NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 279 



Coenonympha pampJnlus. — Very common. One or two fine 

 ab. h/llus, and several with eye-spots reduced to points. 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



Change of Genus-Name. — I propose the name Charixena in 

 place of Philpottia, Meyrick, applied to a genus of Glyphipterygidce 

 in 1916 (' Trans. N. Zeal. Inst.,' vol. xlviii, p. 416), findino- that the 

 latter name had been used by Capt. Brown for a genus of Coleoptera 

 in the preceding year. — E. Meyrick ; Thornhanger, Marlborough. 



Xylina lambda in Cambridgeshire. — I had the good fortune to 

 secure a fine male specimen of this rare insect on October 7th last. 

 I did not identify it until to-day when I took it off the setting-board. 

 As I have only recently taken up collecting again after an interval of 

 over thirty years, I distrusted my luck until I had my identification 

 confirmed by two more experienced collectors, Mr. W. Farren and 

 the Rev. C. E. Raven, Dean of Emmanuel College. The insect was 

 beaten out of ivy in the neighbourhood of Cambridge about 11 p.m. 

 on October 7th, and was in such perfect condition that it was 

 probably very recently emerged. The wing expanse is 36-6 mm. 

 (1^ in.) and the marking agrees closely with the description in 

 Barrett (vol. vi, pp. 34-36), but the beautiful dark lambda mark on 

 the fore wings is much clearer than in the figures given by South 

 and Barrett. — Sidney E. Campbell; The Bursary, Christ's College, 

 Cambridge. 



Scarcity of Lyc^na arion, etc., in Cornwall. — iVfter an 

 absence of nine years I again visited the Cornish locality for Lyccena 

 arion for a few weeks' stay in June and July last. I was immediately 

 struck by the changed appearance of the ground. When I first 

 visited the district twenty years ago one could get about any of the 

 hills in fair comfort, but now most of the ground is so overgrown 

 with dense masses of gorse, bracken, bramble and heather that it is 

 impossible and too painful a proceeding to wade through in many 

 places. Nor is this to the advantage of arion, as with this larger 

 growth the ground plants, thyme, etc., have been choked out to 

 a great extent. Consequently I was not surprised to find the 

 species in greatly diminished numbers — certainly not more than 

 20 per cent, of what it was even ten years ago. It has almost 

 gone from the large coombe which used to be its headquarters, 

 but here the trouble is due to fire and cultivation, the hill slope 

 having been accidentally burnt out a few years ago, and the top of 

 the hill — the old breeding-ground — being now under the plough. I 

 tried this coombe on several occasions and from it secured only 

 five good specimens altogether. Another steep bank (inland) where 

 several specimens used to be taken was a complete failure, not one 

 putting in an appearance. I experienced several days during mv 

 stay when not even a single arion was to be seen, although the whole 

 of the regular haunts were looked over, and this notwithstanding 

 the fact that I had the ground to myself for the greater part of the 

 time. I do not put the scarcity down to over-collecting altogether, 



