186 [August, 



Narycia melanella, Hw. : a point of nomenclature. — This name appears in Mi*. 

 Meyrick's "Handbook," p. 776, in place of the famiUar "Xt/smatodoma" mela- 

 nella, but with no reason for the change. Modern change in the nomenclature 

 of British Lepidoptera has ceased to interest me as a rule, but this is a case on 

 which I can probabl j throw as much light as any one. Stephens, in his " Illustra- 

 tions," Mandibulata, \i, p. 154, pi. xxxii, fig. 4 (1836), described and figured a 

 new genus and species of supposed Triehoptera as Narycia elegans. His description 

 and figure were reproduced by Kolenati in his " G-enera et Species Trichopterorum," 

 pt. ii, p. 293, tab. v, fig. 62. When Dr. Hagen, in 1857, made an examination of 

 Stephens' collection for his " Synopsis of British Fhryganida" he detected that 

 Narycia elegans was undoubtedly Lepidopterous, and a note by Mr. Douglas in the 

 " Ent. Weekly Intelligencer," ii, p. 59, identified it with the insect then, and generally, 

 known as Xysmatodoma melanella. Dr. Hagen alluded to it himself in the " En- 

 tomologist's Annual " for 1859, p. 108. Later on, in 1865, I called attention to it 

 in my " Triehoptera Britannica " (Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., ser. iii, t, p. 169), but no 

 attempt was made by the Lepidopterists to change the generic appellation of the 

 moth. Xysmatodoma was founded by Zeller in the " Linnsea Entomologica," vii, 

 p. 352 (1852), sixteen years later than Narycia. I may remark that Stephens had 

 previously described the insect as Lampronia melanella, Hw., in the " Illustrations," 

 Maustellata, iv, p. 358 (1835), but it is in no way typical of Lampronia, which was 

 made to contain 22 incongruous species. Much as I dislike change, I think 

 Mr. Meyrick, with a knowledge of the circumstances (mainly communicated by 

 myself), had no alternative in the course he adopted ; but if, in all the numerous 

 changes he has made, there was one more than another that demanded an explana- 

 tion, it was probably this, considering that different Orders of insects were involved, 

 and that few occupy themselves with more than one. — R. McLachlan, Lewisham : 

 June 20th, 1898. 



Cynomyia alpina in WarwicJcshire. — In the March number {ante, p. 63), I 

 recorded the capture of sixteen ^ s of this rare species in my garden during August, 

 1897. This year I met with it in Sutton Park so early as June 19th : one specimen 

 taken, and a second missed ; on July Srd six were captured, and, to my delight, two 

 of them proved to be females — this being the first record of that sex for Britain. 

 On the 5th, four S s and one ? , making twelve in all. Ten of the twelve were 

 taken on bramble leaves, imbibing the honeydew from Aphides, the other two on 

 the ground. They vary considerably in size, the $ s appear to be smaller than the 

 S 8.— Eaiph C. Bradley, Sutton Coldfield : July 12th, 1898. 



Ischnomera sanguinicollis at Leigh Woods, Bristol. — Having a couple of hours 

 to spare during a hurried visit to Bristol on June 10th, I made my way to Leigh 

 Woods, and was fortunate in beating from a hawthorn two specimens of Ischnomera 

 sanguinicollis. Other species included Cistela murina (1), Tetrops prausta (1), 

 from hawthorn ; Cistela luperus (1) from birch ; and 8cymnus capitatus (3) from 

 oak. Two specimens of Magdalinus armiger and one of Uylastes opacus occurred 

 crawling on the walls of the approach to the Clifton Suspension Bridge. — J. Haeold 

 Bailey, Pendleton : July ^th, 1898. 



