1899.] ;^23 



(Fgyptium which was found at Maidenhead ; alao a remarkable clay model of a 

 Locustid with a Chinese inscription underneath, and requested information as to the 

 origin of such models. Mr. Blandford gave an account of a paper by Dr. A. Eibaga, 

 published in the " Rivista di Patologia Vegetale," v, p. 343, on an asymmetrical 

 structure occurring in the adult female of the common bed-bug, and apparently 

 hitherto overlooked, although it communicated with the exterior by a conspicuous 

 notch in the fourth abdominal segment, midway between the median line and the 

 lateral margin. This structure consisted of a large quasi-glandular mass of unknown 

 nature in which was encapsuled an organ consisting of fibres, the free ends of which 

 terminated in minute chitinous spines in a recess lying under the fourth abdominal 

 segment. The adjacent margin of the fifth segment was thickened and set with 

 strong teeth. The non-glandular part of this singular structui-e was conjectured by 

 its discoverer to be a stridulating organ ; but no evidence of stridulation had been 

 obtained. It was certainly far more complex than most, if not all, stridulating 

 organs known to exist in insects. Mr. G. J. Arrow communicated " Notes on the 

 Rutelid genera Anomala, Mimela, PopiUia, and Strigoderma." — J. J. Walkeb 

 and C. J. Gahan, Hon. Secretaries. 



Lancashiee and Cheshire Entomological Society : March \Wi, 1899. 

 —Mr. S. J. Capper, F.L.S., F.E.S., President, in the Chair. 



The President reviewed the first volume of Mr. Tutt's new work on the 

 British Lepidoptera, and recommended it to all students of that Order. Mr. 

 Burgess-Sopp, of Hoylake, then read his paper on " Our Cockroaches." Beginning 

 with the most ancient known form, Palceoblaitina Douvillei, found in the Carodoc 

 beds of Calvados in France, he traced the history of the order as shown by fossil 

 remains through the Carboniferous, Mesozoic, and Cainozio periods down to the 

 present. The Blattodea were most numerous in the Carboniferous period, which he 

 designated the " Age of Cockroaches." Since then the number of species has 

 gradually dwindled away. Throughout this vast period the change undergone in 

 their structure has been very small indeed. He enumei'ated ten species now found 

 in Britain : three of these being indigenous, four introduced, and three occurring as 

 occasional visitants from abroad. He then gave an account of the life history of 

 Blatta orientalis. Other exhibits were : a delicate green cockroach by Mr. F. N. 

 Pierce ; remarkable varieties of Camptogramma bilineata by the President ; British 

 Carahidce , including the rare Carabus auratus, nitens, and clathratus by Dr. J. W. 

 Ellis ; Lepidoptera by Mr. H. B. Prince ; and Rhagium bifasciatum, taken in 

 February, by Mr. F. Birch. 



April 10th. — The Eev. R. Freeman, M.A., in the Chair. 



Mr. F. N. Pierce read some interesting notes from Mr. Louis B. Prout on the 

 much disputed species of the genus Oporabia, and showed many specimens of the 

 forms dilutata, aiitumnaria, and filigrammaria. Other exhibits were : — Of Lepi- 

 doptera, specimens from the Delamere, Eastham, and Knowsley districts by Mr. F. 

 C. Thompson, Mr. H. B. Prince, and the Rev. R. Freeman respectively ; local forms 

 and interesting varieties being well represented. Of Orthoptera, Blabera gigantea, 

 taken in the Liverpool Docks, and Panasthia juvanica received from abroad, by 

 Mr. E. J. Burgess-Sopp. Of Coleoptera, Mr. R. Wilding exhibited his collection of 

 Bembidia, which is a model of neatness and order, and contains many local, rare, and 

 otherwise interesting species. Cai-abus gJabratus from Sty Head Pass, Cumberland, 

 was shown by Mr. F. Birch. It was resolved that the meetings be adjourned till 

 October 9th, on which date the chief exhibitional meeting of the year will be held. 

 — Feedk. Birch, Hon. Secretary. 



