﻿86 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



Mellinia (Xanthia) ocellaris. — I was much interested both in 

 Mr. Jones's and Mr. Worsley- Wood's notes on this species {antea, 

 pp. 43 and 63). Mr. Jones's capture was undoubtedly a very good 

 one, but certainly far from a record. A friend and myself on 

 September 13th, 1911, captured thirty-eight specimens in one of the 

 Thames Valley localities, and might have taken several more had we 

 wished to do so. Mr. Worsley- Wood asks if M. gilvago has at any 

 time in any shape been found associated with poplar. Many years 

 ago I took here a specimen of M. ocellaris at sugar. In April, 1908, 

 I was struck with the large number of catkins lying on the ground 

 beneath a row of black poplars, which line the drive to my house. 

 My thoughts reverted to the M. ocellaris previously taken, and I 

 swept up about a peck of catkins, which I placed, just as they were, 

 in a box. Night after night I inspected the box in the hopes of 

 seeing a larva crawling about, but fruitlessly. After a month of this, 

 the catkins being in a mouldy and semi-rotten condition, I turned 

 them out to throw them away, when, catching sight of a larva at the 

 bottom, I had a good search, and found nine in all. Of course I was 

 sure they were M. ocellaris, and I took the greatest care of them, 

 feeding them on poplar leaves (hitherto they had fed solely on the 

 dead and mouldy catkins), and pupating them successfully. In 

 September following I bred from these five M. gilvago and two 

 ill. cerago, but, needless to say, no M. ocellaris ! — Percy C. Reid ; 

 Peering Bury, Kelvedon, March 7th. 



The Lyman Collection of Lepidoptera. — We understand that 

 the collection of Lepidoptera formed by the late Major Henry 

 Herbert Lyman, of Montreal, stated to be one of the finest in Canada, 

 has been bequeathed, together with his library, to the MacGill 

 University. An ample endowment fund has also been provided to 

 defray expenses of upkeep, &c. The collection will be accessible to 

 all students of entomology. 



It may be remembered that Major Lyman lost his life in the 

 awful disaster that befel the Canadian Pacific steamship ' Empress 

 of Ireland ' in the St. Lawrence river on May 29th, 1914, 



British Siphonaptera. — In the ' Entomologists' Monthly 

 Magazine ' for March last (vol. li. [3rd series, vol. i.] , pp. 49-112), 

 an article is published on the fleas known to occur in the British 

 Islands. It is entitled " A Synopsis of the British Siphonaptera," 

 and is by the well-known authority on this group of insects, the 

 Hon. N. Charles Rothschild. Altogether some forty-five species, 

 in sixteen genera, are dealt with. These are classified under two 

 Suborders — Integricipita and Fracticipita. In the former there are 

 two Families and four Subfamilies, and in the latter three Families. 



Ninety-six drawings of structural details, by Dr. Jordan, are 

 admirably reproduced on the eight plates issued with the Synopsis. 



A Few Notes on Lepidoptera, chiefly Butterflies, during 

 1914. — The spring, hereabouts, was characterized by some very warm 

 weather at the end of April : another quite summer-like spell, about 



