NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 67 



round the same spot and settling on the same leaf or twig, as one 

 lias seen T. rubi do in England, and is not easily frightened away. — 

 B. H. Cooke (Lieut.-Colonel) ; Naval and Military Club, Piccadilly. 



Nymphs or Naiads.— Mr. W. J. Lucas, in the January number, 

 p. 5, adopts the term "naiad" for odonate nymphs, following Comstock. 

 Tillyard, in his excellent work on dragon-Hies, uses the term "larva." 

 It may be useful to employ a special name, but "naiad" is inadmissible 

 since it has long been in use for the freshwater mussels. Thus, for 

 instance, Isaac Lea in 1836 published a ' Synopsis of the Family of 

 Naiades,' and in 1900 C. T. Simpson published a 'Synopsis of the 

 Naiades, or Pearly Freshwater Mussels.' If a special term is required 

 for the larvae of Odonata, possibly Odonaiad would be suitable. — 



T. D. A. CoCKEBELL. 



Platymischus dilatatus, Westwood.— On October 5th, 1920, 

 my wife and I were walking on the beach at Ventnor, Isle of Wight, 

 where quantities of Fttcus and other seaweeds had been thrown up. 

 Here and there were large boulders, and swarming over them were 

 vast numbers of small wingless Hymenoptera, at first sight appearing 

 to be ants. On collecting a number it was at once evident that they 

 belonged to the Proctotrypoid series, and on looking up the literature 

 they were readily identified as P. dilatatus. They undoubtedly came 

 from Dipterous larvae in the seaweed. The species has been 

 considered rare, and even the British Museum had only a few species. 

 I probably obtained more than had been secured by all collectors 

 previously, or at any rate could easily have done so. — T. D. A. 



CoCKERELL. 



Libellula depbessa, Linn. (Odonata). — It may be of interest 

 to record that I captured, flying slowly and low up a small stream at 

 Tibshelf, Derbyshire, a specimen of Libellula depressa, Linn., on 

 August Bank Holiday, 1921. The upper part of the abdomen was 

 covered with slate-coloured bloom, whilst underneath the abdomen 

 was so badly eaten away (possibly by some parasite) that it was 

 useless as a cabinet specimen. — A. W. Bichards ; 2, Denman Drive, 

 Newsham Park, Liverpool. 



Hemeeobius stigma, Steph. (Neueopteea). — Two examples of 

 this interesting little lacewing were taken at Esher Common, Surrey, 

 on January 30th last. As they passed by on the wing they could be 

 at once recognised by their slow characteristic style of flight, and 

 were easily secured even without the help of a net. Their presence 

 in January is welcome, although they can scarcely be looked upon as 

 harbingers of the spring, for I believe I have taken imagines in every 

 month of the year. It would be interesting to know how many 

 broods there are in a season. — W. J. Lucas ; February 3rd, 1922. 



Besting Habit op Pieeis eapjs. — In the evening of July 20th, 

 when the declining sun had thrown the southward facing hedgerows 

 into shade, I saw nine Pieris rapes and one P. napi at rest amongst 

 a patch of nettles. All the P. rapce had chosen as resting-places 

 nettle leaves which through some cause were bleached to a creamy 

 white colour, remarkably similar to the colour of the butterflies. In 

 one case there were three butterflies on one leaf, and in another case 

 two. This would suggest that the sites had been chosen deliberately^ 



