188 THE entomologist's record. 



of their distinctness, our conclusion being based on the specimens captured 

 in various localities between (and including) Austro-Hiingary and Spain. 

 In some districts both occur, rarely in the same place, in most districts 

 they are very separate in their habitats. A most interesting papei' on 

 the subject by Mr. C. Oberthiir has just appeared in the Bull, dc la 

 Soc. Kntoni. ile France, 1908, pp. 151 -3. One rarely finds any difficulty 

 about the species when one really knows both, the difficulty generally 

 occurs in attempting to find S. heruuone among large -S'. alcyone, or 

 ■vice versa, where only one species occurs. Among the finest specimens 

 of S. /lermione are those from Fontainebleau Forest, a locality which 

 Mr. Oberthiir strangely omits. On the other hand, whilst he gives 

 Aix-les-Bains as a locality for S. alci/one only, yet about four miles 

 distant, near Gresy-sur-Aix, we have met with nothing but S. hermione, 

 and our experience at Digne, in early August, 1907, was that among 

 the swarms of freshly-emerged lovely large S. Jiermiime on the trees 

 near the Baths, there was no trace of 8. alci/oiw, whilst on the rocks 

 in the little glen not more than a quarter of a mile away, only 

 .S. alcyone, worn to shreds, put in an appearance on the same days. 

 At Clelles, St. Michel de Maurienne, Bourg St. Maurice, and many 

 other places not mentioned by Mr. Oberthiir, only S. alcyone is found, 

 whilst we have a much longer list than he where <S. hermione alone 

 occurs. We have never yet seen a Swiss S. hermione, certainly one 

 expects that it does not occur in the Ehone Valley in Switzerland, 

 although the lovely specimens of S. alcyone from the Mt. Saleve and 

 the lower parts of the Valais might tempt the uninitiated into believ- 

 ing the larger species really occurred there. At any rate, European 

 butterfly-hunters should read Mr. Oberthiir's note on these insects. 



It marks quite a new era in our knowledge of the genitalia of 

 lepidoptera that the $ structures should afford quite as good differ- 

 ential characters as the ancillary appendages of the S s, and that, by 

 means of the use of wood-naptha, it is possible to examine the genitalia 

 in sitii, and thus avoid mutilating the specimens. 



The Thirty -Jirat Annual Report and Froceedinys of the Lancashire 

 and Cheshire Entomological Society presents two features of more than 

 usual interest (1) The address of Dr. Bailey, dealing with " The Cole- 

 optera of the Isle of Man," and (2) Mr. W. E. Sharp's Catalogue of 

 the " Coleoptera of the Counties of Lancashire and Cheshire." Cole- 

 opterists would be well-advised to obtain this Report from Mr. H. K. 

 Sweeting, 2, Halkyn Avenue, Sefton Park, Liverpool, and bind them 

 together as " The Coleoptera of Lancashire, Cheshire, and the Isle of 

 Man " for future reference. Otherwise, such papers are apt to be 

 forgotten or overlooked. 



The Froceedinys of the South London h/ntomoloyical and Natural 

 History Society, 1907-8, is, as usual, full of very interesting material, 

 quite excellently indexed. The special papers are "An introduction to 

 the early Literature of Entomology," by H. J. Turner, F.E.S. ; 

 " Rhopalocera in the Taunus Hills," by A. Sich, F.E.S. ; " Notes on 

 Forthesia chrysorrhoea,'' by R. Adkin, F.E.S. ; " Some notes on Fieris 

 napi," by Hugh Main, B.Sc, F.E.S.; "Further notes on Tortrix 

 pronubana," by R. Adkin, F.E.S. ; whilst the Annual address by the 

 same gentleman is exceptionally interestmg, being, in large measure, 

 a historical account of the evolution of the Society. No one is better 

 fitted to write this than Mr. Adkin, to whom the Society owes more than 



