, J, [January, 



quantities, -whereas perforated bramble and briar stems have to be hunted for 

 diligently. Saunders says tliis species has been bred from bramble stems; 

 may not this have been a mistake for ash ?— L. A. Box, Eighty, Northampton 

 Road, Croydon : November IQth, 1918. 



Chrysopa dorsalis Burnt, near Cohiiehter. — I took nine specimens of this 

 local insect in a young fir plantation near Colchester on June 17th, 1917, and 

 a single example in the same locality in 1916, They were captured just 

 before a heavy thunderstorm and were very lively in the net, in fact one or 

 two others escaped. The insect has, so far, occurred nowhere else in Essex, 

 and fir, to which it seems usually attached, is scarce near Colchester except 

 for a few plantations of quite modern growth. This locality was in 1904-5 

 a sandy field and very prolific in Aculeate Hymenoptera. — Bernard S. 

 Habwoop, Melford Road, Sudbury, Suffolk. 



\ Chrysopa dorsalis has previously' only been recorded from two localitres 

 in Britain : at King's Lynn in numbers in 1900 and subsequently by Mr. A. E. 

 Atmore ; and once at Oxshott in Surrey by the late Mr. Alfred Beaumont, 

 also in 1900.— G. T. P.] 



Note on the ^'' sini/iny'" of Syrphns ribesii L. while at rest. — On Sept. 9th, 

 1917, in my garden here., the morning- being warm and bright and autumn flies 

 numerous on the flowers and shrubs, 1 became aware, while watching Syrphi 

 hovering, of a " singing " sound which at first T thought came from an unfor- 

 tunate fly in a spider's-web. Seeking- the source of the sound, I was greatly 

 interested to find that it came from a Syrphus resting on a leaf quite near. 

 There was no doubt of it, as in this case (and in others) I got quite close to 

 the tiy without alarming it, and the sound was distinctly heard coming from 

 the insect. I could detect no movement of any part. 1 caught several of 

 these "singing" flies, and they were all Syrphus ribesii, d' <5 • During the 

 past summer (1918) I did not, owing to various reasons, notice this habit 

 until the new brood of Sipjihi Avere about in Aug. and Sept. From observa- 

 tions made, the "singing" seemed to be confined to the J of <S'. ribesii, which 

 I may remark is the predominant member of the genus in my garden ; its near 

 relative, vitripennis Mg., is comparatively scarce, and I did not catch any 

 " singing." I also paid close attention to luniger Mg., balteatus D. G., and 

 corollue F., but detected no sound coming from them. When ribesii S settles, 

 its wings are sometimes rather widely spread, and it is only after bringing 

 them, with a sudden and quick movement, closer together over the abdomen — 

 but still leaving the latter uncovered — that the " singing" begins. I could not 

 see that $ 2 '^vere attracted by the sound, and I could come to no other con- 

 clusion than that it was an expression of the insect's joy in life. The brighter 

 the sun, the more active the insects were, and the more they " sang " ! The 

 sound was distinctly audible to me at a distance of six or seven feet, I cannot 

 find that this habit in S. ribesii has been noticed before. It is not mentioned 

 in the latest account of the Syrphidae (Lundbeck, " Diptera Danica," part v, 

 1916). It is, of course, known to occur in the genera Helophihis, Sericomyia, 

 and Microdon. I have noticed it in Sericomyia, and the sound is louder than 

 in S. ribesii. Interesting notes on the "singing" of Sericomyia appeared in 

 Vol. 18 (pp. 159, 189, 190) and 19 (p. 188) of this Magazine.— A. E. J. 

 Carter, Monifreth, Forfarshire : Oct. 2lst, 1918. 



