NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 119 



PiEDiscA oppressana, Tr. (Pcetilochroma oppressana, Wilk. ; 

 Staint. Enarmonia oppressana, Mey.). — Common in June and 

 July on trunks of aspen at Mill Hill, but not observed elsewhere. 



P^disca corticana, Hiibn. (Poncilochroma corticana, Wilk. ; 

 Staint. Enarmonia corticana, Mey.). — Very common and exceed- 

 ingly variable. At North wood the specimens exhibit a greater 

 colour variation than in any other place in the area here referred to. 



(To be continued.) 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



TjEniocampa stabilis in Winter. — As bearing on the question of 

 the autumnal emergence of the genus Tceniocampa, to which attention 

 has been called {ante, p. 97), I may mention that I took a single male 

 specimen of T. stabilis on an oak-trunk near here on Dec. 13th, 1893. 

 The weather was very mild. I took Cerastis vaccinii the same evening. 

 Cheimatobia brumata was abundant. As illustrating the mildness of the 

 season, I may mention that I gathered two heads of Narcissi in bloom 

 out of doors on the same day. — F. J. Briggs ; Fursdon, Crown Hill 

 R.S.O., S. Devon. 



Diptera in Nottinghamshire. — Mr. Percy H. Grimshaw has pub- 

 lished in 'The Naturalist' (pp. 89-103, March and April, 1898) a 

 preliminary list of Diptera occurring in Nottinghamshire. Over 240 

 species are enumerated, and of these by far the larger proportion are 

 from one locality alone — South Leverton. 



Variation in Calymnia trapezina in Bussia. — Several forms are 

 noted as occurring during July, 1897, near Moscow. The specimens 

 were captured upon sponges soaked in beer and sugar. Besides the 

 type, unicolorous light yellow forms were met with which were without 

 the usual black specks. Most were reddish or grey, with the light or 

 darker central fascia common to the species. One variety, however, is 

 exceptionally noticeable in its departure from the type. The ground 

 colour is muddy grey, closely dusted with black, so much so that the 

 stigmata cannot be made out, while the fascia exists as a broad black 

 band ; the hind wings are clear blackish grey, with light yellow 

 fringes. Other examples closely approach G. affinis in ground colour 

 and markings. It would appear that G. trapezina is not generally con- 

 sidered to be a very variable species in Eastern Europe. — A. Linde, in 

 • Societas Entomologica,' xii. 130. — W. M. 



A Mexican Wax- Scale in England. — Dr. K. Jordan has just sent 

 me specimens of a Ceroplastes, found at Tring on an orchid, Chysis 

 aurea, Lindl., which had just been imported from Mexico. It proves to 

 be Ceroplastes cistudiformis, Towns. MS., Ckll. (Zoe, 1893, p. 104), 

 which was described as a subspecies of G. psidii, but is now regarded 

 as a distinct species. Dr. Jordan's find is especially interesting, because 

 this scale was hitherto known only from the original specimens collected 

 by Dr. A. Duges at Guanajuato, Mexico, and had never been found on 

 orchids. The genus Chysis is native in Mexico, but the particular 



