CURRENT NOTES. 29 



new to science, Bradycelliis a/iarpi, which he differentiates from B. 

 distinctus, to which it is nearest allied. 



Mr. G. V. Hudson contributes some extended notes on " Semi- 

 apterous females in certain species of Lepidoptera, with an attempted 

 explanation," to the November number of the Ent. Mo. Ma;/. He 

 deals with both New Zealand and with British species, and points out 

 that they all agree in "(1) The General Distribution of the Food- plant 

 of the larva in the Region where the Insect is Found, and (2) The 

 appearance of the Imago in Winter or in Very Early Spring." At the 

 same time he discusses the " Effects of Cold on Insects." 



In recent numbers of the Uei-. Mens. Soc. Ent. Kanntr, M. 

 Lambillion describes and figures two aberrations of butterflies as new 

 to science, viz. ab. lencophana of Melitcwa athalia, m which the usual 

 rich yellow areas of the foiewings are of a very light yellowish white 

 except the three spots at the base, while the lower wings are normal 

 except the median band of spots which is very pale ; and ab. 

 rhldivf/rapha of Brenthis selene in which there are above the centre of 

 the inner margins of the forewings internervure-spaces which are of a 

 whitish yellow, like the marginal spots on all the wings. There is 

 also described a new aberration of Cheimatobia bruniata ab. unicolor, 

 in which the upper wings are absolutely unicolorous, and the lower 

 wings without any shade or line apparent, even when held up to the 

 light. The two first aberrations were obtained near Virion , the last 

 was bred from the egg. 



The Entomolof/ist for December contains an interesting article by 

 Mr. H. Rowland-Brown, on " What is Erehia epiphron var. cassiope, 

 Fabr. ? " in which he discusses at length the common confusion in the 

 use oi the specific and varietal names and also endeavours to elucidate 

 what Fabricius meant when he gave the name cassiope. He suggests 

 that the latter was a form of E. manto from the Austrian Alps. 



It is rarely that two such valuable memoires have been issued in a 

 single year by the Entomological Society of London in their 'Transactions 

 as in the present volume. The "Monograph of the genus Acraea" has 

 been previously dealt with in our pages and now there has just come 

 to hand a very detailed and valuable paper by Dr. David Sharp and F. 

 Muir with thirty-seven plates on " The Comparative Anatomy of the 

 Male Genital Tube in Coleoptera." Papers have also been contributed 

 by Dr. Chapman dealing with " The Early Stages of Albulina pheretes, 

 a ]\Iyrmecophilous Plebeiid blue- butterfly," " The food-plant of 

 Callophri/s acis," and a paper describing " An Experiment on the 

 Development of the male appendages in Lepidoptera." Lieut. -Colonel 

 N. Manders' paper on "The Study of Mimicry (Batesian and Miillerian) 

 by temperature experiments on two Tropical Butterflies," has also been 

 published in this year's volume. 



We have much pleasure in congratulating Mr. C. J. Gahan, M.A., 

 F.E.S., on his recent appointment to the nev/ly-created post of Keeper 

 of the Department of Entomology in the British Museum (Natural 

 History) at South Kensington. The huge collections in the museum 

 and the increasing economic importance of Entomology in the eyes of 

 the scientific and commercial public justify the elevation of this section, 

 of Zoology to the rank of a Department in the organisation of the work 

 of the British Museum. It is also satisfactory to feel that the first 

 appointment of chief to the Department is that of one who will be a 



