CURRENT NOTES. 823 



Fruhstorfer brings forward a number of " New forms of Palfearctic 

 Rhopalocera." The July numbers contain a long " List of neAvly 

 described or bred Parasites with their Hosts," and an account of " A 

 Few Aberrations and Gynandromorphs of the Paltearctic genus 

 Papilio." In August we find a very full account of " Parnassius 

 mneiiiosijne," giving its life history, distribution and variation at some 

 length. The September number contains an important article with 

 several illustrations, b}' Dr. Jas. L. Reverdin, on" Parnara nofitradamHS 

 and P. lefebvrii." 



We are pleased to note that Dr. Malcolm Burr has recently been 

 elected a Corresponding Member of the American Entomological 

 Society. 



The Carlisle Natural History Society are about to bring out another 

 volume of their " Transactions." We understand that it will contain 

 among other matters a continuation of the List of the Lepidoptera of 

 the district, probably including the Noctiiae, and also a further instal- 

 ment of the List of Carlisle Coleoptera, comprising the Water-beetles 

 and the Stapln/linidae. 



In recent numbers of the Bulletin Je la Societe Entoniolof/ique de 

 France are several items of general interest to English readers. 



(1) Prof. L. B. H^oward, of the National Museum, Washington, 

 U.S.A., draws attention to the large number of changes in the fauna 

 and flora of the United States, which have taken place in recent times 

 under the eyes of living observers, and in support of his remarks 

 he refers to Pieris rapae supplanting P. protodice and Lepidosap/ies 

 uhni replacing CJiionaspis fnrfnrtts. He is now studying the Coccidae, 

 many species of which, following the trade routes, have become more 

 or less cosmopolitan in their distribution, so that at the present time 

 it is practically impossible to ascertain with certainty their original 

 home, so few students having until the present time given their 

 attention to these multitudinous pests. What Prof. Howard particu- 

 larly desires is to ascertain all the facts that can be obtained as to the 

 existence and distribution of the extremely minute parasites of the 

 Coccidae, the Aphelinae, and to discover how far the extraordinary 

 spread of the Coccidae has been followed by a corresponding spread 

 of the parasites. He states that the fauna of the Uuited States, as 

 regards the Aphelinae, in 1900 was radically different from that of 

 1880, at which latter date he began to publish notes and records of 

 the group. As instances he states that the species of the genus 

 ApJu'liniix, and also of the genus Coccopha;ias have been replaced by 

 the rapid spread of immigrant species of the genera Aspidiotiphat/us, 

 Prospaltella, etc. Are similar changes going on in Europe ? Are the 

 old recorded species still common, or are they, as in America, on the 

 road to disappearance from the competition of introduced foreign 

 species ? 



(2) M. Chas. Oberthur describes a number of new varieties of 

 Western Palaearctic Lepidoptera, among them being Lycaena iolas var. 

 pon-elli, which has been bred from larvte taken by Mr. Powell at 

 Geryville in the province of Oran, Algeria, symbiosis existing between 

 the larvae and ants as described in Etudes de Lepidopterolof/ie comparee, 

 vol. v., pt. i. ; Erebia tyndarus ab. albana, taken by M. Rondou in 

 the Hautes-Pyrenees, has the markings, which normally are yellow, 

 changed to white ; ISemeophila plantayinis ab. rondoiii, from Gedre, 



