252 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



8th, on Harfclebury Common, and the latter — a male — on July 27th, 

 when sweeping a field adjoining the same sandy waste. Saunders 

 (' Hymenoptera Aculeata of the British Islands,' 1896, pp. 88 and 

 273) of the first states that, saving Laiicashire, he has " no other 

 northern or midland localities for it," and concerning the second that 

 " it is recorded from very few inland localities." — J. W. Williams ; 

 M.K.C.S., Stourport, Worcestershire. 



Since forwarding the above note I have been fortunate enough to 

 find a large colony of D. hirtipes on Hartlebury Common. The bank 

 on which this colony is situated faces 23° E. of S., and slopes at an 

 angle of 20'^. It is interesting to notice that Nomacla soUdaginis, Pz., 

 is visiting these burrows. I also saw one N. sexfasciata, Pz., enter 

 a burrow on August 14th (a somewhat late date for this " cuckoo ") 

 and extracted the intruder. The common fossor, Cerceris arenaria, 

 Linn., inhabits the same site. — J. W. Williams. 



Cheysophanus phl^as in Piccadilly. — On July 30th last I saw 

 a perfectly fresh specimen of Ghrysophanus phlceas on the window 

 sill of the front room of my flat looking out on Piccadilly, near 

 Burlington House. The butterfly had apparently only just emerged. 

 May it have been bred in the Park near by ? — Harold Hodge ; 

 54, Piccadilly, W., August 16th, 1914. 



Eggs of Prionus coriarius (Coleoptera). — Eecently in the 

 New Forest I found a fine female of this Longicorn beetle on a piece 

 of fallen beech, where apparently it was ovipositing. After killing 

 the beetle I eviscerated it and removed from the abdomen a large 

 number of eggs (some two hundred perhaps). Each egg was about 

 4'5 mm. in length, and about 1'6 mm. in greatest width ; it was 

 granulated in appearance, but with no definite markings ; in shape 

 it was a very sHghtly curved cylinder with rounded ends, one being 

 much more pointed than the other. They were creamy white in 

 colour, and some put in spirit remained so ; but others exposed to 

 the air became yellowish. A very large centipede (Lithobius) taken 

 from the same tree had a number of the eggs given it, and it fed on 

 them readily. The object of this note is to record the fact, for no 

 doubt it would eat them in a state of Nature, presuming it could find 

 them ; and the centipede has its home in the decaying wood in which 

 apparently the eggs are laid. — W. J. Lucas ; Kingston-on-Thames. 



WiCKEN Fen. — So few people have any real knowledge of the Fen 

 Lepidoptera and their life-histories that a word of warning is necessary. 

 As to Acromjcta strigosa, Wicken Fen was never the locality where 

 these were beaten, and I should say there were few hawthorn bushes 

 in the Fen. I have beaten the larvae with the late Mr. Albert 

 Haughton (father of the present collector), but it is much scarcer 

 now. The Fen itself wants very careful handling, and it is possible 

 to do a good deal of mischief in a short time. For instance, we were 

 told last June that a piece of the Fen owned by the National Trust, 

 which contains particular species of its own, was to be cut. I believe 

 Mr. Edelston took steps to prevent this, but if it had been carried out 

 much harm would have been done. In parts of the Fen the sallow 

 bushes want a great deal of thinning out, but discrimination is 

 necessary, and the Fen growth cannot be treated as jungle to be 



