2 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
cluding an aberration, appears to be that the insects belong to a 
form of S. striolatum somewhat resembling S. scoticum (probably 
a local race), or else that both insects are hybrids between the 
two species. Mr. McLachlan, who has examined the insects, 
ae to the latter opinion.” A good figure accompanies this 
record. 
Further, in ‘ Entomologist’ for June, 1912, p. 171, Mr. Lucas 
records a pair of dragonflies captured by Colonel Yerbury at 
Lochinver, Ross-shire (I presume Sutherland is meant), which 
are said to be the very counterparts of the Stornoway specimens. 
He gives to these examples the name of S. nigrescens, and con- 
siders them either a new species or a very distinct race of 
striolatum. In his remarks there seems still to be a tendency to 
associate the insects in some way with S. scoticum, and one is 
tempted to regard his description as a little forced to maintain 
this. Unfortunately Mr. Lucas does not compare his specimens 
with those from other localities in Scotland, England, Ireland, 
or elsewhere. There is accordingly room for some further 
observations. 
When Mr. Lucas’s original remarks appeared in 1900 I was 
not greatly interested in the subject. In 1912 his suggestion of 
the existence of a species of Sympetrum localized in the extreme 
north-west of Scotland seemed inconceivable, and considering 
the known powers of Sympetrum as a flier, the idea of a local 
race restricted to the same region was almost equally difficult to 
accept. After comparing the description with that of the var. 
nigrifemur, which it at once recalled, I gave the matter no 
further consideration until I received an enquiry from Dr. Ris 
asking me what I knew of S. nigrescens, the description of which 
had been brought under his notice by Mr. Herbert Campion. 
With the ready co-operation of my friend and neighbour Mr. 
William Evans, I was able without any delay to send Dr. Ris speci- 
mens from the west of Scotland evidently similar to Mr. Lucas’s, 
and, together with these, series of S. striolatum from the north of 
Ireland and the New Forest for comparison. Since then, by the 
kind assistance of friends and correspondents, I have examined 
quite a number of examples from different localities, and the 
conclusion come to is that the form described by Lucas extends 
with a certain amount of variation, both individual and local, 
over the whole western fringe of Scotland; while examples from 
Ireland, especially from the north and west, although more variable 
and in some respects intermediate, still retain some of the same 
characters, and in any breaking up of the species into races 
would fall to be associated with the Scottish form rather than 
with the typical one. Fortunately Dr. Ris visited Brussels in 
the autumn, and was able to re-examine the types of nigrifemur. 
His conclusions on the whole subject will appear in the additions 
to his great work on the Libelluline, but I believe that I have 
