28 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



near the little lakes of Rotterdam. M. P. Snellen found near 

 those waters a very interesting male specimen with female 

 coloration on the upper side. * * * As to the empty 

 body of the female Atropos, it is a fact discovered by Ver- 

 louu ten years ago, and published by him, but in Dutch. 

 He observed that the abdomen was only empty in those spe- 

 cimens which came forth in the autumn, but that those which 

 came out in the spring had swollen ovaries. — J. O. West- 

 wood's translation of a letter from M. Snellen von Vollen- 

 hoven, in ' Garclener''s Chronicle.' 



Wasps plentiful near London. — So many correspondents 

 have recorded the scarcity of wasps this season in different 

 parts of the country, that it may be interesting to know that 

 great numbers have been observed at Brixton and Strealham. 

 I have chiefly noticed them late in the year, on ivy-blossom. 

 The last week in October, when beating ivy-blossoms, I could 

 hardly distinguish any other insects, from the great number 

 of wasps that I had knocked into my umbrella. From Rou- 

 pell Park to Brixton Church there is a great quantity of ivy, 

 and on my way to the railway station early every morning I 

 might have taken numbers off the walls, beneath the ivy, up 

 to the middle of November. — H. W. Neate ; 7, Park Ter- 

 race^ Cornwall Road, Brixton Rise, December 12, 1865. 



Scarcity of Wasps. — Early in the spring I was much sur- 

 prised by the number of female wasps that were flying about. 

 On a south wall, among some trained pear, nectarine and 

 apricot trees, I saw as many as seven at one time. From the 

 number of females seen we naturally supposed that the num- 

 ber of wasps in 1865 would be as great as in 1864, when they 

 swarmed ; but, contrary to expectation, I have never seen 

 them so scarce in this neighbourhood. Last year, in our 

 village alone, they destroyed and rendered marketless bushels 

 of plums and apples. — John Ranson : York. 



Curious instance of Parasitism. — I have noticed some- 

 thing I thought might be interesting to you, as I have read 

 something similar to it in the ' Entomologist.' I observed 

 two parasitical larvae make their exit through a small hole in 

 the wing-case of two pupse of Acherontia Atropos, and so 

 thought the pupse were killed, but on looking again about 

 four hours after I found two perfect male moths out. In the 

 edge of the superior wing on each side were two small holes. 



