LGO [December, 



at Hastings a good many specimens of a Dicyphus off Epilobium, which seemed 

 strange to me ; these I sent to Dr. Reuter, and he returned their names as _D. 

 starhydit, Reut., a species I believe undescribed at present but already recorded 

 from Scotland by Mr. Gr. Norman. In the developed form it resembles pallidus, 

 but may be known at once by its short thick antennae. — Edward Saunders, 

 Holmcsdale, Upper Tooting : November 18th, 1880. 



The pursuit of Entomology under difficulties in Belgium. — The Belgian Ento- 

 mological Society has recently organized frequent excursions. One of these tooki 

 place on the 11th July, to Calmpthout, north of Antwerp, a very favourable and* 

 productive locality, unenclosed and primitive in its nature, and part of the State 

 domains. The result was that the party encountered a keeper ("garde champetre")' 

 and two policemen ("gendarmes"), and that several Members of the Society were* 

 summoned to appear before the tribunal at Antwerp on a charge of trespassing. It 

 so happened that the father of one of the parties is a magistrate and a distinguished 

 legal official, and he procured the acquittal of his son and colleagues, by discovering 

 that the law applying to trespassers left discretionary power with the judge in 

 connection with the objects of the accused ; in effect, the words are "pourront etre 

 condamnes," and not " devront etre condamnes," as the keeper and policemen 

 preferred to read them. It was advised that the Members of the Society should in 

 future provide themselves with official cards of permission, so as to avoid being again 

 exposed to misinterpretation of the law on the part of ignorant subordinate officers. 



|Utimu, 



Monographie der Deutsche]* Psociden, mit besonderer Berucksichtigung 

 der Fauna Westfalens, von H. Kolbe (Auszug aus dem Jahresbericht der zoolo- 

 gischen Section fur Westfalen und Lippe, 1879 — 80, pp. 73 — 142, pi. i — iv). 



European Psocidce are now receiving much attention. Very recently two im- 

 portant faunistic memoirs on the Family appeared, viz., those by Spangberg and 

 Rostock on the Scandinavian and Saxon species respectively. And now Herr Xolbe 

 shows that he has for some time been assiduously devoting his attention to it: the 

 result is the production of one of the most important Monographs that has yet 

 been published. The introductory portion is full in details. The author's 

 generic arrangement and his ideas of the system of neuration, were fore* 

 shadowed in the Stettiner ent. Zeitung for this year, pp. 179 — 186. We are inclined 

 to believe this neural system will not bear the test of analysis with regard to the 

 homologies of neuration in other groups of so-called Reuroptera, but in a notice 

 such as this, it is impossible to enter into details. We think, also, that too manji 

 genera have been founded ; they may be tolerably natural so far as they go, but tht 

 necessity for elevating some of the groups to the rank of genera is much open tel 

 doubt, at any rate until a comprehensive study of the Family as a whole has beer 

 made. It is to be regretted that the author has applied names, as varieties, to 

 certain slight vagaries of neuration not infrequent in these insects. Moreover, w< 

 cannot agree with the author in his great change of specific nomenclature in somt 

 cases. Psocus longicomis becomes Ps. saltatrix, although the author admits it it 

 only " hochst wahrscheinlich " that Linne had this insect before him when he describee 

 his "Phryganea saltatrix :" another extraordinary innovation is made in the case 0; 



