7522 Tnsecis. 



black al Rannoch (its head quarters), and in Yorkshire and Lancashire 

 so light as scarcely to be distinguished by a tyro from Aplecta nebu- 

 losa, a southern insect which scarcely reaches Scotland ? Have not all 

 species a tendency to lose their distinguishing marks and approach 

 allied forms at their outer limits of distribution ? How is the gradual 

 disappearance of the white spot on the wings of Lycsena Artaxeixes 

 as we go South to be explained ? Would the eggs of L. Artaxerxes 

 or of a Rannoch A. occulta if fed np on English plants produce the 

 English or the Scotch form of the insect ? 



But such questions are endless ; a more extended knowledge of the 

 range of our native species, and especially of their continental forms, 

 would, I am persuaded, be of infinite service to us, even though it led 

 us to doubt whether the term " species " is anything more than a 

 " Geographical expression ; " at present it seems to me that those 

 whose knowledge is most exclusively confined to British insects are 

 the most hasty and dogmatic in their opinions on species. It is much 

 to be regretted that even the stupendous collections of the present 

 generation are in most cases of but little use for the solution of such 

 questions. " Whole rows " may be seen arranged on no other plan 

 than to put the smallest specimens at the top, British and foreign. 

 North and South inextricably mixed, so that the row be only made 

 up ; and he would be a bold man who spoke positively of the origin 

 of any insect not captured by his own hand. 



But 1 have wandered far from Loch Rannoch, and I fear my readers 



are disgusted at fiuding so promising a title has only led them into 



the undrained bog of the species question, so I will conclude by 



advising all who can to pay Rannoch a visit, assuring them they will 



never regret a few days spent in those ancient woods and by that 



bright lake if they can contrive to exist on mountain mutton, trout, 



oat-cake and whiskey, and do not mind their own being the only pair 



of trousers within a dozen miles. 



Edwin Birchall. 

 Birkenhead, February 10, 1860. 



Translated Life-Histories of Sawflies, from the Dutch of 

 M. Snellen Van Vollenhoven. By John W. May, Esq. 



The following descriptions are translated from the Dutch of 

 M. S. C. Snellen Van Vollenhoven, President of the Netherland 

 Entomological Society, and are the first of a series of descriptions of 

 indigenous Tenthredinous insects, in course of publication in the' Trans- 



