staticc auricnlaefoUa Q,iVovi\axiA ; they feed on S'. liiiioiiiiini 

 on the Med way marshes. 



URRENT NOTES. 



In the Transactions of tlw Kntomoloijlcal Societi/ of London, Mr. W. 

 F. Kirby gives an account of the " Locustidac " collected in the 

 Transvaal by Mr. W. L. Distant. Mr. Kirby's " f^ocKstidae" are the 

 " Acridiidae" or '^ Acridiodea '' of most authors, meaning the true 

 grasshoppers and locusts with short antenn;e. Mr. Kirby difi'ers from 

 most writers in his views of the nomenclature of the orthoptera and 

 he has the boldness to restore Acrj/diioii for Tetti.v, sinking the latter 

 name. He very properly restores Acrida for Tni.ralis, but he retains 

 *' Tryxalis'' {— Acridella, Bolivar) for the second half of this genus, 

 and also " Triuvalis" for the American genus, which Brunner prefers 

 to call Mctaleptea ; this latter name cannot stand, for the American 

 genus must be Trn.mlis, but the retention of both forms of this one 

 word for distinct genera is bound to lead to confusion, and the 

 separation of "Tn/xalis'' from Acrida seems quite unnecessary. 

 Even though Mr. Kirby restores Locnsta for PacJiytylns, Fieber, he 

 could well retain the name Acridiidac, or any form of it, for the 

 name of the suborder, which contains both Acrida, Acrydinm, 

 PachytylHs, Tni.ralis and Tryxalis. Great care, however, must be 

 exercised to keep distinct the names Acrididac (= Tnixalidac) and 

 Acridiidac {Acrid iodca), Acrydiidae { = Tettiyidac), Locustidac [ = Acri- 

 diidac), and Locustidac (= Acridiodca). 



Those entomologists who have been with the Editor to " Newark," 

 at Strood, will be grieved to hear of the death of Mrs. Ames. A 

 sudden apoplectic seizure, on the evening of April 9th, terminated 

 fatally on the 13th, without the deceased lady again fully I'ecovering 

 consciousness. 



Twice at recent meetings of the South London Entomological Society 

 it has been stated that the so-called genus JcwV/rtZ/a required subdivision, 

 both on account of diversity of structure and of distinction of habits. Her- 

 rich-Schafier commenced this nearly half-a-century ago ! Chapman and 

 others have long since pointed out the amazing differences in the eggs. 

 Which of the South London men is going to study the group exhaus- 

 tively and give us the necessary completed subdivision ? There has been 

 •enough talk about this ; we want someone now to work. 



Sir .J. T. D. Llewelyn, Bart., has just been elected for the twelfth 



