NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



39 



der Geselligkeit im Thierreiche." C E. 6 Congr. Internat. 

 Zool. 674-89 (1905). [Hymenoptera] . 

 89. Petersen, W.: '* Uber die Bedeutimg der Generationsorgane 

 fur die Entstehung der Arten." Op. cit., 213-24 (1905). 



[Lepidoptera] . ^^o be continued.) 



NOTES AND OBSEEVATIONS. 



The Mazarine Blue (Nomiades semiargus) in Wales. — I write 

 the " Mazarine Blue " advisedly, because the English names are the 

 only abiding feature in the nomenclature of our British butterflies. 

 In South's ' Butterflies of the British Isles ' it is stated, page 178, that 

 " probably the latest captures in Britain were the specimens taken in 

 Glamorganshire in the years 1874-77." It may be of interest to 

 record that in the latter year I received from a correspondent in 

 Cardiff, whose name I have completely forgotten, a male specimen of 

 this rare insect, in exchange for some duplicates in my possession. 

 What those duplicates were I have no distinct recollection, but nothing 

 in comparison with the specimen I received. My correspondent 

 informed me that it and a few others had been taken by himself in 

 the hill country close to Cardiff in that year or just previously. It was 

 a male, in bad condition so far as the setting was concerned, and was 

 without an abdomen. Alas ! it has long since disappeared from my 

 collection ; but I well remember that the wings were of rather a bright 

 blue with no purplish or violaceous tinge. I do not know whether the 

 insect figured by Mr. South was an English specimen, but I think the 

 purple tinge is rather too pronounced. It would, I feel sure, be of con- 

 siderable interest if further notes regarding the last captures of this 

 insect were put on record, and where the insects may be seen. It seems 

 to me somewhat strange that such a widely distributed and common 

 butterfly on the Continent should become extinct in the British Isles 

 for no apparent cause. — (Lt.-Col.) N. Manders ; R.A.M.C, Mauritius. 



[The figures referred to are reproductions of coloured drawings, by 

 Mr. Horace Knight, from old British specimens. In printing, the red 

 stone is slightly over much in evidence. — Ed.] 



Insect Fauna of Devonshire. — The Section Insecta, pp. 163-244, 

 in 'A History of Devonshire,' a recent volume of "The Victoria 

 History of the Counties of England " series, is a valuable addition to 

 our knowledge of the distribution of insects in England. The lists, 

 chiefly annotated, of the various Orders have been carefully prepared 

 by well-known specialists, and are as follows : — Orthoptera, by George 

 C. Bignell, F.E.S. ; Neuroptera, by Charles A. Briggs, F.E.S. ; 

 Hymenoptera, by G. C. Bignell, F.E.S. ; Coleoptera, by the Kev. 

 Canon Fowler, M.A., D.Sc, F.L S., &c. ; Lepidoptera, by the late 

 Charles G. Barrett, F.E.S.: Diptera, by Ernest E. Austen; Hemi- 

 ptera, by G. C. Bignell, F.E.S. Mr. Bignell's articles on Gall Makers, 

 and on Parasitic Hymenoptera are interesting and instructive. We 

 must again express regret that the faunistic sections of these county 

 histories are not published separately, at a popular price, so that they 

 might become more readily accessible to the entomological public. 



