146 THE entomologist's RECORD. 



20th, but there were snow-stonus all day. On the 29th, the day I 

 succeeded, I had to ride my bicycle through about half a mile of water, 

 as the roads were flooded ; I took five ? s, but only saw one S' > and 

 that in fine condition. — W. E, Butler, F.E.8., Hayling House, 

 Oxford Road, Reading. Ma;/ Brd, 1908. 



Larv^ of Odontopera bidentata damaging foliage at South 

 Shields. — In early September, in this district, the ivy is badly eaten 

 by a large Geometrid larva ; it disfigures badly the plants in the 

 Marine Parks, and appears also to attack Enonipims japoniciis and Ilex 

 sheplienU. The damage was first noticed in 1904, and has been ob- 

 served every year since. Some larvfe collected last September pupated 

 in due course, and have produced, during the past month, typically 

 coloured specimens of Odontopera {(jronodontis) bidentata (April 10th 

 to May 18th). As an insecticide, I find that "paraffin emulsion" 

 is of very little use, possibly " Paris Green " or " London purple " 

 would be more effective. — William Bennett, Marine Parks, South 

 Shields, ^lay Wth, 1908. 



(grURRENT NOTES. 



Mr. Edwards {Ent. Mo. Maij., notes Dri/ops (Paniiin) hiridiis, Er., 

 as common locally in Norfolk — Horning, etc. ; Dr. Joy, that Notio- 

 philns pusilliis, Wat. (bii/eiiihnts, Thoms.), and A^ hi/pocrita, Spaeth, are 

 mixed up in British collections with N. aqaaticus, L., and N. palufitris, 

 Duf t ; whilst Mr. Newbery adds Micvambe rillosa, Heer (pilosnla, Er.), 

 on the strength of one specimen, beaten off hawthorn-fiowers in June, 

 1895, at Chingford, Essex, to the British fauna. 



The British lepidopterist is progressing. It is now twenty yea)'s 

 ago since we separated Hijdroecia nictitans, L., H. lucens, Frr., and 

 H. paludis, Tutt, and described the variation of the different forms 

 {Brit. Noct. and their Varietiea, i., pp. 58-65). Occasionally there has 

 been a half-hearted recognition of the fact by some lepidopterist Avho 

 has been puzzled by H. paludis when he has really discovered it among 

 his captures. Now we find that the Rev. C. R. N. Burrows has 

 exhibited the ancillary appendages of these species at a recent meeting 

 of the City of London Entomological Society, and finds them abso- 

 lutely distinct. Following this, the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomo- 

 logical Society devoted the greater part of its meeting, held on April 

 13th, to an exhibition of these three species, at which a discussion was 

 opened by Mr. F. N. Pierce, who showed preparations of the genitalia 

 under the microscope (as well as those of a possible fourth species, 

 first indicated by Mr. Burrows), and demonstrated that the an- 

 cillary appendages are markedly different, and fully support the 

 view that we have really four species in this little group, three of 

 which, at least, were correctly dift'erentiated twenty years ago. For the 

 fourth species the name crinanensitt has been suggested, the examples 

 having been taken by Messrs. Bacot and Simes on the banks of the 

 Crinan Canal. 



Mr. RoUason adds another to the " lifehistories " (!) of Cyclopides 

 palaemon, which he publishes as being more detailed than those of 

 Hellins, Buckler, and Frohawk. Mr. Frohawk complains of this 

 {Ent., p. 154) and states that his was the first complete life-history of 

 H. palaemon and " remains so," adding that Mr. Rollason's descrip- 



