NOTES, CAPTURES, ETC. 239 



am therefore perfectly satisfied that this carnivorous insect is a 

 fruit-eater at times. I have not yet been able to satisfy myself 

 that Amara spinipes, L., feeds on the flower- and seed-heads of 

 Centaurea nigra, but I have so frequently found their heads 

 embedded in them that I shall be glad to have the observations 

 of others. A near ally, Zabrus gibbus, has been seen eating 

 wheat by Mr. Chas. Waterhouse, and perhaps by others. — A. C. 

 Horner; Tonbridge, Kent, July 10, 1884. 



The Willow Beetle at Lymm. — For some weeks past the 

 willow growers in Lymm, Statham, Thelwall, and other places in 

 Cheshire have been troubled by the appearance among their 

 willow beds, some of which are extensive and very valuable, of 

 numbers of beetles, which threaten to destroy all the willows in the 

 neighbourhood, unless the means that are now being adopted, 

 prove effectual. This beetle is a little larger than the size of a 

 pinhead, but its powers of destruction are enormous, and the 

 anxiety of the willow-growers can be easily imagined. A meeting 

 was held on Monday night, in the Plough Hotel, Lymm, and was 

 attended by several gentlemen, who conferred together as to the 

 best means of exterminating the pest. Among those present 

 were Messrs. H. Cameron, T. Davies, G. Leigh, G. Warburton, 

 J. Marsh, and T. Hutchinson (who acted as secretary). A 

 resolution which pledged all the growers to continue the use of 

 paraffin oil, with the object of catching the beetles, was carried. 

 By this means one grower has caught some millions in one da}% 

 and it is believed if this course is followed up the crops will be 

 saved. Some of the beetles are now on view in the Warrington 

 market. — 'Liverpool Weekly Courier,' May 31, 1884. 



[Mr. Thomas Hutchinson, of Warrington, has kindly 

 forwarded specimens, which prove to be the well-known Phratora 

 vulgatissima, L., as was expected. He also writes, under date 

 18th August, that the beetles are again very numerous and again 

 doing great damage. — E. A. F.] 



The 'Entomologist' Synonymic List of British Lepi- 

 doptera and the Haggerston Entomological Society. — 

 At a meeting of the above Society, held this evening, a discussion 

 was held on Mr. South's new list of British Lepidoptera, and the 

 universal opinion was " That many of the alterations w r ere 

 uncalled for, and that a re-issue of the Doubleday List, with 

 the addition of the new species discovered since the date of its 



