1;J() [November, 



ON CERTAIN BRITISH EEMIPTERA-KOMOPTERA. 



Description of a species of the Genus Liburnia neio to Great Britain. 



BY JOniV SCOTT. 



LiBUENIA PLATEOLA. 



Delpliax flaveola, Flor, Ehyn. Livl., ii, 72, 19 ; Kirsclib., Cicad., 

 33, 31, ? . 



? Undeveloped. 



Yellow or somewhat ferruginous. 



Head — croion more or less femiginous, fovcse shallow, but distinct. Face more or 

 less ferruginous ; central longitudinal keel acute ; disc on either side of the 

 keel, flattish concave. Clypeus more or less ferruginous. Eyes brown. AntenncB 

 brown; 1st and 2nd joints yellow or ferruginous. Oee/^j black. Rostrum — apex 

 black. 



Thorax — pronotum and scutellum yellow or inclined to ferruginous. Elytra pale 

 yellow, transparent, about one-half the length of the abdomen, apex broadly 

 rounded. Leys yellow. Claws dark brown. 



Abdomen yellow or ferruginous. 



? Develojied. 



J£'?_y^rff pale, transparent ; nerves pale, finely granulated. Ifemlrane : marginal and 

 inner nerves slightly brownish. All the other characters as in the undeveloped 

 form. Length, I5 line undev., li dev. 



Most nearly allied to L. straminea, Stal, a species not yet ascer- 

 tained to be British. The distinction between the two insects is easiest 

 to be observed by the examination and comparison of the genitalia 

 of the cJ. 



Two specimens captured by Dr. Power, on Barnes Common, in 

 July last. 



Lee : August I'dth, 1876. 



ON MELANISM. 

 BT EDWIN BIRCIIALL, F.L.S. 



It is well known that specimens of many Lrpidoptera from the 

 Highlands of Scotland vary widely from English examples of the same 

 species, and that the variation is usually towards a darker coloration ; 

 that there is, in short, a tendency to the production of melanic 

 varieties, and that in some cases a dark variety has completely sup- 

 planted the lighter coloured type; but, so far as I know, no satisfactory 

 explanation of these facts has been suggested, none at least which 

 covers the whole ground. It has been said that the production of 



