NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 57 



which it assumes when watching for the insects which are its prey, 

 it is indebted for its name ; and during the Middle Ages it was 

 regarded with very superstitious feelings. It is very ferocious ; 

 and if a number are placed together in a box a free fight imme- 

 diately commences ; in a short time the weakest have to succumb, 

 and are frequently devoured by the survivors. 



PAPERS READ. 



L — On the LejJioceridae of the Glasgow District 



By Mr Francis G. Binnie. 



The writer stated that he had been engaged for the last two 

 years in collecting and studying the Trichoptera or Caddis flies of 

 Scotland, his attention being chiefly directed to those occurring in 

 this district. Having no observations of former workers to form 

 a basis, he had to a large extent to work single-handed j but he 

 begged to acknowledge his obligations to students of other 

 branches of entomology, and more especially to Messrs Cameron 

 and King, who had kindly secured for him any specimens that 

 came in their way. There was yet much to be done before 

 anything like a complete list for this district could be given ; but 

 what had been obtained probably fairly represented the species 

 likely to occur in this vicinity. The Leptoceridae is the third 

 largest in the group, which is divided into seven families. 

 M'Lachlan, in his monograph of the British Caddis flies, pub- 

 lished in 1868, describes twenty-four species distributed among 

 six genera, and to this nothing has been added in the more 

 recent catalogue published by the Entomological Society of 

 London in 1870. Mr Binnie then enumerated the British species 

 seriatim, described the local species as they occurred, with brief 

 notices of the absent ones, and pointed out such as are yet likely 

 to be found. Excluding Setodes, of which genus he had not seen 

 any representatives in this district,''' there remained seventeen 

 species, of which eleven had been identified as occurring in this 

 quarter, and of the remaining six, four seemed scarce and 

 local, but he hoped that the other two would yet be found in 

 the Hogganfield and Frankfield districts, which had not been 

 thoroughly explored. 



* Since the date of the paper, Setodes testacca (Curtis) has been captured near 

 Mihigavie. — F. G. B, 



