CURRENT NOTES. 305 



Japanese Sphingidse are continued, the present number describing 

 Ampelophaga rubiginosa, Brem. et Grey. 



J. H. Fabre has published recently (8) the 8th series of his 

 " Entomological Souvenirs." Of these there are twenty-three, 

 four being devoted to Apliidce, three to Brachus, three to Halic- 

 tus, two to Vespa, and one each to Cetonia, Pentatomas, Reduvius 

 personatus, Lucilia, Sarcophaga, Dermestes, &c., Trox, Voliicella, 

 Epeirafasciata, Lycosa narhonensis, and the geometry of insects. 



The observations are made with precision, and apparently, so 

 far as they go, a great deal of exactitude ; but the author, as in 

 previous series, displays great ignorance of previous literature, 

 and his interpretation of the facts is often fantastic. The fifth 

 essay, " Les Pentatomes," is reprinted from a Belgian periodi- 

 cal (it is possible that some of the other essays are reprinted, 

 like the above, without acknowledgment), and has been criticized 

 at some length already.* In the fourth essay he attempts to 

 overthrow the opinion held since Linnaeus, that the lava of 

 Reduvius p)ersonatas preys on the bed-bug, and declares such 

 occurrences to be entirely fortuitous. Fabre says: "Son regime 

 est tout autre que ne le dit Linne et que ne le repetent les 

 compilateurs " ; on the contrary, Amyot and Serville (1843, 

 " Histoire Naturelle des Insectes — Hemipteres," p. 338), among 

 others, say : "nous 2^ouvoiis assurer qn'eWe init particulierement 

 la guerre a I'Acanthie des lits ; ainsi que I'ont atteste Linne, 

 De Geer et Fabricius." Unfortunately Reduvius personatus does 

 not occur in the Hawaiian Isles ; perhaps some one who can 

 observe it in nature, and who has a readier command of the 

 literature than I now have, will make renewed observations on 

 the subject. 



In a new periodical (9), E. E. Green discusses the nesting 

 habits of two Sinhalese wasps. 



Mrs. Fernald's valuable Catalogue of Coccidfe (10), which has 

 been a quarter of a century in making, enumerates 1449 recent 

 species, with from one to more than a hundred references each, 

 with localities and food -plants. Besides these there are noted 

 sixty-six uncertain species, and thirteen described as Coccidae 

 which belong to other families, orders, or even classes. The labour 

 involved in such a Catalogue is very great, how much so can 

 be appreciated only by those engaged on similar work. Mrs. 

 Fernald is to be congratulated on having completed her un- 

 dertaking, and coccidologists are to be congratulated also on now 

 having their labours so materially lightened. 



'■= See ' Entomologist,' 1903, pp. 113-120. 

 (To be continued.) 



