NOTKS ON COL1.Ka-1IN(,. 249 



■during luy toui- days' visit. The weather was unsatisfactory, being 

 very changeable with frecjuent rain, and a good deal of wind, but there 

 were some bright intervals of sunshine, and I found things generally 

 very backward. Amongst the butterflies that I noticed were a few 

 Brcntliis riijilinn^i/jw, raran/r iiici/arra, I'irris lui pi, only one Ci/aniris 

 ■arifiolits, and several Sj/ric/itlnis! iitaira ■. I saAV one Macntf/lissa f'nci- 

 foniiis, or M. h(iiiib!/lij'iiniii->i, but could not distinguish whicli, as it was 

 too quick for mo. ^'ery few of the rhododendrons were in flower, and 

 though I diligently watched the azaleas, 1 saw no moi-e " beehawks." 

 I obtained a few Eplnji-a piiiictan'a l)y beating holly, and could not get 

 them out of anything else. I'liiitniinini ririil<in'(t [aoK'a) was common 

 ■on the heather with l''.iiiatiinia aioumrid, which latter was the 

 commonest insect met with during my visit. A day's search for 

 Nemoria viriilata only resulted in one specimen in perfect condition. 

 The species was evidently not out. I expected to meet with Xcineohiiis 

 Incina, but did not come across a specimen, though I visited a locality 

 ■where I have taken it in former years. I captured a female SpiloKoma 

 mcndica on the wing flying in the sunshine about mid-day. Is not this 

 unusual '? I did not collect any larvae owing to the difficulty of rearing 

 them here in Kensington. Referring to my note on an autumnal 

 emergence of Sjtilosnina hihricijinla last year [Knt. Hccurd, vol. x., 

 p. 255), it may be worth while to add that the pupa^ foi-niing the 

 remainder of the brood, and which were kept in an inverted bell-glass 

 during the winter, duly produced imagines commencing May 11th, the 

 last emerging on June 1st. Only those kept in a cardboard box came 

 out last autumn. Other pupfe kept in a room without a tire, with the 

 window always open have produced imagines pretty well up to their 

 ordinary dates. These included Siii('rinthii'< (icrllatiis, I 'icriiinira ritiiihi 

 (some remarkably dark specimens from Heaford and liarnes), l-.m-helia 

 jacohacac, and Apatda arcris, but I have still one each of Snin-intlni:^ 

 ocellatnn and J>icranuya vinida in the pupa state. — H. Ainslie Hill, 

 F.Z.S., F.E.S., 9, Addison ]\Iansions, Kensington, W. Au'/Kst 22nd, 

 1899. 



Abundance of Macroglossa stellat-U^um. — .1/. stdlatantin appears 

 to be very abundant this year, I have seen a great manv in the garden 

 here at Enfield.— H. M. Edelsten, F.E.S., Forty Hill.'l'.nfield. 



jm EYIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS. 



The CAMBinnciE Natural IIjstory (vol. vl). — Insects (i^t. ii.). By 

 David Sharp, M. A., M.B.,F.R.S. [Demy8vo.G2Gpp.MacmillanandCo., 

 London, 18H9. Price 17s. net' . — This voluni'O contains the completion 

 >of the Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Strepsiptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, 

 Aphaniptera, Thysanoptera, Hemiptera, and Anoplura. It is totally 

 impossible, in the space at our command, to do justice to the excellent 

 work that Dr. Sharp has given us in this volume. That it will (with 

 the preceding vohnne) be the standard work of general entomology in 

 this country for some time to come is certain, whilst the method of 

 treatment, the lucidity and clearness with which more or less technical 

 •detail is ehiborated, and the general excellence of the material that 

 appeals more particularly to the specialist, leave no doubt that its 

 success must be both assured and permanent. The volume contains 

 An account of the Coleoptera, the author's own special order, and, as 



