186 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



specimens from a larva of the Coleopterous genus Agriotes, found 

 at Bangor, in Devon. This is valuable, for it enables us, with 

 some degree of certainty, to ascribe to the present parasite the 

 three old breedings of " Proctotrypes " from the same ubiquitous 

 Elaterid genus : (1) William Kirby knew at ' Introd. Entom.,' 

 7th ed., 1859, p. 154, "the destroyer of the wireworm, which 

 belongs to Latreille's genus Proctotrupes " ; (2) Curtis, at ' Farm 

 Insects,' p. 159, says the above parasite was from Starston, in 

 Norfolk, and that the host was Agriotes obscurus, Linn. He 

 adds, at p. 181, that he himself found two or three white 

 maggots, and another had already pupated from which he could 

 see that it was a Proctotrypes species ; further, he quotes 

 Bierkander in ' Communic. Bd. Agric.,' vol. iv, p. 414, who had 

 a similar experience; (3) Curtis, at 'Farm Insects,' p. 198, 

 refers to Proctotrypes -larv a? , figured at pi. g, fig. 46, protruding 

 from a beetle larva, which he considers to be Agriotes lineatus, 

 Linn., found during August, 1841, in Surrey. In a general way 

 I consider that all the more reliable of our records point to the 

 parasitism of the Peoctotrypin^ upon Coleoptera rather than 

 upon Diptera, as was supposed by the older authors. On the 

 other hand, there can be no doubt that Diptera are the staple 

 hosts of our nest subfamily, the Belytin^e. 



2. Paracodrus Bethyliformis, Kieff. 



The terebral length of this insect appears hardly a specific 

 character ; the radial nervure of the present genus is so weak as 

 to be difficult to trace, and Kieffer gives no distinction from 

 P. albipennis, Thorns. ; moreover, the fact that he did not know 

 P. apterogynus renders it far from improbable that all three are 

 no more than forms of a single species. P. bethyliformis is 

 simply recorded thus : "England (P. Cameron)," by its author. 



Monks Soham House, Suffolk ; 

 March 10th. 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



Lycsena adonis in Bucks, and an Appeal. — When at Folke- 

 stone in September, 1920, I sent about a gross of N living females of 

 L. adonis to friends to be liberated in suitable localities on the 

 Oxon, Bucks and Herts Chilterns. The Bucks ground in particular 

 appears to be well suited to the species' requirements, as there it 

 is increasing in numbers with each brood and also spreading. Might 

 I earnestly appeal to collectors not to take the insects, especially the 

 females, before the autumn of 1923, so as to give adonis a chance to 

 become firmly established. It seems necessary to make this request 

 as I understand a London entomologist has already been down to 

 Princes Bisborough this spring and taken away about 200 specimens. 

 This quantity at a time when the butterfly is endeavouring to secure 

 a footing is a serious matter. I may here mention that Lyccena 



