238 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



the formation of collections of insects and of a library of entomological 

 books and photographs ; to hold meetings on the first and third 

 Tuesdays of each month ; to hold, in addition, rambles in order to 

 thoroughly investigate the insect fauna of the district. As regards 

 the collections, the Lepidoptera will be in the charge of Mr. W. 

 Fassridge, M.A., Mr. E. Hayward will supervise the collection of 

 Coleoptera, and Mr. F. J. Killington will take charge of the Odonata, 

 etc. As the Society grows it is hoped that others will come forward 

 to assist. Until such time as the membership is greater it was 

 decided to do without the usual officers, with the exception of a 

 secretary and treasurer, and Mr. F. J. Killington, of 68, Archer's 

 Eoad, Eastleigh, was elected to fill the dual office. The modest sum 

 of 5s. was fixed as the present annual sul)scription. It is hoped that 

 all keen entomologists in the district will seek membership. 



Sphecolmya inanis. Flu. — With reference to Mr. Morley's note 

 on this Anthomyid fly, antea, p. 213, may I draw attention to my 

 record (' Ent. Mo. Mag.,' 1905, p. 1()3) of two males taken July 2nd 

 and 6th, 1903, at Aberfoyle, Perthshire ? The species is also 

 recorded by Mr. Charbonnier from two localities in Somerset (' Proc. 

 Som. Arch, and N. H. Soc.,' vol. Ixiv [1918]), and is included by 

 Haliday in bis list of Holywood Diptera. As regards its association 

 with wasps. Prof. Newstead ('Ent. Mo. Mag.,' 1891, p. 41) found 

 the larva in swarms in a nest of V. gcnnanica on October 1st, 1889, 

 at Ince, Cheshire, from which imagines hatched in the following 

 July. Probably females occurred amongst these, but our other 

 records (where the sex is noted) refer to males only. — A. E. J. 

 Carter ; Monifietb, Forfarshire. 



tEschna mixta, Latr., at Brighton. — I had the good fortune to 

 capture, in an extremely easy manner, a fine male specimen of this 

 uncommon dragonfly at Brighton. I was walking through the 

 Steine Gardens on the afternoon of August 27th and espied it resting 

 in the sunlight on the leaf of a shrub ; it allowed me quietly to 

 approach and take it in my fingers. I do not know who was the 

 more surprised, myself or the dragonfly, for this particular insect has 

 earned a name for great wariness. — F. J. Killington ; 68, Archer's 

 Eoad, Eastleigh. 



Note on Eristalis tenax. — At the beginning of this month I 

 was exploring the almost dark ulterior of one of the disused stone 

 quarries at Dancing Ledge, on the rocky coast of South Dorset, when 

 I was surprised to hear a loud buzz of insects — a noise like that heard 

 when standing near a bee-covered clump of lavender or Michaelmas 

 daisies, and intensified by the stone walls, roof and tioor. On my 

 eyes becoming more accustomed to the dim light I was able to 

 discern the cause of the noise — a number of common drone-flies, as 

 far as I could see all Eristalis tenax, flying about a few inches from 

 the ceiling, now and then hovering beneatli a particular spot, settling, 

 and then moving off to a fresh one. The roof was some 12 ft. from 

 the floor, and there was no means of examining the movements of 

 the flies more closely, but they appeared to be sucking up something 

 from the stone. The quarries, used for obtaining Purbeck stone, are 

 cut into the side of the sea chfl', and ai'e nearly always damp inside. 



