4° 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



the commonest land mollusc ; I have found over 

 two hundred examples of this species. Succinea 

 putris, S. elegans, and 5. oblonga are rare and usually 

 in a fragmentary condition. Ancylvs fluviatilis and 

 A . lacitstris are also rare. I have only found two 

 examples of each species, and they were all found 

 together. Limnea peregra, as is to be expected, is 

 abundant, though the examples are small ; but its 

 closely allied form, L. auricularia, is rare. Limnea 

 stagnalis is only known from small portions of the 

 apex. L. truncatula is common, while L. palustris is 

 scarce. Of the existing species of Planorbis there 

 are only two missing — P. carinatus and P, fontanns. 

 P. lineatus is, however, extremely rare. Bythinia 

 tentaculata is very abundant, and its operculum is 

 equally common. Valvata piscinalis is the most 

 abundant shell in these beds. Examples are 

 occasionally to be found of var. antiqua. The 



remaining species do not call for any special 

 notice. 



I intend during the ensuing summer to endeavour 

 to obtain the exact proportion of the various species, 

 but the following figures may be of interest. These 

 shells were obtained by washing about twenty 

 pounds of clay from Slades Green Pit ; Pupa 

 muscorum, one ; Limnea palustris, four ; L. peregra, 

 three; L. truncatula, eight; Planorbis. mar ginatus, 

 seven ; P. vortex, two ; P. corneus, six ; Bythinia 

 tentaculata, twenty-three; Corbicula fiuminalis, three 

 valves; Sphcerium corneum, seventy - three valves; 

 Pisidium fontinale, seven valves ; P. amnicum, forty- 

 six valves ; Valvata piscinalis, twenty-three. Two 

 fragments of a large Helix, probably H. nemoralis, 

 and two teeth of the Northern Vole (Microtus 

 ratticips) were also obtained from this washing. 

 Cranbrook, Ravenscro/t Road, Beckenham, Kent ; 

 February, 1895. 



DRAGON-FLIES IN 1894. 

 By W. J. Lucas, B.A. 



"pOPULAR superstitions, at any rate with regard 

 ■*■ to insects, die hard, and though naturalists 

 will not share the fear that prompts the countryman 

 to bestow on dragon-flies such opprobrious titles 

 as " horse- stingers " and "devil's needles," yet 

 their evil repute may possibly be one cause of the 

 undoubted fact that the Odonata have been treated 

 with neglect — a neglect which they for many 

 reasons do not deserve. Those members, then, of 

 the " gentle craft " to borrow Isaac Walton's well- 

 worn phrase, who find the preserves of the 

 Lepidoptera and even of the Coleoptera too full of 

 workers, and are searching for " fresh fields and 

 pastures new " cannot do better than turn their 

 attention to the Odonata, in the study of which 

 group they will find abundance of material, where- 

 on to feast the eye and employ the pencil to good 

 purpose. That much may be done in a single year 

 is, I think, amply proved, when I say that my 

 captures during last season, in some respects a poor 

 one by the way, totalled no less than eighteen 

 species out of a possible thirty-nine or thereabout. 

 The following is the list. 



Platetrum depressum , Linn. (Depressed dragon-fly). 

 Whether this species was scarcer than usual last 

 season, or whether by chance it seldom crossed my 

 path, I cannot say, but certainly my captures were 

 few. The first specimen that came under my 

 notice was flying in a Surrey wood on May 14th, a 

 rather later date than usual for P. depressjtm, which 

 is one of the earliest of dragon-flies to appear on 

 the wing. This insect has the habit of haunting a 

 particular spot, and, though suspicious of one's 

 near approach, is not easily scared from its chosen 



haunt, returning again and again often to the sam e 

 identical spray. A knowledge of this propensity, 

 together with the exercise of a fair amount of 

 patience, usually brings about a capture. Collectors 

 should look with particular favour on this insect 

 and the next, for, if evisceratiug and drying are 

 performed with care, their beauties, which are of 

 no mean order, will be but little impaired by the 

 process. 



Libellula quadrimaculata , Linn. (Four - spotted 

 dragon-fly), is even an earlier insect than the last, 

 my first specimen last season being secured on 

 April 25th. It had evidently but just emerged, for 

 its colours were undeveloped and it seemed out of 

 place without companions. By the 29th it was 

 fairly common, and good numbers were on the 

 wing as late as August 7th. I have only taken 

 this handsome dragon-fly at the Black Pond, near 

 Esher, in Surrey, where, however, it is very 

 plentiful. Unlike its predecessor and close relative, 

 it seems seldom to leave the proximity of the water 

 in which its youthful days were passed. 



Orthetrum carulescens, Fabr. A single specimen 

 of this insect fell to my lot on open heath land 

 near Beaulieu, in the New Forest, on August 13th. 

 As it was a female and was flying with Sympetrum 

 vulgatum, which it closely resembles, I at first set it 

 down as a specimen of the latter, though the 

 number of anteculital nervures should at once have 

 pointed out the difference. This insect and the 

 next, unfortunately, do not preserve well. 



Sympetrum vulgatum, Linn. (S. striolatum, Chap.). 

 My acquaintance with this dragon-fly last season 

 continued from about August 10th till September 



