CURRENT NOTES. IBS' 



Mr. H. Main, of Almondale, Buckingham Road, South Woodford,, 

 Essex, who is kindly photographing the larvfe, pupte and imagines (in 

 natural resting-position) of British butterflies for our ^york, A Xatnral 

 History of British Butterflies, particularly desires living imagines,. 

 larvfe and pup^e of the skippers. (Be has photographs of the larva. 

 and pupa of Nisoniades tages, pupa of Hesperia vmlvae, and larva of 

 Aufjiades sylvanus.) Although the "skippers" are most important 

 just at present, the larv^, pupae and living imagines of the "coppers,"' 

 " blues " and " hairstreaks " are hardly less so. 



Now that the letterpress of the ' ' Skippers ' ' is finished in the new work,, 

 A Natural History of the British Butterfiies, those entomologists who have 

 helped us with information will be able to pass judgment on the use made 

 of it. We should be particularly pleased if our readers will make observa- 

 tions this spring and summer on the habits of any Blues and Hair- 

 streaks that come within their purview, particularly as to resting and 

 flying habits in the daytime, pairing habits, egglaying habits, sleeping 

 habits, etc. We shall be very much obliged for lists of localities, 

 actual dates of appearance (especially earliest and latest in a particular 

 locality), etc. Practically, nothing definitely is known of the distribu- 

 tion of our commonest species in some of the counties, particularly ia 

 Scotland, Wales and Ireland. 



We would also again remind our British lepidopterists that,, 

 although we have now possibly got Avell ahead of continental 

 knowledge of most of the "plumes" that inhabit Britain, 

 we are still practically without information of the lifebistories 

 of some of the British Oxyptilids, riz., (Kvyptilus distans, 0. pilosellae, 

 and 0. parvidactyla. Mr. Sich started well on the last-named in 

 1905, obtaining eggs laid on Hieracia, and making descriptions of 

 the mining larva up to hybernation, but, so far, spring larvfe are not 

 forthcoming, nor have eggs or larvffi of 0. distans and 0. pilosellae been 

 found in Britain at all. We trust our British lepidopterists will be 

 able to at least obtain eggs of these species in 1906, or that some of our 

 continental friends will be able to help us. 



At the meeting of the British Association, to be held this year at 

 York (August lst-8th), it is proposed that there shall be an exhibition 

 of British lepidoptera, illustrating melanism. The organising committee 

 of the zoological section invite those who are willing to take part to 

 communicate with L. Doncaster, Zoological Laboratory, Cambridge, 

 stating the species and number of specimens which they are prepared 

 to send. It is hoped that a paper on melanism will be read at the- 

 meeting by Mr. G. T. Porritt, of Huddersfield, and that it Avill be 

 followed by a discussion. 



We have just had the pleasure of looking through what appears to 

 be an excellent paper " Lepidopterologische Temperatur-Experimente 

 mit besonderer Berlicksichtigung der Fliigelschuppen," by Harry 

 Federley, published in the Festschrift fur Palmen, no. 16, 1905. 

 Students of variation should not miss this. 



Dr. N. H. Joy adds {Ent. Mo. Mag.) Euplectus tondini, n. sp., 

 to the British list of coleoptera, sixteen examples having been taken 

 in February last from an old starling's nest, and others subsequently 

 bced. Reitter believes the species to be new to science and suggests 

 E. punctatus, Muls., and E. karsteni as its nearest allies. 



Dr. Chapman notes the receipt, from Mr. H. Murray, of Carnforth, 

 Lancashire, of larva of the North American Arctiid, Pyrrharctia 



