1889.] 257 



of the leaves of black and red currant bushes (Ribes), I could not find that they 

 agreed with those of any described species to which I referred ; I, therefore, con- 

 cluded that the species was new, and described it accordingly, Ent. Mo. Mag., xxiv, 

 p. 265. But I had overlooked A. vaccinii, the larva and pupa of which are attached 

 to the under-side of the leaves of Yaccinium uliginosum, near Konigsberg, described 

 by Herr Gr. Kunow in the " Entomologische Nachrichten," vi, p. 46 {cf. Ent. Mo. 

 Mag., xvii, pp. 89, 90) ; and now, having had this description casually under my 

 notice, I see that it is suspiciously accordant in many respects with A. ribium, and 

 I am sorry that I had quite forgotten it. It apparently differs, however, in that the 

 pupa is stated to be sharply raised on the upper-side, and the margin is broad and 

 flat ; while in A. ribium the pupa is not sharply raised on the upper-side, the broad 

 marginal field sloping gradually up to the ring of small tubercles surrounding the 

 flattened disc, which latter is not mentioned. The difference of the food-plants is 

 also to be noted, Ribes and Yaccinium being in distinct Natural Orders not nearly 

 related. It is, however, possible that these so-deemed different species of Aleurodes 

 may be but one, or there may be two, similar, but distinct ; this can scarcely be 

 determined without actual comparison of the living insects ; and it is only right to 

 call attention to the matter. Nothing satisfactory would be obtained from an ex- 

 amination of the winged forms. — Id. : March 2nd, 1889. 



The Dipterous destroyer of Icerya Purchasi. — At p. 235, ante, I said that 

 neither the Coccinella nor the Dipteron that prey on the Icerya in South Australia 

 had been determined. But it appears that this was an error, as far as the Dipteron 

 is concerned, for Miss E. Ormerod has had the kindness to direct my attention to 

 No. 1 of " Insect Life " (a monthly periodical, edited by Prof. Riley and his 

 assistants, published by the U. S. Department of Agriculture), in which, at p. 21, 

 the insect is described by Mr. S. W. Williston, with a figure, as a new genus and 

 species, under the name of Lestophonus iceryce. It is stated that the species has been 

 artificially introduced into California from Adelaide, doubtless with the hope and 

 expectation that it will be of effectual service in the destruction of the Icerya that 

 so greatly afflicts that region, and we shall hear in due time of the result of the 

 experiment. — Id. : March 4th, 1889. 



Sound produced by Hylophila prasinana. — Among some Botanical books and 

 papers formerly belonging to the late collector, H. J. Harding, I find a note in his 

 writing on the stridulation of the above moth. It is written in pencil on old and 

 soiled paper, and is very illegible, but I have deciphered it as follows : — 



" On a beautiful evening at the end of June, 1852, in the locality of Darenth 

 Wood, I had just pinned my first insects taken at sugar when I heard a strange 

 Bound behind me, and on looking round observed what I thought was a beetle flying 

 round a sallow bush ; when in my net it again repeated the sound, but what was my 

 surprise upon finding it a Lepidopterous insect. I had now got it between my 

 thumb and finger to give it an entomological pinch, when it again produced the sound ; 

 the deadly pin was now presented, and with the aid of my lantern, I found it was a 

 common Halias prasinana. But it was a fact new to me : I had never, during 

 thirty years entomologizing, heard of such a thing before. The sound was as if you 

 passed a pin sharply along three or four teeth of a comb. I suppose it was a love 

 song to charm his lady." 



Y 



