RECENT LITERATURE. 95 



colour renders detection difficult. It is possible for the collector to unearth 

 it from its hiding-place, but the prize is scarcely worth the effort entailed. 

 By far the best plan is to mark the spot where the bedstraw has been eaten, 

 and return to it at ni^ht. At the end of last July I noticed that several 

 patches of bedstraw [Galium verum) were extensively eaten. Feeling sure 

 that G. porceUus larvae were at work, I searched hard, practically on hands 

 a!id knees, at intervals amounting to about four hours. The result was I 

 secured four nearly full-fed larvae. Subsequently I visited the same spot 

 with a lantern, at 10 p.m. Then I had no difficulty in securing ten larvae 

 in as many minutes. On this occasion there was a drizzling rain, which 

 caused the larvae to have the appearance of so many large snails glistening 

 in the light of the lantern. I feel certain that in most localities where 

 there is an abundance of bedstraw, collectors would find it worth their 

 while to examine likely spots by night.— C. A. E. Rodgers ; The Wells 

 House, Malvern Wells. 



RECENT LITERATURE. 



A Handbook of the British Macro-Lepidoptera. By Bertkam Geo. Rye, 

 E.E.S. With Hand-coloured Illustrations by Maud Horman- 

 Fisher. London : Ward & Fowler, 1894-1895. 8vo. Vol. i.. 

 Parts I.-IV. 

 Notwithstanding the number of books published on British Lepi- 

 doptera, there seems to be no end to the supply ; and Mr. B. G. Rye, 

 one of the sons of the late Mr. E. C. Rye, the well-known Librarian 

 to the Geographical Society, and Editor of the * Zoological Record,' 

 has commenced a work on somewhat similar lines to that of Mr. C. G. 

 Barrett, but smaller, less elaborate, and less expensive. The intro- 

 duction relates to metamorphoses and classification, and the portion of 

 the work before us extends to Argijnyiis. There is a useful plate 

 illustrating details and neuration ; and the coloured plates are on the 

 whole very good, and include figures of many interesting varieties. 



The classification adopted for the butterflies is as follows : — 

 Papilionidae, Pieridae, Nymphalidae, Apaturidae, Satyridae, Lycaenidae, 

 Erycinidae, and Hesperidae. The position assigned to the Erycinidae 

 is somewhat unusual ; but we think that Mr. Rye has done quite right to 

 treat the Papilionidae and Pieridae as families rather than subfamilies, 

 the absence of the internal nervure on the hind wings being so very 

 salient a character in the former. We hope to refer to this book again. 



British and European Butterflies and Moths (Macrolepidoptera). By 



A. W. Kappel, F.L.S., F.E.S. (Assistant Librarian, Linnean 



Society), and W. Egmont Kikby, L.S.A., Authors of 'Beetles, 



Butterflies, Moths, and other Insects.' With thirty coloured 



plates by H. Deuchert and S. Slocombe. London : Ernest Nister. 



New York : E. P. Dutton & Co. Printed in Bavaria. 4to, 



pp. 273, double cols. 



We have here another popular work on British Macrolepidoptera, 



which deserves notice for the unusual excellence of the plates (though 



some figures are slightly above the natural size), and for its including 



