62 



The Irish Naturalist. 



March, 



The adoption of tiie Report was seconded by th© Hon. Treasurer 

 (Df. MacDowel Cosgravs) who laid emphasis on the Society's need for 

 financial support. In spite of a generous response to a special appeal 

 made in October, which brought in over ;^3oo, the year closed with a 

 debit balance of nearly /6oo. The Report was adopted, and the officers 

 re-elected. Dr. R. F. Scharff, having served for twenty years on the 

 Council, becomes a permanent Vice-President, and Dr. A. Ball, F. Gifford, 

 and L, E. Steele were chosen to fill vacancies. 



An account of the year's work at the Gardens, with lantern and cine- 

 matograph ilhistrations was then given by Prof. J. A, Scott. 



NOTES, 



ZOOLOGY. 



Acherontia atropos in Co. Mayo. 



County Mayo may be added to the list of localities recorded by Rev. 

 \V. Fi Johnson, where the Death's-head Moth has been found, as I 

 possess a very fine specimen taken in a potato field at Dugort, Achill 

 Island, some years ago. 



Alexander Williams. 



Dublin. 



Salpingus ater in Ireland. 



In Dr. Nicholson's paper on Cavan Beetles, published in the January 

 number of the lyish Natuyalist, I notice he refsrs to Salpingus ater Payk., 

 as not having been previously recorded from Ireland {supra, p. 5). 

 Apparently Dr. Nicholson has overlooked the record of this rare insect 

 in Dr. Power's list of Irish Beetles published in the Entomologist for 

 1878, and there is a reference to it in " A List of the Beetles of Ireland " 

 {Proc. R. I. Acad., 1902). During the summer of 1910 I found a single 

 specimen on the top of Croaghpatrick, in county Mayo {" Clare Island 

 Survey," Proc. R.I. A., xxxi., part 28), it was captured on a hot July day, 

 when numbers of typically lowland insects were noticed flying about 

 the summit of the mountain, such as Alianta incana, Malthodes flavo- 

 gitttatus, Ceuthorrhynchus quadridens, &c. I have also found a Salpingus 

 by sweeping plants at Blanchardstown, and at Tibradden, in the Dubhn 

 Mountains, which apparently belongs to this species. As Dr. Nicholson 

 remarks, Salpingus ater is regarded by British entomologists as a some- 

 what doubtful species, in all probability it is a mere form, or variety, of 

 Salpingus aeratus Muls. Fowler mentions only one British locality — 

 Aviemore (Invernesshire). I notice, however, that in the supplement to 

 his work this beetle is recorded from the Isle of Wight, Delamere Forest, 

 and the Peebles district in Scotland. 



National iNIusfum, Dublin. 



J. N. H ALBERT. 



