PREFACE. 



■TX7HEN the author of the following work 

 ^ first turned his attention to the English 

 ^pes, he had no expectation of meeting with half 

 the number of species that he has now described ; 

 nor had he any other view, than to draw up a short 

 paper to he read at the Linnean Society, and in- ^ 



serted, if deemed sufficiently interesting, in the 

 Transactions of that learned body : but as he pro- 

 ceeded in his undertaking, so much was to be said, 

 it seemed necessary to introduce so many altera- 

 tions, and such a number of species unexpectedly 

 flowed in upon him from a variety of sources ; that, 

 instead of a short paper, he found he had collected 

 materials sufficient for more than a volume : upon 

 this he changed his original intention, and deter- 

 mined to submit his performance himself, not 

 without considerable apprehensions he confesses, 

 to the eye of the public. 



Having said this, it may not be improper to give 

 the entomological reader a short sketch of what the 

 author has attempted in this publication. In the 



a first ' 



