66 [March, 



Capture of Misetns ondatiif<,fnnnlp. — The confinnation of tliis Tclnipnmonia 

 as British will be found at Ent. Mo. Mag. p. 98, 1916, with the remark " I have 

 seen no female yet." This may now be deleted, since there is a beautiful 

 female in a box just received for detsrmination from Mr. Lance A. Cai-r, of 

 Lichfield, in tlie vii-inity of which city lie captured it durin"^ 1919. — Claudk 

 WoRLEY, Monks Soham House, Sutlblk : February Wi, 1920. 



Thomas liiihard Billuns, whose denth took place on December 10th la^t, 

 at 78 years of a^i-e, will behest remembered l)y tlie active colhctdis ol some 

 thirty t(.' forty ytars aj^o. His close connection witli nia'ket uaidcniiiL>- (he 

 beiufi' a fruit and vegetable salesman in tiie HoroMgh Market) was p>'rhaps the 

 incentive to his taking- up tlie study of insects. A man of no veiy hi^>h educa- 

 tional attainments, it is remarkable how easily he grasped iiis siihject, and his 

 notes in this and contemporary journals are sufficient evidence of his eneriretic 

 field work. Coleoptera and the smaller Ilymenoptera wer ■ his chief favourites ; 

 but all Orders had an attraction for him, except perh ips Lepidoptera.for which 

 he seemed to have very little liking, apart from breeding their pariisites. He 

 will be best remembered by Ct)leopterists for his re-discovery of Sperchetts 

 eniaryinatus in a market garden belonging to his brother at We.-t Ham, Essex, 

 in a very unlikely locality in the vicinity of one of the London Gas Works. This 

 species had not been taken in Britain for many ye irs, till he met with it in 

 plenty in 1878, and it has since disappe:ired. Billups was elected a Fellow of 

 the Entomological Society of London in 1879, and served on its Council from 

 1884 to 188t5, but he retired from the Society in 1901. Some two years earlier 

 be had become associated with the Smith Ijondon Society and his remarkable 

 energy soon became apparent in the management of its affairs, both in >eL-uring 

 more suitable accommodation for its meetings and tlie housing of its library 

 and collections, and the introduction of many young and energetic collectors to 

 its membership. He acted as its Hon. Treasurer in 1879, occupied its Presi- 

 dential Chair in 1882, and again in 1888 and 1889, and several times served on 

 its Council. — K. A. 



The South London Entojioi.ogical and Naiukai. Hdstoky Socikty: 

 January 8t/i, 1920. — Mr. Stanley Edwards, F.L.S., President, in the Chair. 



Messrs. T. II. Grosvenor of Redhill, F. "W. Cocks of Reading, 0. B. Good- 

 man and A. de B. Goodman of Goswell lioad, II. L. Gauutlett of Putne}', li. 

 Swift and II. Garrett of Bexley were elected members. 



Mr. J. J. Lister exhibited liis local races of Plebeiiis aecjon and gave an 

 account of his observations on the mosses of W'itherslack where the race 

 ■masseyi is the dominant form. Local series and special forms of the same 

 species were exhibited hy Messrs. Buxton, Mera, Newman, Sperring, B. S. 

 Williams, A. E. Tonge, and Swift. A discussion ensued. The problem being: 

 What are the causes which produce the viasseyi form and make it domii.ant in 

 tlie small area at Witherslack ? A further considerable luunber of species 



