126 THE KNTOMOLOGIST. 



Hymenoptera-Aculeata, dealing in a full and complete manner with 

 all that is at present known of the life-history of these most useful 

 hexapods. After describing the characteristic features of the order as 

 a whole, he exhaustively reviewed the various families constituting 

 ■ the section Aculeata, the females of which are armed with a retractile 

 sting. Dealing first with the Heterogyna, or social ants, he gave 

 many facts of interest connected with the instinct and economy of 

 these remarkable insects, and mentioned that most of our indigenous 

 species belonged to the family Formicidse, or mining ants. He also 

 described the methods pursued by the Fossores in the capture and 

 preservation of their prey. Of the Diploptera, or true wasps, two 

 families are native to Britain ; their value on account of their whole- 

 sale destruction of lepidopterous and other injurious larvfe being fully 

 discussed. After enumerating the coleopterous and other inmates of 

 the nests of Vespa vnlf/dris and V. (/ermanica, the lecturer passed to a 

 consideration of the Anthophila, or bees, alluding to the great part 

 played in nature by these pollen -loving insects in the fertilization of 

 clover and other plants. Having referred to Gulletcs cimicularia, our 

 " Wallasey bee," and Ccelioxys mundibularis, a recent local addition to 

 the British list, the concluding portion of the address was devoted to 

 the life-history of Apis mellifica, the common honey bee, in which 

 many interesting, historical, economic, and other matters were ably 

 dealt with. At the close of his paper Mr. Gardner presented his 

 recent monograph on the Hymenoptera-Aculeata of Lancashire and 

 Cheshire to the library of the Society. A hearty vote of thanks was 

 tendered Mr. Gardner for his interesting paper, and also for his 

 welcome gift, after which the following exhibits were made : — Bem- 

 bidiiini saxatile, from Garston, by Mr. F. Birch ; B. stomoides, from the 

 River Hodder, by Mr. C. E. Stott ; Tropiphorns tomentosus (Heswall), 

 Berosus affinis (Moreton), Reptanlacus viUosiis and Mgialia ru.fa (Wal- 

 lasey), Carcinops l-istriata, &c., by Mr. R. Wilding ; and a pair of the 

 earwig Pi/rar/ra braziliemix, from Espirito Santo, by Mr. E. J. B. Sopp. 

 Mr. G. 0. Day also exhibited some rare Dutch books by Sepp, the 

 life-like coloured figures in which were greatly admired ; and Mr. Oultou 

 Harrison showed some excellent life-size photos of lepidopterous larv® 

 taken direct from nature. — E. J. Burgess Sopp, Hon. Sec. 



RECENT LITERATURE. 



Handbook of the Natural Histori/ of Glasgoiv and the West of Scotland. 

 (Pp. i-x ; 1-567. Glasgow. 1901. 

 A series of handbooks have been prepared by the Local Committee 

 in connection with the Meeting of the British Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, held last year in Glasgow ; the volume under 

 notice being one of these. It is edited by G. F. Scott-Elliot, Malcolm 

 Laurie, and J. Barclay Malcolm, and deals with the Fauna, Flora, 

 and Geology of the Clyde area. The several lists seem to have been 

 prepared with care, those treating of the Insecta extending to 103 

 pages. The number of species enumerated in each of the Orders, 

 with which we are specially concerned, together with the names of the 



