()2 MK. R. J. TILLYARD : LIFE-HISTORIES AND 



authors for well over a century tacitly altered to yiEschna, thereby entering 

 a ver}^ solid protest against the acceptance of a word that is not of Greek 

 form. It seems quite certain that Fabricius never really wrote the word 

 "^■shna" (since in his time classical tradition was far stronger than at 

 present), but that the word as it was published was nn error of the pen or of 

 the printer. As the manuscript is lost, we shall never know for certain what 

 he wrote. But it is of interest to note that, as "s^^ cannot precede "h" in 

 Greek, the " s " was almost certainly a misprint for another letter, and that 

 letter was almost certainly the " c " of the Greek 'x^ or " ch." If, besides 

 this, the " n ^' were a misprint for " m," we obtain the very beautiful and 

 suggestive name ^ehma (derived from Greek al')(fjii]=Jja,tm cuspis, a spear- 

 point or spear). This word very likely gave the clue to Leach in the selection 

 of Corchdia and Gomplms later on, since all three describe accurately the 

 shape of the abdomen — " spear-," " club-,'^ or " wedge-shaped.^^ This 

 attempt at solving an almost hopeless puzzle is only offered on sentimental 

 grounds, for no alteration can now be made, and this strikingly beautiful 

 group of insects must be for ever saddled with an ugly and meaningless 

 name. ^Esclina is bad enough, but it is Greek in form. ^^JEsIina " is a 

 complete barbarism, and therefore cannot be accepted. 



iEscHNA BREViSTYLA, Rambur. (Fig. 3, p. 5.) 



Rambur, Hist. Nat. Nevropt. 1842, p. 205. 



This is a somewhat variable species, so that, if two specimens were taken 

 at haphazard and compared, one might be tempted to consider that there 

 were two subspecific forms. But after collecting a very large number of 

 specimens from all parts of Australia, and examining series from both the 

 north and south islands of New Zealand and from the Kerraadecs, I have 

 come to the conclusion that all variations are purely individual. At first 

 sight New Zealand specimens appear somewhat smaller and darker, with 

 denser reticulation and shorter abdomen than in Australian specimens. On 

 the average, this is no doubt the case; yet 1 have quite a number of 

 Australian specimens almost indistinguishable from New Zealand ones. So 

 far I have never yet seen a male specimen with only two cells in the anal 

 triangle, though Martin says that specimens from New Zealand have only 

 two as against the typical three-celled anal triangle. All New Zealand 

 specimens seen by me have three cells. The two-celled variety can therefore 

 be only very local or seasonal ; it may also possibly occur in Australia. 



The most variable feature is the dorsal thoracic colour-scheme, of which 

 one may recognize three varieties : — 



A. Typical form, with a pair of straight, narrow, dorsal green bands. 



B. Var. lineata, with the dorsal bands reduced to lines. 



C. Var. oblita, with no markings at all on the dorsal part of the thorax. 

 Generally speaking, the largest specimens are typical, the smallest usually 



