1896.J 121 



pronounce it to be this species, although immature. Dr. Hagen, in his Synopsis 

 of the British Dragon Flies (Ent. Ann., 1857), gives as the habitat "England, 

 Ireland." I do not think there is any other Irish record for it. — Id. 



Early Perlidce. — To-day, for the first time this seasoTi, I noticed a good many 

 Perlidcs about the banks of the river Clyde. On turning out my killing bottle the 

 contents are found to be as follows : — Capnia nigra,{&maXe ; Tceniopteryx trifasciata, 

 fifteen micropterous males, one female ; T. nebulosa, three micropterous males (a form 

 which is practically unknown elsewhere at present, and which should be looked for), five 

 females ; and Nemoura pracox, two pairs. The most noteworthy point in connection 

 with this gathering is the great numerical disparity in the sexes of T. trifasciata ; 

 the single female was taken in union with a male, and is only the second example of 

 the sex I have seen here. In T. nebulosa the reverse condition obtains, i. e., the 

 female is usually much more numerous than the male ; but the numbers are not 

 quite so much out of proportion. These two micropterous male forms occurring 

 together may be identified at once, without closer examination, by the more slender 

 antennae of T. nebulosa, and its longer legs, which give to the movements of that 

 species a kind of sprawling look compared with those of the comparatively active 

 male T. trifasciata. 



I had been particularly interested in watching for the first appearance of these 

 early insects this spring, with the view of ascertaining the effect, if any, which the 

 recent prolonged icebound condition of the waters might have in the way of retarding 

 their development or reducing their size. My first search after the ice broke up was 

 made on the 2nd inst. I found the banks were thickly strewn all along with great 

 blocks of ice, a foot in thickness and more. There were no Perlidce then, for the 

 thaw had been little pronounced, and intermittent. Frost continued off and on 

 during the next ten days or so, and though much of the ice had gone when I again 

 visited the river on the 9th, it was not till the 14th and 15th that the real change 

 came with heavy rains, followed on the 16th by sunshine and an irruption of Perlidce. 

 The effects of the unusual conditions seemed to be of little importance as regards 

 these insects. All the examples taken are quite up to a full average in size, and on 

 referring to the dates of first appearances last year when the river was not frozen at 

 all, I find March 6th is the earliest. It is dilEcult to imagine that the nymphs were 

 able to continue a life of activity and growth under the ice, and it is more likely 

 that they always attain near full growth before the winter comes on at all. But 

 whether the implied cessation of activity which intervenes approaches the torpor of 

 hibernation in the strict sense, or is something of a less decided character, is one of 

 the many questions which remain to be answered with regard to the subaqueous 

 forms of insect life. — Kenneth J. Mokton, Carluke, N. B. : March IGth, 1895. 



A query as to a peculiarity observable in certain examples of Nothochrysa 

 capitata, F., and N.fulviceps, Steph. — The receipt of a specimen of N. capitata 

 from Mr. J. II. Durrant, taken by him at ilerton, Norfolk (a new locality), on July 

 29th, 1894, induces me to call attention to, and endeavour to clear up, a point in 

 this species that has always been somewhat of a mystery to me. On examining a 

 short scries of dry specimens of this insect it will bo noticed that in certain examples 



