RECENT LITERATURE. 49 



of Amphidasys betularia var. doubledayaria from Keswick, and he had 

 taken another example near Penrith. This form appears to be rare in 

 Cumberland, as very few specimens had come under the notice of the 

 lepidopterists of the Society. In its typical form the species was 

 familiar. The Secretary (Mr. Day) exhibited the following Coleoptera, 

 all from the Cumberland coast : — Bembidiumsaxatile, taken by ' ' swilling " 

 on the banks of a stream ; B. aneum, on mud-banks ; B. pallidipenne, 

 under seaweed, &c. ; Homalium rugulipenne, under shore refuse ; Agabus 

 femoralis, from ponds ; Anomala frischii and Cleonus sulcirostris, both 

 taken among sandhills. — G. B. Boutledge. 



Entomological Club. — Since the last report (Entom. xxxi. 76), 

 meetings of this Club were held as follows : — June 21st, 1898, at the 

 residence of Mr. Samuel Stevens, Loanda, Beulah Hill, Upper Nor- 

 wood. July 15th, at the ' Hand and Spear' Hotel, Weybridge ; Mr. 

 G. T. Porritt in the chair. Oct. 19th, at Stanhope, The Crescent, 

 Croydon, the residence of Mr. T. W. Hall. Dec. 2nd, at the residence 

 of Mr. B. Adkin, Wellfield, 4, Lingard's Boad, Lewisham. Jan. 17th, 

 1899, at the Holborn Bestaurant; Mr. G. H. Verrall in the chair. — 

 B. South, Hon. Sec. 



BECENT LITEBATUBE. 



Contributions toward a Monograph of the Lepidopterous Family Noctuida 

 of Boreal North America. A Revision of the Species of Acronycta 

 (Ochsenheimer), and of certain allied Genera. By John B. Smith, 

 Sc.D., and Harrison G. Dyar, Ph.D. 8vo, pp. 1-194, plates 

 i-xxii. Washington, 1898 (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. vol. xxi.). 



In this important paper will be found full descriptions of the North 

 American species of Acronycta and allied genera, together with par- 

 ticulars of their earlier stages so far as they are known, and remarks 

 on distribution, and other matters connected with the subject. There 

 are also analytical keys to groups, genera, and species, to larv£e of the 

 Acronycta, and a synopsis of groups. 



Prof. Smith gives an account of the genus Acronycta and its allies, 

 and Dr. Dyar furnishes one on the early stages of Acronyctids. Pre- 

 ceding the consideration of the species of each group in detail, there 

 are some remarks on the special characters, resemblances, or affinities 

 of the units of the group. 



The revised classification of the species is based on a study of 

 larval characters, as well as of imaginal structure, and it has been 

 found that this arrangement agrees in the main with that proposed 

 by Dr. Chapman, who founded his classification largely on pupal 

 structure. A. ligustri, however, which is the type of Chapman's third 

 section (Bisulcia), is rejected as not belonging to the Acronyctids. 



The species referred to Acronycta, Ochs., are divided into seven 

 groups, and the British species, with the exception of ligustri and 

 megacephala, fall into three of these as follows : — 



ENTOM. FEB. 1899. F 



