THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 293 



to Vanxliall Bridge : thus London is not quite bereft of but- 

 terflies. — T. P. Lucas. 



Honey Bees. — On Sunday morning last, shortly before 

 ten o'clock, a swarni of bees issued from one of my hives. 

 After remaining in the air for a few minutes, making the 

 usual humming noise, they suddenly returned, clustering 

 round the entrance of the hive for a little time before re- 

 entering. The hive is not more than a third full of comb, and 

 the stock is very small, being a late and weak cast. Can you 

 assign any reason for this strange proceeding on the part of 

 the bees? For some time after their return the noise within 

 showed that they were still in a state of great excitement. I 

 turned up the hive within a few minutes after their re-entrance, 

 but could discover no cause for the unusual commotion. — 

 Joseph S. Baly ; Warwick^ October 13, 1874. 



[Will some apiarian correspondent kindly reply. — Edward 

 Newman.] 



Cynips ligvicola, Ilari. — Six species of Synergus are 

 known to inhabit the galls of this species, namely, — JNIela- 

 nopus, Hayneanus, Pallidipennis, Apicalis, Pallicornis, and 

 Vulgaris: lor a translation of Dr. Mayr's interesting note on 

 its parasitism, see ' Entomologist,' vii. 55. Ceroptres arator 

 has also been bred froui the very small, stunted galls of 

 Cynips lignicola. All the above inquilines i)ass the winter in 

 the gall, emerging in the spring of the following year. — E. A. 

 Filch; Doicne Hall, Rayleigli, Essex. 



[I regret that this and the following note were not in lime 

 for insertion at p. 266. — Edward Newman.] 



Cynips conylomerata. — Synergus melanopus, S. apicalis, 

 S. pallicornis, and Ceroptres arator, are dependent on the 

 galls of Conglomerala. Neither this nor the above species 

 has been recorded as British. — E. A. Fitch. 



An Epizoic Beetle. — Dr. Le Conte describes, in the 

 ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London,' November 

 5lh, 1872, a new family of Coleoptera, under the term 

 Platypsyllidic, founded on Platypsylla Castoris, made known 

 by Ritsema, who discovered it on specimens of the 

 American beaver in the Zoological Gardens of Amsterdam. 

 A little later Prof Westwood described it under the name 

 of Platypsyllus castorinus, a singular coincidence as regards 

 the scientific name. Ritsema regarded it as representing a 



