1916.] 95 



The Secretary read a notice, signed by the President and six Members of 

 the Council, that a Special Meeting should be called to consider alterations in 

 the Bye-laws. 



Mr. G. T. Bethvine-Baker proposed the following Kesolution with regard to 

 the closing of the Natural History Museum during the war •• — 



" That this Society would view with deep regret the closing of the Natural 

 History Museum." 



This was seconded by Mr. H. Eowland-Brown, and carried imanimously. 



Mr. E. B. Ashby exhibited a beautifully illustrated book entitled " Moths 

 of the Limberlost," by Mrs. Grene Stratton Porter. The illustrations were from 

 photographs and water-colours. Dr. H. Eltringham, a new mechanical stage 

 for examining pinned insects. Mr. G. T. Porritt, the three forms of Cidaria 

 suffumata, as it occurs in south-west Yorkshire. Mr. Donisthorpe, two ants 

 taken at the front — Myrmica rugulosa Nyl., $ , found by Mons. Bondroit at 

 Eamscapelle (Yser), December 14th, and Messor harbara var., winged $ , cauo-ht 

 in the fire trenches at Gallipoli on December 21st, 1915, by Lieutenant Noel S. 

 Sennett. Also specimens of the " Argentine Ant," Iridomyrmex humilis, taken 

 at Enfield and Eastbourne. Mr. A. W. Bacot, specimens of the butterfly 

 Libythea labdaca and read notes on its migration in vast numbers at Freetown, 

 Sierra Leone, on May 6th, 1915. Also a box containing recently hatched lice 

 resulting from a pairing between Pediculus capitis J, and P. humanus (vesti- 

 menti) ? , and remarked that there was no difficulty in obtaining j^airino-s 

 between the two insects, in either direction. 



The following paper was read : " On the Pairing of the Plebeiid Blue 

 Butterflies," by T. A. Chapman, M.D., F.Z.S., P.E.S.— Geo. Wheeler, Hon. 

 Secretary. 



BEITISH ICHNEUMONS: 



AN ADDITION AND THEEE CONFIEMATIONS. 



BY CLAUDE MORLEY, F.Z.S. 



In working out our indigenous species of Parasitic Hymenoptera, 

 the first essential is, as I stated in my " British Ichneumons," Vol. i, 

 1903, to accumulate all that is already known upon the subject, rather 

 than strive after novelty. Thus there will, no doubt, from time to 

 time appear a great number of species not yet known to occur in these 

 Islands ; and as the study becomes more popular among our Hymeno- 

 pterists I anticipate that the whole of those species at present regarded 

 as of doubtful British origin (mainly on account of the older writers' 

 misidentification, through the difficulty of the study and lack of a 

 text-book) will receive confirmation. These are best brought forward 

 in periodical literature as they come to hand ; otherwise such un- 



