184 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



nocturnal Diptera, of whatever genus or species, is always 

 irritating, often painful, producing unsightly swellings, and 

 occasionally sore places. Englishmen call these musquito- 

 bites. Almost all European nations have their own vernacular 

 name for them. — Edward Newman. 



South American Wasp. — I send a few Hymenopterous 

 insects, which I got on the banks of the Rio San Pedro, a 

 tributary of the Rio de la Plata, and which I should be glad 

 to have the name of. They had a globular nest, which was 

 covered with blunt tubercles, and was of a bluish gray colour, 

 and of a texture resembling pasteboard. It was fastened on 

 a branch of a tree, the entrance to the nest being under- 

 neath. — John M. Campbell; 6, Carrick Street, Glasgow, 

 July 23, 1872. 



fl am kindly informed by Mr. E. Smith that the little 

 wasps which accompanied this are Polybia scutellaris of 

 White ; also that the species has been described, and a full 

 account of its economy given in the ' Annals and Magazine 

 of Natural History.'] 



Variety of the Larva of Smerinthus Populi. — As the other 

 day I obtained a larva of S. Populi that is not the same in 

 its markings as the common kind, I shall be much obliged if 

 you will kindly give me your opinion in the ' Entomologist.' 

 As far as the shagreen-like skin sprinkled with yellow, the 

 seven oblique yellowish stripes on each side, and the row of 

 red dots at the spiracles, are concerned, your description 

 agrees very well with it ; but it has, in addition, eight rosy 

 spots on the back at each side : they are on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 

 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 11th segments. The horn is also rosy 

 above and below. Is it a variety ? or will it produce a moth 

 of the common kind? Any information you can give me will 

 be very welcome. — George R. Dawson ; Poundsworih, Drif- 

 field, August 13, 1872. 



[I am perfectly familiar with the variety of Smerinthus 

 Populi which Mr. Dawson describes. Occasionally the rosy 

 spots, both in the upper series and those at the spiracles, are 

 very large, and might be called "blotches:" such larvae have 

 a most beautiful and abnormal appearance. I am not aware 

 that the moths produced from them exhibit any departure 

 from the ordinary colouring.] 



Zygcena Meliloti, dc, in the New Forest. — When at 



