280 l May, 



(Ent. Mo. Mag., xi, p. 265) that Thomson's podagricus and decoratus 

 were both comprehended as one species under the name adjunctus, 

 D. & S. Neither Mr. Saunders nor I have seen any British example 

 possessing the characters given above for decoratus, Thorns., although 

 it is apparently well known on the continent. 



Nos. 4 and 5 seem to have been included by M. Lethierry in his 

 description of S. affinis (Cat. Hem. Nord., ed. ii, pp. 19 & 20) ; in any 

 case it is remarkable that his insect of that name is not recognised by 

 Dr. Puton, either in his account of the genus in his Syn. Hem.-Het. 

 France, or in the last edition of his Catalogue. No. 4 is occasionally 

 met with in some numbers in this district, while No. 5 I only know 

 from Mr. Saunders' collection. 



No. 6 is very common, but I bave not met with it except on or 

 near heath, nor have I seen a specimen with the membrane abbreviated. 



With the exception of the species last named, I have not paid 

 sufficient attention to these insects in the field to enable me to form 

 any opinion as to the value of habitat as an aid to the separation of 

 the species. As in many Lygaeids the relative length of the joints of 

 the antennae is very liable to vary, but in the larger proportion of 

 specimens it will be found that in No. 4 the fourth joint is very dis- 

 tinctly longer than the third, while in No. 5 the fourth joint is either 

 subequal to or distinctly shorter than the third. 



131, Rupert Street, Norwich : 



February 2 r oth, 1889. 



Notes on Diptera in 1888. — Many of the captures here recorded have been 

 made by correspondents, but, in all cases, the specimens have been sent me for 

 identification. The weather has been so exceptionally unfavourable, and my time 

 for collecting so very limited, that these notes are far less numerous than 1 had 

 hoped to make them. 



Cecidomyidce. — On October 26th I took fourteen specimens of a species of this 

 family on the window of my house in London. I do not know the species, but it is 

 not C. destructor, Say, which, though it should be abundant enough, judging from 

 the damage done by it to the wheat crops in Europe, seems singularly rare in col- 

 lections, as over twenty correspondents of mine in England and on the continent 

 have failed to get me a single specimen. 



Dilophus febrilis, L. — A correspondent at Highgate bred some from Calceolaria, 

 the larvse living on the roots of the plant, causing its death. He also bred a species 

 of Sciara from the same plant, the larva eating its way up the stem. 



Psychoda phalcenoides , L. — This has been very common in London this year, 

 and I have taken two specimens of the less common P. sexpunctata, Curt. 



Xiphura niyricomis, Mg. — One was sent me from Painswick, Gloucestershire. 



Stratiomyia longicornis, Scop. — Three from Colchester. 



