NOTES, CAPTURES, KTC. 71 



nineteen T. miniosa and twelve T. piniperda. On the 5th 

 of July I took from a spider's-web a fine female Lithosia 

 quadra; it was then alive. So far as I am aware this is the 

 first Irish record of these three species. — W. Talbot; 

 Ashford, Co. Wicklow. 



The British Hkmiptera-Homoptera. — I must quarrel 

 with my friend Douglas's expression, " deterrent remarks," 

 as applied to what I said in ray observations upon the 

 Homoptera in the little list which I gave of Irish insects in 

 the January number of the 'Entomologist.' I intended to be 

 anything but "deterrent," and hoped, on the contrary, by 

 what I said to incite a large number of collectors to work at 

 this most interesting, but neglected, group, by showing that 

 in it there is a much more extensive field open to new 

 discoveries than in any other. Assuming that there are one 

 hundred workers at Coleopiera I doubt whether there would 

 be twenty who attack the Hemiptera and Jive who touch the 

 Homoptera, exquisitely beautiful and interesting as they are. 

 The field of discovery must, therefore, be very great, and a 

 large number of indigenous species must be yet unknown ; 

 and indeed every year many new ones are added, far niore 

 than in other groups. I did not mean to say that either 

 catalogues or descriptions of Homoptera are wanting, as far 

 as we can go; but 1 do think that in the present state of our 

 knowledge any catalogue of a year ago must be even now 

 unsatisfactory, and that its authoritative publication would 

 be premature. It is certainly true that first catalogues can 

 never stand, and soon become obsolete after the additional 

 investigation which they excite, vide the changes introduced 

 by Messrs. Crotch and Sharp upon Mr. Waterhouse's 

 Catalogue of Coleoptera, which was a grand work of its 

 kind, and a splendid pioneer ; vide also the original 

 Catalogues of Hemiptera of Messrs. Scott and Douglas, 

 as revised by Mr. E. Saunders, and indeed themselves. 

 As to descriptions of the Homoptera those of the species 

 known up to the period alluded to may certainly be worked 

 out from the various numbers of the Ent. Mo. Mag., Entomo- 

 logical Society's Transactions, and from the publications of 

 the Ray Society, emanating chiefly from Messrs. Douglas and 

 Scott, and partly from Mr. Marshall; but to these three have 

 been continual additions; and I do not think that we 

 homopterists shall be satisfied until we get them all put 

 together in a new Douglas and Scott volume, which 1 hope 

 will by-and-bye appear under the auspices of the Ray 



