CURRENT NOTES. 27 



mation " and "unnecessary details." But apart from this if, as is 

 stated, there is to be a reliable figure of each species of the Macro- 

 lepidoptera, mentioned in Staudinger and Rebel's ( 'atalog, the plates 

 alone should be well worth £5. We have not yet seen a part so can 

 give no information first hand. 



The year 1906 will be known in England as an " exigua " year. 

 This species, so exceedingly abundant in the subtropical countries of the 

 Old World, has become a terrible pest in Behar, where the larvae some- 

 times almost entirely destroy the indigo plant. Not only do the 

 larva? of the early brood eat off the first leaves of the young (newly- 

 germinated) plants, but those of the later broods swarm upon the cut 

 plants, and are to be found in abundance upon indigo, steeping in the 

 vats. In the Agricultural Journal of India, i., pp. 338-350, has just 

 been published, a long, exhaustive, and illustrated account of the 

 species — egg, larva, pupa, imago and habits in all stages, which is well 

 worth notice. It is estimated that, on one farm alone, in 1905, above 

 250,000 larva? of this species were destroyed. It has also been abund- 

 ant in 1906. No wonder some of these species find themselves 

 cramped and seek for pastures new. 



The last meeting of the Entomological Club was held at 58, 

 Kensington Mansions, South Kensington, on the evening of December 

 13th, 1906, when Mr. H. Donisthorpe was the host. The guests were 

 received by Mr. and Mrs. Donisthorpe, and a very pleasant entomo- 

 logical evening was spent. Supper was served at 8.30 p.m., when 

 among the members and friends we noticed Mr. R. Adkin, Professor 

 T. Hudson Beare, Messrs. A. J. Chitty, W. J. Distant, J. C. Dollman, 

 A. H. Jones, Rev. F. Morice, Messrs. W. E. Sharp, J. W. Tutt, and 

 C. Waterhouse. _ An excellent supper was accompanied by a very 

 pretty menu card. 



Among much informal entomological chat at a recent entomo- 

 logical gathering, we learned that there is no immediate possibility of 

 the Entomological Society of London being moved to the provinces, 

 nor of its name being altered, but it was a pretty generally expressed 

 opinion that the time had arrived when an election of Council and 

 Officers should be held by the Fellows, to prevent things getting further 

 into a groove. The council was enlarged some time since that there 

 might be at least representative members from Scotland, Ireland, 

 Cambridge, Birmingham, Liverpool, and other well-known entomolo 

 gical centres. Up to the present the increase appears to have only 

 been used to the advantage of one particular centre. 



Mr. A. Sich invited a few personal entomological friends to dine 

 with him at the National Liberal Club, on December 15th. A very 

 happy party sat down to dinner at 7.30 p.m., the guests including 

 among others, Messrs. R. Adkin, F. N. Clark, A. Harrison, Hugh 

 Main, R. South, E. Step, A. E. Tonge, H. J. Turner, and J. W. 

 Tutt. A most enjoyable evening was spent by the " South London " 

 men, and many informal entomological topics discussed. One wondi irs 

 how much of the work that some entomologists undertake gets its 

 preliminary start at one or other of these excellent social functions. 



The Entomologisches Jahrbuch, for 1907, edited by Dr. Kranchrr, 

 and published by Frankenstein and Wagner, Leipzig, at Is. 6d., was, 

 as usual, out well before time, having reached us in October, 1906. 

 It contains the usual variety of entomological material, the monthly 

 calendar, as before, being specially devoted to coleoptera, whilst there are 



