CURRENT NOTES. 161 



yet fully out, though the first was seen on the 20th, and one Xninlades 

 uuiano/is was taken on the 29th. .V. ci/llarKs has not yet been seen. 

 (iintfptrri/.r cleojiatra, i'icris ilajdi'lice and AuthocJuiris bcUa have been 

 seen all the time in an abundance, fairly corresponding with the pro- 

 pitiousness of the weather. An Kriocvauia, probably siibpio-piirdla, 

 was taken freely round a woolly-leaved oak on the 28th, and 

 a fine OjihiKsa liinaris on the 29th, when also a dark (for 

 Riviera) I'ltnvitnatobia fidiijinom was taken. Kunmexm antiopa, 

 F.iKionia poh/c/doros, Vanema iu, etc., frequently appear, and males 

 of Satiirnia pavonia [carpini) are plentiful on the wing, but only 

 one captured. Paran/t' egeria is rather over, and P. meiicwra just 

 fully out. Several ('yaniru art/ioliis in fine condition have been 

 seen, and Fapilio macluum and P. poilaliriiis are quite fresh. Notes on 

 collecting at Hyeres without any reference to Mr. Powell and his work 

 amongst butterfly larvae would be verj' defective. I had the pleasure 

 of taking a stroll with him with lanterns tind seeing larvte of Mfkoiarijia 

 si/lluis, Kpiiu'phele pa^iipliat', Sati/riis /iryiiiiinif, and others an natnrel. 

 We were especially lucky in finding three larvfe of J/, si/lliiif: of the 

 green form, which is so rare that, though Mr Powell had heard of it, 

 he had never seen it before ; larv« of Aretia piidica and of various 

 Noctuids were also frequent. A search by day for larvte of MeUtaea 

 ilciimc was unfortunately not successful, but those of M. aiirinia var. 

 prorincialls, and of M. rin.ria were seen in some numbers. Perhaps the 

 most satisfactory discovery here is that of Lozopera deaurana. Four 

 specimens have already emerged, so that there can be no doubt about 

 the species. This is very pleasing, since there seemed considerable 

 danger that it would shortly be exterminated, not by entomologists 

 but, by hoiasewives in search of fuel in its hitherto only known locality 

 (see Knt. Mo. Mckj.). I am much interested in the Tortricid 

 in the asphodel here, which {Tortrix Injerana) with its foodplant, is 

 so close to, and yet so different from, the Tortrix mucohirana in the 

 asphodel in the Esterel. Another old Cannes friend, Hi/potia corticalis, 

 seems to be very common here, its foodplant being much more 

 abundant than at Cannes, and much more freely inhabited. Xola 

 rhlaiiiydulalis, Tortrix pronubana, various Geometrids, larva- and 

 imagines of Spilotlu/rKs cdthaeae, etc., make up abundant material of 

 interest, notwithstanding the ungenial conditions of the weather. — 

 T. A. Chapman, M.D., Hyeres. March dOth, 1904. 



mii RRENT NOTES. 



At the meeting of the Entomological Society of London, held on 

 March 16th, 1904, Mr. J. E. Collin exhibited (1) P/iora forrnirarKni 

 Verr., which is parasitic on the ant Lafiiiis ni;/er, obtained by sweeping 

 the herbage in a paddock at Newmarket. In his book. Ants, Bees, and 

 Wasps, Lord Avebury said of this species, "If the nest of the brown 

 ants be disturbed at any time during the summer, some small flies 

 may probably be seen hovering over the nest, and every now and then 

 making a dash at some particular ant. These flies belong to the genus 

 Phora, and to a species hitherto unnamed, which Mr. Verrall has been 

 good enough to describe for me (see Appendix). They lay their eggs 

 on the ants, inside which the larvje lives. Other species of the genus 

 are in the same way parasitic on bees." Prof. Westwood, as long ago. 



