INSECTS 



quite unknown. The male of the common sawfly which makes the 

 galls found on almost every willow {Nematus gallicola), is exceedingly 

 rare. The late Mr. J. B. Bridgeman, of whose arduous labours the pre- 

 sent list is a result, thought himself fortunate to rear one. The male of 

 the very common Eriocampa ovata, the female of which abounds every- 

 where among alders, is quite unknown. This is a case of parthenogenesis, 

 the eggs of the virgin female producing larvae in due course, and ulti- 

 mately the perfect insects. These have been reared by Messrs. Cameron 

 and J. E. Fletcher. 



On working out the Aculeates much help has been given by tne 

 Rev. J. Landy Brown, Messrs. H. D. Geldart, T. G. Bayfield, and E. A. 

 Atmore ; the late Mr. Frederick Smith of the British Museum con- 

 firmed the accuracy of many of the captures, and Mr. Edward Saunders 

 has brought several species to light which had been mixed with others 

 and so overlooked. Several entomologists early in the century collected 

 species of this group in Norfolk. The Rev. W. Kirby, author of Mono- 

 graphia Apum Anglia, mentions four bees which he had taken near 

 Norwich ; Curtis, Stephens and Paget, already alluded to, added to this 

 information ; and Mr. F. Smith published the results of his collecting at 

 Cromer and Mousehold in the Entomologists Annual for 1868—69. 



In Curtis's Entomology two bees are recorded which, though not 

 included in the following list, should be noticed. The first is Andrena 

 kirbii. It is figured and described, and the following note is appended: — 



' The rare insect figured was in the collection of the late Mr. W. 

 Griffin of Norwich, and was probably taken in the neighbourhood of 

 that city ; it now enriches the cabinet of Mr. Stephens.' With the 

 rest of Mr. Stephens' treasures it is now in the collection of the British 

 Museum, and was included in the first edition of the Catalogue of British 

 Bees, by Mr. F. Smith, but was deleted in the second edition, published 

 in 1877, in the introduction to which the following remark appears: 

 ' Ten species are entirely new additions to this part of the British fauna, 

 whilst two, formerly believed to be British, have been omitted, Sphecodes 

 fuscipennis and Andrena kirbii.'' The other species is Heriades truncorum, 

 a very rare insect, of which Curtis says, ' I believe that my female came 

 from Norfolk.' Concerning both species some doubt exists, and it is 

 very uncertain whether the first named is a British insect. 



Of the Ichneumonida this list is doubtless far from complete. 

 Parasitic Hymenoptera have been much neglected in this county, especi- 

 ally the Ichneumons, owing doubtless to the absence of any handbook on 

 the subject in the English language. Much assistance has been given 

 by the Rev. T. A. Marshall ; and lepidopterists have supplied information 

 of the species inadvertently reared by them from larvae of their favourite 

 groups, as well as of those which they have captured. Many species also 

 were obtained by sweeping herbage by the side of ditches, and the banks 

 beneath hedges ; also in dull weather by beating hedges into an old 

 umbrella, but this will not serve when the sun shines, since the insects 

 are then far too active to be thus secured. When a good hunting ground 



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