116 THE ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD. 
observers in the past have been so few and far between. Of course 
the publication of the series of volumes on this group by Mr. Claude 
Morley has much facilitated the study of Ichneumons by those who are 
remote from centres where opportunities for comparison are obtainable. 
From the February number of the H'ntomoloyical News I quote the 
following remark for what it is worth. The writer, Ernst Schwarz, of 
St. Louis, U.S.A., is giving notes on Catocala titania, and amongst his 
observations he says, ‘‘ At 8.80 that evening (June 25th), I observed 
the male courting the female, much like a sparrow, trying to make 
itself attractive by many peculiar antics, such as running from one 
side of the female to the other, with wings half extended, exposing the 
beautiful colour of the hindwings. In all these performances the 
wings were vibrated violently.” 
Dr. Hancock of Chicago, has an important article on the Biology 
of the Orthoptera in the Hnt. News for February, entitled ‘ Pink 
Katy-dids and the Inheritance of Pink Coloration.” After stating the 
chief points in the life-history of the Amblycorypha, and the views of 
others who have carried on series of experiments and observations, the 
writer deals with the question under the following heads. (1) 
Experiments in crossing the pink and green forms of the Katy-did. 
(2) Source of the Material for the Hxperiment: The original pink 
female. (8) The first successful experiment in crossing this female 
with a male of the normal green form. (4) liggs laid on the ground. 
(5) Unexpected length of time required in hatching these 1912 eggs; 
some two years others three years in hatching. (&) The pink and 
green progeny of 1914; more pinks than greens: alternative 
inheritance. (7) Colour of the 1914 progeny: greater individual 
differences in the males. (8) ‘The belated 1915 progeny: hatching 
from 1912 eggs which passed through the rigours of three winters. 
(9) Habits of pink Katy-dids ; their eggs and how they are laid. In 
the summary of his conclusions the writer points out that (1) The 
pink and green forms freely cross. (2) The progeny showed two types ; 
the sexes were about evenly divided in the two forms. (8) The pink 
and green colours both hereditary and not dependent on absorption of 
colouring matter with the food. (4) Egg-laying in the ground, a 
habit different from that of other Katy-dids. (5) The remarkable 
endurance of physical conditions in remaining two and three years in 
the oval stage. 
The Scottish Naturalist tor February has a short appreciative notice 
of Mr. Donisthorpe’s Ants, and considers it a work of the first import- 
ance. In Science, for March, Prof. Wheeler has a very generous and 
appreciative review of the book. The Journal of Keonomic Biology, the 
Naturalist, and Knowledge all notice the work, and in the 7%mes literary 
supplement, on February 17th, was a long and very favourable review. 
In the nt. News for March we see that a Bill has recently been 
introduced in the House of Representatives “ ‘To discontinue the use of 
the Fahrenheit thermometer scale in Government publications.” Let 
us hope that after the war Great Britain will not only follow this 
example, but go further and adopt a decimal coinage, weights and 
measures. 
An announcement has been made of the publication of “ The 
Invertebrate Fauna of Nottinghamshire,” under the authority of the 
Nottingham Naturalists Society, to mark the fact that the Society has 
