28 THE entomologist's recobd. 



who began to arrive shortly after 6.30 p.m., were received by the host 

 and hostess. Retiring to the Museum, expert coleopterists talked 

 beetles, whilst the "butterfly men " discussed other things. An excel- 

 lent supper was served at 8.30 p.m., when the following entomologists 

 were present — Professor E. B. Poulton, Colonel Swinhoe, Commander 

 J. J.Walker, Dr. Joy, Messrs. R. Adkin, F. Bouskell, G. C. Champion, 

 H. Donisthorpe, T. W. Hall, M. Jacoby, A. H. Jones, H. Rowland- 

 Brown, R. South, J. R. Tomlin and J. W. Tutt. 



On November 28th and 29th, 1905, the remainder of the "Mason Col- 

 lection " was sold at Stevens' auction rooms. The species sold comprised 

 the Tortricids, Tineids, Alucitids, etc. The prices as a Avhole ruled 

 low, the striking exception being that for the series of Peronea cristana, 

 a species monographed by Mr. J. A. Clark {Ent. Record, vol. xiii.), the 

 series of 1678 specimens producing a total of £47 8s., nearly £10 more 

 than was realised for the whole of the rest of the collection of Tor- 

 tricids of 10954 specimens, of which the series of Peronea hastiana 

 produced £7 10s. The cristana were arranged under their varietal 

 names, and ab. c/umpiana at £1 2s., £1 10s., £1 10s., and £1 10s., ab. 

 tolana at £2 5s., £2 17s. 6d., £2 15s., ab. curtisana £3 3s., ab. masoniana 

 £2 5s. and £3 3s. per specimen, are worthy of consideration. How 

 many collectors have these rarer forms in their collections without 

 knowing them ? Of course they are worthless whilst unknown, yet one 

 wonders why lepidopterists do not work out their series of this and 

 other variable species. Even some of Mason's specimens were still 

 unnamed and others incorrectly so. We now require a monograph of 

 Peronea haUiana on the same lines as Clark's monograph of Peronea 

 cristana. 



The Psychids fetched very fair prices, some 422 specimens producing 

 a total of £10 8s. One would like to know what authenticity there is 

 about the example of Phalacroj)terix muscella and Whittleia undulella 

 as British species. We are quite outside the range of both these more 

 or less eastern species and the possibility of their occurrence in 

 Britain is exceedingly remote. Solenohia clathrella, too, is another 

 eastern species, with some doubt about the recorded northern localities 

 belonging really to this species, and not at all likely to occur here. The 

 unique specimen of Bankesia douglasii sold cheaply in a lot of 44 

 other specimens for lis. The Alucitids fetched very fair prices — 

 although nothing very special. 



When the duplicates came out, the purchasers of the Micro- 

 lepidoptera seemed to disappear and quite a new set of buyers came in ; 

 many of the examples were in bad condition, old, faded, illset and 

 otherwise damaged. The total of the two days' sale produced £356 5s. 

 6d., made up as follows : — 



1673 examples of Peronea cristana £47 8 in collection. 



