32 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



7 o'clock j).m. Though the sun had not set, the Hght was poor 

 amongst the trees there. On September 2nd of the same year I 

 watched an AS. grandis near Oxshott hawking about in the rain 

 amongst the fir-trees, where a number of small insects were in 

 the air. On June 26th, 1903, a number of ^Eschnid nymphs were 

 dredged from a small pond in Pdchmond Park, I suspected them 

 to be ^. grandis. One that had recently changed its skin on 

 the evening of July 2nd was seen to be of a brilliant green 

 colour except the eyes, which were dark. The markings shewed 

 a little on the dorsal surface of the abdomen. It was one of 

 these that Mr. H. T. Dobson reared, establishing its identity, 

 and whose emergence he so minutely described in the ' Ento- 

 mologist,' xxxvi. p. 253. 



One of the most interesting points I have to record is the 

 placing of jEschna isosceles on a sure footing in the British fauna. 

 For many years scarcely a specimen had been taken. In 1902 

 (on July 27th) Mr. Edelsten saw one in the Broads, but did not 

 secure it. In 1903 Mr. Porritt determined to make a strict 

 search for the insect, with the result that, as described in the 

 Ent. Mo. Mag., he saw a considerable number, and captured a 

 few. Mr. Edelsten also captured two the same season, on July 

 26th. Mr. Edelsten's dates are rather late for what is looked 

 upon as one of the early ^schnas. The last four or five years 

 have seen all the dragonflies (except Lestes harhara, L. virens, 

 and L. viridis), whose position on the British list was precarious, 

 safely established there. These species are Leucorrhinia duhia, 

 Lihellida fidva, Orthetrum cancellatum, Somatochlora metallica, S. 

 arctica, Oxygastra curtisii, AL. mixta, AS. ccsrulea, AS. isosceles, 

 Lestes dryas, Isclinura immilio, and Agrion mercuriale. Messrs. 

 Briggs, King, Morton, and Porritt have been especially assiduous 

 in working up many of these species, particularly in remote dis- 

 tricts, and students of the British Odonata owe them a debt of 

 gratitude for the trouble they have taken, though probably the 

 success they attained was sufficient reward. 



On August lltb, 1902, a large number of nymphs of Caloptcryx 

 virgo were dredged in the New Forest. Some were of a fair size, 

 and others quite small. None of these could emerge till 1903 : 

 would the small ones not arrive at the perfect condition till 

 1904? 



In this country we do not often obtain evidence of dragonflies 

 falling a prey to other animals, but on June 24th, 1903, uj)on the 

 footpath of the canal near Byfleet, I came across scattered wings 

 of C. sploidcns — in one case about a dozen together. Something, 

 I presume, had been catching them, and feeding on the bodies. 

 On August 4th, 1902, a male of this species was found near 

 Einefield in the New Forest, and Major Eobertson had previously 

 shewn me specimens from Holmsley. Virgo is the common 

 Calopteryxot the New Forest. 



