CURRENT NOTES. 219 



Other entomologists present were Professor Poulton, F.R.S. ; Mr. 

 Roland Trimen, F.R.S. , and Mr. Horace Donisthorpe, F.Z.S. 



On June 5th, at a meeting of the TCntomological Society of London, 

 Mr. Horace Donisthorpe read a paper on " i\Iimicry, pi-otective 

 resemhlance, itc, in British Coleoptera." After pointing out that it 

 was a subject much neglected by coleopterists, and urging them to 

 work at it more, and also noticing the necessity of many carefully- 

 devised experiments on the edibility or non-edibility of many species, he 

 proceeded to give an abstract of the paper which contains all cases of 

 mimicry, &c., that he had been able to find among Coleoptera belonging 

 to the P>ritish fauna. He classified them according to the table introduced 

 by Professor Poulton in his book : " The Colours of Animals," and 

 since extended. After the paper, Professor Poulton spoke at some 

 length on the subject, and Canon Fowler, Mr. Chitty, Sir G, 

 Hampson, Mr. Champion, and others joined in the discussion. 



At the same meeting, Mr. G. C. Champion exhibited a male 

 specimen of (Jdontamts wnbilirornis, one of the rarest of P)ritish beetles, 

 captured at Woking on May 28th. Mr. Donisthorpe said that the 

 same species had also been taken this year at Bournemouth by Mr. 

 and Mrs. Jackson. 



At the same meeting. Dr. A. Jeft'eries Turner exhibited specimens 

 of Australian wood-boring Lepidoptera belonging to four different 

 families. They included — Pi/ralMae : Doddiana xijloryctify, Turn. 

 (iclccliiidao : < 'riiptnplwm j^a rolj nrata ,^^ alk., (J. hemipMa, Turn., 3/rt>w/rt 

 iiii/thira, Meyr., M. setidtriclia, Meyr., and Ihurha horcalix, Turn. 

 ('(issidae: Piuh/eona arti)iia)i, Turn., Xi/hndrii pidehra, Roths., X. 

 i/Kich'ai/t'i, X. uepJioco.vna, Turn. HepiaUdae : < Itaraiiia niirahiliH, 

 Roths., ' . raitisai/i, Seott., and 0. ei/anncMora, Lower. 



At the same meeting, Mr. H. St. J. K. Donisthorpe exhibited 

 a glove burnt by discharges of formic acid in the nests of Fonnira 

 ni/a. In connection with the apparatus exhibited at the last 

 meeting to determine the strength of this acid. Professor Poulton said 

 that the discharges collected in the tubes fluctuated greatly in strength, 

 the strongest yielding a proportion of 60 to 70 per cent, of anhydrous 

 acid, a drop of which placed by Mr. Holroyd on the back of his hand 

 left a distinct scar some days after the application. The discharge of 

 i'cnini rinida, he added, shared a strength of about 45 per cent., and 

 Mr. F. ^lerrifield remarked that in breeding the larvfe the acid 

 lil)prated by this species left a yellow stain on the leno, making it 

 rotten. 



OLEOPTERA. 



Cosmopolitan- rkktlks in a London warehouse. — In a package of 

 drugs in corked bottles, originally sent from this country to India, and 

 returned from thence as damaged, the corks were found to be utterly 

 desti-oyed by the larvte of beetles. The following cosmopolitan species 

 were found alive on opening the package : — Cathartux adrcna, Waltl., 

 rrihdUinii f'errn(jineuhi, F., LeinoiddocKs f'crni<iincHfi, Steph., and a 

 single specimen of Phtlmra cnnata, Muls. This last is an interesting 

 capture, as there is, I believe, no record of its having been taken in 

 Britain before. It is included in the French catalogue and is likely to 

 occur again here. The insect was possibly parasitic on some of the 

 other species as some of its near allies are certainly parasites. A 



