PREFACE. 



Another volume has been completed and we have again to thank 

 our subscribers and contributors for their excellent support during the 

 past year. There has been no special feature like the " century " 

 articles of the last volume, but the volume contains a large amount of 

 most important and useful entomological detail, which has, we believe, 

 kept it quite up to the level of its best traditions. 



The work of the assistant editors has been especially onerous this 

 year. The coleoptera section under Professor T. Hudson Beare and 

 Mr. H. St. J. K. Donisthorpe has been rather heavier than usual, and 

 Mr. M. Burr maintains well the interest of our orthopterists in the 

 work that is going on in their special branch of our subject. The help 

 of Dr. T. A. Chapman and j\Ir. L. B. Prout with the lepidoptera, has 

 again been of the utmost value to ourselves and our readers. 



Help in the production of the plates pulished with this volume is 

 gratefully acl\nowledged, we have to thank Dr. T. A. Chapman, the 

 kev. A. M. Moss, the Hon. N. C. Rothschild, and Mr. Dollman. To the 

 latter our readers are indebted for the beautiful handpainted larva of 

 J >icraiuira hicKsiiis, every copy of which was coloured by the artist 

 himself. 



Owing to an unfortunate afi'ection of the eyes, from which Mr. G. 

 B. Routledge is suffering, extra help in the preparation of the Special 

 Index has had to be obtained. Mr. H. J. Turner is helping Mr. 

 Routledge with the lepidoptera, Professor T. Hudson Beare is doing 

 the coleoptera, and Mr. M. ]>urr the orthoptera. Whilst regretting 

 exceedingly the necessity for obtaining further help, we are exceedingly 

 grateful to those who have so kindly offered their services. We trust 

 that Mr. Routledge, to whose kindness we have been indebted so long, 

 will soon recover from what we hope is but a temporary disability. It 

 is hoped tha,t the " Special Index " will be ready with the January 

 number. We regret to add that, whilst this has been passing through 

 the press. Miss E. Wells, who has for many years been responsible 

 for the " general index " of this magazine, and had only a few days 

 before completed that published with this number, died suddenly of 

 apoplexy on December 5th. 



We again ask for a supply of short notes and observations, which 

 should in reality be not at all difficult to obtain. It would appear, 

 however, that such are really more rarely penned than one might 

 fairly expect. I may here point out that the compilation of really 

 good text-books must depend largely on an abundance of such notes 

 made by isolated workers. These notes become of the highest 

 scientific importance when collected together for the purposes of 

 generalisation. Similarly, notes on collecting — with dates, observations 

 and localities- — are exceedingly valuable. 



In conclusion we beg to tender our heartiest thanks to our sub- 

 scribers and contributors, and to everyone who has in any way contri- 

 buted to make the volume a success. 



