264 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



spots are also seen near the shoulders and below the base ; mider side 

 black, similarly clothed with yellowish scales ; all the femora armed 

 with a short tooth, the anterior cues very obsoletely so. 



Hah. — Bahia. 



The specimen contained in my collection was named as above 

 by the late Lefevre, but has not been described to my knowledge. 



NOTES AND OBSEEVATIONS. 



Lepidoptera Phal^n/K of the Whole World. — The Trustees of 

 the British Museum have sanctioned the publication of a series of 

 volumes on the Moths of the world, and the commencement of this 

 important work will be undertaken by Sir George Hampson. It will 

 comprise synopses and descriptions of the families, genera, and species 

 of Moths, and include every described species about which exact infor- 

 mation is obtainable. The type of each genus will be indicated, and 

 fall details regarding the geographical distribution of the species will 

 be given. There are to be figures in the text illustrative of each genus 

 and prominent section thereof, and the structural characters upon 

 which the genus is founded will be shown. The general arrangement 

 of the work will be based on the lines of classification recently brought 

 most prominently before us by Mr. E. Meyrick in his 'British Lepi- 

 doptera.' There is probably no question about the system upon which 

 Meyrick's classification is founded being valid, and taken as a whole 

 his arrangement of groups and families appears to be a natural one. 

 As regards the composition and sequence of genera, however, it would 

 seem that both are open to judicious revision. It is further proposed 

 to issue, in parts, an atlas of coloured plates giving half figures of as 

 many as possible of the species which have not previously been satis- 

 factorily figured, especially of "types" in the British Museum. We 

 are very pleased to learn that the Museum authorities have determined 

 on this step, as a work of such a comprehensive character produced 

 under their auspices must do much towards establishing something 

 definite in the way of classifying the old-style Lepidoptera-Heterocera, 

 and at the same time bring entomologists into line on the question of 

 nomenclature. 



Bpjtish Mymarid^. — In the September number of 'Knowledge' 

 there is a highly interesting article by Mr. Fred Enock on "Fairy 

 Flies " (Mymaridfe). These hymenopterous atoms have not received 

 very much attention from entomologists ; but, as Mr. Enock suggests, 

 " One reason for this want of attention is, no doubt, because of the 

 extreme smallness of the members of this family, the largest being not 

 more than one-twentieth of an inch long, whereas the smallest is less 

 than one-eighty-fifth of an inch from head to tail." Dr. Sharp 

 (' Insects,' pt. i. p. 538) says : " Probably Mymarides may all prove to 

 be dwellers in eggs of other insects " ; and as regards the British 

 species, it would appear that Mr. Enock believes this to be the case, 

 as he states : " All the species are egg parasites, and each species has 



