24G 



THE entomologist's RECORD. 



ledge of the KumaHtaeidie, which are some of the most curious and 

 least- known grasshoppers. 



In the Knt. Mo. Mwj., p. 197, Dr. Sharp adds a Syrphid flv 

 U>a,mes!/rplu,s Imitaniens, Mik, to the British list, on the strenc^th 

 ot a specnnen captured at Boat o'Garten, in Inverness, in July 1902 • 

 previously it had only been recorded from Cintra. 



Dr. Sharp also adds a longicorn, Tetropiinn fuscum, Fab., to the British 

 list, a single specimen being taken on June 20th, 1903, at Brockenhurst 

 A note by Mr. F. Littler {Enton,., p. 218) on the life-history of the 

 iasmanian Psychid, Entometa ypwbUh, contains some remarkable 

 statements, one of which reads as follows: "The males 

 are remarkable for the length of the abdomen, the power they have' 

 of elongating It, and the manner in which the,/ la.h it from side to shie 

 Ihe 2 s never leave the cases, but simply place the pustenor end of the 

 abdomen close to the lower aperture of the case. The c? , when ready to 

 change to the pupa state, reverses its position in the case, so that its 

 bead IS close to the lower aperture. The J , on the other hand 

 P'ipates m the same position as when a larra. The young are brouo-ht 

 \ovih, not in the emi state, but as minute larvae, which, if one is fortunate 

 enough, ma;/ be seen issuin;/ in immense numbers from the bodi/ of the 9 

 each letting itself down by a slender thread of silk, it being soon 

 wafted to some leaf of the tree." We should like some competent 

 observer, who knows the peculiarities of the Psychid economy to 

 verify those statements that we have italicised. For ourselves we can 

 only say that it appears to us that Mr. Littler has accumulated almost 

 all the errors of observation possible in the space at disposal, all of 

 which, too, have been supposed to have been made before on other 

 species, and all of which have been more than once rectified by 

 careful observation. We have discussed in detail {Hritish Le,rido„tera 

 • flu^ ; ^^ I "" structure of the Psychid ^ abdomen. (2) The position 

 ot the $ in the case when pairing takes place. (8) The reversal of all 

 Psychid larvae after finally spinning down the case, and before 

 pupation (4) The similarity of the $ 's egg-mass with the 9 's dead 

 shrivelled body on top, to the newly-emerged $ full of e^^^^s (5) The 

 hatching of the young larv* from eggs laid within the" ease after 

 copulation. Of course, it may be that Mr. Littler is right only 

 similar statements have always hitherto proved to be erroneous 



^ Comparatively few years ago the compilation of A Cafalo,/ue of the 

 toccidaeo/ the H orld- would not have been a very serious undertaking, 

 but such enormous strides have been recently made in the study of 

 these msects that the work produced under this title by Mrs. Maria 

 11.. l^ernald, M.A., occupies no fewer than 860 pages, and enumerates 

 (with their synonymy) 1514 species. Apart from the great difficulty 

 of determining which are really synonyms in such a confessedly 

 puz^zling group, a task that must have often taxed the talented 

 authoi;ess to the utmost, the mere compilation of the Catalooue \s a 

 gigantic piece of work. Her special reference to the help rendered by 

 Professor T. D. A. Cockerell is, we doubt not, fully deserved. No one 

 has done more than he in studying and helping others to study this 

 difhcult group and the references m Mrs. Fernald's Cafalo^nw illustrate 

 the share that he, Mr. Ernest Green, and other workers have taken 

 in the marvel ous progress made in the knowledge of the Coccids 

 during the last decade. 



Published by Carpenter and Morehouse, Amherst, Mass., U.S.A. 



