163 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



Neuroptera. — Dr. Chapman was kind enough to hand to me the 

 following insects recently taken by him in France : — One male of the 

 dragonfly, Sympycna fusca, Vanderl., taken at Hyeres, March 24th to 

 April 9th, 1907 ; two Holocentropus stagnalis, Albarda (Trichoptera), 

 which occurs locally in England, taken at the same date and place ; 

 one Mesophylax aspersus, Eamb. (Trichopteron), a southern insect (once 

 taken in England, but probably a " casual"), captured at Ste. Maxime, 

 April 10th to 28th, 1907 ; one Micropterna Jissa, McL. (Trichopteron), 

 another southern insect, taken at the same date and locality as the 

 last. — W. J. Lucas. 



Leaf-Insects in Captivity. — Mr. St. Quintin's note on the above 

 subject in the April number of this Journal is of great interest. The 

 discovery that these insects can be reared upon beech, oak, and ilex 

 leaves will enable many people in England to have the pleasure of 

 watching the transformations of these most remarkable of tropical 

 insects. The damp atmosphere is a sine qua non, both in the hatching 

 of the eggs and the successful raising of the young insects. But I am 

 writing more particularly to correct an error in the name of the species 

 said to have been obtained by Mons. Morton from Ceylon. Phyllium 

 (Pidchriphyllium) scythe is recorded only from Northern India, and is 

 not known to occur in this island. Our commoner Ceylon species is 

 crurifolium, and it is probable that this species is the subject of 

 Mons. Morton's paper. It has a range extending through Ceylon, 

 Borneo, and the Seychelles. — E. Ernest Green; Government Entomo- 

 logist, Boyal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, Ceylon, April 22nd, 1907. 



Barrett's ' Lepidoptera of the British Islands ' and its Indices. — 

 Having agitated for the publication of a Specific Index to Barrett's 

 'Lepidoptera,' it is only right that I should express our indebtedness 

 to the publishers of that work for having taken the hint, and this I do 

 with much pleasure. I now have a copy of this index before me, and, 

 although its method is not all that could be desired, it will answer a 

 useful purpose, and enable easy reference to a desired species without 

 the necessity of hunting through many pages of closely printed matter 

 to discover where the required information may be found, as was the 

 case before its publication. Such references as Fuligana, vol. 10, 

 p. 379 ; Fuligana, vol. 11, p. 63 ; Margiuata, vol. 6, p. 146 ; Margi- 

 nata, vol. 7, p. 274 ; Rufana, vol. 10, p. 235 ; Rufana, vol. 11, p. 29, 

 and so forth, of which there are several, are worrying, and it is to be 

 regretted that in cases where the same name is used for more than one 

 species some indication of the generic name also is not given ; indeed, 

 it is surprising that with such examples of complete indices as that of 

 Staudinger's ' Catalogue,' 1901, or even the special indices of some of 

 our current periodicals, such omissions should have occurred. It is 

 also to be regretted that the size of the paper on which the index for 

 the large-paper edition is printed is not of the same size as that of the 

 body of the work. These, however, are but trivial defects, and the 

 index will, without doubt, be found exceedingly useful by all those who 

 desire to use the work as a book of reference, and I doubt not that they 



