216 [September, 



Cicindela sylvatica rersus Panurgus calearatus. — Yesterday (August 7th) I was 

 interested in watching a specimen of Cicindela sylvatica entirely demohsh a $ of 

 Panurgus calearatus. I did not see the actual capture, as when I observed the 

 Cicindela it had just eaten the posterior segments of its prey's abdomen ; it made 

 light work of the other segments, but seemed to find the thorax more trying, whereas 

 for the time it discarded the head altogether, biting it off and leaving it on the 

 ground ; when, however, it had duly finished the thorax it returned to the head and 

 quickly devoured that also. The legs of the bee kept up movement for some time 

 after most of the abdomen was removed. The only sign left of the conflict was the 

 bright orange pollen off the bee's legs, which was rejected and left in two little 

 heaps on the sand. The entire meal could not have occupied more than two 

 minutes. — Edward Saunders, St. Ann's, Woking : August 8th, 1893. 



Coleopterous notes from Woking, S(c. — The dry hot summer seems to have just 

 suited the larger CoccinellidcB (and, perhaps, their food. Aphides, as well), for I have 

 met with here, in the vicinity of Woking, or at Fleet, about ten miles distant, sixteen 

 of our larger British species this season, nippodamia mutahilis, by no means a 

 common species in my experience, has been by far the most abundant at Woking, 

 swarming on grass stems and on low plants, in cultivated fields, towards evening in 

 May, but now almost over ; it has not been uncommon even in my garden. At 

 Woking I have also noticed C. W-punctata, *J-punctata, variabilis, bipunctata, and 

 \^-punctata (all more or less abundant), and C. 22-punctata and PJxochomus 4!-pustu- 

 latus sparingly, in the lanes and meadows ; C. ohlongo-guttata (including a small 

 variety with the oblong pallid spots on the elytra almost obliterated), ocellata, and 

 18-guttata, more or less common on the pines ; and C. hieroglyphica, black var., on 

 the heath. At Fleet, C. obliterata and \4^-guttata and both Chilocorus in their usual 

 habitats. The Anisotomidce, however (some of which were so abundant at Woking 

 last year at this time), are conspicuous by their absence. This I attribute to the 

 very dry weather being unsuitable to the growth of the underground fungi upon 

 which they are supposed to subsist, and perhaps, more particularly, to the frequent 

 forest and heath fires having burnt up a great deal of the undergrowth in the pine 

 woods, &c., so that nothing but charred ground is to be seen in many places. A few 

 local species of other families have occurred during the past month, either to Mr, 

 J. J. Walker or myself, as Sphindus dubius, with its larva (not rare), Aspidophorus 

 orbiculatus, Lathridius textaceus, and Corticaria obscura (5) and rufula, in powdery 

 fungus on pine stumps ; Byrrhus murinus and Syntomium, in sand pits ; Cassida 

 equestris on Mentha, and Phinoncus inconspectus and subfasciatus on Polygonum, in 

 marshy places.— G-. C. Champion, Horsell, Woking : August lith, 1893. 



The Life of a Butterfly ; a Chapter in Natural History for the general 

 reader: by Samuel H. Scudder. 12mo, pp. 182, and 4 plates. New York : Henry 

 Holt and Co. 1893. 



Brief G-uidb to the Commoner Butterflies of the Northern United 

 States and Canada : by the same Author. 8vo, pp. 206. New York : Henry 

 Holt and Co. 1893. 



