46 [July, 



unfortunately died from want of mciiature. This seemed rather a carious circum- 

 stance, but Mr. Smith tells me that he has frequently bred Tachirw with Longicorn 

 beetles. I have the whole of the contents of the cocoon in my collection. — A. G. 

 Butler, British Museum, l4(/t June, 1865. 



Capture of Thy amis suturaUs on the coast of Northumberland. —This, almost 

 the rarest of the genus, occurred to me in the early part of September, 1864, on 

 the sands near Whitley. Not recognizing it at the time, I only secured a very few 

 specimens, and these were taken seated on the bare sand. A fearful gale of wind 

 was blowing, and the drifting sand was perfectly blinding. The poor creatures 

 were sitting with their heads to the blast, and holding on with all their strength to 

 prevent themselves being blown into the sea. Of course, when the time comes, I 

 must carefully work the adjoining banks, whence they no doubt had come. — 

 Thos. Jno. Bold, Long Benton, May 15th, 1865. 



Capture of Schistoglossa viduata in Northumberland. — In the early part of 

 October last, I caught a single specimen of an obscure looking " Staph," which my 

 good friend Rye tells me is Schistoglosaa viduata, Er., an insect, I believe, of con- • 

 siderable rarity in collections, and one which is new to our local fauna. — Id. 



On the occurretxce of Gonocerus venator, a rare British Hemipteron. — Twice, at a 

 long interval, during fifteen years, I have taken a single example, by beating the 

 box -trees on Box Hill, in May ; but, although I have beaten about the bush nearly 

 every May, and also in other months, these two v^'ere all that rewarded my dili- 

 gence. Still, it would be hazardous to say that the insects have not been there 

 during any of those seasons, knowing, as we do, how many fortuitous circumstances 

 must often happen together to enable an entomologist to find some particular 

 species. Be this as it may, it is certain that, on the 23rd inst., I was lucky enough 

 to get eight c? and eight $ of this coveted beauty. They affect the shoots that 

 stand out from the bushes, and are fond of sitting on the top of them, in the bright 

 sunshine, and taking short flights from one to another ; and when one is in the net, 

 you are not sure of him, as he has a strong propensity to fly out of it. 



Fieber gives oaks and hedge-roses as the habitat of this species ; with us it is 

 exclusively found on the box. — J. W. Douglas, 7, Kingswood Place, Lee, 31st May. 



Aulax sabaudi, one of the Cynipidai, bred from a gall on Hieracmm boreale. — 

 When I was in Scotland last summer, I observed that the stems of Hicracium boreale 

 were not unfrequently distorted by a hairy gall, about the size of a cherry. Some- 

 times it occupied the top of the stem, and was slightly foliaceous ; sometimes it I 

 was embodied in the stem itself. It was usually ruddy in colour, and moi-e or less • 

 shaggy with hair, like some of the melocactuses. I gathered several, but the larvae 

 were immature, and perished. Subsequently, I met with the same gall in Harwood 

 Dale, near Scarboro'. This was in October, when the larvae were nearly full fed 

 At the close of May— the 29th— they began to swarm. One gall — a large one — 

 has given forth between twenty and thirty tenants. It is a pretty little Cynips, and 

 is thus described by Hartig : — " Aulax saba.ndi, Niger; antonnis fusco-rufis, apice 

 obscurioribus, articulis 1-3 nigris ; abdomine pedibusque rufis ; abd. dorso, coxis, 

 trochantibus femoribueqne basi nigris. ? coxis anterioribua plus minus rufis. 

 Antennae i 15articulat«B ; f l-l-art. Long, lin. li. 



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