THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
13 
The early Lithocolletes and Elachistce 
now begin to appear on the wing, and 
Periltia obseurepunctclla may be found 
flying rather briskly on sunny afternoons 
in the neighbourhood of lioney-suckle. 
Coleoptera. — By J. W. Douglas . — 
Stones on chalk hills now begin to 
be in request by the local Geodephaga. 
Already Tarus axillaris has been taken 
at Box Hill, and Licinius depresms , L. 
Silphoides, and other desired Geodephaga 
will soon follow. 
Pcecilus lepidus used to occur in the 
sand-pit at Charlton, but I searched for 
it last spring many a time and oft with- 
out seeing one. It seems to be extinct 
there, and it is to be hoped that some 
one will turn it up in another locality. 
Panayceus quadripustulatus has been 
taken at Deal, in April, in company with 
other good things. Some Kentish Man 
or Man of Kent (there is a difference 
though I don’t know what) may think it 
worth his while to pay the locality a 
visit this month. 
Water-beetles are yet hardly aroused 
from their winter’s sleep ; but I see lots 
in the shops of the furnishers of Aqua- 
riums, which much have been very 
rudely and prematurely awakened, and 
in their confined glass dwellings now 
look very much as if they would like “to 
slumber again.” But when the sun 
shines you may see in the ponds some 
Helophori, that have just ascended from 
their mud-bath, still bearing earthy mat- 
ter on their bodies ; now and then a Hy- 
droporus is visible, and Acilius sulcatus 
shows himself as he comes up to breathe. 
But “ there is more than meets the eye” 
in the waters in April ; an energetic 
aquarian would turn up Agabus striola- 
tus, Hydroporus oblongus, for the Rev. 
Hamlet Clark says these species, “and 
probably others, are to be taken freely 
only in the months of February and 
March;” let us hope April is not too 
late.— J. W. 1). 
II yaibnop lERA. — The bees of the 
genus Andrena are attacked by a para- 
site of the Coleopterous genus, Stylops ; 
but as many entomologists have never 
seen this remarkable creature alive, we 
call attention to the fact of this being 
the month when the best chance of ob- 
taining the parasite presents itself; every 
bee which is captured should be care- 
fully examined, more particularly the 
females : if the parasite infests the spe- 
cimen, the latter will have its abdomen 
more or less distorted ; a small object 
will be observed protruding between the 
segments of the abdomen : if it be of a 
pale brown colour, somewhat flattened, 
and much resembling the young bud on 
many shrubs before the leaves burst 
forth, it is a female, and will never quit 
the body of the bee ; but should it be of a 
black colour, and shaped like the pointed 
end of a Lepidopterous pupa, it is a 
male: the bee should be immediately 
placed in a box covered with fine gauze, 
and well supplied with fresh flowers, 
placed in the sun, and in all probability 
the first morning’s sunshine will produce 
a male Stylops. 
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
Monday, April 7, 1856. W. W. 
Saunders, Esq., President, in the 
Chair. 
Five Pound Prize Essay for 1857. 
— The President announced that the 
subject selected for the Prize Essay for 
the ensuing year was ‘ A history of the 
habits, transformations, &c., of Gelechia 
terrella , with a view to ascertain whether 
this common insect is injurious to agri- 
culture.’ The Essays to be forwarded 
to the Secretary of the Entomological 
Society, on or before June 1, 1857, and 
for the best Essay the above reward of 
Five Pounds would be given. 
Ennomos Alniaria. — Mr.' A. F. 
