Under-side red, closely resembling Charocampa Belti, only that the green markings in that species are replaced by greyish-white. Head, sides of the thorax, and base of abdomen dark brown, a white line on each side of the thorax, and crossing the base of the abdomen; the under-side pale reddish-brown.

Hab.: Fiji Islands (Watkins).

Expanse of wings, 3 in.

Type, Mus. Druce.

This fine species is very distinct from any yet described; in form it resembles D. hypothous, in colour it comes nearest D. andamana.

Sub-Family AMBULICINE.

AMBULYX ELWESI.

Much like A. rubricosa, but shorter-winged and more robust. Primaries rich brown, the outer half the darkest, a series of ochreous marks along the hind margin, extending nearly to the anal angle. Posterior-wing bright pink, the outer half deep brown, an indistinct black line bordered with greyish-blue near the anal angle. Under-side rich brownish-pink; primaries bright pink ncar the base, and an indistinct greyish band crossing the wing near the outer margin; secondaries crossed in the middle by a pinkish-white band; between it and the base on the costal margin is a brown spot. Head, thorax, and abdomen brown, paler beneath. Antennæ and legs brown. Expanse of wings, 3 in. Type, Mus. Druce.

Hab. Darjiling (Elwes).

This beautiful species is allied to A. rubricosa and A. junonia. I am indebted to Mr. Elwes for the pleasure of describing and adding it to my collection.

AMBULYX ARGENTATA.

Primaries glossy greyish-brown, almost white at the apex, crossed by a series of pale waved lines, a black dot at the end of the cell, the outer margin and the fringe brown. Secondaries pale brown, thickly speckled with white hairs, a row of white spots crossing the middle of the wing from the anal angle to the costal margin, the spots nearest the inner margin are the largest. Under-side dark pinkish-brown, the spots and markings as above, only more distinct, and speckled with brown scales. Head, sides of thorax, and base of the abdomen dark olive-green. Middle of thorax and abdomen silver-grey. Expanse of wings, 3 in.

Hab. Saigon, Cochin China (Boucard).

:

Type, Mus. Druce.

This very distinct species reminds one at first sight of A. hyposticta, the under-sides being somewhat alike.

Sub-Family SMERINTHINÆ.

TRIPTOGON ROSEA.

Primaries above pale pinkish-brown, crossed by three indistinct brown lines, a dark brown spot close to the anal angle, and a large dark patch of the same colour extending along the outer margin almost to the apex. Secondaries bright rosy-red, with a brown spot at the anal angle. Under-side reddish-brown, both wings crossed by several indistinct, pale brown, waved lines. Head, thorax, and abdomen, pale brown. Expanse of wings, 2 in.

Hab.: West Africa, Cameroons (Rutherford).

Mus. Druce.

Not unlike T. complacens from Japan, but quite distinct.

TRIPTOGON CYTIS.

Primaries and secondaries uniformly pinkish-grey-brown, crossed in the middle by a brown line, a small black spot at the base of the primaries: under-side as above. Expanse of wings, 2 in.

Hab. South Africa, Vaal River.

Mus. Druce.

A very distinct species, not nearly allied to any with which I am acquainted.

Sub-Family SPHINGINE.

PROTOPARCE LAUCHEANA.

Primaries light chestnut-brown, marked and banded with white, resembling P. solani. Secondaries blackish-brown. Under-side uniform slate-colour. Upper-side of head, thorax, and abdomen chestnut-brown; under-side white, tinged with pink. Expanse of wings, 3 inch.

Hab.: West Africa (Thomson).

HYLOICUS REEVEI.

Type, Mus. Druce.

Primaries greyish-brown, crossed from the inner margin to near the apex by a wide whitish band, the outer margin almost black, between it and the white band are several indistinct brown lines. Secondaries greyish-white, bordered with dark brown. Under-side uniform greyish-white, the secondaries almost white. Head, thorax, and abdomen above, black; under-side whitish. Expanse of wings, 24 in.

Hab. Paraguay (Reeve).

Type, Mus. Druce.

This species is allied to H. Dynæus, Hübner, from which it differs in the broad white band on the primaries, and the almost white secondaries. Hübner's species is not included in Mr. Butler's monograph of the Sphingide, but is well figured in the "Sammlung exotischer Schmetterlinge," Nos. 463, 464.

The Beeches, Circus Road, N.W. :
29th April, 1882.

REMARKS ON SOME CENTRAL AMERICAN SPECIES OF
PYRRHOPYGE, HÜBN.

BY GERVASE F. MATHEW, R.N., F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c.

While on the Pacific station during 1872-4, I had an opportunity of making the acquaintance of this remarkable genus, and when Pyrrhopyge Amra, Hew., was noticed for the first time at San Blas, on the coast of Mexico, in December, 1873, it was taken for some species of day-flying moth, for its habits were quite unlike those of any

butterfly I had previously met with. They flew very rapidly during the hottest part of the day, and were fond of passing backwards and forwards in front of some favourite bush, before which they occasionally stopped and hovered, their wings being moved with extreme rapidity. Sometimes they would suddenly alight on the under-side of a leaf and were lost to view, and one's beating stick had to be brought into requisition to dislodge them. At other times before settling they would fly in a short jerking manner, somewhat after the fashion of the long-tailed skippers (Eudamus). At the Island of Tobago, in the bay of Panama, the following April, another species, Pyrrhopyge Acastus, Cram., was tolerably numerous, and I was so fortunate as to discover its larva and pupa and bred the perfect insect. At the time I had no idea what these larvæ would produce, and certainly did not expect to see a butterfly. What they fed on I cannot say, for they were fullgrown when found, and preparing to pupate between chinks of bark on a trunk of a tree. They may have fed upon the leaves of the tree itself, or, what is more likely, upon some of the surrounding low herbage. The larva, which is soft and flabby to the touch, is clothed with fine straw-coloured hairs, is somewhat cylindrical in shape, and tapers towards each extremity; head cordate, and very large in proportion to the size of the larva, and of a brick-red; general colour reddish-brown, with well defined segmental rings of a deeper hue, and narrow black, yellow, and reddish perpendicular lines on each segment; under-surface, claspers, and prolegs light red. When full fed it spins a loose network cocoon between chinks of bark and therein turns to a light-red pupa with many segmental black spots, and covered with fine white down, and a purplish powdery bloom. The eyes are black and very prominent. The butterflies emerge in about three or four weeks. Another fine species, Pyrrhopyge Patrobas, Hew., was rare, and difficult to obtain in perfect condition, for they flew about so rapidly among the brushwood that they soon became worn.

H. M. S. "Espiègle," Simons Bay, Cape of Good Hope: 14th February, 1882.

Euplectus bicolor, &c., on Cannock Chase.-A few days since I found some halfdozen specimens of Euplectus bicolor, in decaying birch logs on Cannock Chase. In company with them occurred Euplectus nanus (Reich.), E. nigricans, Scydmænus exilis, Ptinella testacea, P. aptera, P. angustula, Pteryx suturalis, Tetratoma fungorum, and Liodes humeralis.-W. G. BLATCH, 214, Green Lane, Smallheath, Birmingham: May 18th, 1882.

Actidium coarctatum, &c., near Gloucester.-Last autumn, at Barnwood, near Gloucester, in a hotbed composed partly of tan and partly of manure, I found Nephanes Titan plentifully, and with it Ptilium foveolatum, Millidium trisulcatum, Aubé, and one specimen of Actidium coarctatum. The capture of this latter insect in a hotbed is worth recording, as confirming the statement of the late Mr. Haliday that he had taken it in such a locality; it has been supposed that he made a mistake, as the Actidia, as a rule, are river-bank insects.-W. W. FOWLER, Lincoln: 2nd May, 1882.

Notes on Spring Hymenoptera at Hastings in 1882.-During a stay of a few days at Hastings, from the 6th to the 10th of this month, I succeeded in meeting with a considerable number of species of Andrena, &c., and as the season has been one of such unusual mildness I thought it would be of interest to notice those which occurred. Nearly all the species were found either on Sallows in the vicinity of Ore lane, or flying about the sandy banks of the Croft.

Andrena pilipes, ♂ and 9, common on the Croft, the with the pubescence of the thorax unusually grey; A. albicans, ♂ ‡, Ore; A. atriceps, Croft; A. Trimmerana, ♂ ?, Ore, common, a few very brightly coloured females of the var. spinigera, most of the females slightly red at the base of the abdomen beneath; all the males of the ordinary Trimmerana type-A. thoracica, Ore; A. nitida, Croft; A. fulva, Croft; A. Clarkella, Ore; A. nigro-ænea 39, Ore and Croft; A. Gwynana, Croft and Hollington; A. lapponica ?, Ore; A. præcox, Ore; A. varians , Croft; A. fasciata, 3, Croft; A. parvula 3, Ore; Nomada succincta, Croft; Anthophora acervorum, Croft; Bombus lapidarius, B. terrestris, B. pratorum, Ore; B. Derhamellus, Hollington.-EDWARD SAUNDERS, Holmesdale, Wandle Road, Upper Tooting: April 11th, 1882.

Gerris lacustris in hibernation far from water.-On the 17th of March, at Weybridge, I had some moss-hunting without success, having found nothing beyond species of insects that are usually seen in or under moss at all seasons, many of the examples defective by efflux of their time. I assume the reason of this paucity was that all the species that had made use of the moss simply for hibernation had gone out and were distributed, induced thereto by the recently previous, and then still existing, hot sunny weather. The abundance of insects of many kinds which had been roused from their various hiding places and were flying at this early season was remarkable; one of them, Hylurgus piniperda, I caught with my hat. There was, however, one exception to the general liveliness—a Gerris lacustris-which was deep in long damp moss growing under the shelter of a furze-bush on the northern side of a hillock, and this insect though still was not torpid. The remarkable thing, however, was not so much its remaining in seclusion as that it had travelled half a mile away from water to gain its winter quarters; the species usually hibernating close to the water on the surface of which it had lived.-J. W. DOUGLAS, 8, Beaufort Gardens, Lewisham: 25th March, 1882.

Capture of the nymph of Aphalara nervosa, Förster, on Achillea millefolium.— For three seasons I have searched diligently for the above and younger forms of this species, but without success, until about a week ago, when, after a couple of hours' work, I was rewarded with the sight of one, and then another, until I took about

sixty specimens. As far as I have observed, they sit in the axils of the leaves, or at the base outside, and with the head downwards. They adhere very firmly to the plant, and when they do move, it is not at a rapid rate. The larvæ are of a more delicate green colour than in the following stage, and are unicolorous. The nymph is of a darker green in some cases than in others. Head slightly convex in front, with a faint notch in the middle, and about six to eight short white hairs round the margin. Antennæ short, yellow, spigot- or peg-shaped, 1st and 2nd joints green, apex black. Eyes, viewed from above, large, greenish-white, from the side-centre black. Thighs green, tibiæ and tarsi pale yellow, apex blackish. Elytra-lobes yellowish or very pale brownish-yellow, base pale, costal margin somewhat convex, flattened in the middle, posterior margin slightly concave next the anterior angle, which is acute. Abdomen green, convex, with a longitudinal depression or faint channel on each side nearer to the centre than the margin; segmental incisions somewhat strongly defined; margins rounded to the apex, which is acute, and with about ten long white hairs on each side of the last two segments, extreme apex yellowish. Length, 1 line (Paris). The eyes, as seen from above, present a somewhat curious appearance, the creature looking as if it were blind or had a hood over them.-JOHN SCOTT, Lee, S.E.: May 12th, 1882.

Note on Setodes argentipunctella, McLach.-This exceedingly delicate and pretty little species was first described in this Magazine, vol. xiv, p. 105 (1877), from examples taken by Mr. Hodgkinson at Windermere, and by the Rev. A. E. Eaton at Killarney. Mr. King found it in great abundance at the former locality in August, 1881 (cf. Vol. xviii, p. 163). When Mr. A. R. Wallace was writing his "Island Life" (published in 1880), he applied to me for a list of Trichoptera apparently exclusively British, which appeared at p. 337 of his work, and naturally included S. argentipunctella. As a proof of how hazardous it is to generalize upon apparent facts of this nature, I will mention that when on a visit to Belgium in July, 1881, I found the species in the greatest profusion along the banks of the curious little river termed "La Semois," at the town of Bouillon (which it may be well to mention is near the French frontier, and the battle-field of Sedan). It is included in the list of captures made on that excursion (cf. Comptes Rendus, Soc. Ent. Belg. xxv, p. cxxxi), which is a sufficient record so far as general distribution is concerned. The subject is brought forward here, in its present form, as a warning against hasty generalization. It is also an argument in favour of what have been termed mere collectors." If the insect had been (say) Lepidopterous there can be no doubt it would not so long have remained unnoticed in this country, and probably long before its discovery here, some continental Entomologist would have anticipated us in its detection, reversing the conditions that caused it to be placed in a list of species apparently peculiar to Britain.-R. MCLACHLAN, Lewisham: 4th April, 1882.

66

Variety of Zygana filipendulæ.-Two very interesting specimens of Zygana filipendula were exhibited at a meeting of our Local Field Club a week ago by the Vice-President. In one of them the posterior (or sixth) red spot on the anterior wings was entirely absent, and in the other only faintly traceable, so that both might easily have been passed over as "5-spotted." They have, however, the very narrow blue-black border to the hind-wings, and the form and general characters of