24 2 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



Of the Aculeata listed below four bees do not occur in the eastern counties 

 of England (with which I can find nothing nearer in latitude to compare the 

 Clare Island fauna) ; these are Sphecodes hyalinatus and S. ferrugatus, Halictus 

 Freygessneri (which I have from Somerset), and Andrena analis, by no means 

 rare in the New Forest. Of the Sawflies Alia candens may be widely dis- 

 tributed, though certainly not common ; I have it only from Stradbally. The 

 record of Croesus Stephensi represents a most interesting re-discovery of a 

 very dark Croesus, which Eev. F. D. Moriee is inclined to think possibly 

 nothing but a melanic form of a common saw-fly ; it has not been found since 

 first described many years ago by Edward Newman. Pontania bella, Emphytus 

 carpini, and Pachypirotasis antennata do not occur in the east coast counties of 

 England, though not rare in the south. Of the Ichneumonidae, Stenichneumon 

 pictus and Ctenichneumon fossorius seem commoner in Scotland than elsewhere ; 

 Ichneumon memorator was long regarded as doubtfully British, and was pre- 

 viously known only from South Wales ; Amblyteles subsericans and Microcryptus 

 subguttatus are not uncommon, though unknown in Suffolk ; Atractodes salius 

 may be peculiarly Irish, as Eev. W. F. Johnson's capture is the first since 

 that of Haliday, mentioned in 1839 ; Pimpla ovivora, Glypta nigrina, and 

 Mesoleius mctcidicollis are extremely rare everywhere, as far as our present 

 knowledge extends, and I have seen no other Cremastus atbipennis and lihogas 

 bicolor than those from Clare Island. 



Much work remains to be done at the Irish hymenopteran fauna. Except 

 one or two residents in the extreme east of Ireland, notably A. H. Haliday, 

 and an occasional Engbsh visitor to the Lakes of Killarney or southern 

 counties, no one has paid much attention to the Irish Hymenoptera, or at 

 least to the parasitic section, which outnumbers the Aculeata by so vast an 

 extent ; and I believe the same is true of the Saw-flies. 



It should, therefore, be pointed out that every one of the records is of 

 distinct value, especially on account of the extreme western position of the 

 district, and that the list will extend our knowledge of the distribution of the 

 Britannic Hymenoptera considerably. 



The series of valuable papers published by Haliday in the " Entomological 

 Magazine " contain many Irish records, and still remain indispensable to 

 students of the smaller parasitic forms of Hymenoptera. 



Haliday also compiled a manuscript " Catalogue of Irish Insects," which 

 is now preserved in the Irish National Museum. A very considerable number 

 of species representing all families of Hymenoptera are included in this 

 catalogue ; however, very many of them, especially amongst the Saw-flies and 

 larger Ichneumons, do not seem ever to have been definitely published as Irish 

 insects. It is not surprising, therefore, that of the 324 species of Hymenoptera 



