126 ' THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Hyponomeuta irrorellus, Hiib., in Lancashire : a Correction. 

 — Eeferring to the record of this insect at Silverdale, in the report of 

 the November meeting of the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomo- 

 logical Society, my attention having been directed to the fact that the 

 species was only taken in a very restricted area in Surrey, and has 

 not been known to occur for many years, I took an opportunity of 

 comparing the specimens with Mr. Capper's collection, and found 

 them to be only the common H. evonymeUa, Sc. [cognatella], Hiib. — 

 Wm. Mansbridge, Hon. Recording Sec. 



EECENT LITERATURE. 



A Monographic Revision of the Twisted Winged Insects, comprising the 

 Order Strepsiptera, Kirby. By W. Dwight Pierce. Bulletin 

 66, Smithsonian Institution. Washington, 1909. 

 In this we have a most important monograph of 232 pages, illus- 

 trated by fifteen plates, a map, and text-figures, treating in a most 

 thorough manner with an obscure group of insects. The author tells 

 us that, " after being tossed about from one point to another amongst 

 the insect orders, it seems to be pretty generally acknowledged that 

 they [the Strepsiptera] must be accorded ordinate rank." He con- 

 cludes therefore that the Strepsiptera form " a separate order, on a 

 distinct line of descent from that of the Coleoptera, and nearer the 

 Hymenoptera and Diptera, and as highly specialised as the highest 

 insects in any of the orders." They are of economic interest as 

 being parasites on Orthoptera (Blattodea andGryllodea), Homoptera, 

 Heteroptera, and Hymenoptera. The young at first look like the 

 primitive insect Cavipodea, " being very lively little hexapods, with 

 two bristles at the caudal end, and with padded clawless feet." 

 When settled on a host they lose legs and eyes and become entirely 

 grub-like. The monograph treats fully of the life-cycle, structure 

 and anatomy, experiments and observations in connection with the 

 insects, and inter-relation of host and parasite. There is a descrip- 

 tion of all the species, with many tables, list of hosts, glossary, and 

 full bibliography. The author finds that there are one fossil and 

 one hundred and eight recent species, four of them being queried. 

 The European species are twenty-four. 



W. J. L. 



Catalog us Hemipterorum {Heteropterorum), auctore G. W. Kirkaldy : 

 volumen i. CimicidaB : Berolini, sumptibus Felicis L. Dames : 

 mdcccix. pp. xl. et 392. 

 Always original and sometimes apparently bizarre in his nomen- 

 clatorial notions, Mr. Kirkaldy has left us the first stone — a monolith 

 of no mean proportions — of his proposed general Catalogue of the 

 world's Heteroptera. It is in reality much more than a list of names, 

 their synonyms, and references, for it embraces both distribution and 

 the (we believe) unique feature of references to the entire biology. 

 In the preface an early opportunity is taken of discussing types, geno- 

 types, and classification ; tables of superfamilies (to which the curious 



