200 [ Febru& -^ v 



DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF DOLERUS FROM SCOTLAND. 



BY P. CAMERON. 

 DoLERUS SCOTICUS, ft. Sp. 



Black ; the four anterior knees and apex of tibiae reddish, the red on the middle 

 legs being more obscure than on the front pair. Head, thorax, and apex of abdomen 

 covered with a long white pubescence. Head, pleurae, and mesonotum distinctly 

 punctured all over. Antennae nearly as long as the abdomen, scarcely attenuated at 

 the apex. Wings hyaline, costa and stigma black, the latter pale on the under-side. 

 Tegulae red. ? . Length, scarcely 4 lines. 



Agrees with D. puncticollis, Thorns., in the punctured mesonotum, 

 but the puncturation is much more distinct, the body is shorter, the 

 antennae longer, the abdomen more inflated, the marginal nervure is 

 received further from the 2nd submarginal, the hind legs are entirely- 

 black, and the tegulae red. 



Taken at Braemar by Dr. Sharp in June. 



Glasgow : 10th January, 1881. 



Dimorphism of female Blepharocerida. — Since the publication of my article on 

 this subject (p. 130 of this vol.), I received from Dr. F. Muller a very pleasant 

 letter in reply. He says that there can be no doubt about the sex of those females, 

 because they show distinct receptacula semi nis and eggs ; he adds that his paper, 

 containing a detailed description of his observations, will be soon forthcoming. 

 Dr. Miiller's discovery thus involves three facts, new to the student of Blepharocerida : 

 1, that male and female do not always have the head and the front of the same 

 structure ; 2, that some species may have two forms of females ; 3, that one of these 

 forms has the organs of the mouth built upon a plan different from the type hitherto 

 described as peculiar to the female. It remains now to be seen, whether some of 

 the European species will not give occasion for similar observations ? Dr. Muller 

 adds to his letter a photographic copy of the beautifully-executed plate which will 

 be added to his paper. — C. R. Osten-Sacken, Heidelberg : January, 1881. 



Habits of Bombylius (See ante, p. 161). — The December number of the 



"American Entomologist" gives further details about the preying of the larva of 



Bombylius on locust-eggs. The species of the fly was ascertained by breeding, nearly 



at the same time, by Mr. Lemmon in California, and by the able Editor of the Am. 



Ent., Mr. C. V. Riley. Two genera were obtained by Mr. Riley : Systcechus, a 



genus also represented in Europe, and occurring principally in dry plains ; and 



Triodites (O. S., Western Dipt.), belonging to the group Lomatina. It must be 



borne in mind, however, that the larvae of Bombylius (in the narrower sense) live in 



the cells of different bees (Andrena, Colletes, Halictus), as has been ascertained v 



-~ oy 

 the direct observations of MacLeay (Ann. N. H, 1838), Morelet (Bull **- ^ 



1845, p. xxiv), Schmidt Groebel (Stett. Ent. Z., 1876, p. 392^ , "*' 



' * » v ,, and T. A. Chapman 



(Ent. Mo. Mag., vol. xiv, 1878, p. 196). What re- ' . , 



.. . . A . . ... _„. '_ ..nains to be ascertained now, are 



the earlv stages of those larvae, which, as w - — ,. 



,j.r. Rilev very acutelv remarks (I. c, p. 



