SOCIKTIES. 323 



the localities in which these varieties had been caught, or of the con- 

 ditions under which they had been bred. Mr. Barrett in reply stated 

 that none of the varieties exhibited had been obtained by breeding 

 under artificial conditions for the purposes of experiment. Mr. 

 Porritt added that Mr. Capper had made a special collection of the 

 Yorkshire forms of Spilosoma Utbrkipeda. Mr. J. J. Walker, R.N., 

 exhibited a specimen of Prucas aniiillatus, taken on Durland Hill, 

 near Chatham, during the present month. Herr Jacoby exhibited a 

 specimen of Tjiwoprowpm ccratiiboidcs, Guer., from Brazil. Mr. E. E. 

 Green exhibited the eggs of some species of LocusTro/E extracted from 

 the stem of a young Cinchona tree at Punduloya, Ceylon. He said 

 the species of the parent insect was undetermined ; it was possibly 

 either a CijinaUnnera or a Ci/rtoplii/llus, both of which possess large 

 sabre-shaped ovipositors. A slit half an inch deep and more than 

 two inches long had been cut into the hard wood, in which the eggs 

 had been symmetrically deposited, edge to edge, with the coloured 

 part inwards. The greater part of each egg was of fine texture, and 

 coloured green ; but at the extremity from which the young insect 

 would make its exit the egg shell was soft, pliant, and beautifully 

 reticulated. The row of flattened green eggs lying side by side 

 resemble an acacia leaf, but as they are concealed within the stem 

 the resemblance was apparently without motive. It seemed curious 

 that as the eggs were embedded they should be brightly coloured. Mr. 

 Green read a short paper entitled Notes on Dyscritina longisetosa, 

 Westw. He remarked that drawings of the species had been exhibited 

 by him at a recent meeting of the Society. Dr. Sharp said Mr. Green 

 seemed to think that the insect was an earwig, but he could not accept 

 it as belonging to the Forficulidge. He thought that further specimens 

 for examination were required before attempting to determine its 

 position, which was quite doubtful at present. 



The South London Entomological and Natural Histouy Society 

 met on March 12th, when Colonel Partridge exhibited bred specimens of 

 Fhii/alia pedana, from Epping, of an unicolorous grey colour with dark- 

 coloured nervures ; a specimen of Aijnttisputa, having alternate dark and 

 pale bars; and the specimen of Hadcna albifiisa, taken by him at Port- 

 land, August 15th, 1888. Mr. South : bred specimens of 1'. pedaria, 

 from a black female taken at Macclesfield. The males were of the same 

 form as those exhibited by Colonel Partridge, but most of the females were 

 black. Mr. Frohawk : bred male and female of Nijs.sia lapponaria, 

 the ova having been obtained from Mr. Christy. The female was 

 alive. Mr. West, of Greenwich, a female A\ Impidaria, taken in West 

 Wickham woods. 



Jg^EVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS. 



Faune de France — Coleopteres. — [Par. A. Aclogue, 466 pp., 

 1,052 figures. —Published by Balliere and Co., Paris, Price 5s.] . 

 — It has often been said that scientific books are dear, but this charge 

 cannot be brought against the present volume, which is really a marvel 

 of cheapness. Printed in a small but clear type, on good paper, with 

 figures of nearly every genus and sub-genus, as well as numerous 

 structural drawings, it is no wonder that M. Edmond Perrier refers to 

 it in his preface in such strongly eulogistic terms. The work consists 

 of a preliminary treatise on the external and internal structure of 

 insects generally, with explanatory diagrams on every page, in itself a 



