27S 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



(see vols, for Dec. iSSi and Feb. 1877) are in the 

 habit of employing the name synonymously for 

 rachynobia al^ina, the British history of which species 

 will be found on referring to the ninth volume of the 

 " Entomologist " (p. 24). I may also add that the sole 

 object I had in view when I figured this moth was to 

 call the attention of Scottish collectors to a Rannoch 

 rarity which, as regards pecuniary value a little back, 

 bade fair to dispute the market^with the much prized 

 Cairngorm pebbles. The breeding of the moth in 

 Scotland is alluded to in the "Entomologist" for 

 March 1879. I liave not, to my knowledge, met with 

 the larva.— ^. II. Sii'iiUon. 



The Senses of Bees and Wasps.— At a recent 

 meeting of the Linnean Society, Sir John Lubbock 

 read an account of his further observations on the 

 habits of insects made during the past year. The two 

 queen ants which have lived with him since 1874, and 

 which are now, therefore, no less than eight years 

 old, are still alive, and laid eggs last summer as usual. 

 His oldest workers are seven years old. Dr. Midler, 

 in a recent review, had courteously criticised his ex- 

 periments on the colour sense of bees, but Sir John 

 Lubbock pointed out that he had anticipated the ob- 

 jections suggested by Dr. Muller, and had guarded 

 against the supposed source of error. The difference 

 was, moreover, not one of principle, nor did Dr. 

 Midler question the main conclusions arrived at, or 

 doubt the preference of bees for blue, which, indeed, 

 was strongly indicated by his own observations on 

 flowers. Sir John also recorded some further experi- 

 ments with reference to the power of hearing. Some 

 bees w^ere trained to come to honey which was placed 

 on a musical box on the lawn close to a window. 

 The musical box was kept going for several hours a 

 day for a fortnight. It was then brought into the 

 house and placed out of sight, but at the open window, 

 and only about seven yards from where it had been 

 before. The bees, however, did not find the honey, 

 though when it was once shown them they came 

 readily enough. Other experiments with a micro- 

 phone were without results. Every one, Sir John 

 Lubbock said, knew that bees when swarming were 

 popularly, and had been ever since the time of Aris- 

 totle, supposed to be influenced by the clanging of 

 kettles, &c. Experienced apiarists were now disposed 

 to doubt whether the noise has really any effect, but 

 Sir John Lubbock suggested that even if it had, with 

 reference to which he expressed no opinion, it was 

 possible that what the bees heard were not the loud 

 low sounds, but the higher overtones at the verge of, 

 or beyond, our range of hearing. As regards the 

 industry of wasps, he timed a bee and a wasp, for each 

 of which he provided a store of honey, and found that 

 the wasp began earlier in the morning (at J4 a.m.), 

 worked on later in the evening, and came oftener during 

 the day. He did not, however, quote this as proving 

 greater industry on the part of the wasp, as it might 



be that it was less sensitive to cold. Moreover, 

 though the bee's proboscis was admirably adapted to 

 extract honey from tubular flowers, when the honey 

 was exposed, as in this case, the wasp appeared able 

 to swallow it more rapidly. This particular wasp 

 began work at four in the morning, and went on 

 without any rest or intermission till a quarter to eight 

 in the evening, during which time she paid Sir John 

 Lubbock 1 16 visits. 



Land Shells. — Mr. J. W. Cundall records Dud- 

 ley Castle as a locality for Cochlicopa tridcns, var. 

 crystallina in your November number, under the 

 impression that it has not been previously observed 

 there. At page 7, vol. i. of the "Journal of Concho- 

 logy," he will find that I noted it as inhabiting that 

 locality in 1873. I am glad it is still there. On the 

 same page (258) I note some remarks by my friend 

 Mr. Charles Ashford (in reply to Mr. A. Loydell's 

 question, September number, p. 214), touching the 

 propriety of admitting certain shells into the British 

 list. May I be allowed to make the following addenda 

 thereto ? I understand the term indigenous to mean 

 "native to," i.e., not having been introduced arti- 

 ficially ; and, in the absence of any information to the 

 contrary, we have to consider H. villosa, H. persottata, 

 C. parvula, and C, solida, as coming under that head, 

 albeit there are at present very slight grounds for 

 supposing them so. Two specimens of //. villosa, I 

 believe, have been taken near Cardiff, one dead shell of 

 H. pcrsonata at Newcastle in Ireland, one specimen of 

 C. solida near Bristol, and several shells of C. parvula 

 at Kniver, Worcestershire. Reeve tells us the theory 

 of migration points in a north-westerly direction ; if 

 therefore these species be really indigenous (their 

 recorded habitats being continental), we should e.xpect 

 them to be found in south-east England. I have always 

 had a strong suspicion that the H. aperta found by- 

 Professor E. Forbes in Guernsey was an unfinished 

 shell of Helix aspersa, var. iemcis. I have taken this 

 variety in the Channel Isles of the exact colour of 

 aperta, and the resemblance struck me at the time, I 

 had come to this conclusion before being aware of 

 Dr. Gwyn- Jeffreys' pertinent remarks, p. 158, vol. i., 

 "British Conchologist."— 6^. Sherriff Tye. 



"The Butterflies of Europe," By H, C. 

 Lang, M.D., F.L.S. Part X. of this splendidly illus- 

 trated work is to hand, dealing with the genera 

 Lycizna, Netncobius, Libythea, Charaxcs, Apatura, 

 Limcnitis, &c. 



Rooks and Starlings. — Now that autumn has 

 commenced, I see as usual flocks of starlings and 

 crows searching for grubs, &c., on almost every piece 

 of meadow-ground. Sometimes their numbers are so 

 great that the fields are black with them. Why is it 

 that these two species, both of totally different families, 

 always join bands about this season of the year? — 

 W. P. Ellis, Eftfield Chase. 



