NOTES ON COLLECTING, ETC. 46 



I should call it Scoparta atomalts var. snffusa. From a somewha 

 limited acquaintance with S. atomalis, I am inclined to consider it 

 distinct from S. ambigualis. I have taken them in Cumberland, where 

 they appear to be quite distinct in appearance and in habit. S. ainbuj- 

 ualis (with iS. iilmeUa) I found in quantity on larch trunks, while, 

 within a few yards, S. atomalis swarmed in a small peat bog. Thi.s 

 was in 1887. 1 exhibit a LithocoUetls, which I call L. dminimjieUa, and 

 which I occasionally breed from mines in the undersides of the leaves 

 of Almis glutinosa. Is this the real dunninyiella ? If so, it is distinct 



enough from L. nicellii, both in colour and food-plant." Mr. N. 



M. Kichardson (Weymouth) writes on Dec. 11th: — "Dr. Corbett's 

 Lithocolletis is, as far as I can judge, just like a dark L. nicellii, but as 

 that seems to be in agreement with the description of L. dunniiK/iella, 

 it may be that species — I have no specimen of the latter in my collec- 

 tion — or it may be a new species, or only a dark var. of L. nicellii, 

 caused by a change of food-plant. Are the mines like the rather 

 peculiar ones of L. nicellii on nut ? I doubt if L. dunniiKjiella has been 

 recorded as bred ; I see nothing about it in the E. M. M. or the Ent. 

 Annuals, and in Insecta Britannica the references are to Ent. Zty., 1852, 

 p. 88, and Zool, 1848, where it was described or referred to asfrolichella. 

 Stainton says, among oaks and nut-bushes, but, as one knows, such 

 hints are sometimes very misleading as to the food -plant. Dr. Corbett's 

 specimen is a curious variety, having three costal streaks on the right 

 side, but only two on the left. I should think, with Dr. Corbett, that 

 Mr. Home's Scoparia is an atomalis var. Dr. Corbett's note about 

 ambigualis and atomalis is of great interest, for I think that most 

 entomologists look on them as merely varieties." 



gRACTICAL HINTS. 



A CURE FOR MITES. — 1 have found that ])ainting the inside of store- 

 boxes with white-lead, diluted with turpentine into which a few drops 

 of corrosive sublimate have been jjoured, is a thorough cure for mites, 

 as well as all other similar pests. I have found that such insects as 

 the Hepiali and the Lencaniidae show no signs of grease, and retain 

 their natural appearance, when placed in boxes so treated. — (Rev.) V. B. 

 Newnham, Church Stretton, Salop. Dec. Srd, 18'J4. — [Practical hints, 

 such as the foregoing, would be much more useful if our correspon- 

 dents would indicate the quantities of the several ingredients they 

 use. We are puzzled by the injunction to pour " a few drops of 

 corrosive sublimate " into the mixture, inasmuch as corrosive sublimate 

 is a solid. — Ed.] 



HOTICE^ AND REVIEWS. 



Butterflies and Motus (British), by W. Furneaux, F.K.G.S. 

 (London: Longmans Green it Co., 1894); Price lUs. Gd. net. — When 

 we had read a few pages of this book, a slight recollection of a story, 

 concerning certain razors which were made to sell, dawned upon us ; 

 as we i-ead on the recollection became clearer, and by the time that we 

 had tinislied the hrst 1 19 pages, we were perfectly convinced that, like 

 those well-known razors, this book was made to sell. There is not one 



