CirRRENT NOTES. ] f)5 



The spocimcns are to bo taken in o-voat numhors just now, hoverinj,' 

 over rhododendrons, pinks and other flowers, I have received 

 aiumerous notes from various persons residing- in difterent parts of tliis 

 ishmd, commenting on the numerous specimens ol)served hy them. 

 Personally I never remember a season when the species was so^ plenti- 

 ful. L.ist Sunday, about fouv p.m., I saw a lot hovering over the 

 flowers of a large holly tree in this garden, which is in full bloom, and 

 the scent from which is very strong. The llowers appear to be also 

 very attractive to wasps, bees, and flies. — H. Sn )Rtkii)(;k Ci.arkk, 

 F.E.S., Sulby Parsonage, Isle of j\Ian. Jnur lOth, 1S99. 



Deilephila livounica in the Isle of JiIan.- Since my note on 

 the recent occurrence of Drilrp/iila lironiira in the Isle of Man appeared 

 in the Kntnw. Rcmnl {ant,', p. 166), I have been informed that i\Ir. 

 Garnett has seen several moi-e specimens of this rare insect on the 

 coast, and that Mr. T, Crennell, of Douglas, captured a fine one on 

 the evening of ]\Iay 23rd ; whilst Mr. Murray, of Carnforth, who has 

 recently been visiting the island, saw one on INIay 26th in the same 

 locality where Mr. Garnett took his on the 12tii, but failed to capture 

 it. — Ibid. 



<2r;URRENT NOTES. 



The celebrated Dartfoid Heath fence has been pulled dov.ji, and 

 the wood and rough ground inside cleared. This will be a dire 

 calamity for London micro-lepidopterists, as often, during strong 

 westerly winds, the old fence yielded rich harvests of Tineina, when 

 collecting these small fry by other means was well-nigh impracticable. 



At the annual conversazione of the Pioyal Society, held at ihirling- 

 ton House on May 8rd, 1899, many of our leading entomologists v\"ere 

 present, among whom we noticed Professors Meldola and Poulton, the 

 Hon. W. Eothschild, Drs. Chapman and Dixey, Messrs. I'llwes, A. H. 

 Jones, Lloyd, Merrifield, Thornthwaite, and Tutt. The entomological 

 material on exhibition was neither very extensive nor of first-class 

 importance. The Tsetze Fly Committee of the Royal Society exhibited 

 enlarged photographs, taken by Surgeon-^Major Ross, illustrating 

 districts in South Africa attected by the Tsetze-fly disease. Dr. Patrick 

 Manson and Surgeon-Major Ross exhibited microscopic preparations 

 of mosquitoes showing the development of the parasites Filan'a 

 jKHtiinui, Manson and rroU'osaiiia jircissi, Labbe, in the tissues. The 

 latter is one of the parasites of malaria in birds. Dr. Woodward ex- 

 hibited zoological specimens from Christmas Island (Indian Ocean). The 

 insects were an interesting lot, but the Lepidoptera were in especially 

 poor condition, nor were the series of sufficient extent to give one much 

 idea as to the extent of isolation. A specimen of Ui/iiolinuias mis- 

 sijijiiis captured in the Island is supposed to have immigrated from 

 Java. On the other hand, Profes.;or Poulton's collection of insects 

 from Socotra were in the very best possible condition and well mounted. 



We are pleased to note that IMr. G. T. Porritt, one of the oldest 

 members of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union, is to be the next Presi- 

 dent of this important and virile combination of natural history 

 Societies. The recent Whitsuntide outing to Dentdale Avas more or 

 less a failure owing to the unsatisfactory state of the weather, snow 

 lying more or less deep on all the higher summits of the mountains, 



