MICRO -LEPIDOPTEKA TAKEN AT BLOXWORTH, DORSET. 103 



from the Latin masculine word "gerres" (a small kind of pickled 

 fish of inferior quality). Fabricius, the author of the genus, 

 employed it as a masculine word ; but, without exception (I 

 think), modern writers have treated it as feminine. These 

 remarks apply also to its hybrid derivation Platygerris, F. B. 

 White, with its single species P. depressus. 



3. Mpophilus bonnairei, Sign. 



In his charming ' Natural History of Aquatic Insects,' Prof. 

 Miall writes (p. 380) that the adult Mpophilus is " found only in 

 the month of October." Assured that this was a mistake, I wrote 

 to Mr. Keys, who replied: " I have taken the mature Mpophilus 

 in February, March, April, May, June, July, and August. I 

 dare say it occurs therefore all the year round ... I have taken 

 the greatest number at a time in May." Has anyone taken 

 macropterous examples ? 



4. I have made an unfortunate mistake with regard to Say's 

 New Harmony paper, stating that no copy apparently existed 

 (ante, p. 2). My friend Prof. Uhler writes me that two copies 

 of this exceedingly scarce paper exist : one (that from which Dr. 

 Fitch reprinted in 1858) is now in the Library of the Boston 

 Society of Natural History; the other is in Prof. Uhler's 

 Library. The exact title of this thirty-nine-page pamphlet is 

 ' Descriptions of New Species of Heteropterous Hemiptera of 

 North America. By Thomas Say. New Harmony, Indiana. 

 December, 1831.' It would be interesting to know if any copies 

 exist in Europe now. 



MICRO-LEPIDOPTERA TAKEN AT BLOXWORTH, DORSET. 

 By Rev. 0. Pickakd- Cambridge, M.A., F.R.S. 



This list was drawn up at the end of the season of 1896, put 

 aside, overlooked, and then, in spite of every effort to find it, 

 quite lost sight of until a few days since. If, however, it is 

 thought worth inserting in the ' Entomologist ' thus late in the 

 day, it will show that the season of 1896 was not so barren a one 

 here as I believe it proved, chiefly owing to drought, in many 

 other localities. 



As regards the sequence of species in the list, I may observe 

 that no systematic arrangement is intended. 



Sophronia parenthesella. — Fairly frequent at the middle of July on 

 one spot on the heath. 



Aciptilia pallidum. — In its old locality very abundant on two even- 

 ings (Aug. 4th and 5th), on which I caught forty-seven specimens, but 

 scarcely to be found afterwards ; all were in the finest condition. 



l2 



