144 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



excellent, especially where it deals with the larva and pupa. No 

 mention, however, appears to have been made, in dealing with 

 the imago, of the peculiar, usually dark, club-shaped scales which lie 

 on the under side of the second plumule of the hind wings, mostly 

 near the base ; this feature is observable on the under side of the hind 

 wing of the Agdistides as well as in the Alucitides. 



When the accounts of each separate species come to be considered, 

 it must be said that the minute details which are here found recorded 

 show the patient and persistent worl^ which has been so successfully 

 carried out by the author and his collaborators. Firstly we have 

 references to the works of authors who have previously written on the 

 species, then the original description of the imago, which is followed 

 by a description of the species in all its stages, its life-history, times of 

 appearance, and the localities where it occurs. The larval and pupal 

 descriptions are not confined to the colours and markings, as so many, 

 practically useless, descriptions are, but are carried out in such 

 a manner as to ensure all outward structural peculiarities being 

 noted, the form and position of the tubercles, their setae, the presence 

 or absence of secondary hairs, and other details. Thus the descrip- 

 tion of the larva of Stenoptilia pterodactyla extends to six pages, whilst 

 the habits of the larva occupy two additional pages. Everyone knows 

 this common species, but how few know where and how the young 

 larva hybernates. A perusal of the account of the imago of Adkinia 

 bipunctidactyJa will serve to show how completely all the observations 

 of previous authors have been digested and tested. In reading the 

 descriptions of the ova, however, we frequently find no mention made 

 of the micropyle ; this is, of course, a highly essential structure, and 

 its appearance might well be noted. 



Perhaps one of the most startling discoveries concerning the 

 Alucitids was that made in 1904 of the food-plant of Buckleria 

 pallidum. The detailed account of this species is exceedingly inte- 

 resting reading. We have yet, however, to learn whether the larva 

 gains any extra protection by feeding on Drosera — whether, for instance, 

 parasitic insects attacking the larva may sometimes be foiled in their 

 attempts by the glandular hairs of the plant. 



This volume contains, besides the natural history of the Alucitids, 

 very interesting chapters on the hybridization and mongrelization in 

 Lepidoptera. 



Mr. Tutt's volumes are now so well known and appreciated by all 

 entomologists that it appears quite unnecessary to call attention to 

 their intrinsic value, but the amount of original research contained in 

 the volume under notice certainly equals that of any of the previous 

 volumes. We have here such a truly excellent account of the Alucitids 

 as a whole, and of the score of species now dealt with, that this volume 

 must long remain the standard work on the subject, and must ever be 

 digested by any author essaying in the future to write a history of the 

 Plumes. 



A. S. 



Erratum. — Page 103, line 11, for "Italy" read " July." 



