1892. J 135 



I have little doubt but that it must be referred to P. dresdensis, although it does not 

 entirely agree with my single specimen of that species, which was taken by the late 

 Archdeacon Hey at Askham Bog, near York ; there is however, a very slight differ- 

 ence between them, which may partially be accounted for by the setting — W. W. F.] 



Mi/rmica ruginodis making war on its own species. — Rambling near the border 

 of Dartmoor, a few miles from Plymouth, on the 10th instant, I caught sight of 

 Myrmioa ruginodis carrying something that I could not at first well define ; standing 

 quietly a few moments I saw many others loaded in the same manner. I captured 

 one, and, to my surprise, I found it was another of the same species it was carrying. 

 I have no doubt a raid had been made on a smaller colony, and the victorious party 

 were conveying them off to strengthen their home. The prisoner was grasped by 

 the throat, the abdomen turned over on the top of the head of the carrier. I have 

 several times seen Formica rufa at the same business ; this is the first time I have 

 witnessed it with ruginodis. — Gr. C. Bignell, Stonehouse : April Idfh, 1892. 



Early Hymenoptera and Hemiptera. — After a long and dreary winter, which 

 seemed as though it would never come to an end, we have spring burst upon us in all 

 its glory. A fortnight ago the snow was not only lying on the ground but was falling 

 heavily, and everything looked dismal in the extreme. To-day the hedges are 

 green, except along the road sides, where they are white with dust, the fruit trees 

 are in blossom, and the sunshine brilliant. The fine weather commenced here with 

 the present month, and has continued so uninterruptedly to the present date. The 

 heat at times has been greatly above the average, and has brought out both animal 

 and vegetable life very rapidly. On the 8th instant I walked to the Old Camp in 

 Westridge Wood, and on the earthworks I found Osmia hicolor already making its 

 nest, and also the rarer Osmia pilicornis occupied in the same way ; the former 

 insect was abundant, but many were small, not more than half the average size ; the 

 males, as usual, were much scarcer than the females, and they fly very close to the 

 ground. Small Halicti were seen every now and then. Anthophora acervorum 

 excessively abundant, quite a pest, and tlie following Bomhi I noted down : muscorum, 

 hortorum (1), suhterraneus, pratorum, sylvarum (several, very early for this bee), 

 lapidarius, and both forms of terrestris. On the 9th I added P. quadricolor to this 

 list. The males of the common early Andrenidce were flying along the hedges, and 

 Melecta punctata over the newly dug ground in the gardens. I also captured spe- 

 cimens of the following Hemiptera : Corimelcena scarabeoides, Calyptonotus pint, 

 Trapezonotus agrestis, and Drymus brunneus.—Y. R. Perkins, Wotton-under-Edge : 

 April nth, 1892. 



Ilylemyia nigrescens, End., destructive to Carnations and Picotees. — Late last 

 year a firm of London nurserymen brought under my notice young plants of Carna- 

 tions and Picotees which were being damaged or destroyed by grubs of a Dipteron 

 evidently belonging to the Anthomyiidce. They lived beneath the rosette of leaves 

 forming the crown of the plant, and also bored into the stem below the crown, in 

 some instances causing the crown to drop off. It was impossible to determine the 

 species without seeing the perfect insect. At the Meeting of the Scientific Com- 

 mittee of the Eoyal Horticultural Society on Tuesday last, another firm of nursery- 



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