202 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD. 



two ants running backwards and forwards over a full-fed larva at 

 Hazeleigh Rectory, at 2 p.m., and four ants doing the same at 5.30 p.m. 

 on 31.viii.06, the hottest day in the year, the temperature being 90 

 degrees in the shade. When I ' gathered ' the larvas (at 5.30) the ants 

 left it very unwillingly. There were no ants on nine other larva? found 

 the same day. Next day (also very hot) I found a larva on the same 

 part of the ivy at 11 a.m., with two ants running over it, stopping now 

 and then to suck out some sweet exudation. There were many of these 

 same ants on the ivy, especially at the tips of new shoots, where they 

 were milking black aphides." — (Rev.) G. H. Raynor, M.A., The Lilacs, 

 Brampton, Huntingdon. October 20th, 1921. 



Notes on the Season. — Although the season was undoubtedly 

 " forward " at first it appeared to become normal after July, judging 

 from the insects one got, at any rate in this neighbourhood, and so far 

 as ordinary single-brood insects were concerned. For instance, Noctita 

 xanthographa and Bryophila perla came to light in August, as they 

 usually do, and, later on, Oporabia dilutata, Agrotis seyetum, Anchocelis 

 pistacina and A. Innosa, and Eubolia cervinata arrived as usual in 

 September and October. Of late years one Eupithecia linariata and 

 one Ennomos alniaria have succumbed to the same attraction every 

 autumn until this year, when the alniaria failed ! Last year I was 

 surprised at the appearance of a typical and fresh Mamestra brassicae 

 on October 16th; this was not repeated this year, but a male Porthesia 

 similis came instead on September 24th. It has always been an idea 

 of mine that Lepidoptera which naturally appear in autumn are 

 practically independent of weather conditions, and this exceptional 

 year has proved no exception in those I have met with. The most 

 noteworthy feature of the season here has been the scarcity of the 

 larvae of Ourapteryx sambucata, usually fairly common here and at 

 Clapton, and the total absence of the perfect insect, so far as my 

 experience goes, in the summer. — C. Nicholson, 35, The Avenue, Hale 

 End, E.4. November Ath, 1921. 



CURRENT NOTES AND SHORT NOTICES. 



We have seen one of the " black machaon " (we understand there 

 were two bred from the small batch of pupte). It is a black machaon, 

 black without a blemish, but we advise our readers not to give credence 

 to the fairy tales in the daily press as to transactions which did not 

 happen. 



A prospectus has reached us of a scheme to publish a work on 

 " British Butterflies," by Mr. F. W. Frohawk. There would be 70 

 coloured plates, imperial 8vo., comprised in 3 vols., with appropriate 

 letterpress. The edition would be limited to 600 copies. But the ap- 

 palling cost of production will probably stand in the way of the publi- 

 cation of what would be one of the " masterpieces " of the future. 



Parts I. and II. of the Trans. Ertt. Soc. London have just been issued. 

 Illness of the chief officers concerned in its production have been the 

 cause of the much regretted delay. The issue contains "Experiments 

 on the Edibility of Insects," by Dr. Hale Carpenter; "Notes on Orthop- 

 tera in the Brit. Mus.," by B. P. Uvarov ; " Notes on the Carabidae," 

 by H. C. Andrews ; " British bimn'obiidew;" by F. W. Edwards; "Rho- 



