112 [May, 



Procas armillatus, F., near Chatham. — I had the good fortune to shake a fine 

 specimen of this very rare weevil out of a dry tuft of grass on the slopes of Darland 

 Uill, near Chatham, on the afternoon of the llth inst. As far as I am aware, no 

 capture of this species in Britain has been recorded for nearly forty yeai-s. A 

 subsequent visit to the same spot failed to produce more examples. — Id. : March 

 2<ith, 1896. 



Medon apicalis, Kraatz, in Windsor Great Park. — A single specimen of this 

 apparently very rare Staphylinid occurred to Mr. Champion and myself on April 

 4th in the wet rotten wood of a large beech stump in Windsor Great Park. With 

 it we found also M. obsoletus, Nordm. — Id. : April 1th, 1896. 



Dytiscus dimidiatus near London. — Early in April, 1895, 1 was fortunate enough 

 to take a female of the above rare species in a ditch near Merton, Surrey. Two or 

 three hours' work at the same place in the present month failed to turn up any 

 more. The insect has never before been taken near London, I believe ; and its only 

 recorded locality for many years past has been Askham Bog. — E. A. Newbeey, 12, 

 Churchill Eoad, Dartmouth Park, N.W. : April lUh, 1896. 



T!arly Perlida. — Last year I contributed a short notice on the first appearances 

 of PerlidcB after a winter of exceptional severity. It may be useful, if for nothing 

 more than the sake of comparing dates, to say a few words on the same subject after 

 a winter of abnormal mildness. 



This year Perlidce were seen for the first time on February 22nd. The species 

 were Cajonia nigra, Pict., Taniopteryx nehidosa, L.,and a Leuctra. This is certainly 

 the earliest record for these insects in this district, although on one previous occasion, 

 at least, T. nebulosa was out on the closing days of February. 



After wonderfully fine and mild weather in the earlier part of the month during 

 which no Perlidce were seen, the 22nd was cold with heavy sleet showers, and was 

 the beginning of a spell of cold weather with frequent hard frosts and falls of snow. 

 I had no favourable opportunity of collecting again until March 7th ; in the morning 

 the ground was covered with snow, and the frost hard, but as the day wore on it 

 became mild and sunny, and Nemoura prcecox came out in numbers ; T. nebulosa 

 was also taken. 



It will be observed that the first of the above-mentioned dates was cold following 

 mildness, while the second was just the reverse, but both agreed in the presence of 

 melted snow in the waters. When Mr. King and I were in Eannoch last April, the 

 River Gaur was surcharged with melted snow, and these spring Perlidce were coming 

 out in myriads. It almost appears that the presence of melted snow in the waters 

 has a quickening influence to some extent acting independently of otherwise favour- 

 able or unfavourable weather conditions. — Kenneth J. Mobton, Carluke, N. B. : 

 March, 1896. 



Extinction of British Butterflies. — It is announced that at the Meeting of the 

 Entomological Society of London on May 6th a discussion will take place as to the 

 best meaus of preventing the extinction of certain British Butterflies. — Eds. 



