282 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



the wing. In the living males the colour of the thorax appeared 

 to us to be, not deep red, as has been stated, but brownish, in 

 decided contrast with the red of the abdomen. Females of this 

 species are seldom met with in Great Britain, and the latest re- 

 corded capture was that made by Mr. B. Harwood at St. Osyth, 

 Essex, on August 21st, 1899. In the wings of our specimen the 

 small saffron patch at the cubital point is connected by a streak 

 of the same colour with the large basal patch. The measure- 

 ments agree with those of the two Continental specimens referred 

 to in Mr. Lucas's ' British Dragonflies,' the length being 33 mm., 

 and the width across the hind wings 56 mm. 



(15) S. vulgatum. — On September 4th we took a Sympetrum 

 which we at once suspected to be S. vulgatum, a dragonfly but 

 thrice recorded, with authority, as a British insect. It was a 

 male, and appeared to be the sole representative of its kind then 

 present, although other Sympetrum dragonflies, including at least 

 one S. sanguineum, were flying in its company. We were led to 

 distinguish it from S. striolatum, with which the rare species is 

 frequently confused, by the uniform brownness of the sides of 

 the thorax, crossed only by black lines, and by the richer colora- 

 tion and more pronounced posterior expansion of the abdomen. 

 Closer inspection showed that the vertical black line upon the 

 frons where it abuts upon the eyes, a character proper to vul- 

 gatum, was present in our specimen, and that the wings were 

 more hyaline than the wings of the common species, which are 

 frequently tinged with brown. The measurements were found 

 to be : length 40 mm., expanse of hind wings 59 mm. The 

 specimen was subsequently submitted, for examination, to Mr. 

 K. J. Morton, of Edinburgh, who determined it to be S. vulga- 

 tum, " beyond all question," and courteously furnished us with 

 material for the comj)arative study of the genitalia, the real test 

 of distinctness, in the two allied species. The previous British 

 records for S. vulgatum, for which we are indebted to Mr. Lucas, 

 relate to single male specimens, all taken south of the Thames, 

 viz., by Mr. C. A. Briggs, Bookham Common (1891) ; Mr. W. J. 

 Lucas, Kichmond Park (September 11th, 1898) ; and Mr. A. H. 

 Hamm, Torquay (August 15th, 1899). 



(16) (S. sanguineum was met with for the first time since 

 1903. It occurred very sparingly, only two males being taken, 

 one on September 4th, and the other on the 8th ; both speci- 

 mens were flying over ponds some miles to the north of our old 

 locality for the species. 



(17) S. scoticum. — On September 8th we detected at a pond 

 near Loughton two or three specimens of this species, not 

 hitherto seen by us in the forest, flying over the horsetails 

 (Equisetum), which partly filled the pond. After much time 

 spent in waiting for an opportunity, a male was at length 

 secured, and we were thus enabled to add the species to our 



