210 [Beptember, 



Smicronyx caecus, Boh., at Portland. — On July 25th, and again on the 27th, I 

 took, on the Chesil Bank at Portland, a considerable number of specimens of a 

 Smicronyx, whicn has been identified by Mr. Champion as S. caecus, Boh. (cu.icutce, 

 Bris.), a species hitherto apparently very rare in Britain. The beetle was found on 

 the Lesser Dodder {Cuscuta epitkymum), growing parasitically on Lotus corniculatus, 

 Medicago maculata, and Ononis arvensis ; and was most conveniently obtained by 

 shaking the dodder-infested plants over paper. In this, way one little patch of 

 dodder growing on Medicago, not more than six feet square, produced some forty 

 specimens of the little weevil. It is probable that some of the specimens of Smi- 

 cronyx mentioned in Canon Fowler's " Coleoptera of the British Islands," vol. v, 

 p. 283, as 5. Eeichei and S. jungermannice, and as having been taken on the Chesil 

 Bank by the Rev. H. S. Gorham and others, are to be referred to S. ccecus. — James 

 J. Walker, H.M.S. " Northampton," Plymouth Sound : August 2nd, 1894. 



Microrrhagus pygmceus in the Plymouth district. — In company with Mr. J. J. 

 Walker, R.N., I had the pleasure of taking the first specimen of the above-named 

 rare beetle in the Plymouth district on August 10th last. Mr. Walker quickly 

 followed with another example, and we were fortunate enough to secure half a 

 dozen between us before leaving the wood. We caught them by sweeping bracken 

 beneath oak trees, The locality is known as Cann Wood, and is about four miles 

 from Plymouth. — James H. Keys, 7, Whiniple Street, Plymouth : Aug. 12th, 1894. 



Abundance of Vanessa cardui. — T am very glad to see that my friend, Mr. J. J. 

 Walker, has called attention {ante, p. 162) to the " sudden appearance " in this 

 country of large numbers of Vanessa cardui and Plusia gamma in June last. I first 

 noticed V. cardui on June 4th, and for some time after that date it was to be seen 

 plentifully in this district wherever one went, but, as was the case with those ob- 

 served by Mr. Walker, all the specimens were much worn and faded. There can be 

 no doubt that, as suggested by Mr. Walker, large flights have come over to this 

 country from the continent, for during the whole of last year I only saw one V. 

 cardui, which occurred near Dorchester on September 13th, and it appeared to be 

 entirely absent from this neighbourhood ! As regards P. gamma, I am inclined to 

 think that no large flights from elsewhere have visited the Isle of Purbeck this 

 summer ; at any rate, I have seen but few specimens, and there was nothing in their 

 appearance to suggest the idea that they were immigrants. — Eustace R. BankeS, 

 The Rectory, Corfe Castle, Dorset : July \2th, 1894. 



Abundance of PluteJla cruciferarum. — Plutella cruciferarum is exceptionally 

 common round here this season, and is an intolerable nuisance to the collector. I 

 wonder whether the same is the case in other districts ? — Id. 



Lophopteryx carmelita in the New Forest. — As I am not aware of any record 

 of the occurrence of Lophopteryx carmelita in the New Forest, and as the Rev. 

 Bernard Smith, writing in 1888, says of it (Entom., xxii, p. 102), "Yet I have 

 heard of no captures of late years except in Sussex," it may be of interest to chronicle 

 the fact that a very fine freshly emerged ? was taken at rest on a birch trunk near 



