4916 Insects. 



many of the vernal specimens do certainly appear.— W. T. Bree ; Allesley Rectory, 

 October 22, J 855. 



Memorandum on Gonepteryx Rhamni. — The specimen of G. Rhamni which I took 

 on the 10th of September (see Zool. 4871) I placed in a large box with a wire 

 gauze door: it remained attached to the side of the box for about a month, when 

 it died and fell to the bottom.— C. R. Bree; Stricklands, Stowmarket, October 20, 

 1855. 



Captures of Lepidoptera at Brighton. — On September 15th a fine female specimen 

 of Ennomos alniaria was attracted by the light to this Hospital, and is now in my 

 collection. I have likewise taken during the past year — Acronycta Auricoma ; one 

 Diphthera Orion ; five Phlogophora einpyrea at sugar, three of them worn ; one 

 Leucania musculosa (of this I have sent previous notices to the 'Zoologist'); 

 Agrotis saucia ; one Agrotis obelisca ; several Dianthaecia conspersa; several Hadena 

 lutulenta; one pale var. of Aporophila australis; three Ennomos illustraria, one 

 bred. Among the Tineidoe I took about fifty of Nemotois scabiosellus in July and 

 August. — John N. Winter ; Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, October 20, 1855. 



Occurrence of Mononychus Pseudacori in the Seeds of Iris fcetidissima — I have 

 just met with a few specimens of Mononychus Pseudacori in the seeds of the Iris 

 fcetidissima (not Iris pseudacorus as given in Stephens), and one of them presents the 

 peculiarity of having the club of the left-hand antenna testaceous, like the other joints, 

 while that of the right is black as usual. I do not remember meeting with a similar 

 instance in that or any other species. — George Guyon ; Ventnor, Isle of Wight, 

 October 25, 1855. 



Curious effect of a Magnet on Flies. — Just after I last wrote to you I observed in 

 the 'Illustrated London News' the remark of a correspondent that a magnet, armed 

 with a piece of iron in the usual way, which was suspended in his study, was carefully 

 avoided by the flies, though they often settled on pieces of iron in the neighbourhood, 

 and if their flight happened to take them near it they immediately turned away. It is 

 well known that wherever a current of magnetism is established a current of electricity 

 exists at right angles to it; this electricity, in the case of powerful magnets, may be 

 developed in the form of sparks or shocks, and it seems to me not impossible that the 

 delicate organization of an insect may be sensitive to the electricity circulating round 

 a small magnet which to our grosser natures is imperceptible. I placed the needle of 

 of a compass, the only magnet at hand, on the table, and a fly presently paraded 

 along it with the most contemptuous indifference — the circuit, however, had not been 

 completed. This discovery, if proved, might perhaps be turned to account, and it 

 would be a boon in tropical climates if the musquito-curtains could be superseded by 

 magnetized bed-posts. — Id. 



Notes on the Dytiscidce. By John Curtis, Esq., F.L.S. 



I am glad to find that Mr. Clark has commenced his labours prepara- 

 tory to a monograph, I trust, upon the water-beetles of these islands — 

 a tribe which it is impossible to study, with any degree of satisfaction, 

 from the works of Marsham and Stephens. 



