66 [March, 



unable to identify with certainty, had been affected by some insect. I accord- 

 ingly investigated matters, and found that the damage had evidently been 

 caused by larvae of some kind, of which I found the pupae encased between the 

 leaves of the plants. I took some half-dozen of these pupae, and from them 

 bred specimens of this Chloropid. — C. G. Nurse (Lt.-Colonel), Tim worth Hall, 

 Bury St. Edmunds : February 4>th, 1914. 



Notes on two uncommon species of British Diptera. Psilosoma lefebvrii, 

 Zetterstedt. — While collecting at Tuddenham, Suffolk, on August 30th, 1911, I 

 took several specimens of this species, and about the same time I obtained two 

 or three more at Ampton, Suffolk. These were determined for me by Mr. Collin, 

 who informed me that the insect was hardly known from this country, except 

 from Scotland, and he suggested that I should keep a look out for it the follow- 

 ing year. Accordingly on August 28th, 1912, I visited the Ampton locality 

 where I had taken the specimens, and which is only about a" mile from my house. 

 Here I was pleased to find the insects in some numbers. They were sitting 

 about on the leaves of various trees and bushes on the borders of a lake, though 

 I could not observe that they showed any preference for any particular tree, as 

 I swept them from lime, birch, beech, and sallow. Between August 25th and 

 September 3rd, 1912, I visited the locality two or three times, and obtained three 

 or four dozen of both sexes. 



Rhacochlsena toxoneura, Loew.— On May 12th, 1912, 1 obtained at Ampton, 

 Suffolk, a single specimen of a Trypetid, which I determined with a good deal 

 of doubt as this species. However, Mr. Collin was able to confirm the determi- 

 nation, and as he informed me that the species was considered very rare in 

 Britain, I made a note of the date and locality in the hope of obtaining more 

 specimens. About the middle of May, 1913, I tried for two or three days the 

 ground where I believed I had taken the first example, but without result, and 

 I began to think that I was unlikely to come across the species again. On May 

 18th there was such a strong wind that I hesitated whether I should go out 

 with a net, but finally decided to try some low ground between Timworth and 

 Ampton parishes, about a quarter of a mile from my own house. The locality 

 in question is fairly sheltered, and has been planted with young willows of the 

 variety which is grown for the manufacture of cricket bats. Many of these 

 trees had attained the height of 25 or 30 feet, and a girth of some two feet. 

 Here I came across Rhacochlsena in considerable numbers. I found them sitting, 

 flicking their wings, on the sheltered sides of the willow trunks, from about two 

 feet to seven or more feet from the ground. I secured a long series, in fact I 

 might have captured dozens. On subsequent days, up to June 9th, I found the 

 insect on the tree trunks in the same locality, but never in such numbers as on 

 the first extremely windy day. It seems to me quite possible that it may usually 

 frequent the higher branches of willows, and only in very windy weather seek 

 shelter below. This might account for its rarity in collections. Nothing is 

 known of its life history, but it may breed in willow leaves or twigs, and I 

 merely throw out the suggestion for what it is worth. — C. Gr. Nurse (Lt.-Col.) : 

 February 4*th, 1914. 



