SOCIETIES. 157 



At the South London Entomological and Natural History 

 Society, on Apx'il 12tli, the President referred to the great loss which 

 the Society had sustained by the deatli of Mr. J. Jenner Weir, who had 

 always taken such an active interest in its welfare, and it was unani- 

 mously resolved that a letter of condolence should be sent to Mrs. Weir. 

 Exhibits :— Mr. Adkin for Mr. Billups, the following rare Diptera ; 

 Meigenia majmcula, from Dulwich, new to Britain ; Scioniijza rnfiveutris, 

 from Ireland ; Degeeria pulchdla, bred by Mr. Adkin from Feronea 

 maccana ; Urellia eluta, from Lewisham, and an unknown species of 

 Phorbia : also galls of Dri/ophaiita divisa and their maker, with Si/nergus 

 albipes, one of its Inquilines and five parasites, viz. : Mesopolobns fasci- 

 veulris, Syntomaspis caudatiis, Upelnms urozoniis, Decatoma biguttala and 

 a Chalcid. Mr. Step ; a specimen of a fungus (MorcheUa aescidenta) 

 from Wootton under Edge. Mr. Jiiger stated that he had met with a 

 considerable number of cripples of Bistoii hirtaria, all of which were 

 malformed on the right side. The President gave an interesting account 

 of the curious habit indulged in by some ducks, of killing toads during 

 the breeding season, by dexterously slitting their abdomens. — On April 

 26th, the following among other exhibits were made. Mr. Dennis ; a 

 bred Pararge egeria, in which all tlie light markings were much ex- 

 tended. Mr. Auld ; a series of Taeniocampa mnnda, with sevei'al 

 examples of var. immaculata, from West Wickham ; T. popnleti from 

 Westerham. Mr. Enoch read some " Notes on common insects," and 

 illustrated the paper with about fifty lantern slides. The paper dealt 

 largely witli common pests and their parasites, such as the sycamore 

 aphis, with its numerous enemies, the currant mite, the sawiiy of the 

 willow with the insects which attack its larva, the flies whose larvai 

 mine the marguerite plant, the parasites of the Hessian Fly, and last, 

 but not least beautiful, the minute Fairy Flies, of which Mr. Enoch 

 stated that he possessed at least one hundred and fifty species. He laid 

 considerable stress upon the economic side of the subject, and strongly 

 advocated following the example set by the United States Government, 

 in having an entomological section attached to the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment. Most of the information given was the result of original obser- 

 vations, and unobtainable in any book.* The admirable manner in which 

 the interesting and peculiar life-histories of these minute creatures were 

 pourtrayed upon the screen and described, excited the greatest admiration 

 among the large number of members and friends present. — On May 

 l(Jth, Mr. South exhibited a bred series of Boarmia cinctaria, together 

 with the female parent which was from Glengariff, Ireland ; the speci- 

 mens were pale, like the parent, but not so pale as those captured by 

 Mr. Kane some time ago. Mr. Frohawk exhibited a sjjecimen of 

 Vanessa urticae in which the blue marginal spots were exaggerated and 

 extended about twice as far as usual into the black border. Mr. 

 Williams showed a bred specimen of Pieris napi in which only the 

 hind-wings had developed. Mr. Turner exhibited Sirex gigas from 

 Box Hill and Chichester, and BombijUus major from Box Hill. 

 — On May 2-lth, the following, among other exhibits, were made : — 



* This being so, it would be well if the South London Entomological 

 Society printed the paper in their Proceedings as soon as possible. We under- 

 stood in January last, that the Proceedings for 1892 and 1893 were then quite 

 reddy for the printer. When will members get this volume ? — Ed. 



