50 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



taken in Scotland, being only a variety of Erebia cassiope), and it was, there- 

 fore, absolutely necessary that the record of any such discovery should be sub- 

 stantiated by the most undoubted proofs. Mr. Lea appeared fully aware of this 

 necessity, and had obligingly communicated to the Society many interesting parti- 

 culars respecting its capture. Mr. Lea did not assume the insect to be indigenous 

 he merely asserted its capture and this statement, coming through such a source, 

 was surely entitled to all respect and consideration from his brother collectors ; and 

 he (Mr. Greene) would take that opportunity of expressing his regret at the con- 

 temptuous manner in which, as he understood, that communication had been 

 received by some eminent entomologists in England the inevitable result of such 

 a course being to deter the inexperienced from forwarding to " head-quarters" the 

 results of their observations. Similar incredulity had been shown regarding Mr. 

 Weaver's statement (over and over again repeated) of his capture of Melitaea dia, 

 near Birmingham ; but he (Mr. G.) entertained no doubt whatever as to the 

 accuracy of his account. The refusal to admit any insect into our lists, without 

 clear and authentic proofs of its capture, was a precaution which none would object 

 to ; but, surely, inquiries on such a matter ought to be made, and received with all 

 courtesy and friendliness. That Anthocaris belia had been taken by Mr. Lea in 

 Worcestershire, he saw no good reason to doubt (however difficult to explain its 

 appearance there) ; but he thought it a matter of regret that so long a time had been 

 suffered to elapse without recording its capture. 



Mr. Wright suggested that, perhaps, Dr. Ball would act the part of judge upon 

 the matter, and give the members the benefit of his opinion. 



The President said, that after the opinions which had been expressed on this 

 subject by two eminent entomologists, he really could not add anything to them ; 

 but before acting the part of judge, he thought it would be prudent to in- 

 quire if there had been any importation of foreign plants into that part of 

 Worcestershire, where Mr. Lea resided. Members were, doubtless, aware that 

 the nurserymen imported largely from the south of France all the rare or 

 tender shrubs of that region ; and he conceived it very probable that the eggs, 

 or even the larva of the Anthocaris belia, might have been introduced along 

 with some French plants. This appeared to him to be possible ; therefore, if Mr. 

 Lea discovered that any such importation of plants had taken place within 

 the immediate vicinity of the capture of the insect, his opinion would be, that it 

 had taken flight from its chrysalis, attached to one of these plants. 



Rev. J. Greene observed, that if an importation of plants had taken place in Mr. 

 Lea's neighbourhood, this would remove many otherwise insuperable difficulties. 



Mr. Hogan then read the following 



NOTES ON VARIOUS INSECTS CAPTURED OR OBSERVED IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD 

 OF DINGLE, CO. KERRY, IN JULY, 1854. 



So few districts in Ireland are, as yet, known entomologically the study of 

 insects appearing to have been the last in attracting attention from most Irish 

 naturalists hitherto that the briefest records of species found in any new locality 

 become of value, as tending to furnish a better knowledge of their relative distri- 

 bution throughout the country. 



With the view of promoting this object, and of supplying a guide to those who 

 may hereafter visit the same district, I submit to the Association the following 

 notes on various insects captured or observed by Mr. Haliday and myself, while 

 spending a week at Dingle, last July. The paucity of the numbers will, at once, 

 strike the reader ; but he must not forget the shortness of our stay, or the season of 

 the year, which is not so prolific, in most insects, as the earlier and later portions of 

 the summer ; at the same time, as the weather was very favourable (except on one 

 unfortunate occasion, that of our ascent of Mount Brandon), we must confess 

 that our opinion of the district, as a whole, is, that it is decidedly barren, and by no 

 means one for any entomologist to visit, who is not prepared to sacrifice the filling 

 of his boxes to the chance of finding some new or rare species. That the latter is 

 not an improbability, however, is evident from our discovery of one or two new 

 Diptera, and of the larva of one of the Microlepidoptera, besides the capture of 



