276 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



of a bee from ihe Cape of Good Hope which ruight be only 

 A. Ijigustica, but was considerably larger. Mr. Smith also 

 exliibited pieces of the comb of various species ; the worker 

 cells of the above-mentioned bee from the Cape were one- 

 tenth smaller than those of A. mellifica, ten of the former 

 being equal to nine of the latter ; the cells of A. Indica were 

 still smaller than those from the Cape ; the combs of A. 

 floralis, like those of A. dorsata, were attached to branches 

 of trees ; lastly, there were some cells of A. dorsata, made of 

 the same material as the rest, but an inch and a half in 

 depth, which Mr. Smith supposed to be honey-cells. 



By an unanimous vote the Secretary was requested to 

 express to the Rev. T. A. Marshall, on behalf of the Mem- 

 bers of the Society, their sympathy and condolence with him 

 on the recent loss, through the foundering of a ship between 

 Milford Haven and Barnstaple, of the whole of his library 

 and manuscripts and collection of insects. The destruction 

 of his minute British Hymenoptera belonging to groups but 

 little studied, and of the types of species characterized by 

 Mr. Marshall, was more than a private misfortune, and was 

 an irreparable loss to Science. 



Entomological Notes, Captures, %c. 



Why certain kinds of Insects are in some years so much 

 more plentiful than in others. — One of the subjects adverted 

 to by Mr. Greene, in last month's ' Entomologist, — the cause 

 of the extreme variableness in the comparative abundance of 

 the same species of insect in different years, — has always 

 appeared to me to deserve some inquiry. I do not think the 

 circumstance that the pupae of many species can lie over for 

 several years is by any means a principal cause of this 

 variation in abundance ; because, in the first place, the 

 occurrence is a comparatively exceptional one ; and, in the 

 second place, pupae that remain a long time in that stage are 

 attacked by so many enemies that iew are likely to survive. 

 As Mr. Greene, in his excellent ' Insect Hunter's Companion,' 

 points out, pupa-hunters should search early, for if they wait 

 even a month or two, they often find that mice, earwigs, &c., 

 have been beforehand with them. My own impression is 



