1S!I5.1 283 



it in the locality in which wo took it in 8 imo numbers three years a^o, but it was 

 very scarce, owing apparently to the drought, in fact, there was very little else to be 

 found of any worth, as far as beetles were concerned ; a single Miarus graminix, a 

 small ScopfBtis, and several Telephorus fuscieornis, with two or three Harpalus 

 sahulicoJa, being the only things worth mentioning. Dr. Sharp has taken H. ohscurus 

 on flowers at Wicken Fen, and one or two other localities near Cambridge, as well 

 as on the Devil's Dyke ; the only Harpalus I have ever found in such a situation is 

 H. puncticollis. — W. W. Fowlek, Lincoln : October I4th, 1895. 



Harpalus rujicornis injurious to strawberries — Miss Ormerod kindly sent me in 

 July specimens of this beetle, and a note to the effect that they had been found 

 doing considerable damage to ripe strawberries. I do not know whether this has 

 been observed before in the case of this or any other of the CarabidcB. — Id. 



Alphitophagus quadripustufatus, Steph. — The name quadripustuJatus, Steph., 

 cannot be retained for this cosmopolitan insect, it having been described under the 

 name hifanciatux by Say in 1823, this name antedating that of Stephens by nine 

 years. Say doubtfully referred the species to the genus Diaperis. In the last 

 e:lition (1^91) of v. Heyden, Reitter, and Weise's European Catalogue, Stephens's 

 name is correctly sunk as a synonym of bifasciatus, Say, bat in Sharp and Fowler's 

 British Catalogue (1893) the change is not made. This insect is, no doubt, of 

 American origin, like Gnathocerus, Echocerus, and Sitophagus, all of which have 

 been imported into Europe. Lafheticus, Tribolium, Tenebrio, Alphitobius, and 

 Pa/orus are almost certainly of eastern origin. — G. C. CuAMPlON, Horsell, Woking : 

 October 28lh, 1895. 



A Handbook of BRixisn Lepidoptera : by Edward Metrick, B.A., 

 F.Z.S., F.E.S. 1895. London and New York : Macmillan & Co. 8vo, pp. i— vi, 

 and 1—843, figs. 



Mr. Edward Meyrick's long promised Handbook of British Lepidoptera has 

 now been published, the actual date being October 23rd, 1895.. It has not disap- 

 pointed those who expected it to contain important amendments to the accepted 

 system of classification, neither does it in any way fall short of our anticipations in 

 changing the nomenclature so long in use among students and collectors. 



That changes were necessary in both cases no one could rightly deny, nor can 

 much fault be found with the author in regard to the extent to which he has carried 

 them. This work marks a very notable advance in the study of the Lepidoptera, 

 and the not unsatisfactory circumstance that in the main his conclusions are in 

 sympathy with those of recent authors who have approached the subject of classi- 

 fication from different points of view, such as Corastock, Chapman, Dyar, Kellogg, 

 and Hampson, must not be taken to impair its originality, nor to detract from the 

 credit it deserves. The differences that are observable are more in the extent 

 and sequence of the groups of families than in the order in which certain of 

 those have been placed in the general series ; the natural alliances are for the most 



