1914.1 39 



Trichothrips sEMiCiEctrs, Uzel. 



One example from under baric of willow on the bants of the 

 Cherwell, near Oxford, February, 1913. 



Phlceothrips coriacetjs, Hal. 



With an undescribed Hoplandrothrips, by beating dead branches, 

 Balsall Common, Warwickshire, September, 1913 (H. Willoughby 

 Ellis and E. S. B.). 



Hoodia baonaIjLi, Karny. 



Numerous larvae and one imago on wych elm, Abingdon ; larvae 

 on wych elm and ash, Cothill (Berks), September. Larvte on ash at 

 Enslow Bridge and Water Eaton (Oxon), October, 1913. 



Oldstead, Park Town, 



Oxford : December 9th, 1913. 



Do House-flies hibernate ? — -It is commonly believed that the persistence of 

 Musca domestica from one season to another is ensured by the survival of a 

 certain number of fertilized females, which pass through the winter usually in 

 a dormant condition in nooks and crannies in houses, and become the mothers 

 of the earliest broods of the following year. In spite, however, of the large 

 amount of attention bestowed upon the house-fly during the last few years, 

 owing to the recognition of its importance as a disease-carrier, definite proof 

 that the insect hibernates in the perfect state is still wanting ; indeed, Dr. Henry 

 Skinner, as the result of an observation made by him last March at Philadelphia, 

 U.S.A., has recently answered the question at the head of this note by stating 

 that : — " House-flies pass the winter in the pupal stage and in no other way " 

 (Entomological News, Vol. XXIV, No. 7, July, 19J3, p. 304). This conclusion, 

 it should be noted, is directly at variance with results obtained in this country 

 by both Newstead and Jepson. 



Did we possess exact knowledge of what happens to the house-fly in the 

 interval that elapses between the disappearance of the last belated stragglers 

 in November and December, and the sporadic invasion of our dwellings in the 

 following June by the earliest skirmishers of the season, it is obvious that 

 we might be able to deal more effectually with an ever-recurring menace to 

 the public health. This point has not been overlooked in the investigations 

 upon " Flies as Carriers of Infection," which for several years past have been 

 carried on by the Local Government Board, under the direction of Dr. S. 

 Monckton Copeman, F.R.S., but hitherto the results have been purely negative. 

 Hibernating flies belonging to several species have been found in attics and 

 elsewhere, but upon careful examination it was found that these did not include 

 a single house-fly. In this matter the importance of accurate determination 



