264 t October. 



on April 22nd, and a second afc Teniet el Had on May 1st. Both ex- 

 amples came from galleries eight or ten inches below the surface of 

 the ground, made by an ant, which Dr. Emery informs me is AphcBno- 

 gaster striola, Rog., var. mauritanica, Em. 



Wimbledon : August I6th, 1892. 



Nest of Osmia (?) in a rain-gauge. — I had an experience in Dublin on Saturday 

 of which I want an explanation. I found inside the funnel of a copper rain-gauge 

 at the "Botanic Gardens a lump of clay attached to the side of the gauge. I thought 

 it had been put there by some one, but on putting my knife to it to scrape it out, I 

 found it harder than hard mortar. I then attacked the bottom which I found 

 much softer, and to my surprise, dug out some six yellow maggots, very nearly ready 

 to emerge, and of the shape of wasps, or more like drone bees, i. e., they were much 

 broader than wasps, but of the same length as large wasps. What were they ? 

 I think I have heard of some species of wasps that make clay nests. There were 

 certainly not more than six in the lump of mud, which was about three inches 

 round and half an inch in thickness. — Egbert H. Scott, Meteorological OfBce, 

 Victoria Street, S.W. : September I'^th, 1892. 



[The above was probably the work of an Osmia, but it is impossible to say of 

 what species. — E. S.] 



Hercyna phrygialis, Hh., probably a British insect. — Wliile on a visit last 

 autumn to the Rev. A. Matthews, of G-umley, I saw in his collection a moth of 

 which he related this history. Many years ago, as Turner was returning from one 

 of his collecting tours in Scotland, and called at Q-umley with his captures on his 

 way up to London, Mr. Matthews picked this specimen out as a Pyralid new to him. 

 On taking the specimen to the Natural History Museum, Mr. Warren at once pro- 

 nounced it to be a common Alpine species — Hercyna phrygialis, Hb. 



I may add that, at the first glance, it bears a superficial resemblance to Psodos 

 coracina, and it might possibly be passed over as that species. As to its origin, 

 while there is nothing unlikely in the capture of this species among the Scotch 

 Mountains, Turner was always considered trustworthy in his statements as to 

 habitat, and apparently he neither knew or put any particular value on this specimen, 

 so that I consider the probabilities to be in favour of the supposition that it was 

 taken in Scotland. — Philip B. Mason, Burton-on-Trent : September 12th, 1892. 



[We commend the above to the notice of Scotch Lepidopterists. We think no 

 one ever doubted the honesty of Turner ; the possible chance of error is that he 

 may have received the insect from an intermediate source. Although abundant in 

 the Alps, it occurs also on the mountains of Scandinavia. We need only cite 

 Zygcena exulans to prove how intensely local are some Scotch insects. Mr. Mason 

 wrote " HerynaP This is an error in Staudinger's Catalogue, corrected at p. 424. — 

 Eds.]. 



