344 THE entomologist's record. 



the continent of Europe, or the whole Palfearctic area, for their held 

 of operation, to have by them for continual reference, that attention 

 need here only be drawn to its publication. 



The Hon. N. C. Rothschild adds (Ent.) a new flea to science, 

 Ceratop/ii/llmf dalei, which was taken from a nest of CoUnnba paltaiibiif,. 



The late Frederick Smith was inclined to believe that a species of 

 Polistes wasp captured at Penzance, London and Liverpool, in 1866 and 

 1867, was imported with hides from South America, the wasps having 

 been observed following a ship in the river La Plata, being attracted 

 by the raw hides ; now Dr. Knaggs assumes [Fhit.) that the specimens 

 of I'liinia ni, taken in Cornwall the last few years, are referable to Plusia 

 brassicae, which he says is common in Brazil and other parts of South 

 America, further, it is his opinion that P. «/ came over in the " hide " 

 vessels with the Polistes, and that this is much more likely than that 

 Cornwall, Devon and Dorset, with their well-known remnants of a 

 Mediterranean fauna and flora, have received specimens from the south 

 of Europe. He assumes that the capture of Miss Carne's specimens 

 in May, showed that the insect was double-brooded, and had been bred 

 in this country. We wonder whether the arrival of immigrant Colias 

 edusa, Pt/ranieis carded, Mandiira atmjios, etc., in May and June, will be 

 held to prove that these examples were bred here, or whether immi- 

 grant Plusia (laitima come over among raw hides. Those who know 

 Plusia ni in its delightful haunts in France and Italy, may perhaps be 

 allowed to doubt that Plusia ni has any great liking for hides. The 

 wasps, perhaps, use the remnants of flesh on the hides for food, the moths, 

 we opine, do not. We further wonder if well-informed lepidopterists 

 would be surprised to know that the larvae of P. ni have a vegetable 

 diet, that the cocoons are usually spun up among the foodplant, that 

 the pupal and imaginal stages of P. ni, each last from two to three 

 weeks, that these are the only stages in which these species could 

 come over in raw hides, and that ships that bring hides from La 

 Plata take some little time to do the journey ! 



A notice of the Transactions of the City of London Entuiiiolof/ical 

 and Natural History Society for the year 1902 has quite unfairly been 

 put aside for some time. The volume does considerable credit to that 

 small but very active society. A paper by Mr. Alfred Sich, on 

 " Observations on the early stages of Pliyllocnistis suff'usella,'" is a 

 most thorough piece of work, and it is quite clear that Mr. Sich is no 

 ordinary observer of the smaller lepidoptera. Mr. A. Bacot's paper, 

 " The importance of certain larval characters as a guide in the 

 classification of the Spbingids," also takes its place as a valuable 

 contribution to entomological science. Altogether different reading is 

 Mr. W. J. Kaye's " After lej)idoptera in British Guiana in 1901," which, 

 nevertheless, is full of interest, and now and again an observation 

 is made that should not be lost sight of. Smaller contributions are 

 " Stauropus fayi,'' by Mr. A. W. Mera, and " An Easter holiday in 

 South America," by Mr. A. F. Bayne. The reports of the meetings 

 are clear and lucid, and contain many an interesting paragraph. A 

 glance at the balance sheet shows that there was a balance of nearly 

 £4 on the right side, so that it is evident that business at the " City " 

 is also well conducted, and that the money difficulties of a few years 

 ago have been surmounted. 



On November 26th, Colonel Swinhoe invited a number of Fellows 



