85 . ' 



"uncommon," because it often happens that from a want of know- 

 ledge of the insect's habits we fail to obtain our series. Then again 

 the conditions of life necessary for the existence of certain species 

 are not always favourable, consequently few of them reach the mature 

 stage. Sometimes we may find a gap in the cabinet drawer which is 

 not filled up simply because the insect is so common that the 

 collector will not take the trouble to set any of the species. A case 

 in point came under my notice when visiting a lepidopterist at 

 Maiden ; several of the rarer species or insects more difficult to 

 obtain, were duly installed in their proper place, but poor Pieris 

 brasstC(B, L., was represented by about as bad a lot as one could 

 meet with, and the pins also were equally bad, one might have 

 been a shawl pin. 



To resume with the exhibits, Otiorrhynchus tenebrkosus, Hbst., is 

 the finest species of the genus, and four fell into the umbrella 

 while beating at Eynesford. There can be no mistake in dis- 

 tinguishing the members of this genius — the name so well describes 

 them. The beetle is generally obtained on chalky soils ; I have 

 taken it also on Box Hill. It may be of interest to note the change 

 in the speUing of the words compounded with rhynchus. It would 

 appear that Ganon Fowler was the first to correct the spelling in our 

 English Catalogues, and it is also adopted in the 1893 Catalogue by 

 Sharp and Fowler ; and, although the spelling with the double r is 

 generally adopted in foreign Catalogues, there is even now a doubt 

 as to which is the correct way to spell the word. Moreover, Aristotle 

 (Book 27, I believe) spells Ornithorhynchus without doubling the r. 

 The rule of doubling the r applies also to Erirrhimts, and other 

 genera of the Curculionidce. Very little importance need be attached 

 to this change of spelling, as no one is affected by it, and only 

 a slight difference is made in the pronunciation. 



Other captures at Eynesford are Cistela murinus, F., and C. 

 liiperus, Hbst. ; the former in abundance, but the latter sparingly. 



Among the representatives of the Oxshott visit are several 

 Coccinella ocellata, L. The whole of this series was bred from 

 larvse obtained on the excursion of June 10, and the observations 

 respecting them have been set forth in the "Entomologist " for August, 

 1893. The most interesting specimen of the lot is one in which the 

 black spots usually present on the elytra are nearly all absent — the 

 only two well-defined being the humeral spots. Cryptocephalus 

 lineola has been referred to previously. Tachinus subterraneus , L., 

 is a very common insect in London gardens, particularly in the 

 autumn, when red leaves bestrew the ground, but it is so exceedingly 

 variable both in the markings of the elytra and the thorax, that I 

 have placed several in the box to draw attention to the subject. By 

 examining the specimens with a lens, it will be seen that the thorax 

 of some of the beetles is often very much suffused with red, while in 

 others there is only a slight reddish margin at the extreme base. 

 Then again in two of the specimens the marking of the elytra extends 



