NOTKS ANn OBSKUVATIONS. 67 1-ouiul the same spot and settling on the same leaf or twig, as one has seen 2\ ritbi tlo in England, and is not easily frightened away. — B. H. Cooke (Lieut. -Colonel) ; Naval and Military Club, Piccadilly. Nyjiphs ok Naiads. — Mr. W. J. Lucas, in the January numher, p. 5, adopts the term " naiad " for odonate nympiis, following Gomstock. Tillyard, in his excellent work on dragon-tlies, uses the term "larva." It may l)e useful to employ a special name, but "naiad " is inadmissible since it has long been in use for the freshwater mussels. Thus, for instance, Isaac Lea in 1836 published a ' Synopsis of the Family of Naiades,' and in 1900 C. T. Simpson published a 'Synopsis of the Naiades, or Pearly Freshwater Mussels.' If a special term is required for the larv£e of Odonata, possibly Odonaiad would be suitable. — T. D. A. COCKEHELL. Platymischus dilatatus, Westwood. — On October 5th, 1920, my wife and I were walking on the beach at Ventnor, Isle of Wight, where quantities of Fucus and other seaweeds had been thrown up. Here and there were large boulders, and swarming over them were vast numbers of small wingless Hymenoptera, at first sight appearing to be ants. On collecting a number it was at once evident that they belonged to the Proctotrypoid series, and on looking up the literature they were readily identified as P. dilatatus. They undoubtedly came from Dipterous larvse in the seaweed. The species has been considered rare, and even the British Museum had only a few species. I probably obtained more than had been secured by all collectors previously, or at any rate could easily have done so. — T. D. A. COCKERELL. Libellula depressa, Linn. (Odonata). — It may be of interest to record that I captured, flying slowly and low up a small stream at Tibshelf, Derbyshire, a specimen of Lihcllula depressa, Linn., on August Bank Holiday, 1921. The upper part of the abdomen was covered with slate-coloured bloom, whilst underneath the abdomen was so badly eaten away (possibly by some parasite) that it was useless as a cabinet specimen. — A. W. Eichards ; 2, Denmau Drive, Newsham Park, Liverpool. Hemerobius stigma, Steph. (Neuroptera). — Two examples of this interesting little lacewing were taken at Esher Common, Surrey, on January 30th last. As they passed by on the wing they could be at once recognised by their slow characteristic style of flight, and were easily secured even without the help of a net. Their presence in January is welcome, although they can scarcely be looked upon as harbingers of the spring, for I believe I have taken imagines in every month of the year. It would be interesting to know how many broods there are in a season.— W. J. Lucas ; February 3rd, 1922. Resting Habit of Pieris rap^. — In the evening of July 20th, when the declining sun had thrown the southward facing hedgerows into shade, I saw nine Pieris rapa and one P. Jiapi at rest amongst a patch of nettles. All the P. rapce had chosen as resting-places nettle leaves which through some cause w'ere bleached to a creamy wliite colour, remarkably similar to the colour of the butterflies. In one case there were three butterflies on one leaf, and in another case two. This would suggest that the sites had been chosen deliberately
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