351 



Still more lately the magnificent collection of Coleoptera of Mr. James 

 Thomson found its way to swell the ranks at Reunes. Some minor i)or- 

 tions of this collection had however been previously disposed of to 

 other museums, but nearly all the more important parts — especially the 

 Cetoniidie, Buprestidie, and Lougicornia — have gone to M. Oberthur. 



Quite recently >r. Raffray, of Singapore, has ceded his collection of 

 Paussidfe to the same gentleman, who now possesses the richest collec 

 tion in the world in this small but recherche group 5 it comprises 110 

 species. Confining our attention to a few of the more important divi- 

 sions of Coleoptera we may say that the collection formed in the way we 

 have mentioned contains about 11,000 species of Carabidse, about 13,000 

 species of Lamellicorns, more than 4,000 of Buprestidae and about 10,000 

 of Longicorns. 



The department in which the collection is most advanced is probably 

 that of the Lamellicorns. It is made up of the collections of Mnizech, 

 Castelnau, Harold, Lansberge, Thomson, and Sharp, to say nothing of 

 others of smaller extent, such as those of Semper and Thorey. Sharp's 

 collection included the greater part of Baron Dej can's original collec- 

 tion, which in the earlier years of descriptive entomology was looked on 

 as the collection of Coleoptera and was contributed to by naturalists in 

 various parts of the world. It contained, for example, many specimens 

 sent from Xorth America to Dejean by the first Le Conte. By the addi- 

 tion of the numerous types of more recent writers contained in the 

 collections of Harold, Lansberge, and Thomson, the Oberthur Lamelli- 

 corns are thoroughly representative of the results of descriptive ento- 

 mologists in this family ; indeed, in all probability this part of the col- 

 lection approaches nearer to perfection than does any other existing 

 collection of an extensive group of insects. The number of species 

 may be said to be certainly 12,000, and more probably is nearer 13,000; 

 the subfamily Cetoniidae comprising upwards of 1,600 species, repre- 

 sented by fully 16,000 specimens. 



DISEASES OF CHRYSANTHEMUMS CAUSED BY INSECTS. 



Mr. J. G. Jack, in the September 10, 1890, number of Garden and 

 -Forest, discusses Cicadula quadrilmeata, Lygus lineolaris^ Lygaeus linea- 

 Uis, Triplileps insidiosus, Plagiognathus ohsciirus, Pliytomyza chrysan 

 themi, and Eristalis tenax and their damage to cultivated chrysanthe- 

 mums. The Plant bugs and Leaf-hoppers, he thinks, are responsible 

 for the trouble known to gardeners as "blinding" or "disbudding." 

 The Pliytomyza is the common Dipterous Leaf-miner of the Chrysanthe- 

 mum, while I^ristalis is discussed simply in connection with its sup- 

 posed influence in the pollenization of these plants. 

 21998— Xo. 7 4 



