990 I'Rnf'KEDIXGS OF THE THIRD EXTOMOLIxaCAT, :>[EETIXG 



would be found to contain numerous beautifully preserved fossil insects 

 in due course. It lias occurred to me that possibly some of the remark 

 ably well-preserved fossil insects that have been described as fi-om 

 supposed fresh- water deposits may have been really entrapped in " mud- 

 volcanoes " of this sort. Besides insects, this mud contains leaves, 

 seeds, and twigs blown onto it by the wind and also snail-shells. 



76.— THE DESIRABILITY AND PRACTICABILITY OF THE 

 PREPARATION ANT) PUBLICATION OF A GENERAL CATA- 

 LOGUE OF ALL DESCRIBED INDIAN INSECTS. 



Bij T. Bainbrigge Fletcher, R.N., F.L.S., F.E.S., F.Z.S., Imperial 

 Entomologist . 

 The desirability of the preparation and issue of a complete catalogue 

 of Indian insects is self-evident and requires little argument. Every 

 serious worker on Indian insects, with whatever group he is occupied, 

 continually finds the need for some index to the pubhshed literature, 

 which is so scattered that it is extremely difficult for any one worker 

 to be sure that he has seen everything or nearly everything that has 

 been published even on a small group. Even a worker on such a popular 

 group as the butterflies has no accessible guide to the published litera- 

 ture on this comparatively small group. " Lepidoptera Indica " is 

 out of reach of the ordinary worker on account of its price and both 

 de Niceville's and Bingham's books are unfinished and incomplete even 

 as regards the published portion, for there is a considerable amount 

 of literature which is not quoted either by de Niceville or Bingham or 

 has been published since the issue of these two books : and Evan's 

 list (B. J. XXI 55.3-584, 969-1008) is httle more than a list of names 

 and localities, without references. Even in cases where monographs 

 on particular groups have been issued, such as the " Fauna of British 

 India '" series, these books are cpiickly rendered very incomplete, as 

 the mere fact of their issue often stirs up interest in the groups treated 

 of, so that more attention is paid to these groups, the result being that 

 a mass of Supplementary published information is soon accumulated. 

 Anvone who attempts to compare the " Fauna " vohmies on moths 

 with the issued volumes of the " Catalogue of Lepidoptera Phalanse " 

 will begin to realize how quickly these " Fauna " volumes have become 

 out of date owing to the vast accessions to knowledge since their publi- 

 cation. And, if this is so in grouj^s on which " Fauna " volumes have 

 been issued, it may be imagined what is the case in other groups. The 

 student, for example, of groups such as the Isoptera, the Odonata, or 

 the Microlepidoptera, finds no guide to the published information on. 



