276 



[April, 



oviposition ; and, where there is so little room for snperflnoTiB flnid, the draining 

 away of tho egg-contents would surely leave some trace. I have, therefore, little 

 hesitation in asserting that the egg is eaten by Apliodius porcus. — T. Algernon 

 Chapman, Abergavenny, March, 1869. 



Habitats of Ctenicerus pectinicomis and C. cwpreus. — Stephens in his " Manual 

 of British Beetles " assigns as locality for the former of these species ; " grassy 

 places in elevated districts and to the latter, " similar situations with the 

 foregoing." I have, however, always found C. cupreus at considerably higher 

 altitudes than C. pectinicomis. Thus the latter abounds in June, in meadows about 

 Stockport and Staleybridge ; but, on ascending the flanks of Shaw Moor, it ia 

 entirely replaced by C. cupreus, at the height of about eight hundred feet above the 

 sea level. In central Europe the same rule appears to hold good, C. pectinicomis 

 prevailing at the base of the mountains in Bohemia, whilst cupreus (along with 

 castaneus in smaller numbers) ascends to about two thousand feet above the sea. — 

 J. W. Slater, Lord Street, Halifax, ^th January, 1869. 



A Trogosita destructive to silk. — On a recent visit to Basle, ray friend Mr. H. 

 Knecht presented me with a specimen of an apparently undescribed Trogosita, 

 several of which were found alive in the interior of a bale of raw silk imported 

 direct from China. The beetles (or their larvce ? ) had gnawed through some of tho 

 tightly packed layers of silk, thus materially injuring its value for industrial purposes. 

 — Albert Muller, Penge, S.E., March, 1869. 



Note on Apion scrohicolle, Gyll. — This insect, of which the sole recorded locality 

 is England, appears to have hitherto escaped a place in our lists. It was described 

 by Gyllenhal in Schdnherr's Syn. Ins., v, p. 379, 9, and a translation of that des- 

 cription is to be found at p. 13 of the recent monograph of the Apionides (* L'Abeille') 

 by M. Wencker, who places it next to A. suhulatum, in the second section (having 

 the rostrum gradually subulated, and the tarsi black in both sexes) of his first gi'oup, 

 Subulirostres. M. Wencker reproduces Gyllenhal's locality without addition or 

 comment ; and the insect is accredited to Britain only in De Marseul's catalogue, 

 which of course also follows the latter author. It is described as black, almost 

 glabrous, with a short wide head, of which tho vertex is convex and smooth ; a 

 rostrum as long as the head and thorax, slightly curved, distinctly subulate towards 

 the apex, and briUiant ; a transverse thorax, almost half as wide again as long, 

 strongly and closely punctured, with a short deep stria in the middle of its base ; 

 wide elytra, rounded at the shoulders and extremity, with projecting humeral callus, 

 rather deep punctured striae, and flat, finely shagreened, glabrous, slightly shining 

 interstices ; and long, stout, black legs.— E. C. Eye, 7, Park Field, Putney, S.W., 

 Ma/rch, 1869. 



Discovci'y of a new British Bee (Colletes cunicularia, L.). — The announcement 

 of an addition to the list of the British Apidce is an incident of rare occurrence ; 

 in my opinion this should not be the case, and I am satisfied it would bo otherwise if 

 Entomologists, when visiting remote or rarely-frequented localities, particularly at 

 early periods of the year, were to capture a few Hyuienoptcra as well as the insects 

 of the more favourite orders, Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. 



