CURRENT NOTES. 139 



Tutt, and others. The local secretary is Mr. .J. Hepworth, Linden 

 House, Rochester. 



We would call attention to the List of the Coli'optcra of the Itm-hi'stfr 

 District, by Mr. J. J. Walker, Avhich is now in course of publication in 

 the liochrstrr Xatiiralist. It is most carefully annotated, and possibly 

 no local list of coleoptera yet published in Britain will compare with 

 it in excellence and completeness. As the linchrster Xaturalist is only 

 Is. per annum, every coleopterist ought to write to Mr. W. T. Wildish, 

 St. Margaret J>ank, Rochester, and obtain the numbers for 1H9S and 

 1899, which contain the List. 



At the meeting of the Entomological Society of London, on April 

 5th, Mr. Blandford gave an account of a paper by Dr. A. Ribaga, 

 published in the liirista di Patoloi/ia Vi'i/etalc, v., p. 343, on an asym- 

 metrical structure occurring in the adult female of the common bed- 

 bug, and apparently hitherto overlooked, although it communicated 

 Avith the exterior by a conspicuous notch in the fourth abdominal 

 segment, midway between the median line and the lateral margin. 

 This structure consisted of a large quasi-glandular mass of unknown 

 nature in which was encapsuled an organ consisting of fibres, the free 

 ends of which terminated in minute chitinous spines in a recess lying 

 under the fourth abdominal segment. The adjacent margin of the 

 iifth segment was thickened and set with strong teeth. The non- 

 glandular part of this singular structure was conjectured by its dis- 

 coverer to be a stridulating organ ; but no evidence of stridulation had 

 been obtained. It was certainly far more complex than most, if not 

 all, other stridulating organs known to exist in insects. 



At the same meeting Mr. Blandford read some notes by Dr. Bennett 

 on the habits of the Goliath beetles. In reply to the remarks which 

 followed, Dr. Bennett stated that the male beetles use their cephalic 

 horns in fighting with one another, as well as for puncturing the bark 

 of vines in order to bring about a flow of the sap, upon which they feed. 



In many of the schedules we sent out to our correspondents for 

 data referring to the British species of Psychids, Pterophorids, Lasio- 

 campids, Endromids, Saturniids, Sphingids, &c., we notice, on their 

 return that the data relating to the genera Psi/rhc, Solenohia, Taleporia, 

 Xys)jiatodt»)ia, Diplodowa, and Tcichobia (Psi/choidcs), are confined to 

 about eight counties, and these to one or two places in each county 

 (except Essex and Kent, which appear to have been better worked 

 than any other counties). Can none of our readers make up a county 

 list from available records, of these and the Pterophorids ? If so -sve 

 should be extremely obliged ; single records, too, would be of the 

 greatest value. We have not more than two or three records for either 

 Scotland or Ireland for the Psychid genera mentioned above. As our 

 MS. for this superfamily is practically complete, except for details of 

 distribution, we should be glad of every scrap of information available. 

 We would also appeal to each of our readers for a local list of the 

 species comprised in the above-mentioned families, and for a list of 

 dates of appearances for the current year. 



Dr. Krauss {Z<>,d. Anzn;/., p. 583, March, 1899) asks— What is 

 Condijlopalama a;iilis, Sund. ? That is the question that entomologists 

 have'asked themselves ever since Sundevall described the creature in 

 1817, and none have answered it. Ever since then it has been placed 

 at the end of the earwigs, as a " species incertae sedis." Sharp having 



