8o 



THE HORNET IN YORKSHIRE. 



Rev. W. C. HEY, M.A. 



In reference to the note appearing at the foot of my paper in the 

 February ' NaturaUst,' I quite admit that the Hornet has been 

 taken in Yorkshire. I was aware of this as I had Mr. Roebuck's 

 ' List of Yorkshire Hymenoptera ' before me. Still I should not 

 term the Hornet a Yorkshire Insect. In the case of creatures 

 such as Birds and Wasps, which have a rapid and easy method 

 of locomotion, the occurrence of a few stragglers within the 

 county borders does not, to my thinking, give them the right 

 to be called Yorkshire species. If I crossed the channel, and 

 spent a few hours on the sand-dunes at Calais, I should not 

 become a Frenchman. ' In spite of all temptations to belong 

 to other nations,' I should remain an Englishman. Of course, 

 the occinrence of these ' vagrom ' creatures should be recorded, 

 for they may possibly be the pioneers in an extended distribu- 

 tion of the Vespae. When such a species breeds within the 

 county, or becomes a regular visitor, then I should call it a 

 Yorkshire species. 



The easiest method to distinguish the Hornet from the 

 other species, is by the colouration. They are all coloured 

 yellow, with black markings, but the Hornet wears brown and 

 orange. If people knew and remembered this, no other insect 

 could be mistaken for the Hornet. 



I find the term Hornet is also sometimes applied to another 

 large Hymenopteron, viz.. Sir ex gigas. This mistake is natural 

 enough when a person simply conceives of a Hornet as an 

 aggravated form of \\'asp — ' just like a Wasp only more so ' — 

 as has been said. 



Popular Natural History of the Lower Animals (Invertebrates), 

 by Henry Scherren, F.Z.S. Second Impression. 288 pp., 2/0. 



In tins the author rightly points out that whilst most popular natural 

 history books deal with the larger animals, lew deal with the backboneless 

 animals. ' Field and hedgerow, park and garden, pond and strand will 

 yield the y6ung naturalist hosts of subjects for investigation,' and in order 

 that the volume may be of practical service, directions are given for keeping 

 these under observation. Mr. Scherren then deals with arthoporls, insects, 

 crustaceans, starfish, worms, sponges, etc., etc., in a very entertaining 

 way, and the book is rendered more interesting by nearly two hundred 

 illustrations, some of which are coloured. The volume is very cheap, and 

 should do good by creating an interest in the more neglected branches of 

 natural history. It is quite refreshing to find a natural history book 

 now-a-days in which birds are not described. 



Naturalist, 



