1887,] 17 



ferrugineus, and //. morio, Dej. (africeps, Crotch), all ratlier scarce ; H. lineatus, 

 very common ; //. lituratus, F. (xanthopus, Staph.), has not occurred here, and was 

 placed erroneously by me in the Armagh list ; Agahus paludosus, local ; A. chalco- 

 notus, rare; Ilybius ater, Rhantus noiatus and Dgtiscus punctulatus, all scarce; 

 Acilius sulcatus and A.fasciatus, De Gr. {canaliculatus, Nic), local ; Oyrinus nata- 

 tor, very common, and G. bicolor, scarce. 



Last week I took for the first time Blethisa muUipunctata on the shore of 

 Lowry's Lough, in company with Felophila borealis. I only succeeded in getting 

 four specimens, but hope later on to procure more. Of Dyschirius thoracicus I took 

 one specimen in some wet meadows near the town. Though I searched the same 

 locality several times, I could not procure another. 



To these I may add Platyderus rujieollis, Atnara ovata, A. tibialis, and Calathvs 

 micropterus, all of which I took at Portballintrae, Co. Antrim. — W. F. Johnson, 

 Winder Terrace, Armagh : May llth, 1887. 



S c u i c lu. 



British Ptealides, including the Pterophohid^ : by John Henby 

 Leech, B.A., F.L.S., F.Z.S. 8vo, 121 pp., with 18 coloured plates. London : 

 K. H. Porter. 188G. 



This work has been compiled with a good intention. The author finds that 

 " the Pyralidee and their allies have been somewhat neglected in this country ; " he 

 therefore proposes to remedy this, but has overlooked the paramount necessity on 

 his own part for an intimate knowledge of his subject. 



Under the designation " Pyralides " he includes the genera which form the 

 family DeJioides of Latreille and other authors, and also Avenfia, which by some is 

 considered to form a distinct family. The nomenclature followed is that of 

 Staudinger and Wocke's Catalogue, but the arrangement of the species appears to be 

 original. No characters of groups or genera are given, and, as a rule, no descriptions 

 of species. The text consists mainly of localities taken from local lists without 

 alphabetical or geographical arrangement, and of quotations from this and other 

 magazines, and from Dr. Hofmann's " Kleinschmetterlingsraupen " (most of which 

 are duly acknowledged). As a rule these quotations refer to the habits or descriptions 

 of larvfe, and Pastor Musselil's extraordinary account of the habits of the larva of 

 Calamotropha paludella is copied as if an original observation. The account itself 

 seems so improbable that it would be very interesting to know whether our author 

 has really verified it. He has made the acquaintance of some of our rarest species 

 on the shores of the Mediterranean, in the Canaries and elsewhere, and liis observa- 

 tions upon them are of interest, but the work is greatly marred by indiscriminate 

 quotation. Thus, although Mr. Hellins succeeded in rearing a specimen of Hypenodes 

 costcBstrigalis on Thymus serpyllum, it is obvious from the habits of the species that 

 this cannot be its usual food-plant, and when the same observer reared Stenia 

 punctalis on Lotus, plantain, &c., it should be borne in mind that the dead leaves 

 ■were preferred by the larvae, as are those of hornbeam by the larvae of Agrotera 

 nemoralis. Moreover, the quoted statements that Crambtts alpinellus is found in fir 

 woods, that Mimceseoptilus bipuiictidacfyhcs feeds on Oalium mollugo and 3i. ptero- 

 dactylus (fuscusj on Convolvulus, and that Homceosoma nimbella occurs among Aster 

 and thistles, do not refer to these species as known in this country. The statement 



B 



