11C ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ONTARIO. 



The descriptive portion of the work is excellent and much more complete than that of 

 any manual of British butterflies that we have met with. In the case of each species there 

 are given the English and scientific names, reference to the plate where it is figured, 

 synonymy and bibliography, a concise description of the imago, a paragraph on " variation" 

 in which are mentioned any known aberrations, forms of varieties, as well as sexual distinc- 

 tions, descriptions of the egg, larva, pupa, notes on the time of appearance, habitat and 

 geographical distribution. Thus it will be seen that proper regard is paid to the whole life 

 history of the insect and that the author does not confine his attention to the imago alone. 

 The plates (uncolored) on which each species is depicted are admirable, and should enable 

 any collector to identify his specimens without difficulty; there are also a considerable 

 number of wood cuts throughout the text. 



in the arrangement of species the author begins with the " lowest" — the Skippers, 

 Hesperidre — and proceeds upwards to the Satyridis, among which he strangely plajes " the 

 Purple Emperor," Apatura iris. His classification, a thorny subject which we do not pro- 

 pose to discuss here, may thus be considered fully " up to date." 



To our readers in the British Isles and to those who have collections of British 

 butterflies, we heartily commend this excellent manual. We only hope that it may not 

 be very long before we have some hand book equally good dealing with the butterflies of 

 Canada — C. J. S. B. 



Preliminary Notes on the Orthopiera of Nova Scotia, by Harry Pier p Transaction* 

 of the N. S. Institute of Science, vol. ix., 1896. 



So little attention is paid to Entomology in the Maritime Provinces that we gladly 

 welcome this contribution to the subject and are much pleased that Mr. Piers intends to 

 devote some years to the study of the order Orthoptera. The paper before us gives some 

 very interesting notes on the habits and range of fourteen common species of cockroaches, 

 crickets and locusts, and describes more at length the ravages committed by Melanoplus 

 atlanis on Sable Island, a hundred miles off the coast of Nova Scotia in the Atlantic 

 Ocean. — C. J. S. B. 



Insect Life. — A short account of the classification and habits of insects, by F. V. Theo- 

 bald, M.A., F.E.S.. London: Methuen & Co. Pp. 235. (2s. 6d.) 



Under the title of the " University Extension Series " the publishers are issuing a 

 number of books on historical, literary and scientific subjects, which are intended to be 

 both popular and scholarly. We have not seen any of the other works of the series and 

 cannot, therefore, comment upon them, but the book befora us seems hardly to come up 

 to the expectations one would naturally form of a manual intended for use in preparation 

 for " University Extension " lectures. The descriptive portion is meagre and will afford 

 a student a very vague idea of the insects belonging to the different orders. It is satis- 

 factory, however, to find in an English publication some attention paid to Economic 

 Entomology and the application of the insecticides, which are in common use here. The 

 book is neatly printed (though we have noticed several misprints in the spelling of names) 

 and is illustrated with over fifty wood cuts. — C. J. S. B. 



Critical Review of the Sesiilve found in America north of Mexico, by William 

 Beutenmuller, pp. 111-148, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist, VIII., 1896. 



The writer of the present brief notice of this excellent paper on the Sesiidte desires 

 to call attention to the very careful work of Beutenmuller on the clear-wings and the 

 necessity for this work which has arisen from the uncritical publications of preceding 

 authors. It appears, for instance, that our S. lustrans, a species well distinguished by 

 antennal peculiarities, has been five times the subject of new descriptions by 

 the late Mr. Hy. Edwards, whose species are very properly reduced, as appears from 

 Beutenmiiller's studies. The name hitherto used for this species itself must, it seems, 

 give way to bassiformis, Walk., described from a type in poor condition. Beutenmulle: 



