280 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



emergence. It is some years since the species has been noticed in the 

 district. On Sept. 12th and 13th I caught thirteen at Ford, near Shrews- 

 bury, but they were somewhat worn. — (Rev.) A. M. Moss; 12, Greenside, 

 Kendal. 



Wilts. — C. edusa and one specimen of C. hyale were seen near 

 Salisbury.— L. G. S. Raynor ; Sept. 13th, 1900. 



RECENT LITERATURE, 



Insecta Transvaaliensia ; a Contribution to a Knowledge of the Entomology 

 of South Africa. By W. L. Distant, author of ' Rhopalocera 

 Malayana,' &c. ; assisted by many Specialists. Published by 

 W. L. Distant, Higbfield, Upper Warlingliam, Surrey. Part I. 

 June, 1900. 



During his four years' residence in the Transvaal— the preliminary 

 results of the earlier part of which were published in one of his other 

 works — Mr. Distant paid much attention to Entomology, and formed a 

 considerable collection of insects. The work before us is expected to 

 extend to twelve quarto parts, each containing twenty-four pages of 

 letterpress, with two coloured plates ; and three parts are promised 

 annually till the whole is completed. It is proposed to enumerate all 

 the species described from the Transvaal, and the book will contain 

 descriptions and figures of a large number of new species. While not 

 ignoring the work of others, it will be based chiefly on Mr. Distant's 

 own collections ; and the uniformity of the African Fauna, from the 

 Cape to the Zambesi (and, Mr. Distant might have added, of all 

 Eastern, Southern, and Central Africa, to Somali, Abyssinia, and 

 the Lake District of Central Africa), will make the book of great 

 value for the elucidation of the Entomology of Southern and Eastern 

 Africa generally. 



The first part contains the commencement of the Orthoptera, 

 comprising the letterpress descriptive of the Forfi.culid<B, and the 

 commencement of the Blattidce ; and two plates, one devoted to the 

 two families already mentioned, and the other to the Phasmidte. 

 These have been carefully drawn by Mr. Horace Knight, under the 

 supervision of Mr. Distant himself. There is a very full account of 

 the habits, &c., of Forficulida and BlattidcB by Mr. Distant, and of 

 the distribution, of the Ethiopian species by Mr. Malcolm Burr. The 

 systematic portion is by Mr. W. F. Kirby, and the descriptions of the 

 new species have previously appeared in the ' Annals and Magazine of 

 Natural History.' The Blattidm figured exhibit a variety of form and 

 colour which many people would hardly expect in "black beetles." 

 The number of apterous species, or species with apterous females, is 

 very considerable in Africa, and thus the dissimilarity of the sexes in 

 African Blattidce adds considerably to the difficulties of their study. 

 The plate of Phasmida also exhibits a variety of interesting species, two 

 of which are remarkable for the curious appendages on the head. 



We believe that the second part of this meritorious work will be 

 devoted to Moths. 



W. F. K. 



