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Provincial Museum Rerorv. M 17 


ENTOMOLOGY. 
By Ic. HW. Brackwore, F.E.S. 
Collecting during the past season has not been at all good, although, taken on the whole, 
it has been somewhat better than the three preceding years. 
We had an exceedingly wet winter, which continued, with the exception of a few short dry 
spells, until late in the spring. Reports from various parts of the Province all speak of poor 
collecting weather. However, a number of rare and uncommon species were obtained by 
various collectors, which will be noted under their respective localities. 
Early in the year Mr. Theodere Bryant, of Ladysmith, offered to donate to the Provincial 
Museum a large number of his duplicate Lepidoptera. Arrangements were made whereby the 
writer was enabled to visit Mr. Bryant in the latter part of May and thereby enabled to select 
the most desirable of the material offered. In addition, Mr. Bryant kindly loaned the writer 
his entire collection of Microlepidoptera to work over during the winter months. We are 
especially glad to have the use of this collection, as it contains most of the identical specimens 
recorded from Wellington in the 1906 Check-list of British Columbia Lepidoptera; as was 
mentioned in last year’s Museum report, page 23, the large majority of species listed in this 
group were either from Mr. Cockle, of Kaslo (168), or Mr. Bryant, of Wellington (94). I hope 
to start work on this collection early in the New Year, as the greater number are simply pinned 
and need relaxing and mounting. Many of the species are erroneously named and many need 
verification. 
Mr. A. W. Hanham, of Duncan, B.C., has also generously placed at my disposal a large 
number of unidentified specimens in this group. 
The European satin-moth (Stilpnotis salicis Linn.) has spread rather rapidly and has been 
reported from several localities other than New Westminster, where it was first noticed. It 
was found in Vancouver occupying an area several blocks square. Mr. L. E. Marmont, of 
Maillardville, reported a heavy infestation in his district, and it has also been found at 
Cowichan Bay, on Vancouver Island. I have recently identified specimens of this species for 
Mr. J. F. Clarke, who took them at Bellingham, Wash. It is to be regretted that it is spreading 
so rapidly, as it is likely to become a serious pest to our native poplars. 
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BririsH Co_tumpra INSEcrs NEW TO SCIENCE. 
eo ee SC err 
Owing to the strike in the printing trade in Eastern Canada early in the spring a number 
of entomological magazines were held up, with the result that even now many of them are from 
two to three months behind in their issues. Consequently, we can only list those species the 
descriptions of which have appeared up to the time of writing this article (December 31st). 
Any species that may be described in the belated issues will be included in next year’s 
Proyincial Museum Report. Up to date there have been forty-five insects from British Columbia 
described as new to science during the present year. ‘They include eight species of Lepidoptera, 
one species of Hymenoptera (parasitic), thirty-two species of Diptera, and four species of 
- Hemiptera. 
LEPIDOPTERA. 
ae. a 
Of the eight species of Lepidoptera, one belongs to the Lycaenidie, one to the Noctuids, one 
to the Lymantriid, four to the Pyralids, and one to the Pterophoridw. They are as follows :— 
Lycaenidae (Vhecline). 
Strymon melinus race atrofasciata McDunnough. Described in the Can. Ent., Vol. 53, page 
47, Feb., 1921, from specimens taken at Wellington, B.C. (Taylor) ; Duncan, B.C. (Livingstone) ; 
Royal Oak, B.C. (Treherne); and Victoria, B.C. (Cameron). The above race differs from 
typical melinus in its deep steely-grey ground colour and the heavy black spotting on the under- 
side. The lack of orange margin to spots alluded to in the description is not a constant character, 
as out of a long series in my own collection there are several which have the orange margins 
strongly pronounced. Dr. MeDunnough was of the opinion that this race was confined to 
Vancouver Island, but I have specimens from many points on the Mainland which are typical 
of this new race, and it can safely be assumed that atrofasciata occurs throughout the whole of 
Southern British Columbia. It is double-brooded, occurring in May and again in July. 
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