CURRENT NOTES. 



237 



at the electric light," is the basis for the introduction of a species both 

 new to Britain and new to science by Mr. E. Meyrick in the Knt. Mo. 

 Mag. for July. It is "probably most allied to S. alpina," "from 

 superficial appearance .... a frequenter of open ground (not 

 tree trunks)," and " should be looked for on sand-hills and hillsides." 

 It is suggested that it may be of foreign origin, but no European or 

 exotic species approaching it is known. The specimen is to be called 

 Scoparia vafra, Meyr. Before coming to a decision as to the specific 

 stability of this specimen, which is characterised by so much "prob- 

 ability," it is necessary to examine it from the point of view of more 

 advanced modern work. In the Trans. Ent. Soc. Loud., 1911, p. 501, 

 Dr. Chapman has a paper entitled " On the British (and a few Conti- 

 nental) species of Scoparia, Hw.," illustrated by 9 plates containing 

 some 75 figures of the genitalia. The results there arrived at on 

 definite structural characters are substantially the same as those 

 previously suggested by both M. Guenee and Mr. E. R. Bankes and 

 based on considerations of habits and markings. 



The last published part of the Meuwires. de la Societe Entowohxi'iiine 

 de Behje contains the 22nd instalment of a Revision of the Prionides, 

 which was commenced in the Annales, in 1902, by Prof. Aug. Lameere 

 of the University of Brussels. There are included in the present 

 contribution a summary of the corrections suggested by the new 

 material which has come to hand during the progress of the work, and 

 also descriptions of the new species which have come into the hands of 

 the author. 



In a recently published paper in the L'roceedinijs of the U.S. National 

 Museum, Prof. Harrison G. Dyar gives an account of some 242 species 

 of Lepidoptera obtained in the Yale Peruvian Expedition of 1911, and 

 therein states that " a large part of the species of Lepidoptera could 

 not be found in the collection of the U.S. iNational Museum at 

 Washington." It was necessary for him to send the specimens to 

 London for comparison and identification. This is undeniable 

 evidence of the richness and condition of our National and other 

 collections and a strong testimony as to the knowledge and ability of 

 our scientific workers. 



The July part of the Annales de la Societe Kntomoloijique de 

 Behjiijue contains a note on the Circulation of the Blood in the Wings 

 of Insects, by M. R. Bervoets. A resume of the results of previous 

 writers is given with a quotation from the conclusions of Messrs. J. H. 

 Comstock and J. G. Needham, that " the adult wing, whatever it may 

 have been originally, has become a dry resilient plate of chitine 

 traversed by finely adjusted supports." M. Bervoets gives an account 

 of his own experiments and observations with the wings of living 

 insects, the may-bug, the house-fly, a Pierid, a dragon-fly, etc., 

 in considerable detail, and concludes his investigation with the 

 opinion " qu'il exist une circulation du sang dans toutes les ailes des 

 insectes et que ces organes du vol nc sont done desseches en aucun 

 cas ; que cette circulation est destinee a aller nourrir les elements 

 nerveux et sensoriels qui s'y rencontrent et que par consequent I'aile 

 n'est pas un organe mort et desseche, mais bien un organe vivant et 

 sensible." 



In the same part M. Francis J. Ball contributes some notes on the 

 Lepidoptera of Belgium, including a short summary of the species of 



