ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES FOP. 1865. 183 



of a beautiful fiy, which is figured by Curtis, in his ' ' Insects 

 Injurious to Agriculture." This larva mines the leaves of celery 

 and parsnips in large blotches ; and so abundant are they, this 

 year, that it is very difficult to find any of either plant without 

 withered tops, from their ravages. 



Bembidium 4.-siynatum, a new British Beetle. — One of my most 

 interesting local additions, this year, is a pretty small thing, the 

 Bembidium (Tachys) quadrisignatwm, Dufts., — Sturm Insecten 

 vi., PI. CXL. c. Jacq. du Yal. Ann. de la Soc. Ent. de France 

 1852, 195. E. C. Eye, Ent. Ann. 1866, 61, 4. It is one of our 

 smallest Geodephaga, rather like B. bistriatum, but differs in 

 being more glossy, with more acute hinder angles to the thorax, 

 and the striae of its elytra are more deeply impressed and punc- 

 tured. Jacquelin Duval, I.e., states that it has occurred in 

 France (princij)ally in the south), Switzerland, Austria, Ger- 

 many, Sicily, the Cacausis, and also in Algeria. Rather an 

 extensive range for so small a creature. 



Capture of Myrmica lolicomis. — This ant, which is so rare, 

 that previous to my captures, not more than half-a-dozen speci- 

 mens were to be found in British collections, has this year turned 

 up in our district. It appears to be littoral in its habits, and lives 

 in small communities, beneath stones, on the sloping sand-banks. 

 I found one female, and two workers, near South Shields, in 

 April. Eight others, also neuters, were taken in August, near 

 Whitley. A solitary individual, of the same sex, is from Blyth. 

 Next year I hope to find males, which, I believe, have not yet 

 been found in Great Britain. 



Note on the Scarcity of Wasps. — Have wasps been abundant 

 any where during the summer? Around Newcastle they, or 

 rather the females, were very abundant during April, and up to 

 the middle of May, when they suddenly disappeared, and now it 

 is rare indeed to come across one of any sex. I have only seen 

 two nests the whole season, and these were in the ground, at 

 Gosforth. 



