2668 Insects. 



one transverse black stripe on hind wings is not of the same sex with the 

 other without the transverse stripe, and that there are many species of 

 these. I have mated a great many Eurygonae, not from observation in 

 cop., but from markings on the under-side : the furred fore legs of males, 

 in all Erycinidae which I have examined, and naked ones of females, 

 gives a good character for the sexes ; and in Eurygona, with similar 

 markings of under-sides of the two sexes, is a good guide in appropri- 

 ating the females to their right partners. I have persevered with these 

 Eurygonae much ; they will readily be mated. In other genera of 

 Erycinidae I have not yet noticed much difference in sexes, neither in 

 Theclae. You will find amongst the Coleoptera a fine series of two 

 species of Inca — the clathratus and bifrons : the former I suppose is 

 common in collections, but the latter I see by the British Museum 

 Catalogue is not at present in the British Museum collection." 



Names of Insects. — In consequence of the multitude of new, and frequently 

 ephemeral names, which are introduced into your miscellaneous periodical, I wish 

 you would impress upon your correspondents the necessity of stating the family to 

 which every new subject belongs : this is a most essential addition to render the past 

 intelligible and the future useful ; for if a man in London finds himself at fault, how 

 is it possible for the humble admirer of Nature in the countiy — without books or col- 

 lections for reference — to guess at the localities and data of half the insects recorded 

 in your useful pages? — J. Curtis; 18, Belitha Villas, Barnsbury Park, November 19, 

 1849. 



[Mr. Curtis is not alone in experiencing this difficulty : the new names occur in 

 Lepidoptera only, and their non-occurrence in any British work on Entomology is a 

 sufficient proof of the want of a synonymic list of this class of insects. Mr. Double- 

 day has now supplied that want, as will be seen by the advertisement on the wrapper 

 of the December number. — Edward Newman.'] 



A new mode of setting up Micro- Lepidoptera. — Some years since I saw at the Bri- 

 tish Museum a collection of Micro-Lepidoptera received from Germany, each moth 

 being stuck into a strip of elder pith, and the upper part of the pin cut off close to 

 the insect ; but they were rendered unsightly by the large pin put into the other end 

 of the pith to fix them in the box, and they also occupied a large space. I found 

 also, on trying the plan, that there was another objection : the pins had no hold in 

 the pith, so that the moths did not maintain their position and the stage itself moved 

 about. Mr. Stainton rendered his insects secure by fixing each on a round piece of 

 cork covered with paper, but the other objections still remained. I have now adopted 

 a plan which obviates all difficulties ; and besides, as for some years to come our 

 Micro-Lepidoptera are likely to be in a transition state of arrangement, this mode 

 offers great facility for moving,— an operation which, under the old method of sticking 

 the pins into the cabinet direct, ensures the breaking of many specimens. I take a 

 sheet of cork, one-seventh of an inch thick, cover it with paper, and cut it into strips 



